Masked memories: Alien abductions and childhood trauma

Why do some people believe to have been abducted by aliens? Why do so many claim experiences of sexual nature alongside with them?

False memories are often created from partial memories. For example: A very young CSA victim may not remember the events other than via distorted images in memory and ill and confused feelings associated with and triggered by those partial memories.

Susan Clancy demonstrates that alien abduction stories give people meaning and a way to understand their own lives and circumstances.

Clancy, in response to the idea that alien abduction experiences are similar to religious beliefs and experiences says:

All I would like to say is that in the same way that people find meaning in their religious beliefs and experiences, these people find meaning in their alien abduction beliefs and their alien abduction experiences.

Susan A. Clancy is a cognitive psychologist and Associate professor in Consumer behaviour at INCAE as well as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Harvard University. She is best known for her controversial work on repressed and recovered memories in her books Abducted and The Trauma Myth.

False memory creation was examined in people who reported having recovered memories of traumatic events that are unlikely to have occurred: abduction by space aliens. A variant of the Deese/Roediger– McDermott paradigm (J. Deese, 1959; H. L. Roediger III & K. B. McDermott, 1995) was used to examine false recall and false recognition in 3 groups: people reporting recovered memories of alien abduction, people who believe they were abducted by aliens but have no memories, and people who deny having been abducted by aliens. Those reporting recovered and repressed memories of alien abduction were more prone than control participants to exhibit false recall and recognition. The groups did not differ in correct recall or recognition. Hypnotic suggestibility, depressive symptoms, and schizotypic features were significant predictors of false recall and false recognition.

The study: Memory Distortion in People Reporting Abduction by Aliens