Experiencers and "exploding head syndrome."

Hi all,

Some background:

Over the years, I have interviewed dozens of experiencers. Some of them have mentioned unusual events which occur on the sleep/awake interface. They will be lying in bed, and suddenly hear a tremendously loud sound; or see a flash of light in their darkened room, or occasionally feel a wave of heat pass through their bodies.

These events then become integrated into other unusual events, which happen to them, which they may interpret as being part of their UAP/alien experiences. However, there may just be a conventional explanation for these kind of events.

In the July/August 2015 (vol. 36, no.6) issue of the magazine "Australasian Science," writer Tim Hannon, on page 40, reports on  "Exploding Head Syndrome."

The article:

In part the article reads:

"In recent years the neuropsychological literature has been awash with reports of people describing strange experiences when going to sleep. Many of those have described hearing sudden inexplicable noises; such as unseen bombs exploding nearby, thunderclaps on cloud-free nights, or a gun fired in their bedroom by an invisible intruder. At times these sounds are accompanied by flashes of light, or by physical sensations such as intense heat."

"While some people are convinced that these explosions are real, most others acknowledge that, since they are not heard by others, the sounds must have occurred inside their own heads.

"Some have concluded that these noises must be the work of invisible agents such as aliens or poltergeists, or a government agency testing mind-control weapons...neurological investigation suggest that the episodes are symptoms of a condition labelled exploding head syndrome which may be more common than previously assumed...The neurological mechanisms responsible for exploding head syndrome are not well understood...The dominant theory implicates the reticular formation, a set of connected nuclei distributed through the brainstem, which is one of several neural systems regulating the body's transition between sleep and wakefulness..."

Hannon's article cites the recent work of Brian Sharpless, Department of Psychology, Washington State University as published in J. Sleep Res. (2015 - click here.)

Knowledge researchers need:

I have long maintained, that UAP researchers who work with experiencers need to have a basic knowledge of a number of areas of abnormal psychology (click here) , physiology (click here) and neurology (click here.). These include the topics of hypnagogic and hypnopompic imagery (click here); sleep paralysis (click here;) and fantasy prone personality (click here ); and false awakenings (click here.)

Pauline Wilson's blog posts:

For the background to the possible relationship between UAP experiencers and fantasy-prone personality by Adelaide based researcher, Pauline Wilson, please click here. For citations to seven published scientific studies on the topic, and further discussion click here.

For Pauline's take on hypnagogic imagery click here.

In summary:

I am not saying that these areas explain the totality of experiencer's accounts, but that parts of experiencers' stories are so similar to these areas of existing knowledge, that researchers need to take current scientific research into account, when trying to interpret the accounts of an experiencer.

"A time to remember"

Dear readers,

The English magazine "Fortean Times" is always a source of articles which make me think. Another fascinating article appears in the March 2012 issue (pp56-57) penned (or typed) by one Rob Gandy.

A management consultant, Gandy, had an unusual experience in December 2006, which he shares with us. After working on bicycle repairs, then talking to his wife, he lost a portion of his memory for recent events. At first, his wife thought he had experienced a stroke. However, the diagnosis was Transient Global Amnesia (for more click here.) His memory slowly returned.

Gandy points out that a FT contributor, Gail-Nina Anderson, who also had a TGA episode, joked that "...if she had been on a dark lonely road when she experienced TGA, she would have been able to attribute the time lapse to aliens."

Gandy then writes "A stereotypical; event in ufology is that someone is driving through the countryside at night when their car enters a luminous cloud, or similar; then the driver finds himself miles down the road with half an hour missing."

"A number of commentators have argued that many, if not all, perceived UFOs are actually forms of a rare meteorological phenomena. Therefore, my speculative interpretation of these events is that they do involve rare meteorological phenomena and these phenomena can induce TGA in humans who get too close to them."

What is the frequency of TGA?

"Estimates...varies from a minimum of 2.9 cases per  100,000 population (Spain) and 5.2 per 100,000 (USA); but among people aged over 50, the rate of TGA incidence is reported to range from approximately 23 per 1000,000 (in a US population) to 32 per 100,000 (in a population in Scandinavia.)"

