home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- From: dona@bilver.uucp (Don Allen)
- Subject: FILE: Linda Napolitano Report
- Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
- Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 05:05:52 GMT
- Message-ID: <1993Jan13.050552.8489@bilver.uucp>
- Lines: 655
-
- Note: This was sent to me courtesy of George Hansen and arrived in
- the mail on disk. I've talked at length with George Hansen and Joe
- Stefula. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact them
- at the address and phone number provided in the file.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- M E M O
-
-
-
- To: Those Interested in the UFO Problem
-
-
- From: Joseph J. Stefula (609) 893-9278
- 7 Michigan Terrace
- Browns Mills, NJ 08015
-
- Richard D. Butler (609) 625-2890
- P.O. Box 65
- Mays Landing, NJ 08330
-
- George P. Hansen (609) 426-0927
- Princeton Arms North 1, Apt. 59
- Cranbury, NJ 08512
-
-
- Date: 08 January 1993
-
-
- Re: Budd Hopkins' case of the abduction of Linda Napolitano
-
-
- Enclosed is our report on the much acclaimed case of the UFO abduction of
- Linda Napolitano. We invite your comments.
-
-
- Hopkins' claims have generated enormous publicity and have been mentioned in
- the New York Times, Omni, the Wall Street Journal, and Paris Match, among
- others. As such, this case is likely to have a substantial impact on the
- field of ufology.
-
-
- Leadership in both the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and the J. Allen Hynek
- Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) aggressively opposed our investigation, and
- both previously refused to publish our criticisms. This raises grave
- questions about the scientific and journalistic integrity of MUFON and
- CUFOS.
-
-
- Those organizations have many members, and we are unable to provide more
- than a few copies of this paper to others. We ask you to help us with the
- distribution. Please feel free to make copies of this article, post it on
- electronic bulletin boards, and print it in periodicals.
-
-
- A Critique of Budd Hopkins' Case of the UFO Abduction
-
- of
-
- Linda Napolitano
-
-
- by Joseph J. Stefula, Richard D. Butler, and George P. Hansen
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
- ABSTRACT: Budd Hopkins has made a number of public presentations of a
- purported UFO abduction case with multiple witnesses. The primary abductee is
- Linda Napolitano, who lives in an apartment building on the lower east side of
- Manhattan (New York City). She claims to have been abducted by
- extraterrestrial aliens from her 12th floor apartment in November 1989. It is
- claimed that three witnesses in a car two blocks away observed Linda and alien
- beings float out of a window and ascend into a craft. One alleged witness was
- United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar. It is also claimed
- that a woman on the Brooklyn Bridge observed the abduction. Linda has reported
- nose bleeds, and one X-ray displays an implant in her nose.
-
- To date, Hopkins has provided no full, detailed written report, but he did
- publish a couple five page articles in the September and December 1992 issues
- of the Mufon UFO Journal and made a presentation at the 1992 MUFON symposium.
- We have made use of that information as well as records from other
- presentations, and we have interviewed the abductee. A number of serious
- questions arose from our examination. The case has many exotic aspects, and we
- have identified a science fiction novel that may have served as the basis for
- elements of the story.
-
- Several prominent leaders in ufology have become involved, and their behavior
- and statements have been quite curious. Some have aggressively attempted to
- suppress evidence of a purported attempted murder. The implications for the
- understanding of ufology are discussed.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Budd Hopkins is the person most responsible for drawing attention to the
- problem of the extraterrestrial (ET) abduction experience. His efforts have
- been instrumental in stimulating both media attention and scientific
- research devoted to the problem. He has written two popular books (Missing
- Time, 1981, and Intruders, 1987), established the Intruders Foundation, and
- has made innumerable appearances at conferences and in the media.
-
- Although Hopkins is neither a trained therapist, an academic, nor a
- scientist, he has involved such people in his work. John E. Mack, M.D., a
- Pulitzer Prize winner and former head of the psychiatry department at
- Harvard Medical School, has praised Hopkins' work and acknowledged his
- indebtedness to him (Mack, 1992a, 1992b). Hopkins has collaborated with
- university professors in co-authoring an article in the book Unusual
- Personal Experiences (1992), which was sent to 100,000 mental health
- professionals. He has testified as an expert witness at a hearing regarding
- the medical competence of a physician who claims to have been abducted
- (McKenna, 1992). Because of such strong endorsements and impressive
- affiliations, and because of his untiring work on behalf of abductees,
- Hopkins has become the single most visible figure in the UFO abduction
- field. His contributions, positive or negative, will be quickly noticed by
- those inside and outside ufology.
-
- Last year, Hopkins made a number of public presentations about a spectacular
- UFO abduction case occurring in November 1989 and having multiple witnesses.
- The primary abductee was Linda Napolitano, a woman living on the 12th floor
- of a high-rise apartment building in lower Manhattan (New York City)
- [Hopkins has previously used the pseudonym "Linda Cortile" in this case].
- It is claimed that three witnesses in a car two blocks away observed Linda
- and three ET aliens emerge from a window and ascend into a craft. Further
- it is claimed that a woman who was driving across the Brooklyn Bridge also
- saw the event.
-
- The case has generated enormous interest and drawn international attention.
- It has been discussed in the Wall Street Journal (Jefferson, 1992), Omni
- (Baskin, 1992), Paris Match (De Brosses, 1992), the New York Times (Sontag,
- 1992), and Hopkins and Napolitano have appeared on the television show
- Inside Edition. The Mufon UFO Journal labeled it "The Abduction Case of the
- Century" (Stacy, 1992, p. 9). Even the technical magazine ADVANCE for
- Radiologic Science Professionals carried a discussion of Linda's nasal
- implant (Hatfield, 1992). We should expect continuing coverage of the
- affair not only in the UFO press but also in the major media.
-
- In a short article previewing his 1992 MUFON symposium presentation, he
- wrote: "I will be presenting what I believe to be the most important case
- for establishing the objective reality of UFO abductions that I have yet
- encountered" (Hopkins, 1992, p. 20). During his lecture at the symposium he
- stated: "This is probably the most important case I've ever run into in my
- life" (tape recorded, July 1992). In his abstract for the Massachusetts
- Institute of Technology Abduction Study Conference held in June 1992 he
- wrote: "The importance of this case is virtually immeasurable, as it
- powerfully supports both the objective reality of UFO abductions and the
- accuracy of regressive hypnosis as employed with this abductee." Because of
- Hopkins' renown, and because of his evaluation, this case warrants our
- careful scrutiny.
-
-
- THE AUTHORS' INVOLVEMENT
-
-
- The first two authors had learned of the case before Hopkins had spoken
- publicly of it, and they decided to monitor its progress. They regularly
- briefed the third author as their investigation progressed. As the affair
- became publicized, all three became concerned about the long term effect it
- might have on abduction research.
-
- For several years Richard Butler attended Hopkins' informal meetings
- organized for abductees and abduction researchers. Butler became familiar
- with the case during those meetings, and he invited Stefula to a gathering
- in early October 1991. At the meeting, Hopkins outlined the case, and
- afterward, Stefula had a chance to chat with Linda about her experiences.
- Butler and Stefula gave Linda their telephone numbers. She was advised that
- if she needed any assistance she could contact them. Stefula told her that
- he had numerous contacts in federal and state law enforcement agencies that
- could be of aid to her. The same information was provided to Hopkins.
