For most people, the thought of seeing a UFO or meeting Alien beings from another world is one of excitement and wonder. There is however a darker side to the phenomenon: Alien Abduction.

Basic Alien Abduction Facts

The term Alien Abduction refers to the experience of one or more people encountering and being taken against their will by unidentified beings.

These encounters seem to take place usually in remote or under-populated areas. Victims describe seeing an unidentified object approaching them, then finding themselves hours or even days later displaced with no memory of what has occurred during that time period. This is known in the UFO research community as lost or missing time. The recollection of the actual experiences surface much later.

In most cases the victims undergo a series of what appear to be medical exams. Extractions of fluids, (blood, saliva, semen), are common in most reports. In some cases female abductees reported to have had their ovaries removed. Others have said they were inseminated.

Another common theme is implants. Some victims have been found after their experience to have been “tagged” in some fashion with a small object imbedded in their skin. These objects vary in size, shape and location on the body of the abductee. Some of these objects have been observed to emit microwave signals.

Some researchers have speculated these objects serve in a similar fashion to animal tags used by experts to track the movements of various species of animals as they move through their natural habitat. Others say the devices are meant to emit electric impulses propelling the individual implanted to behave in a certain way. What the actual purposes of the objects are has yet to be determined.

While some abductees claim the experiences to be enlightening and educational, the majority is left with feelings of fear and deep psychological scars. Many undergo individual and group therapy to cope with their experiences.

A Brief History of Alien Abduction

The alien abduction phenomena came to the forefront of western cultural awareness in the latter half of the twentieth century with the testimony of Betty and Barney Hill. In 1961, the couple claimed to have been taken by alien beings onto a flying craft where they underwent a series of medical-like tests.

Since this initial case, others have come forward with similar accounts, such as Travis Walton in 1975. Walton says he was abducted by aliens and describes a similar scenario to the Hill’s experience. His co-workers corroborated his testimony as witnesses to the event and were even questioned as suspects when he failed to return home for five days following the encounter. All individuals in this case passed polygraphs given by State Police personnel.

Into the late 1980’s this area of UFO and alien research quietly grew as independent re-searchers gathered testimonies of hundreds of individuals claiming the same type of ex-periences. A common trait in these experiences began to spring up: the type of beings conducting these abductions possessed similar characteristics. These aliens, short in stat-ure with pale skin, large heads and enormous black eyes came to be known as the Greys.

With the advent of the popular television series, The X-Files in 1992, alien abduction and the Greys were once again of general interest to the public and the media. Countless books, movies, TV shows, (Sightings) and radio programs like Art Bell’s Coast to Coast sprang up documenting the phenomenon. Now, in the 21st Century fueled by the Internet there are thousands of websites available dedicated to the subject of alien abduction. The topic is also being explored on cable documentary series such as The UFO Hunters on The History Channel.