127 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
127 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: MEMORIES CAN BE CHANGED BY UFO INVESTIGATORS FILE: UFO2679
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BEWARE:
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Your Memories Can Be Changed By UFO Investigators
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By Anne Strieber
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A new study shows that our memories of an event are not permanently
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fixed; they can be changed by suggestion. This is important news for
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UFO witnesses who seek help from UFO researchers in order to try to
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understand what has happened to them; if they fall into the hands of
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people who are biased towards one particular viewpoint, their memories
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may become permanently distorted.
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In the "Brain/Mind Bulletin" of October 1989, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus,
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of the University of Washington, described studies that show a person's
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memory of an event can be manipulated after the fact. This article
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states that "the natural assumption is that the details of an
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extraordinary scene are deeply imprinted in the consciousness of a
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witness and therefore immune to 'revision'." According to Loftus,
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however, this is naively optimistic. As some trial lawyers have long
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known, she said, people can be made to "remember" completely false and
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imaginary things by being fed misinformation presented as fact.
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She cited several recent studies of a similar design: A group of
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subjects watches a videotape of a complex and dramatic event, such as a
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simulated violent crime or an automobile accident. Half the group then
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receives false new information and the other half is given no new
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information.
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"In study after study, those who received the post-event
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misinformation tended to incorporate much of it into their 'memories'.
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The other group, however,maintained a fairly accurate picture.
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"...Through manipulation, subjects have been made to remember clean-
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shaven men as having mustaches and straight hair as curly. They have
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even recalled a nonexistent item as large as a barn in the middle of a
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scene.
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"People are particularly prone to having their memories modified when
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the passage of time allows the original memory to fade," Loftus said.
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These studies should be taken as a warning by all UFO witnesses. Most
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people, after having experienced an anomalous event such as a
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confrontation with what appear to be beings from another world, will
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naturally seek out a UFO researcher in order to learn more about their
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experiences. However, most UFO investigators are far from open-minded;
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they have strong opinions about what UFOs are, despite the fact that
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they have no evidence to back up their theories.
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Some UFO investigators are convinced that aliens are here from
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another planet, stealing eggs and sperm in order to create a new master
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race. Others feel that aliens are here on military reconnaissance
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flights or are scientists trying to learn more about the human race.
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Still others delude themselves with the vain hope that aliens are
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watching over us and will rescue us if we are on the brink of self-
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destruction through the use of nuclear weapons or from excessive
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pollution of our planet. There are so- called UFO investigators who
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have taken the guise of religious leaders, who claim to channel
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inspirational messages from other worlds. If a UFO witness comes into
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contact with one of these highly opinionated "experts", there's a
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chance that the truth of his experience will be lost forever.
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What can you do to protect yourself? The best advice is to be
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skeptical when confronted with the latest UFO theories - ask yourself,
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where's the proof? Never let yourself be hypnotized by a UFO researcher
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who is not a trained, professional hypnotist. Suggestions given to you
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while you are in a hypnotic state are even more likely to distort your
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memory.
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A related matter, concerning what are called near-death experiences,
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has recently come to light. This experience occurs when people are
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brought back from the brink of death. They describe traveling out of
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their bodies and often remember entering a dark tunnel, with a light at
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the other end. When brought back to life, they find themselves to be
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changed - spiritually, psychologically and physically.
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In our Spring 1990 issue, we reported that the physical and
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psychological changes undergone by people who have had visitor
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experiences are similar to the aftereffects experienced by those who
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survive a close brush with death.
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Dr. Kenneth Ring, who has spent years interviewing UFO witnesses and
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near-death survivors, discovered that people from both groups may
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become more sensitive to light and sound, and have an increased
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tendency towards allergies. Some gain psychic powers, such as the
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ability to predict the future or to heal. Others become "electrical
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sensitives", who can put out street lights simply by walking near them.
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Now "The New York Times" reports that people who have near-death
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experiences, and people who merely think they are about to die,
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experience similar mental sensations. These results come from a study
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done at the University of Virginia (and reported in the English medical
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journal 'The Lancer') of twenty-eight patients who would have died
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without medical intervention, and another thirty patients who were not
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in danger of dying but who thought they were.
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There are three theories about what causes the near-death experience:
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it could be a glimpse of our after-life, it could be the result of
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chemicals released in our bodies when we're dying which cause certain
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types of visions, or it could be a psychological response to the trauma
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of death.
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Patients who had near-death experiences when they only thought they
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were dying give support to the psychological theory. The theory
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regarding biological changes is supported by the fact that more near-
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death experiences were reported by patients who were actually dying.
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And the idea that patients were seeing a glimpse of their future after
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death is borne out by the fact that both groups managed to have visions
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and enhanced mental experiences, despite the fact those who were dying
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actually had diminished brain function during that time.
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Does this mean that those people who only thought they were near
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death might also have undergone some of the physical changes that Dr.
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Ring discovered? Can we then draw the conclusion that people who only
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thought they saw a UFO - who saw, for instance, a meteor instead -
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might have the same aftereffects as UFO witnesses? There is fascinating
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material here for future study.
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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********************************************** |