"My first reaction was that if he took thisseriously there must be something wrong with himand that this is some kind of psychosis ofpsychiatric problem." Mack recalls.

Yet Mack's opinions about both Hopkins and theabduction phenomena changed after he began seeingabductees professionally in the winter of 1990.Mack, who dedicated Abduction to Hopkins,says, "It soon became apparent and remains clearto me that these are not experiences that can beexplained in a purely psychodynamic orpsychosocial way. They do involve some kind ofactual encounter with some sort of entity."

"Now whether those entities are literallyphysical beings in our material universe ofwhether they represent some kind of cross overfrom another dimension I really don't know," Macksays.

The Abductions

Most abduction reports follow a similarscenario. According to Dominique Callimanopoulos,the coordinator for Mack's International AbductionProject, people report being visited by a brightlight, floating through a closed window, wall orceiling, entering a ship, and undergoing certainprocedures [For an account from an actualabductee, please see adjacent story.]

Researches say abductees share no specificdefining characteristic David Jacobs associateprofessor of history at Temple University, saysanyone and everyone can be abducted, and thatexperiencers come from a wide spectrum of peoplein terms of intelligence education, ethnicity andreligious belief.

Mack, however, is now studying the personalityprofiles of experiencers to determine whether ornot abductees may share certain characteristics.

According to researchers, abductions can occuranywhere and at any time-- in bed, while driving,even while canoeing, Jacobs says memories of theabductions vary among experiencers, from somepeople remembering entire episodes to some havingno conscious recollection of the encounter at all.

The actual nature of the aliens is debatedamong abduction researchers. To Mack, the aliensare primarily benevolent entities while toresearchers like Hopkins, they have a moresinister motive.

Mack says such differences may reflect thedifferent ways in which people interpret and reactto experiences. Some may be frightened byencounters, while others might find themspiritual.

The different reactions to alien abductions mayalso reflect their varied appearances.Callimanopulos says Mack is most familiar with the"little grays," what one might typically think ofas aliens: they are about four feet tall, withgrey pear-shaped heads and large oval eyes.

Another "species" of alien are the "TallNordics": tall, blond humanoids who look very muchlike gods. According to Callimanopulos, othertypes of aliens include reptilian-looking entitiesand dwarves.

Controversy

Perhaps the only thing certain about Mack'sabduction research is its surrounding controversy.According to Beverley A. Rubick, director of theCenter for Frontier Sciences at Temple University,"anyone who is raising extraordinary questionsabout what we think about realty is going to belaughed at or ridiculed."

Since the publication of Abduction in1994, scientists have criticized Mack's researchmethods and his contention that UFOs and abductionmay be real.