-
- On January 28, 1992, Linda requested a meeting with Richard Butler, and on
- February 1, 1992, Linda, Stefula and Butler met in New York City, and Linda
- provided additional details about her experiences (described below). During
- that meeting, she asked them not to inform Hopkins of their discussions. At
- the 1992 MUFON convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico in July, both Hopkins
- and Linda appeared on the podium and presented the case. Stefula attended
- the convention and heard the talk, and disturbing questions arose. Some of
- the statements directly contradicted what Linda had earlier told Stefula and
- Butler. We contacted Hopkins in an attempt to resolve these matters, but he
- declined to meet with us, saying that he didn't want to discuss the case
- until his book manuscript was submitted. Despite his initial reluctance,
- eventually a meeting was arranged on October 3, 1992 at Hopkins' home, and a
- few more details then emerged.
-
-
- SUMMARY OF CASE
-
-
- In order to compile this summary of alleged events, we have relied upon
- Hopkins' and Linda's talks from the podium of the 1992 MUFON symposium, on
- our interviews with Linda, on Hopkins' talk at the Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- UFO conference, September 13, 1992, and Hopkins' two five-page articles in
- the September and December issues of the Mufon UFO Journal.
-
- In April 1989 Hopkins received a letter from Linda Napolitano, a resident of
- New York City. Linda wrote that she had begun reading his book Intruders
- and had remembered that 13 years earlier she had detected a bump next to her
- nose. It was examined by a physician who insisted that she had undergone
- nasal surgery. Linda claimed that she never had such surgery, and she even
- checked with her mother, who confirmed that impression.
-
- Hopkins took an interest in the case because there was a potential for
- medical evidence and because Linda lived relatively close to Hopkins, which
- facilitated their meeting. Linda visited Hopkins and discussed her past
- experiences with him. She recalled some pertinent earlier events in her
- life but believed that she was no longer directly involved with any
- abduction phenomena. Linda then began attending meetings of Hopkins'
- support group for abductees.
-
- On November 30, 1989, Linda called Hopkins and reported that she had been
- abducted during the early morning hours of that day, and she provided some
- details. A few days later, she underwent regressive hypnosis, and Linda
- remembered floating out of her apartment window, 12 stories above the
- ground. She recalled ascending in a bluish-white beam of light into a craft
- which was hovering over the building.
-
-
- Richard and Dan
-
- Over a year later (February 1991), Hopkins received a letter signed with the
- first names, Richard and Dan. (We have no hard evidence that "Richard" and
- "Dan" actually exist. In order to avoid overburdening the reader, we will
- typically omit the word "alleged" when mentioning them.) The letter claimed
- that the two were police officers who were under cover in a car beneath the
- elevated FDR Drive between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m. in late November 1989. Above
- a high-rise apartment building, they observed a large, bright reddish-orange
- object with green lights around its side. They wrote that they saw a woman
- and several strange figures float out a window and up into the object.
- Richard and Dan said that they had come across Hopkins' name and decided to
- write to him. They went on to say that they were extremely concerned about
- her well being, wanted to locate the woman, talk to her, and be assured that
- she was alive and safe. The two also mentioned that they could identify the
- building and window from which she emerged.
-
- After receiving the letter, Hopkins promptly called Linda and told her that
- she might expect a visit from two policemen. A few days later, Linda
- telephoned Hopkins to tell him that she had been visited by Richard and Dan.
- When they had knocked on her door, introducing themselves as police
- officers, she was not too surprized because she reports that police
- frequently canvass her apartment complex looking for witnesses to crimes.
- Even with Hopkins' prior call, she did not expect Richard and Dan to
- actually appear. After they arrived and entered her home, there was an
- emotional greeting, and they expressed relief that she was alive. However,
- Richard and Dan were disinclined to meet with or talk to Hopkins, despite
- the fact that they had written him earlier and despite Linda's entreaties to
- do so. Richard asked Linda if it was acceptable for them to write out an
- account of their experience and then read it into a tape recorder. She
- agreed, and a couple weeks later Hopkins received a tape recording from
- Richard describing their experience.
-
- Some time thereafter, Hopkins received a letter from Dan giving a bit more
- information. The letter reported that Richard had taken a leave of absence
- because the close encounter had been so emotionally traumatic. Dan also
- mentioned that Richard secretly watched Linda. (This information is from
- Hopkins' oral presentation at the 1992 MUFON symposium in Albuquerque. At
- the Portsmouth, New Hampshire conference, Hopkins said that he had received
- a letter from Richard saying that Dan was forced to take of leave of
- absence. It is not clear if Hopkins misspoke at some point, or whether both
- individuals took leaves of absence.)
-
- Hopkins received another letter from Dan which said that he and Richard were
- not really police officers but actually security officers who had been
- driving a very important person (VIP) to a helicopter pad in lower Manhattan
- when the sighting occurred. The letter claimed that their car stalled, and
- Richard had pushed it, parking it beneath the FDR Drive. According to Dan,
- the VIP had also witnessed the abduction event and had become hysterical.
-
- The Kidnappings
-
- Linda claimed that in April of 1991 she encountered Richard on the street
- near her apartment. She was asked to get into a car that Dan was driving,
- but she refused. Richard picked her up and, with some struggle, forced her
- into the vehicle. Linda reported that she was driven around for 3 1/2
- hours, interrogated about the aliens, and asked whether she worked for the
- government. She also said that she was forced to remove her shoes so they
- could examine her feet to determine whether she was an ET alien (they later
- claimed that aliens lack toes). Linda did remember another car being
- involved with the kidnapping, and under hypnotic regression she recalled the
- license plate number of that car, as well as part of the number of the car
- in which she rode. Hopkins reports that the numbers have been traced to
- particular "agencies" (he gave no further details).
-
- At the MUFON symposium, Linda was asked if she had reported the kidnapping
- to the police. She said that she had not and went on to say that the
- kidnapping was legal because it had to do with national security.
-
- In conversations with Butler in early 1992, Linda had expressed concerns
- about her personal safety. A meeting was arranged with Stefula because of
- his background in law enforcement. During the afternoon and early evening
- of February 1, the three met in New York City, and Linda described further
- details of the kidnappings.
-
- She reported that on the morning of October 15, 1991, Dan accosted her on
- the street and pulled her into a red Jaguar sports car. Linda happened to
- be carrying a tape recorder and was able to surreptitiously record a few
- minutes of Dan's questioning, but he soon discovered and confiscated it.
- Dan drove to a beach house on the shore of Long Island. There he demanded
- that Linda remove her clothes and put on a white nightgown, similar to the
- one she wore the night of the abduction. He said he wanted to have sex with
- her. She refused but then agreed to put on the nightgown over her clothes.
- Once she did, Dan dropped to his knees and started to talk incoherently
- about her being the "Lady of the Sands." She fled the beach house, but Dan
- caught her on the beach and bent her arm behind her. He placed two fingers
- on the back of her neck, leading Linda to believe that it was a gun. He
- then forced her into the water and pushed her head under twice. He
- continued to rave incoherently, and as her head was being pushed under for
- the third time, she believed that she would not come up again. Then, a
- "force" hit Dan and knocked him back onto the beach. She started to run but
- heard a sound like a gun being cocked. She looked back and saw Dan taking a
- picture of her (Linda mentioned that pictures from the beach were eventually
- sent to Hopkins). She continued running, but Richard appeared beside her,
- seemingly out of nowhere. He stopped her and convinced her to return to the
- beach house and told her that he would control Dan by giving him a Mickey
- Finn. She agreed. Once inside, Richard put Dan in the shower to wash off
- the mud and sand from the beach. This gave Linda a chance to search the
- premises; she recovered her casette tape and discovered stationery bearing a
- Central Intelligence Agency letterhead.
