They say the false memory studies are irrelevant - they have to do with memorizing words, not stories of UFOs - and point to the complexity of the abduction stories themselves. Not surprisingly, abductee advocates dismiss these theories. When especially imaginative people grasp for an explanation, alien abduction - now ingrained deeply in our culture - comes to mind. Hallucinations that appear during " sleep paralysis" - a kind of twilight sleep that affects some people - can act as a catalyst by creating delusions, Clancy said. Indeed, she says her research has confirmed that abductees are more vulnerable to the implanting of false memories. But these explanations don't satisfy abductees, who tend to be imaginative people prone to two things - "magical" thinking and suggestion, Clancy said. "I think there are aliens, but I don’t think you have to worry about them kidnapping you," said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, which tries to find signs of alien life in space. Then there's the common assumption that even if extraterrestrials exist, they're too advanced to bother hobnobbing with lowly humans, let alone abducting and having sex with them. (One abductee did that, according to Clancy, and refused to believe the lab finding that it was actually a hemorrhoid.) And the typical person wouldn't send something that fell out of his rear for analysis to see if it was a remnant of an anal probe. Why would they do that, when other explanations would seemingly make more sense? Many people would look at a bruise and assume they innocuously injured themselves without knowing it. The rest simply consider bits of evidence - a mysterious bruise, perhaps, or a vague feeling - and figure they must have been whisked away by aliens. In fact, only about 10 percent of people who think they were abducted actually have detailed stories of what happened.
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