Gandy argues that some people who have a TGA episode, might arrive at an interpretation of an alien abduction, in their world view.

Lost time:

"I surmise that most, if not all, reported episodes of lost time are not, "lost time: but "lost memory," and suggest that there are rare meteorological phenomena that can induce memory loss on a temporary basis."

Comments:

I find the meteorological part of Gandy's hypothesis a bit of a stretch. Why do we need a rare meteorological phenomena to cause a TGA? TGA's happen to some people, in a variety of circumstances.

I do however, think that TGAs may have an involvement in some UFO encounters. Just as hypnagogic and hypnopompic imagery; (click here);  fantasy proneness; (click here) sleep paralysis (click here for a detailed article by Keith Basterfield) ; migraines (click here); false awakenings (click here)  and other conditions seem to be involved in some encounters. TGAs may account for element of some such events. Perhaps, many abduction accounts may involve one, or a combination of these triggers?

"Abduction:Human Encounters With Aliens"

Hi

Long time readers of this blog will be aware of Pauline's observations on potential psychological explanations for some UFO abductions. Readers who have looked at my recent postings on abductions will know that this is also an area of interest to me. I must emphasise that neither of us are suggesting that all abductions can be explained in this way. However, if we eliminate some cases, but there remain cases which cannot be accounted for in these ways, then we learn something about the remaining cases.

In this post I want to present some data after examining some detailed abductee/experiencer case histories as presented by John Mack in his book "Abduction:Human Encounters with Aliens." Published in 1994 by Simon and Schuster. London. ISBN 0 671 85194 2. In reviewing these 13 case histories I was looking for indicators which might relate to migraines, and/or sleep paralysis.

Migraine:

Pauline's post of 28 August (click here) 2010 mentioned that Richard Grossinger's book "Migraine Auras:When the Visual World Fails" speaks of migraine prodrome. "Migraines are often augured by incipient sensations, an undefined prodrome that may occur days, hours or just minutes beforehand." These prodromes may include "...strong tingling or a sensation of vibrating wires (paresthesias) in the feet, hands, face and/or tongue area." (p69.(

Taking a look at possible migraine related occurrences in Mack's case histories I note:

Experiencer Scott (Chapter five) - Abduction experiences since age 3

"Beginning when he was eight, Scott was taken repeatedly to physicians, especially neurologists, for the evaluation and treatment of frequent throbbing headaches that had begun when he was six...the headaches were diagnosed as "atypical migraine."" (p94.)

Experiencer Jerry (Chapter six) - Abductions before age 7

"Jerry...realized she was "paralysed kind of up to the waist"...Jerry described the paralysis as being like a painful vibration. Then "a tremendous vibration" extended into her hand...The powerful vibrations seemed to shake Jerry's whole body." (p122.)

Experiencer Eva (Chapter eleven) - Abductions since early childhood

"Following this session, Eva again experienced an intense headache and was extremely thirsty for a day or two." (p255.)

Experiencer Dave (Chapter twelve) -Abductions from age 3

"He also remembers having the same feelings, "a vibration of some kind, a tingling," that he had in association with later abductions." (p268.)

"The vibration, "then went from below my naval and out through my chest, and then it was real tingly..." (p273.)

Experiencer Peter (Chapter thirteen) - Various abductions

"I remember my whole body vibrated and shook maybe for a second, two seconds, three seconds." (p295.)

"Once more he felt the vibrations in his body..." (p322.)

Sleep paralysis:

The name given to the experience of waking from sleep to find that you are unable to move is "sleep paralysis." It is a relatively common phenomenon which happens to many people at least once in their lifetime. Some people regularly experience it. It is when you awake from the "dreaming" or "rapid eye movement" phase of sleep, where your muscle tone is low - hence you feel you are paralysed and cannot move. However, almost inevitably you can move your eyes. Hypnopompic imagery (click here for more details) can accompany sleep paralysis. These hallucinations can generate images of figures, unusual noises and can appear "as real as real."

Are there any indicators of episodes of sleep paralysis in Mack's experiencer case histories? Yes there are.

Jerry

"She woke up terrified...she could not move." (p118.)