-
- In a brief conversation on October 3, 1992, Hopkins told Hansen that Linda
- came to him shortly after she arrived back in Manhattan after the
- kidnapping. She was disheveled, had sand in her hair, and was traumatized by
- the experience.
-
-
- Further Contacts with Richard and Dan
-
- During the February 1 meeting with Butler and Stefula, Linda reported that
- she had met Richard outside a Manhattan bank on November 21, 1991. He told
- her of Dan's deteriorating mental condition. During the Christmas season,
- Linda received a card and a three page letter from Dan (dated 12/14/91).
- The letter bore a United Nations stamp and postmark (the UN building in New
- York has a post office which anyone can use). Dan wrote that he was in a
- mental institution and was kept sedated. He expressed a strong romantic
- interest in Linda. Some of his remarks suggested that he wanted to kidnap
- her, take her out of the country, and marry her; Linda seemed alarmed by
- this (she gave a copy of the letter to Stefula and Butler).
-
- Linda also asserted that on December 15 and December 16, 1991, one of the
- men had tried to make contact with her near the shopping area of the South
- Street Seaport. He was driving a large black sedan with Saudi Arabian
- United Nations license plates. During the first incident, to avoid him,
- Linda reported that she went into a shop. The second day a similar thing
- happened, and she stood next to some businessmen until he left the area.
-
-
- The Third Man
-
- At the February 1 meeting, Linda mentioned that Hopkins had received a
- letter from "the third man" (the VIP), and she was able to repeat entire
- sentences from this letter, seemingly verbatim. It discussed ecological
- danger to the planet, and Linda indicated that aliens were involved in
- ending the Cold War. The letter ended with a warning to Hopkins to stop
- searching for "the third man" because it could potentially do harm to world
- peace.
-
- Linda also related a few more details of her November 1989 abduction. She
- said that the men in the car had felt a strong vibration at the time of the
- sighting. Linda also claimed that in subsequent hypnotic regressions she
- recalled being on a beach with Dan, Richard, and the third man, and she
- thought somehow she was being used by the aliens to control the men. She
- communicated with the men telepathically and said that she felt that she had
- known Richard prior to the November 1989 abduction, and she suggested that
- they possibly had been abducted together previously. We also learned that
- the third man was actually Javier Perez de Cuellar, at that time Secretary
- General of the United Nations. Linda claimed that the various vehicles used
- in her kidnappings had been traced to several countries' missions at the UN.
-
- At the Portsmouth, New Hampshire conference, Hopkins spoke of the third man
- saying: "I am trying to do what I can to shame this person to come forward."
-
-
- Witness on the Brooklyn Bridge
-
- In the summer of 1991, a year and a half after the UFO abduction, Hopkins
- received a letter from a woman who is a retired telephone operator from
- Putnam County, New York (Hopkins has given this woman the pseudonym of Janet
- Kimble). Hopkins did not bother to open the letter, and in November 1991, he
- received another one from her marked on the outside "CONFIDENTIAL, RE:
- BROOKLYN BRIDGE." The odd outside marking and the fact that she had written
- two letters, seem to have raised no suspicions in Hopkins' mind. The woman,
- a widow of about sixty, claimed to have been driving on the Brooklyn Bridge
- at 3:16 a.m., November 30, 1989. She reported that her car stopped and the
- lights went out. She too saw a large, brightly lit object over a building;
- in fact, the light was so bright that she was forced to shield her eyes,
- though she was over a quarter mile away. Nevertheless, she claimed to have
- observed four figures in fetal positions emerge from a window. The figures
- simultaneously uncurled and then moved up into the craft. Ms. Kimble was
- quite frightened by the event, and people in cars behind her were "running
- all around their cars with theirs (sic) hands on their heads, screaming from
- horror and disbelief" (quoted in Hopkins, 1992d, p. 7). She wrote: "I have
- never traveled back to New York City after what I saw and I never will
- again, for any reason" (Hopkins, 1992d, p. 5). Despite her intense fear and
- all the commotion, she had the presence of mind to rummage through her purse
- to find her cigarette lighter to illuminate her watch in order to determine
- the time.
-
- Hopkins has interviewed this woman in person and over the phone. The woman
- claimed to have obtained his name in a bookstore; she called the Manhattan
- directory assistance for his telephone number and then looked up his address
- in the Manhattan White Pages. She alleges that she was reticent about
- speaking of the incident and had only told her son, daughter, sister, and
- brother-in-law about the event.
-
-
- The Nasal X-ray
-
- In November 1991 a doctor, whom Hopkins describes as "closely connected with
- Linda," took an X-ray of Linda's head because she knew about the story of
- the nasal implant and because Linda frequently spoke of the problem with her
- nose. The X-ray was not developed immediately. A few days later the doctor
- brought it to Linda but was very nervous and unwilling to discuss it. Linda
- took it to Hopkins, who showed it to a neurosurgeon friend of his. The
- neurosurgeon was astounded; a sizeable, clearly non-natural object could be
- seen in the nasal area. Hopkins has shown a slide of the X-ray during his
- presentations, and the implant is strikingly apparent, even to a lay
- audience. The object has a shaft approximately 1/4 inch long with a
- curly-cue wire structure on each end.
-
-
- Other Unusual Aspects of the Case
-
- During our meeting with Linda on February 1, she gave us additional
- miscellaneous details that might be pertinent. We were told that she
- believed that she was under surveillance and described a light silver-gray
- van that had parked near her apartment. She also claimed that she had once
- been a professional singer and the lead on a hit record, but she had lost
- her singing voice one day while in the shower. Linda mentioned that she was
- given to understand that her blood was quite unusual. A doctor had informed
- her that her red blood cells did not die, but instead they rejuvenated. She
- wondered whether this might be due to an alien influence; some time later
- she attempted to locate the doctor but was unable to do so. Linda seemed to
- imply that she now believed that she was part alien or somehow worked with
- the aliens.
-
- Linda also told us that she had an agreement with Budd Hopkins to split
- equally any profits from a book on the case.
-
-
- INITIAL PROBLEMS WITH THE CASE
-
-
- There are a number of obvious but unanswered questions that raise immediate
- doubts about the credibility of the case.
-
- The most serious problem is that the three alleged principal corroborating
- witnesses (Richard, Dan, and Perez de Cuellar) have not been interviewed
- face- to-face by Hopkins, although it has been over a year and a half since
- initial contact with Hopkins and over three years since the abduction.
-
- Richard and Dan allegedly met with Linda and have written letters to
- Hopkins. Linda has a picture of Dan. Yet Dan and Richard refuse to speak
- directly with Hopkins. No hard evidence confirms that Richard and Dan even
- exist.
-
- Though they initially expressed extreme concern over the well being of
- Linda, the alleged "Dan" and "Richard" waited more than a year before
- contacting Linda and Hopkins. Why? Furthermore, they contacted Hopkins
- before they visited Linda. How did this come about? After all, they knew
- the location of Linda's apartment, so it would seem that they would have had
- no reason to contact Hopkins. Why did they bother with him at all?
-
- The woman on the bridge said that before contacting Hopkins she only
- discussed the matter with her son, daughter, sister and brother-in-law. Why
- didn't she contact other UFO investigators? Why only Hopkins? If there is
- some unclear reporting on this point and she did actually contact others,
- can such be verified? Has there been any investigation of this woman such
- as checking with her neighbors, friends, family, or previous employers?
