By Gary P. Posner
The Roper Organization Survey on
"Unusual Personal Experiences"
"Do you remember hearing or seeing the word TRONDANT and knowing
that it has a secret meaning for you?" The 1% of interviewees embracing
this nonsense word had their input summarily rejected (on the basis of
"positive response bias") from the July-Sept. 1991 Roper Organization
Survey on "Unusual Personal Experiences." But an analysis (published by
the Survey's sponsors) of the remaining, ostensibly valid data was "mailed
to nearly one hundred thousand psychiatrists, psychologists and other
mental health professionals" earlier this year, its conclusion so startling
and disturbing that I dare not divulge it until later.
What if I, a disbeliever in the existence of UFOs and other paranormal
phenomena (and a confirmed non-TRONDANTIAN) had been one of the
nearly 6,000 adult Americans interviewed? Or my hypothetical friend
"Pat"? What might the Survey's sponsors have learned about the horrifying
plight of mankind from our answers to their multiple-choice questions
about "how often" either of us had:
== Seen a ghost? == Well, I've occasionally perceived movement out of the
corner of my eye, for no apparent reason. Being a skeptic, though, I'd have
to say "Never." Pat thinks I'm too close-minded, and having had a few
spookily similar experiences, responds "More than twice."
== Felt as if you left your body? == I must admit that on perhaps three
occasions (once while under anesthesia for minor surgery, the others
while very hungry) I briefly felt such a sensation. Pat answers "Once or
twice," but having read two of Shirley MacLaine's books, scoffs at my
prosaic explanations.
== Seen a UFO? == A few times I've seen an unusual light in the sky that I
couldn't identify. However, to me a "UFO" is an object which cannot be
identified after a scientific investigation. I therefore respond "Never." But
Pat, having been more impressed than I with a similar sighting, answers
"Once or twice."
== Had vivid dreams about UFOs? == Well, OK, I have to admit that I seem
to recall having done so once (I suppose I read and write too often about
them in my waking hours). Pat says "Never."
== Awakened paralyzed with a sense of a strange person or presence or
something else in the room? == A definite "Yes" (sort of). I'm convinced
that I was dreaming (hypnagogic/hypnopompic) when I had the feeling
that I was unable to move while someone (or something?) was tiptoeing in
my bedroom (approx. 15 years ago), but I feel it unfair of me to respond
with anything but a "Once or twice." Pat is proud of my good
sportsmanship, and also reports such an experience.
== Had a feeling of actually flying through the air not knowing why or
how? == "Never." But Pat felt that way intermittently for a few weeks after
inheriting a large estate, and honestly responds "More than twice" re: the
not knowing "how."
== Experienced a period of time of an hour or more, apparently lost, not
remembering why or where you had been? == Not me. But Pat's first
encounter with the M.T.A., Boston's subway system, resulted in such an
experience (remember the Kingston Trio's song about "the man who never
returned"?): "Once or twice."
== Seen unusual and unexplained lights or balls of light in a room? ==
"Never." "Don't know."
== Found puzzling scars on your body with no knowledge of how/where
you received them? == "Don't know." I assume the scar on my knee was
from bumping into something. Pat has had a small scar on the left shin for
years, and can't recall any specific injury: "Once or twice."
== Seen, either as a child or adult, a terrifying figure -- which might have
been a monster, a witch, a devil, or some other evil figure -- in your
bedroom or closet or somewhere else? == Is the Pope Catholic? Do I read
"Calvin and Hobbes" in the comics every day? Did I ever imagine the boogie man under
my bed as a 4-year-old? Yes! Yes! Yes! Pat also responds with an
enthusiastically nostalgic "More than twice!" Thanks for the memories!
So, what wisdom can be derived from the responses of myself, "Pat," and
the 5,947 who were really surveyed? Concludes no less than Pulitzer
Prize-winning author John E. Mack, M.D.,
Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School:
I kid you not. Repeat: This is not a satirical column.
Coming next month:
[This] Roper Survey . . . suggests that hundreds of thousands, if not
millions, of American men, women and children may have experienced
UFO abductions, or abduction related phenomena.
Behind the scenes of this "Roper Organization Survey." (Hint: You might
have read about the two "project co-directors" in my June 1992 column!)
When last we met, John E. Mack, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, was informing us that the 1991 Roper Organization Survey on Unusual Personal Experiences "suggests that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American men, women and children may have experienced UFO abductions, or abduction related phenomena."
As the Roper Organization explains, "Roper's Limobus service offers clients the ability to 'tack on' questions to the regularly scheduled in-home service, Roper Reports." For this particular "tacked-on" Survey, just who were Roper's "clients"?
One acknowledged "sponsor" was Robert Bigelow, whose Bigelow Holding
Corporation (Las Vegas) published the 59-page "Analysis of the Data"
mailed "to nearly one hundred thousand psychiatrists, psychologists and
other mental health professionals." In his "Afterword," Bigelow (whose
"co-sponsor asks for anonymity") states, "This effort was initiated without
any expectation of unique results." Yet, as the booklet's principal authors
explain, "2% of our sample
The principal authors were none other than Budd Hopkins and Dr. David Jacobs, the two "project co-directors" (sociology professor and long-time UFO advocate Dr. Ron Westrum was a "contributing author"). As I wrote in my June 1992 column, Hopkins is a New York artist-turned-abductionist, the author of "Missing Time" and "Intruders"; Jacobs is a Temple University history professor whose Ph.D. thesis, and much of his ensuing life's work (including his recent book, "Secret Life"), revolve around his portrayal of reported UFOs/abductions as events of historical significance. Jacobs and Hopkins often extract their stories from "abductees" via regressive hypnosis, but one exception (the intricate "Linda/Manhattan highrise" tale, centerpiece of Hopkins' new book-in-progress) turns out to match the wild plot of "Nighteyes," a 1989 science-fiction book by Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
Hopkins and Jacobs explain that, "At the very beginning of this project the
decision was made not to ask any direct questions about the UFO
abduction phenomenon.
Instead of employing "direct" questions, Hopkins and Jacobs had Roper inquire about such things as the feeling of leaving your body or flying through the air. Had I been interviewed, I would have obeyed this trusty test-taking tip taught to me long ago -- stick with your first impression unless there is an overwhelming reason to change. Yes, I may have had such "feelings," but I knew they were only "feelings." And by the time the "monster" question comes around (see last column), with the word "feeling" omitted, I still would have gone with my first impression -- even though I know now (if I didn't 38 years ago) that the boogie man wasn't really under my bed.
The authors, undoubtedly delighted with their overall "findings," were
nonetheless confounded by one. "In virtually every case, indicator
experiences decline with age, especially after 44. This is puzzling, since
older people would be expected to have accumulated more such
experiences. One hypothesis is that indicator experiences are concentrated
in the younger years
Klass also reported in his May 1992 newsletter that Prof. Mack had "recently received a $200,000 cash advance from Scribners to write a book to be titled "The Abduction Syndrome." Mack also wrote the Foreword to Jacobs' "abduction" book, and served as a consultant for Hopkins' "Intruders" TV miniseries. Small universe.
Return to "Skeptically Speaking" Index
Return to Posner's Home Page