226 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
226 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: REVIEW OF DR. JACOB'S BOOK, SECRET LIFE FILE: UFO2098
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This book review, written by Dr. Willy Smith and Copyrighted
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(C) UNICAT Project, July 1, 1992 is posted by express permission
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of Dr. Smith.
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The opinions expressed herein are those of Dr. Smith and do not
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necessarily reflect those of CUFON, Dale Goudie or Jim Klotz.
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BOOK REVIEW
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SECRET LIFE
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By David M. Jacobs, Ph.D.
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Simon and Schuster, NY, 1992
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336 pages
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I eagerly anticipated the publication of SECRET LIFE, hoping
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for a scientifically oriented work which would depart from
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the anecdotal vein used by pioneer researcher Budd Hopkins,
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but I was bitterly disappointed.
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Dr. Jacobs' book assumes the ETH (extraterrestrial
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hypothesis) to be correct, and supports the ideas proposed by
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other researchers that our visitors have a very well defined
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program which includes genetic experiments aimed at creating
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a hybrid species, in spite of the fact that some scientists
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in the biological disciplines have expounded on the
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impossibility of such an endeavor.
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Although Dr. Jacobs has done a labor of love in gathering the
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recollections of numerous alleged abduction victims, he does
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not offer any convincing evidence that we are not dealing
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with subjective events. As in all books on abductions, the
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emphasis is on the narratives obtained from the victims under
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hypnosis. The author recognizes the absence of hard evidence
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and describes attempts to obtain it, as for instance, using
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video cameras- The details reported for such attempts
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strongly suggest that the subjects themselves could have been
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instrumental in the resulting failures.
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The main point in support of the objective reality of
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abductions is that the narratives provided by witnesses
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unknown to each other include "exact and minute details
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previously known only to a few UFO researchers". The obvious
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interpretation is that the abductees are describing the same
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objective reality, a series of independent episodes
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comprising a large-scale genetic program. It is quite
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possible, but not indisputable, that this could be the case.
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However, there is another common element underlying the whole
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research; the investigator himself. He did not seek the
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witnesses, rather the witnesses sought him or were referred
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to him by other abduction enthusiasts, such as his friend
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Budd Hopkins. I am not insinuating that the investigator
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influenced his witnesses, but the possibility can't be
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ignored, as the one-on-one contacts extended over lengthy
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periods of time. For instance, "Melissa Bucknell" had 31
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hypnotic sessions, and since each session lasted between 3
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and 5 hours, a conservative estimate of the contact time
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yields 90 hours, more than sufficient for two persons to know
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and influence each other, even if unconsciously. To this, we
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must add the intercourse necessary to set up a TV camera (p.
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259), and the numerous telephone contacts.
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As we are told, the research involved 39 witnesses claiming
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to have had two or more abductions, and 22 having had only
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one, 61 in total. Of those, 9 are primary witnesses, in the
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sense that the transcripts of their hypnotic sessions
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representing 354 or more contact hours with the investigator
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are extensively quoted in the book. In addition, we have 10
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subjects quoted one or two times, and "Melissa Bucknell"
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whose transcript appears only once, although the repeated
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mentioning of her name throughout the text makes her also a
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star witnesses.
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In short, we don't have a large pool of subjects: the whole
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research rests on the testimony of a limited number of
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witnesses, all having prolonged contacts with the
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investigator. The possibility of undetectedly and
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unintentionally influencing a group of about 10 persons can't
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be discarded, thus providing an alternative explanation for
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the similarity of the narratives, which certainly are not
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identical. This could only be resolved if independent parties
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could study the original tapes.
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A tenet of scientific inquiry is the replication of results.
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In the field of UFO abductions this is impossible, not only
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because the original protocols are not available --as deemed
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necessary for the protection of the witnesses-- but also
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because the secrecy about their identities goes beyond
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reasonable bounds. As a result, we know only the ages and
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present occupations of the 39 witnesses having had two or
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more abductions. As individuals, they remain in a limbo, and
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any attempt to assess and evaluate their stories fails for
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lack of information. We know next to nothing about their
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education, mental and specially physical health, an essential
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ingredient if we are going to understand why those particular
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individuals were selected for a breeding program. Neither do
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we know anything about their daily lives, their families and
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their adjustment to society, all crucial factors for drawing
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conclusions about their credibility.