- What is her background? Has she had any previous relationship with Linda?
- These questions have not been addressed, and thus the credibility of the
- only directly interviewed, corroborating, first-hand witness remains in
- doubt.
-
- Dan has spent time in a mental institution. Richard suffered extreme
- emotional distress, forcing him to take a leave of absence from his job.
- Assuming that these two people actually exist, one must now be careful in
- accepting their claims (even if offered in good faith). Despite their
- debilitating mental problems, at least one of them was allowed to drive a
- car with UN license plates. Are we really to believe that they returned to
- active duty in a sensitive position (presumably carrying firearms) and were
- given use of an official car?
-
- Who was the doctor who took the X-rays? We are only told that this person
- is closely connected with Linda. Why isn't a formal report available?
- Given the alarming nature of the outcome, why wasn't there an immediate
- examination? Linda said that the doctor was "nervous" and didn't want to
- talk about the X- ray. It is not clear whether Hopkins has ever met this
- alleged doctor. Instead, Hopkins showed the X-ray to a friend of his. Some
- have speculated that Linda may have simply put some small object in her nose
- and had a friendly X-ray technician assist. We have seen no evidence to
- exclude this possibility.
-
- Linda claims that she was kidnapped twice, nearly drowned, and further
- harassed. Yet she refuses to contact the police, even after Hopkins'
- urging. During the February 1, 1992 meeting with Stefula and Butler, Linda
- asked if she had legal grounds to "shoot" Dan if he attempted another
- abduction of her by force. Stefula advised against it and recommended that
- she go to the police and make an official complaint. She declined. If she
- was afraid, why didn't her husband contact authorities? The most plausible
- reason is that if a report was filed, and her story proved false, she could
- be subject to criminal charges. Linda's failure here raises enormous
- questions of credibility.
-
-
- OUR INVESTIGATION
-
-
- Despite the numerous problems outlined above, we believed it worthwhile to
- gain additional information because so many people had contacted us with
- questions. On September 19, 1992, Stefula, Butler, and Hansen traveled to
- New York City in order to visit the site of the alleged abduction. We found
- that Linda's apartment complex has a large courtyard with guard house manned
- 24 hours a day. We talked with the security guard and his supervisor and
- asked if they had ever heard about a UFO encounter near the complex. They
- reported hearing nothing about one. We also asked if the police routinely
- enter the complex and undertake door-to-door canvassing in order to find
- witnesses to crimes. They said that this was a very rare practice. We
- obtained the name and phone number of the apartment manager and called him a
- few days later. He reported knowing nothing about the UFO sighting, nor had
- he heard anything about it from any of the approximately 1600 residents in
- the complex.
-
- We also visited the site under the FDR drive where Richard and Dan
- purportedly parked their car. This was in a direct line of sight and nearly
- across the street from the loading dock of the New York Post. We spoke with
- an employee of the Post, who told us that the dock was in use through most
- of the night. A few days later, we called the New York Post and spoke to
- the person who was the loading dock manager in 1989. He told us that the
- dock is in use until 5:00 a.m. and that there are many trucks that come and
- go frequently during the early morning hours. The manager knew nothing of
- the UFO which supposedly appeared only a couple blocks away.
-
- Also in September, a colleague of ours contacted the Downtown Heliport, on
- Pier Six on the East River of Manhattan. That is the only heliport on the
- east side of Manhattan between Linda's apartment and the lower tip of the
- island. Our colleague was informed that the normal hours of operation of the
- heliport are from 7:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m. The Senior Airport Operations Agent
- researched the records and found that there were no helicopter movements on
- November 30, 1989 before normal hours. Our colleague was also told that
- about six months previously, the heliport authorities had been approached by
- a man in his fifties with white hair who had made a similar inquiry. That
- man had asked about a UFO that had crashed into the East River.
-
-
- The Meeting of October 3
-
- On October 3, 1992, we met with Hopkins and his colleagues at his residence
- in Manhattan. Among those in attendance were David Jacobs, Walter H.
- Andrus, and Jerome Clark. During our meeting a number of questions were
- raised, and some of Hopkins' answers revealed a great deal about his
- investigations as well as the attitudes of Jacobs, Andrus, and Clark.
- Linda's statements also told us much.
-
- We inquired if Hopkins had asked the guards of the apartment complex whether
- they had seen the UFO. He indicated that he had not done so. This is quite
- surprising, considering that the UFO was so bright that the woman on the
- bridge had to shield her eyes from it even though she was more than a
- quarter mile distant. One would have thought that Hopkins would have made
- inquiries of the guards considering the spectacular nature of the event.
-
- We noted that Linda had claimed that police canvassing of her apartment
- complex was a common occurrence. We asked Hopkins if he had attempted to
- verify this with the guards or the building manager. He indicated that he
- did not feel it necessary. Although this is a minor point, it is one of the
- few directly checkable statements made by Linda, but Hopkins did not attempt
- to confirm it.
-
- We asked about the weather on the night of the abduction. Amazingly,
- Hopkins told us that he didn't know the weather conditions for that period.
- This was perhaps one of the most revealing moments, and it gives great
- insight into Hopkins' capabilities as an investigator. If the weather had
- been foggy, rainy, or snowing, the visibility could have been greatly
- hampered, and the reliability of the testimony of the witnesses would need
- to be evaluated accordingly. Even the very first form in the MUFON Field
- Investigator's Manual requests information on weather conditions (Fowler,
- 1983, p. 30). We ourselves did check the weather and knew the conditions
- did not impede visibility. But the fact that Hopkins apparently had not
- bothered to obtain even this most basic investigatory information was
- illuminating. He claims to have much supporting evidence that he has not
- revealed to outsiders; however, because of Hopkins' demonstrated failure to
- check even the most rudimentary facts, we place absolutely no credence in
- his undisclosed "evidence."
-
- During the discussions, Hopkins' partisans made allusions to other world
- figures involved in this event, though they did not give names. Hopkins'
- supporters, who had been given information denied to us, seemed to believe
- that there was a large motorcade that carried Perez de Cuellar and these
- other dignitaries in the early morning hours of November 30, 1989. At the
- meeting, we presented an outside expert consultant who for many years had
- served in dignitary protective services. He described the extensive
- preplanning required for moving officials and the massive coordination
- during the movements. Many people and networks would be alerted if there
- were any problems at all (such as a car stalling, or a delay in passing
- checkpoints). His detailed presentation seemed to take Hopkins aback. The
- consultant listed several specialized terms used by the dignitary protective
- services and suggested that Hopkins ask Richard and Dan the meaning of those
- terms as a test of their knowledge, and thus credibility. As far as we
- know, Hopkins has failed to contact Richard and Dan about that matter.
-
- During the beginning part of the October 3 meeting, Linda's husband answered
- a few questions (in a very quiet voice). He seemed to have difficulty with
- some of them, and Linda spoke up to "correct" his memory. He left the
- meeting very early, even though Linda was under considerable stress, and
- despite the fact that she was overheard asking him to stay by her side. His
- leaving raised many questions in our minds.
-
- Linda also responded to questions during the meeting. Early in the
- discussion, Hansen asked Linda's husband whether he was born and raised in
- the U.S. He replied that he had come to this country when he was 17. Linda
- promptly interjected that she knew why Hansen had asked that question.
- During a prior telephone conversation between Linda and Hansen, Linda had
- asserted that her husband was born and raised in New York. She acknowledged
- that she had previously deliberately misled Hansen.