"In the years following, Jerry had a number of 'nightmares' in which she would awake paralyzed, hear 'buzzing and ringing and whirring' noises in her head and see humanoid beings in her room." (p119.)

Catherine

"She recalled a dream from age nine in which she was paralyzed and terrified as 'some kind of creature' with long fingers...grabbed her." (p143.)

Paul

"No longer at home in his cellar, Paul now was lying on his back in his bed at night and experienced 'things'...he could not move at all." (p232.)

Eva

"...she recalled waking in the night and seeing 'three midgets'...she felt helpless and could not move." (p243.)

"I was frozen again...totally frozen..." (p244.)

Peter

"It is not clear to Peter whether he fell asleep or not...Now he was paralyzed..." (p302.)

Other comments:

Two general comments which Mack makes are of interest to me:

(1) "One of the more difficult phenomena that Catherine and many other abduction experiencers have to deal with is a virtually constant flow of sensory experience, especially light flashes...intrusions of patterned color images..." (p168.)

Could these be migraine related?

(2) "During his childhood Arthur tended, like many abductees, to get significant throat and sinus infections." (p371.) I don't think I have ever come across anyone who has made this observation before.

Final comment:

I know that I am taking selective quotes from case studies, but I am looking to draw attention to the fact that there may be relationships to migraines and sleep paralysis, which were not looked into at the time.

I would urge anyone investigating a new account to take a detailed medical history as part of the data gathering.

For an article on sleep paralysis which I wrote several years ago, click here then scroll down.

For one of the best websites for information on sleep paralysis click here

I welcome comments from readers.

Staying sane 2

Continuing a series of posts about how I have managed to retain a long term, 40 year, interest in the UFO phenomenon.

2. Tackle diverse research projects.

The range of research projects which I have conducted over the years, has included:

* An in depth examination of the possible application of the fantasy-prone personality (FPP) (Click here for one of my articles.) ; and hypnagogic imagery, to UFO abductions. I had thought that support for the FPP hypothesis had declined, but three out of seven studies conducted, have provided support for the idea.

* I asked the question "Could reports of 'angel hair' falls be simply spiders' web?" The research I conducted and published supports the strong possibility that almost all cases looked at by UFO researchers may be explained in just this way. (For my report click here.)

* I conducted the only comprehensive literature review ever undertaken into the subject of alien implants. This revealed that very little peer review research had been conducted into this topic. (Click here for a catalogue I developed.)

* I worked with academics at two Australian universities studying the personality characteristics of Australian abductees.

*I took a long hard look at the possible application of sleep paralysis to UFO abductions, and concluded that most UFO researchers have underestimated its relevance. (For an article by Susan Blackmore on this topic, click here.)

* After examining hundreds of raw UFO reports, I believe that 95% have mundane explanations; whereas many UFO researchers tell us 95% are UFOs!

All of these research projects developed my knowledge in many areas; made me question various approached undertaken by other people, and ended up with me publishing my results in the global UFO literature, for others to debate and discuss.

Origins of the fantasy-prone hypothesis

Dear readers

Well, autumn has arrived in Adelaide. Since the last post, average maximum temperatures have dropped to the low twenties centigrade, and we have had a nice drop of rain! In fact, last week, one day we had more rain in a day than any other day since 2007 which is good for us. The government may now lift the water restrictions which have seen many household lawns die.

Now, on to today's post. I have often wondered where the idea of UFO abducteees/experiencers as possible fantasy-prone personalities, came from? I couldn't really find a definitive answer on the net, but recently was re-reading a book which provided the exact answer, and the fantasy-prone story started right her in little old Adelaide!

The book was "UFOs:a report on Australian encounters" by Adelaide researcher Keith Basterfield. Reed Books. 1997. Kew, Victoria. ISBN: 0-7301-0496-6. As the book is now out of print (click here for Amazon copies) I will post the relevant pages 120-123.