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As a result, the characters in this book are ghost figures
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performing on a darkened stage. They might be very real to the
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researcher, but he has not managed to convey that sense of
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reality to the readers. A couple of examples will suffice;
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Patti, age 23, returns to her bed after perhaps hours of
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absence (p. 211), and elicits no curiosity from husband Roe
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who in the interim has moved onto her side of the bed, a
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rather incredible situation. Or we have Will Parker reporting
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two abductions many years apart, accompanied on each occasion
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by his wife at the time. One expects to find the
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corroborative affidavits of at least his present wife, Nancy,
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but she is no more than a name. These are disturbing
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omissions, subtracting luster from the work, as the reader is
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left wondering why those women did not come forward to
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confirm the events.
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A shortcoming of the book, as in previous works on the
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subject, is the glaring omission of numbers. We are told how
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many hypnotic sessions were necessary to extract the
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information from each individual, but we can only estimate
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how many contact hours between investigator and subject were
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required to that end. More importantly, we are told only that
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the subjects listed (by assumed names) had multiple
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abductions, but the particulars, i.e., how many abductions
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each one reported, are omitted. And this includes the star
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Melissa, who claimed a daily abduction during some period of
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time (p. 258), a most extraordinary statement deserving more
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than one line of text! This is a serious flaw from a
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scientific viewpoint, as in the absence of independent
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supporting evidence a correlation linking for each subject
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the number of abductions and the actual elapsed time
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(apparently not available) to the contact hours with the
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researcher and the amount of information obtained, could have
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led to a realistic estimate of the quality of the
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information.
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A refreshing novelty is the "Abduction Scenario Matrix" (p.
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330) which systematizes the different characteristic events
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reported by the abductees. Unfortunately, the essential
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ingredients to validate it are lacking. Presumably, and we
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are even told so, the described procedures are well defined
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parameters of the abduction phenomenon, repeating from one
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incident to the next. But for each of those characteristics
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the frequency of its appearance in the sample is missing. For
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instance, how many times is sexual arousal (in the
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Mental-Primary box) reported? Or, how many of the witnesses
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have claimed implants (Physical-Primary box)?
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The significance --if not the credibility-- of those events
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would be completely different if the percentage of incidence
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turned out to be 80%, or merely 5%. Those numbers can't be
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obtained from the text because the narratives of a few
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individuals (the primary witnesses) strongly predominate.
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Thus, the repetitive character of the incidents is not firmly
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established. And, as a matter of fact, the total number of
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subjects is not even clear, although one could assume there
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are 61.
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Curiously, the abductees say little, if anything, about the
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presence of an actual craft prior to the main event, and
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although the narratives are rich in details about the
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internal arrangements of the UFO, practically no information
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about its external characteristics and behavior are
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provided.
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This has two immediate consequences:
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(1) we have no compelling evidence that the UFOS
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involved in abductions are identifiable with those described
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in the literature, whose characteristics are well-known.
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(2i The size of those crafts must be considerable, to
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accommodate the facilities described by the abductees, which
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include nurseries, very large rooms containing tables for 50
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to 100 babies. and display tubes for 60 to 70 fetuses.
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Diameters of hundreds of feet are quoted (p. 82).
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Such large crafts would increase many fold their chances of
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detection, while in fact the number of credible reports have
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decreased with the years, and even in the heyday of UFO wave!
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the sighting of very large crafts were few and far apart,
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Moreover, today radar coverage makes it almost impossible@e for
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vehicles from outer space to approach undetected to land and
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take off from practically anywhere. How could this be?
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This particularity, as well as two other details mentioned by
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Dr. Jacobs, suggest the possibility of a hypothesis that has
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been around for quite a while, but has been systematically
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ignored by the proponents of the ETH and others, namely, the
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Parallel Universe Hypothesis, which postulates that the
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origin of UFOs is another three-dimensional universe parallel
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to ours in a superior dimension. The transfer would require a
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"window", a threshold, which the operators could place at
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will anywhere (and hence witnesses are not safe even in
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Ireland!) and the actual passage would entail a period of
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disorientation and confusion, which is indeed reported by Dr.
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Jacobs' abductees. The victims will not really pass through
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closed windows, as reported, but will be transferred through
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a singularity between those universes located adjacent to the
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actual window. True, the witnesses describe being taken into
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the air, but also indicate a vertical motion and no sense of
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weather (p. 54) while this is occurring, both meaningful
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details. I suspect that this significant inference has
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totally escaped the attention of the author of this study.
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If anything, this book has brought into focus the
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difficulties with abduction claims, and the absolute lack of
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supporting independent evidence. As such it is a valuable
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contribution.
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Dr. Willy Smith
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(C) UNICAT Project
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July 1, 1992
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=============================================================================
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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********************************************** |