-
- Later in the meeting the question arose about a financial agreement between
- Linda and Hopkins. Stefula noted that Linda had told him that she and
- Hopkins had an agreement to split profits from a book. Hopkins denied that
- there was any such arrangement, and Linda then claimed that she had
- deliberately planted disinformation.
-
- During the meeting, reports were heard from two psychologists. They
- concluded that Linda's intelligence was in the "average" range. One
- suggested that Linda would need the mind of a Bobby Fischer to plan and
- execute any hoax that could explain this case and that she was not capable
- of orchestrating such a massive, complex operation. Although these were
- supposedly professional opinions, we were not given the names of these
- psychologists.
-
- Ms. Penelope Franklin also attended the meeting. She is a close colleague
- of Hopkins and the editor of IF--The Bulletin of the Intruders Foundation.
- Hopkins had previously informed us in writing that Ms. Franklin was a
- coinvestigator on the Napolitano case. In a conversation during a break in
- the meeting, Franklin asserted to Hansen that Linda was absolutely justified
- in lying about the case. This remarkable statement was also witnessed by
- Vincent Creevy, who happened to be standing between Franklin and Hansen.
-
- Franklin's statement raises very troubling questions, especially given her
- prominence within Hopkins' circle of colleagues. Her statement appears to
- violate all norms of scientific integrity. We can only wonder whether Linda
- has been counseled to lie by Hopkins or his colleagues. Have other
- abductees been given similar advice? What kind of a social and ethical
- environment are Hopkins and Franklin creating for abductees? We also cannot
- help but wonder whether Hopkins and Franklin believe it appropriate for
- themselves to lie about the case. They owe the UFO research community an
- explanation for Franklin's statement. If such is not forthcoming, we simply
- cannot accept them as credible investigators.
-
-
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- HOPKINS' REACTION TO OUR INVESTIGATION
-
-
- In concluding his Mufon UFO Journal paper, Hopkins wrote: "if rumors are
- true and there are officially sanctioned intelligence agents within the
- various UFO investigative networks, these people will also be mobilized to
- subvert the case from the inside, even before its full dimensions are made
- known to the public at large" (Hopkins, 1992c, p. 16). Hopkins apparently
- takes this idea quite seriously. After he learned of our investigation, he
- warned Butler that he suspected Butler and Stefula of being government
- agents and that he planned to inform others of his suspicions. A few weeks
- after our October 3 meeting, he told people that he suspected Hansen of
- being a CIA agent. This was not an offhand remark made to a friend in an
- informal setting; rather this was asserted to a woman whom he did not know
- and who had happened to attend one of his lectures (member of MUFON in New
- Jersey who feared future repercussions if her name was mentioned, personal
- communication, November 7, 1992).
-
-
-
- A POSSIBLE LITERARY BASIS FOR ELEMENTS OF THE STORY
-
-
- This case is quite exotic, even for a UFO abduction. Government agents are
- involved, the UN Secretary General is a key witness, Linda was kidnapped in
- the interests of national security, concerns are expressed about world
- peace, the CIA is attempting to discredit the case, and the ETs helped end
- the Cold War. The story is truly marvellous, and one might wonder about its
- origin. We wish to draw the readers' attention to the science fiction
- novel, Nighteyes, by Garfield Reeves-Stevens. This work was first published
- in April 1989, a few months before Linda claimed to have been abducted from
- her apartment.
-
- The experiences reported by Linda seem to be a composite of those of two
- characters in Nighteyes: Sarah and Wendy. The parallels are striking; some
- are listed in Table 1. We have not bothered to include the similarities
- commonly reported in abduction experiences (e.g., implants, bodily
- examinations, probes, etc.). The parallels are sufficiently numerous to
- lead us to suspect that the novel served as the basis for Linda's story. We
- want to emphasize that the parallels are with discrete elements of the case
- and not with the story line itself.
-
-
- Table 1 - Similarities Between the Linda Napolitano Case and the Science
- Fiction Novel Nighteyes
-
-
- * Linda was abducted into a UFO hovering over her high-rise apartment
- building in New York City.
-
- Sarah was abducted into a UFO hovering over her high-rise apartment
- building in New York City.
-
-
- * Dan and Richard initially claimed to have been on a stakeout and were
- involved in a UFO abduction in during early morning hours.
-
- Early in Nighteyes two government agents were on a stakeout and became
- involved in a UFO abduction during early morning hours.
-
-
- * Linda was kidnapped and thrown into a car by Richard and Dan.
-
- Wendy was kidnapped and thrown into a van by Derek and Merril.
-
-
- * Linda claimed to have been under surveillance by someone in a van.
-
- Vans were used for surveillance in Nighteyes.
-
-
- * Dan is a security and intelligence agent.
-
- Derek was an FBI agent.
-
-
- * Dan was hospitalized for emotional trauma.
-
- One of the government agents in Nighteyes was hospitalized for emotional
- trauma.
-
-
-
- * During the kidnapping Dan took Linda to a safe house.
-
- During the kidnapping Derek took Wendy to a safe house.
-
-
-
- * The safe house Linda visited was on the beach.
-
- In Nighteyes, one safe house was on the beach.
-
-
-
- * Before her kidnapping, Linda contacted Budd Hopkins about her abduction.
-
- Before her kidnapping, Wendy contacted Charles Edward Starr about her
- abduction.
-
-
-
- * Budd Hopkins is a prominent UFO abduction researcher living in New York
- City and an author who has written books on the topic.
-
- Charles Edward Starr was a prominent UFO abduction researcher living in
- New York City and an author who had written books on the topic.
-
-
- * Linda and Dan were abducted at the same time and communicated with each
- other during their abductions.
-
- Wendy and Derek were abducted at the same time and communicated with each
- other during their abductions.
-
-
- * Linda thought she "knew" Richard previously.
-
- Wendy "knew" Derek previously.
-
-
- * Dan expressed a romantic interest in Linda.
-
- Derek became romantically involved with Wendy.
-
-
- * Dan and Richard felt considerable vibration during the close encounter.
-
- During the UFO landing in Nighteyes there was much vibration.
-
-
- * Photographs of Linda were taken on the beach and sent to Hopkins.
-
- In Nighteyes, photographs taken on a beach played a central role.
-
-
-
- THE REACTION OF THE UFOLOGY'S LEADERSHIP
-
-
- One of the most curious features of our investigation has been the reaction
- of several prominent leaders in ufology. Indeed, in the long run, this may
- turn out to be the most important part of the entire affair.
-
- After the MUFON symposium in July, Stefula had several conversations with
- Walter Andrus, International Director of MUFON. Andrus told him that MUFON
- had no interest in publishing any material critical of this case even though
- they had published an article describing it as "The Abduction Case of the
- Century." This is a most surprising statement from a leader of an
- organization which purports to be scientific. Andrus' statements should
- raise questions about the legitimacy of MUFON's claims to use objective,
- scientific methods.
-
- On September 14, 1992, Hopkins faxed Butler a letter saying that as a
- long-standing member of MUFON, he was issuing an "order" (his word). He
- "ordered" Stefula and Butler to stop their investigation of the case. We
- found this very curious, and we wondered how Hopkins, as a member of MUFON,
- could believe that it was in his power to issue such an "order." His letter
- seemed to reflect the mindset of a leader of a cult rather than that of an
- investigator searching for the truth.
-
- For the meeting on October 3 in New York City, Hopkins flew in his close
- friend Jerome Clark from Minnesota. Under the sway of Hopkins, Clark
- strenuously urged that outsiders cease investigations, thus seemingly trying
- to reinforce Hopkins' earlier "order" (despite the fact that the case
- already had been reported in the Wall Street Journal, Omni, Paris Match and
- the television show Inside Edition). Clark (1992a) later committed his
- position to writing, saying that this case may indeed involve a world
- political figure and have international consequences.