"In the early 1980s, two American psychologists, Sheryl C Wilson and Theodore Barber, stumbled over a new type of personality which they came to call the fantasy-prone personality (FPP)(click here for more information ). Among their findings from a group of women who rated as excellent hypnotic subjects were:

* 60 per cent of FPP subjects reported that they had had a false pregnancy at least once. Not only did they believe they were pregnant but typical symptoms of pregnancy occurred. Two women went for abortions, at which time they were told that no foetus had been found. In a control group only 16 per cent of the women experienced false pregnancies, but there was no "missing fetus" report

* With their eyes open, 65 per cent of the FPP subjects experienced their 'imagery' as 'real as real' in all sense modes. The other 33 per cent found most sense modes as 'real as real'

* The fantasises had a life of their own; they were not directed or controlled by the subject

*Of all FPP subjects 75 per cent could achieve sexual orgasm by mental fantasy alone

* As children the FPP subjects lived in a make-believe world of their own construction

* When they were children, almost all of the subjects believed in fairies, leprechauns and elves, and other such beings

* of the FPP subjects, 58 per cent had childhood imaginary companions, whom they described as 'real' to them. This was in contrast to just 8 per cent of the control group

* Most FPP subjects had an incredible memory recall for childhood events, beyond the memory recall of most of us

*Of the FPP subjects 92 per cent saw themselves as psychic and reported numerous telepathic and precognitive experiences. This contrasted with 16 per cent for the control group

*Of the FPP subjects 50 per cent reported out of the body experiences (control group: 8 percent)

* Of FPP subjects 50 per cent reported an ability to perform automatic writing (controls: 8 per cent)

* Of FPP subjects 66 per cent reported a perceived ability to perform healings, which none of the control group reported

* Reports of seeing apparitions: 73 per cent of FPP versus 16 per cent controls

* On the question of hypnagogic imagery: 64 per cent FPP versus 8 per cent controls reported frequent imagery when falling asleep.

It should be noted here that all the FPP subjects were socially aware, happy, normal, healthy people, free from mental disorder...

Having come across this research by Wilson and Barber I mentioned the possible relevance of it to Robert E Bartholomew, (click here for books by Bartholomew) an American PhD student in Sociology at Flinders University, South Australia, whom I knew. We saw that:

* Many experiencers who have undergone regression hypnosis were rated by the person performing the hypnosis as 'excellent' hypnotic subjects. This fact is in itself interesting, in that only a small percentage of the general population are in fact 'excellent' subjects

* Female experiencers were reporting pregnancies then 'missing foetuses.' This unusual claim closely matched the experience of two non-experiencer FPP subjects

* If abductions were internally generated FPP imagery, then they could appear as 'real as real"

* My own research revealed that local experiences were reporting having above average memory recall for very early childhood events

*Many experiencers reported that they were either psychic before their abductions or that their psychic abilities blossomed after the abduction

We therefore felt that there were enough parallels between the FPP and abductions to warrant further research."

Comments:

Reading the above I can see why Keith and Robert thought that the work of Wilson and Barber had relevance to abductions. Keith had by this time interviewed a number of local Australian abductees and made observations which fitted the FPP. (Click here for a 2005 Australian abduction catalogue.)

So, this is the origin of the suggested link between the FPP and abductees/experiencers. My earlier post indicated that following Keith and Robert's suggestion, which they published in a couple of articles in the International UFO Reporter published by the US Based Centre for UFO Studies, at least seven studies set out to look at whether or not there was a link.

Dear readers, what do you think of the FPP?

Fantasy proneness and abductions

Hi

At my local library the other day, to my surprise and delight, I found a copy of "The Fortean Times" (FT) magazine. Inside was a piece by UFOlogist Peter Hough about fantasy proneness. Later, I found the same piece was available on the FT's website. Two people had left comments, one of whom was Adelaide's Keith Basterfield. Keith listed seven studies taking a look at the question of whether or not UFO experiencers rate higher on a scale measuring fantasy proneness than controls. With Keith's permission I reproduce his FT comments.

Keith's comments:

1. Ring, K & Rosing, C (1990.) "The Omega Project: A Psychological Survey of Persons Reporting Abductions and Other UFO Encounters." Journal of UFO Studies new series 2:59-98.

"...UFO experiencers in general, while not more fantasy-prone than their controls..." p59.

