From the land of the painfully obvious comes word of a new study by Professor Chris French at Goldsmiths College which says that folks who think they’ve been abducted by aliens are just suffering from false memories.
Many of the alien experiences could be explained by sleep paralysis, a condition in which a person is awake and aware of the surroundings but is unable to move.
Sleep paralysis often leads to hallucinations and 40 percent of people experience the state at least once in their lives, French said.
A rich imagination was also at play. Several of the alien abductees were already prone to fantasizing and also claimed to have seen ghosts and have psychic or healing abilities.
“People have very rich fantasy lives,” said French, who is due to present his findings at a public seminar at the Science Museum on Wednesday.
“So much so that they often mix up what’s happening in their heads with what is going on in the real world.”
Anyone who is an SEB regular already knows how true that last statement is as we get plenty of examples of those people in the comments around here all the time. Like must delusional people, however, it’s doubtful that the alien abductees are going to agree with the findings of this report. Which is why I’m proud to continue to offer for sale the very-soon-to-be-patented Anti-Alien Anal Probe Ass Shield. Don’t go to bed without it!
Posted on 10/27/2005 at 06:04 AM 
I was sleep-paralyzed once. I woke up one morning, opened my eyes, and I couldn’t move. It was very frightening for a few seconds; then I remembered having heard about the condition, and relaxed. After maybe a minute, the rest of my body woke up. Didn’t get abducted, though- some people have all the luck…