-
- Andrus and Clark are arguably the two most influential figures in U.S.
- ufology. Andrus is International Director of the Mutual UFO Network
- (MUFON), and he organizes the largest annual conference on UFOs in the
- country and regularly writes for MUFON's monthly magazine. Clark is a
- columnist for Fate magazine, editor of International UFO Reporter,
- vice-president of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, and author of
- books and even an encyclopedia on UFOs. Because of their eminence, their
- statements should be of special concern to the UFO research community.
-
- At the meeting on October 3, the kidnapping and attempted murder of Linda
- were discussed. We informed Hopkins and the other participants that we were
- prepared to make a formal request for a federal investigation of the
- government agents responsible for the alleged felonies. Hopkins, Andrus,
- and Clark appeared to literally panic at the suggestion. They vigorously
- argued against making such a request. We could only conclude that they
- wanted to suppress evidence of attempted murder. We wondered why.
-
- This situation seemed so outrageous that a few days later Hansen called
- Andrus, Clark, John Mack, and David Jacobs and asked them if they really
- believed Linda's story about the kidnappings and attempted murder. All of
- these individuals said that they accepted her account. We were forced to
- seriously consider their opinions because they had been given secret
- information not revealed to us. During the telephone conversations, Andrus
- and Clark again strongly objected to requesting an investigation by law
- enforcement authorities.
-
-
-
- A PSYCHO-SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE
-
-
- The Napolitano case brings into stark relief symptoms of deep problems
- within ufology: major figures in the UFO community aggressively sought to
- suppress evidence of a purported attempted murder; Hopkins failed to obtain
- and verify even the most basic investigatory information; his
- coinvestigator, Penelope Franklin, approved of lying by the principal
- witness; and leaders in the field have willingly accepted and promoted the
- case despite its exotic features and lack of supporting evidence. This
- state of affairs raises perplexing questions and cries out for a plausible
- explanation. The thinking and motivations of ufology's leaders deserve at
- least as much attention as the abduction claims themselves.
-
- Did these leaders really believe, as they said, that they accepted the
- report of attempted murder? If so, they seem not to have acted as
- responsible citizens. However, these people do not appear to us to be
- delusional, in any usual sense of that word. They are highly functional
- members of society. They also do not appear to be perpetrators of a hoax or
- even "yellow journalists" with a "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" attitude who
- knowingly want to capitalize on it for their own temporary glory or
- financial gain.
-
- We believe that other motivating factors and concepts provide a better
- explanation and framework for understanding these seemingly bizarre actions.
- We would suggest that perhaps, at some semiconscious level, these
- individuals do not really believe their UFO investigations to be fully
- engaged with the "real world." Rather, their behavior and statements seem
- more consistent with something like fantasy role playing, perhaps akin to
- the game Dungeons and Dragons (D & D).
-
- Both ufology and D & D allow direct, immediate involvement with powerful
- "other-world" beings and mythological motifs. Both endeavors have been
- known to overtake (possess?) the participants, though only occasionally to
- their detriment. Most "players" are able to successfully detach themselves
- from involvement, but occasionally the "game" becomes obsessive and
- interferes with "real-world" pursuits. This "role playing" taps archetypal
- images that hold great psychological power. The archetypes can become
- immensely attractive, even addictive, to those playing the game. The
- notions and images of powerful "other-world" figures are part of the human
- condition. Accounts of them are found in all cultures throughout history,
- this being one of the traditional domains of religion. Even atheists and
- those who deny the existence of such beings must still grapple with the
- ideas on some level, though this might not be consciously recognized by an
- individual.
-
- In the Napolitano case, the "other-world" figures include not only the ET
- aliens, but also the pantheon of agents of an unreachable, evil government
- conspiracy determined to prevent humankind's knowledge of the ETs.
- Intermediaries between flesh and blood humans and the powerful masters of
- the mystical higher orders are ubiquitous in the realm of religion. Angels
- and devils serve the centers of ultimate good and evil. So here we see the
- largely invisible minions "Dan" and "Richard" and the mysterious witness on
- the bridge furthering the cause of "Truth." Likewise, Hopkins discerns the
- skeptical investigators as agents of a secular satan.
-
- Thus the interactions of Hopkins, et al., with these players are seen to
- conform to the rules that historically control the interactions between
- humans and gods. Humans question and provoke the gods only at the greatest
- peril. The proper approach is to appease, mollify and supplicate these
- "entities." It should be no surprise that the simplest reality tests of the
- Napolitano story were not made in this case. Hopkins' failure to check the
- weather conditions during the abduction actually makes sense in the context
- of this cult-like thought process. Just as lice were called "pearls of
- heaven" by medieval religious devotees, the physical event-reality issues in
- the Linda story are transmuted by her supporters.
-
- The roles of high priest and acolytes are only too obvious when examaning
- the behaviors of personages Hopkins, Clark, Jacobs, and Andrus. These aging
- white males patronizingly refer to Linda's "average" intellect, perhaps to
- reassure themselves that they are indeed in control. Yet the high priestess
- has, in effect, achieved the godhead (metaphorically speaking, of course).
-
- There are some differences between D & D and ufological pursuits. D & D has
- more restrictive and structured rules. The boundaries of appropriate
- behavior are rather clearly defined. Ufology is more "unstructured," there
- are fewer "rules" about what is and is not possible, and the powers of the
- "other- world" figures are almost unbounded. This relative lack of
- structure makes the UFO game somewhat more "dangerous." In order to grapple
- with the phenomena, the paradigms adopted by many ufologists have
- "concretized" (i.e., structured) the beings as ET humanoids.
-
- In fantasy role playing, the rules are not questioned; they are accepted by
- the players at the beginning. Similarly in the Linda case, the basic
- evidence is not to be questioned. Andrus, Clark, and Hopkins have all urged
- that outsiders cease investigation (despite the massive publicity given to
- the case). Such challenging of "rules" leads to disruptions of the "game,"
- and the dungeon masters need to keep order.
-
- Direct interfacing of the "fantasy role" with the "real-world" (i.e., direct
- allegations of attempted murder, verification of details of testimony),
- usually does not cause problems, except when the players do not act in
- accordance with consequential "real-world" concerns. Hopkins, Andrus,
- Clark, Mack, and Jacobs seem to have accepted a system of beliefs and
- assumptions that have led to a collision with the "real world." They have
- been unable to rationally defend their behavior, and Jerome Clark's (1992a)
- "Torquemada" article is perhaps the single best example of that. In fact,
- his emotional attack labeling Hansen as "Torquemada" (director of the
- Spanish Inquisition) ressurects and reinforces religious themes, and it
- perhaps betrays his unconscious feelings of religious persecution.
-
- The above discussion derives from a psycho-social perspective, and we would
- like to encourage U.S. researchers to become more familiar the ideas
- generated from that approach. We admit that the psycho-social theorists
- have failed to address many aspects of the abduction experience generally.
- Exclusive use of that perspective can lead to positing simplistic and
- scientifically sterile explanations. On the other hand, those that shun the
- psycho-social perspective typically fail to recognize the explanatory power
- it possesses and its ability to illuminate risks faced by investigators.
- Those wanting more information about the psycho-social perspective may wish
- to read the book Angels and Aliens by Keith Thompson (1991) and the British
- magazine Magonia; almost without saying, the works of John Keel are also
- recommended.