2. Rodeghier, M; Goodpaster, J; Blatterbauer, S. (1991.) Psychosocial Characteristics of Abductees:Results from the CUFOS Abduction Project." Journal of UFO Studies new series 3:59-90.

"...we found that our subjects as a whole cannot be characterised as fantasy-prone..." p80.

3. Spanos, N P; Cross, P A; Dickson, K; DuBreuil, S C. (1993.) "Close Encounters: An Examination of UFO Experience." Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 102(4):624-632.

"On a battery of objective tests Ss in the 2 groups did not score...more fantasy-prone...than a community comparison group or a student comparison group." Abstract.

4. Gow, K; Lurie, J; Coppin, S; Popper, A; Powell, A; Basterfield, K. (2001.) "Fantasy Proneness and Other Psychological Correlates of UFO Experience." European Journal of UFO and Abduction Studies. 2(2):45-66.

"Firstly, it was found that all UFO experience groups scored significantly higher on the ICMI than did controls." p61.

5. Hough, P and Rogers, P. (2007.) "Individuals who Report Being Abducted by Aliens: Investigating the Differences in Fantasy Proneness, Emotional Intelligence and the Big Five Personality Factors." Imagination, Cognition and Personality. 27(2):139-161.

"...no group differences in any of the three fantasy sub-scales..." Abstract.

6. French, C C; Santomauro, J; Hamilton, V; Fox, R; Thalbourne, M A (2008.) "Psychological Aspects of the Alien Contact Experience." Cortex 44(10):1387-1395.

"Experiencers were found to show higher levels of...fantasy proness..." Abstract.

7. LeLieuvre, R B; Larson, T; Remington, H. (2008.) "Ring's "Omega Project" Revisited: Antecedents and Consequents of UFO Encounters and Alien Abductions." MUFON Journal Mar 2008 pp8-11.

"Experimental subjects...were also slightly more prone to fantasy than control subjects..." p10.

My comments:

Out of the seven studies, items 1,2,3,5 report that experiencers are not more fantasy-prone than controls, while items 4,6 & 7 reveal that experiencers are more fantasy prone than controls.

Hough in his FT piece commented about the nature of the definition of "experiencers", "abductees" and "contactees" used in the various studies he cites (Keith lists more studies than Hough). A quick look at four studies revealed:

1. Gow et al - 155 controls, 19 UFO sighters, 12 UFO contactees and 12 UFO abductees.
2. Hough & Rogers - 26 experiencers and 26 controls.
3. French et al - 19 UK based experiencers, and some controls.
4. LeLieuvre et al - 19 controls and 11 experiencers (8 significant sighting of a craft, 2 humanoids close by a craft, 1 lifelong abductions.)

Two things are evident to me. One, that the numbers of "expereincers" are low in all studies. Two, that we are not talking about studying "UFO abductees" as defined by the 1991 CUFOS definition, which is:

"1. A witness must be taken against his or her will from normal terrestrial surroundings by non-human beings.
2. These beings must take the witness to another enclosed space that is not terrestrial in appearance and is assumed or known by the witness to be a spacecraft.
3. In this place, the witness must either be subjected to various procedures that appear to be examinations of some type, engage in communication (verbal or telepathic) with the beings or both.
4. These experiences may be remembered consciously or through various means of focused concentration, such as hypnosis, or by a combination of the two.

Rodeghier, M; Goodpaster, J & Blatterbauer, S. (1991.) "Psychosocial Characteristics of Abductees:Results from the CUFOS Abduction Project." JUFOS ns 3:64.

This is a very strict definition, but squarely defines an "abduction" in classical terms.

Gow et al used the following definition in their study:
"When a person is taken from a normal terrestrial environment and finds themselves in a non-terrestrial environment, where they meet non-human beings, and engage in some form of experience there, before being returned to a normal terrestrial environment."

Obviously, for the purpose of conducting the above seven studies, defining who is an "abductee" or "experiencer" is an issue.

However, problems of definition aside, at least seven studies have been published which throw some light on the Fantasy-Prone hypothesis.

Speaking of which, where did the idea of linking UFO abductions and fantasy-proneness come from? I must take a look into its origins. A topic for a future post?