Whitley Strieber was an ordinary man with an extraordinary job, that of a novelist. One day he took his family to a cabin in the woods in upstate New York. No one slept well that night, and the family friends they had invited over insisted on returning home the next morning. When Whitley and his family returned to the cabin, once more they experienced disturbed sleep. It was taking a toll on his health, and finally, he started to seek medical help. Eventually, he was sent to a hypnotherapist, and under hypnosis, he revealed he, and his son, were being taken by strange creatures.
You might think this to be a run-of-the-mill abduction story. But as far as I could tell, there was no spaceship. Just a light. The creatures were not just little gray men with big black eyes, but little blue dwarves-like creatures, tall insect-like creatures, and the operating room felt more ethereal than scientific. The book Communion and the movie that accompanied it portray a scenario that makes the “visitors” feel less like extraterrestrials, and more like fae folk. During Communion, Strieber never called these creatures aliens, just visitors. Of the many abduction cases I have been reading… because it’s Halloween season and I love horror… this one stood out to me because it bucks the standard abduction narrative completely, replacing it with a mystery box that Streiber was never able to solve… what exactly are they?
Since Halloween is coming up, I thought we might take a break from politics and talk about a situation that has rocked the country. UFOs… or UAPs, as they’re now called. The recent confirmation by the government that some of the footage we have seen of strange vehicles are real. This has resurrected an age-old debate over whether or not we are alone in the universe. However, after reading Streiber’s account, I may have a possible answer, though it may disappoint UFO/UAP enthusiasts.
My whole life has been one of being kicked out of the room when my family was watching ghost-hunting shows. I was always Agent Scully to my family’s Agent Moulder. So as the people on TV made fools of themselves, I would explain what was happening using science. And since I am a total nerd, whenever my family would pontificate on the existence of extraterrestrials, I would ask about how one could travel through space, without moving forward through time. After all, Space and Time are connected as Space-time. Moving at faster-than-light speeds means slowing time down for yourself but speeding it up for everyone else. I would follow it up with questions about how folding space might work, and all to hammer the point that interstellar travel might be possible, though it’s probably unlikely. My family looked at me as a fun spoiler.
I’ve also suffered from night terrors from the time I was a kid. I don’t sleep. You might be curious if I have ever seen aliens in these episodes. No. I have seen some terrifying things, but I accept that these things are a product of my eyes snapping open during a nightmare and sleep paralysis. It’s not real. It feels real, but it’s not. But having had these episodes with regularity, I found the case of Whitley Streiber to be familiar in a way, even though what he “saw,” is different from what I “see” when it happens to me. I also haven’t undergone hypnosis, because I am not convinced it can draw out memories so much as implant suggestions that can become as memories.
See Whitley absolutely believes what he experienced was real. This isn’t a situation like what we’d see in the X-Files, where someone is running around in the woods and gets sucked up into a UFO. The film version especially articulates that Whitley was struggling with sleep. I can’t help but wonder if his experience, like my own, can be scientifically explained by it being simply night terrors. If so, then it’s not real. But then can the entire alien abduction phenomenon be explained that way? Having read dozens of accounts in the last few weeks, it’s easy for me to dismiss the entire phenomenon as night terrors. After all, the similarities people who experience night terrors have with abductees are remarkable. From being woken in the middle of a nightmare, to a feeling of paralysis, and helplessness. From being unable to breathe to seeing… creatures. It’s all so similar that I just can’t help but wonder if this is all less a paranormal experience and more a medical one.
But then what do we make of the government confirming that some of the UAP videos we’ve seen, the so-called Tick Tacks in particular, are real? Now the government has not confirmed the existence of extraterrestrials, per se, but then we have a whistleblower tell Congress under oath that we are in possession of, “non-human biologics.” What does that mean? Even the government of Mexico had hearings on the subject, where relics said to be the mummified bodies of these non-human biological entities were presented. Though I understand it was later learned that they were fashioned with lama bones and Paper Mache. Wow! And people think I’m no fun.
Growing up in the 80s and 90s, in the shadow of whatever happened at Roswell, I am used to the Government flat-out denying that anything like this exists at all. And now the government seems to be suggesting they may have been less than honest with us back then…. You don’t say… So, what do they have exactly?
In truth, we don’t really know. The government is inviting further conspiracy theories by being so cagey about this. When something happens and the government acts like there’s something to hide it only invites suspicion. A government that only releases part of the information and continues to hide the rest will only invite suspicion. It is only natural for people to want a complete picture, and if the government won’t provide one, they will fill in the blanks themselves, and that leads to ideas in the ether that some will accept, while others won’t, and that has consequences for society.
If Whitley Streiber is right, then the government needs to explain why they are letting its people be abducted and tortured by strange beings some believe are extraterrestrials. If I am right, this is a widespread medical issue involving sleep deprivation and night terrors. The people need to know what this really is so they can seek the appropriate remedies, which may include medical help with sleep. Either way, it’s way past time for the government to fully disclose what it is we’re dealing with.
Happy Halloween!