-
- We are not denigrating ufology by such comparisons as those made above, nor
- are we attacking the existence of "other-world" entities. Regardless
- whether entities or ET aliens exist, the comparisons are useful and the
- consequences and insights are applicable. Such a comparative analysis
- should not be limited to only D & D players and ufologists; similar
- comparisons could be made for virtually everyone in the "real world." They
- can help serve as warnings about becoming too complacent regarding beliefs
- in our own "rationality."
-
-
-
- DISCUSSION
-
-
- The Napolitano case appears beset by an overwhelming number of problems. It
- was with some misgivings that we first embarked on this investigation
- because we did not wish to see UFO abduction research discredited. In fact,
- one of us, Butler, has had abduction experiences himself. It was our
- judgement that if we did not raise these issues for public discussion, there
- was a much greater risk for the field. The case was garnering considerable
- attention, and if it became widely regarded as evidential, it would reflect
- very badly on the field as a whole if it was eventually shown to be false.
-
- We were quite unprepared for the reaction to our work from leaders of the
- field. Walter Andrus and Jerome Clark aggressively tried to dissuade us
- from continuing our investigation, and so far they have failed to publish
- any material critical of the case. We were unaware that such belligerently
- antiscientific attitudes were so prevalent at the highest levels of ufology.
- When these same individuals attempted to suppress evidence of an alleged
- attempted murder, we concluded that their beliefs and actions were
- incompatible with "real world" events. However, we do not consider the
- label "deluded" appropriate here, and we remind the reader that these
- individuals are backed by people such as Harvard psychiatrist John Mack and
- David Jacobs, professor of history at Temple University.
-
- Despite our disappointment, we strongly support scientific research into the
- abduction phenomena and would like to call attention to high quality studies
- in the field (e.g., Ring & Rosing, 1990; Rodeghier, Goodpaster &
- Blatterbauer, 1992). We also believe that the core abduction experience has
- not been adequately explained within normal scientific frameworks. We
- commend the work of Hufford (1982) in exploring similar issues.
-
- The present case has significant implications for assessing the true nature
- of the abduction phenomena. The idea that actual extraterrestrial physical
- creatures are abducting people has been vigorously promoted in the
- scientific literature and in the media. Jacobs has promoted that view in
- the New York Times (Hinds, 1992) as well as in the Journal of UFO Studies
- (Jacobs, 1992). He suggests that the ET aliens are visiting earth in order
- to obtain human sperm and eggs. In his JUFOS article, Jacobs was bitterly
- critical of Ring and Rosing, saying that they ignored "cases of witnesses
- seeing others being abducted while not being abducted themselves" (p. 162).
- Surprizingly, Jacobs gave no citations for any of these cases. Hansen wrote
- to Jacobs requesting such citations but received no reply. Jacobs' article
- was lavish in its praise for Hopkins' work, and we suspect that Jacobs had
- in mind the Napolitano case when he wrote his article. We would like to
- remind the reader that it was Hopkins (1992a) who wrote: "The importance of
- this case is virtually immeasurable, as it powerfully supports both the
- objective reality of UFO abductions and the accuracy of regressive
- hypnosis." Because the argument for the "objective reality of UFO
- abductions" relies heavily on Hopkins' work, our findings call into question
- this entire theoretical perspective.
-
- In our judgment, conscious hoaxes are rare in the abduction field. The vast
- majority of those claiming to be abducted have had some kind of intense
- personal experience, whatever the ultimate cause. Nevertheless, the
- problems of fraud and hoaxing have long been a problem in ufology,
- especially for cases with high visibility. This will continue. Researchers
- must become more open minded to the potential for hoaxing, yet not be
- blinded to the genuine phenomena. This is a difficult balance.
-
- Some have questioned possible motives in this case; it is impossible to
- obtain certain knowledge here. Perhaps Linda really had some kind of an
- abduction experience (Butler believes this is likely to be the case). As
- she became acquainted with Hopkins and other abductees, she may have wanted
- to vindicate them--to save them from ridicule and derision. Perhaps money
- was the only motivation. Possibly there was a combination of factors. It
- does appear that if this was a hoax, it was not perpetrated by a lone
- individual. Collaborators would include the woman on the bridge, an X-ray
- operator, and a man (or men) preparing the tape recordings. However, we
- want to emphasize that we have no direct evidence to implicate Hopkins in
- attempted deception.
-
- Cynics might criticize Hopkins saying that he ignored the obvious problems
- because he was motivated by money that might accrue from books and movie
- rights. While this might possibly be an unconscious factor, critics rarely
- acknowledge that Hopkins does not charge abductees for his services (unlike
- some "professionals"). Hopkins has spent an enormous amount of his own time
- and money investigating the phenomena. Furthermore, he does not have an
- academic position subsidized by the tax payers. One should not begrudge him
- the profits from his books. Hopkins has been involved in considerable
- controversy, and some have disputed his methods. Nevertheless, he has done
- much to bring the abduction problem to the attention of scientists and the
- mental health community, and his efforts have made it much more acceptable
- to discuss such strange encounters. Abduction experiences are often
- emotional and traumatic, and the abductees need considerable support.
- Hopkins has attempted to provide much needed aid.
-
- The outside critic who is not directly involved in such activities almost
- never recognizes how difficult it is to serve as both a therapist and as a
- scientist. Those persons trying to help abductees emotionally need to
- provide warmth, acceptance, and trust. The scientist, however, needs to be
- critically open minded and somewhat detached and analytical. The two
- functions are not altogether compatible. We cannot realistically expect one
- individual to be 100% effective in both roles. By the nature of the
- endeavor, those trying to be helpful can be vulnerable to deception.
-
-
-
- APPENDIX
-
- A Note on the Hansen-Clark Communications
-
-
-
- One of the more entertaining aspects of this case has been the resulting
- missives by Hansen (1992a, 1992b) and Clark (1992a, 1992b) which have been
- widely circulated and posted on electronic bulletin boards. We encourage
- those interested to obtain copies.
-
- Clark's (1992b) most recent piece deserves comment. He now says that he now
- does not accept Linda's claims about the kidnapping and attempted murder by
- government agents. However, in a telephone conversation with him on October
- 6, 1992, he told Hansen that he accepted those claims. Hansen did not
- tape-record the conversation, but he is willing to provide a sworn statement
- to that effect. Hansen also talked with Marcello Truzzi who had spoken to
- Clark near the same time. Truzzi understood that Clark believed that Linda
- was sincere in her claims and was telling the truth to the best of her
- ability.
-
- The salient points are summarized as follows:
-
- 1. At the 1992 MUFON symposium, Linda Napolitano spoke in front of hundreds
- of people and claimed that she was kidnapped by government agents.
-
- 2. Clark told both Hansen and Truzzi that he accepted Linda's story (i.e.,
- that she was telling the truth to the best of her ability).
-
- 3. Hopkins claims to have much evidence that could be used to identify the
- culprits.
-
- 4. Hopkins flew Clark to New York, whereupon Clark aggressively injected
- himself into matters and vigorously opposed continuing an outside
- investigation and reporting the alleged felonies to law enforcement
- authorities. He defended this position, in writing, saying: "if this story
- is true, it is not just a UFO case but a `politically sensitive' event
- because it supposedly involves a political figure of international
- stature...banging on the wrong doors could alert the relevant agency that
- two of its agents were leaking a huge secret." (Clark, 1992a, p. 1).
-
- We will let the readers decide whether Clark's initial position was
- compatible with "real-world" considerations.
-
- We are gratified that Clark has taken the time to comment, at length, on
- these issues, and in a style so typical of his level of dispassionate
- commentary. We caution readers that Clark perhaps may be currently acutely
- embarrassed by his statement quoted in point 4 and may feel the need to
- obscure this central issue. Nevertheless, we are pleased that he now seems
- to have made a cathartic conversion.
-
-
- REFERENCES
-
-
- Baskin, Anita. (1992). Antimatter: High-rise abductions: Alien abductions
- routinely occur in big cities and high-rise buildings around the world.
- Omni. April. Vol. 14, No. 7, p. 75.
-
- Clark, Jerome. (1992a). The Politics of Torquemada; or, Earth Calling
- Hansen's Planet. 612 North Oscar Avenue, Canby, Minnesota 56220. October
- 24, 1992. [This paper has been circulated and posted on electronic bulletin
- boards].
-
- Clark, Jerome. (1992b). Wasting Away in Torquemadaville. November 30,
- 1992. [This paper has been circulated].
-
- De Brosses, Marie-Therese. (1992). Enleves par les E.T.! Paris Match. 17
- Sept., pp. 13, 14, 18, 96, 98.
-
- Drano the Sewerian [pseudonym]. (1992). SETI and military personnel monitor
- secret UFO abduction conference at MIT. Third Eyes Only. July-August, No.
- 4, pp. 42-44.
-
- Fowler, Raymond E. (Editor). (1983). MUFON Field Investigator's Manual.
- Seguin, TX: Mutual UFO Network.
-
- Hansen, George P. (1992a). Attempted Murder vs. The Politics of Ufology: A
- Question of Priorities in the Linda Napolitano Case. 20 October 1992.
- [This paper has been circulated and posted on a number of electronic
- bulletin boards and published in several periodicals including The New
- Jersey Chronicle, Vol. 3, Nos. 1/2, September-December, 1992; MUFON of Ohio
- Newsletter, No. 3, Second November 1992 Issue; Third Eyes Only, No. 6,
- November 1992; UFO Spotters Newsletter, No. 16, 1992; Minnesota MUFON
- Newsletter, No. 37, October 1992]
-
- Hansen, George P. (1992b). "Torquemada" Responds to Jerome Clark. 23
- November 1992. [This paper has been circulated and posted on a number of
- electronic bulletin boards.]
-
- Hatfield, Scott. (1992). X-Ray Said to Show Alien Implant. ADVANCE for
- Radiologic Science Professionals. October 26, p. 11.
-
- Hinds, Michael deCourcy. (1992). Taking U.F.O.'s for Credit, and for Real.
- New York Times, 28 October, p. B9.
-
- Hopkins, Budd. (1981). Missing Time: A Documented Study of UFO Abductions.
- New York: Richard Marek.
-
- Hopkins, Budd. (1987). Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley
- Woods. New York: Random House.
-
- Hopkins, Budd. (1991). Innocent bystanders. IF-The Bulletin of the
- Intruders Foundation. Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 1-4.
-
- Hopkins, [Budd]. (1992a). A doubly witnessed abduction. Abstracts:
- Abduction Study Conference at Massachusetts Institute of Technology prepared
- by Andrea Pritchard. June 13-17, p. III-B.
-
- Hopkins, Budd. (1992b). An Open Letter From Budd Hopkins. Mufon UFO
- Journal, June, p. 20.
-
- Hopkins, Budd. (1992c). The Linda Cortile [Napolitano] Abduction Case.
- Mufon UFO Journal, September, pp. 12-16.
-
- Hopkins, Budd. (1992d). The Linda Cortile [Napolitano] Abduction Case:
- Part II "The Woman on the Bridge (sic). Mufon UFO Journal, December, pp.
- 5-9.
-
- Hufford, David J. (1982). The Terror That Comes in the Night: An
- Experience- Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions.
- Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
-
- Jacobs, David M. (1992). On Studying the Abduction Phenomenon Without
- Knowing What It Is. Journal of UFO Studies, New Series Vol. 3, 153-163.
-
- Jefferson, David J. (1992). A Harvard doctor offers trauma relief for UFO
- `abductees.' Wall Street Journal, May 14, pp. A1, A10.
-
- Mack, John E. (1992a). Helping Abductees. International UFO Reporter.
- July/ August, pp. 10-15, 20.
-
- Mack, John E. (1992b). Other Realities: The "Alien Abduction" Phenomenon.
- Noetic Sciences Review. Autumn, pp. 5-11.
-
- McKenna, Chris. (1992). Doc `Abducted by Aliens' Ruled Fit to Work. New
- York Post, November 21, pp. 5, 13.
-
- Reeves-Stevens, Garfield. (1989). Nighteyes. New York: Doubleday.
-
- Ring, Kenneth; & Rosing, Christopher J. (1990). The Omega Project: A
- Psychological Survey of Persons Reporting Abductions and Other UFO
- Encounters. Journal of UFO Studies, New Series Vol. 2, 59-98.
-
- Rodeghier, Mark; Goodpaster, Jeff; & Blatterbauer, Sandra. (1992).
- Psychosocial Characteristics of Abductees: Results From the CUFOS Abduction
- Project. Journal of UFO Studies, New Series Vol. 3, 59-90.
-
- Sontag, Deborah. (1992). Reverence and Rigidity in the New Age: At the
- Whole Life Expo the Spirits are Willing So Long as the Wallet is Not Weak.
- New York Times, October 5, pp. B1, B2.
-
- Stacy, Dennis. (1992). The 1992 MUFON Symposium. Mufon UFO Journal,
- August, pp. 3-10.
-
- Thompson, Keith. (1991). Angels and Aliens: UFOs and the Mythic
- Imagination. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
-
- Unusual Personal Experiences: An Analysis of the Data from Three National
- Surveys Conducted by the Roper Organization. (1992). Las Vegas, NV:
- Bigelow Holding Corporation.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Philip J. Klass for assistance. We
- would also like to thank Vincent Creevy for providing materials and bringing
- the novel Nighteyes to our attention. Thanks are also due to several who
- provided help but do not want their names associated with the field of
- ufology.
-
-
- Joseph Stefula is a former Special Agent for the U.S. Army Criminal
- Investigations Command and is a former MUFON State Director for New Jersey.
- He resigned his directorship shortly after finishing this investigation.
-
- Richard Butler is a former law enforcement and security police specialist
- for the U.S. Air Force and now a UFO investigator researching abductions and
- government cover-ups.
-
- George Hansen has conducted parapsychological research and is author of the
- article "CSICOP and the Skeptics: An Overview" which appeared in the January
- 1992 Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.
-
-
- Joseph Stefula (609) 893-9278
- 7 Michigan Terrace
- Browns Mills, NJ 08015
-
-
- Richard Butler (609) 625-2890
- P.O. Box 65
- Mays Landing, NJ 08330
-
-
- George Hansen (609) 426-0927
- Princeton Arms North 1, Apt. 59
- Cranbury, NJ 08512
-
-
- 08 January 1993
-
-
- ** End of File **
-
- --
- <*> Don Allen <*> 1:363/81.1 - Fidonet #1 - Homebody BBS
- dona@bilver.uucp - Internet 1:363/29.8 - Fidonet #2 - Gourmet Delight
- 88:4205/1.1 - MUFON Network 1:3607/20.2 -- Odyssey - Alabama UFO Net
- NSA grep food: Aviary, Ed Dames, Los Alamos - Majestic - Jason - RIIA - UN
-
-