SUBJECT: MEMORIES CAN BE CHANGED BY UFO INVESTIGATORS FILE: UFO2679
BEWARE:
Your Memories Can Be Changed By UFO Investigators
By Anne Strieber
A new study shows that our memories of an event are not permanently
fixed; they can be changed by suggestion. This is important news for
UFO witnesses who seek help from UFO researchers in order to try to
understand what has happened to them; if they fall into the hands of
people who are biased towards one particular viewpoint, their memories
may become permanently distorted.
In the "Brain/Mind Bulletin" of October 1989, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus,
of the University of Washington, described studies that show a person's
memory of an event can be manipulated after the fact. This article
states that "the natural assumption is that the details of an
extraordinary scene are deeply imprinted in the consciousness of a
witness and therefore immune to 'revision'." According to Loftus,
however, this is naively optimistic. As some trial lawyers have long
known, she said, people can be made to "remember" completely false and
imaginary things by being fed misinformation presented as fact.
She cited several recent studies of a similar design: A group of
subjects watches a videotape of a complex and dramatic event, such as a
simulated violent crime or an automobile accident. Half the group then
receives false new information and the other half is given no new
information.
"In study after study, those who received the post-event
misinformation tended to incorporate much of it into their 'memories'.
The other group, however,maintained a fairly accurate picture.
"...Through manipulation, subjects have been made to remember clean-
shaven men as having mustaches and straight hair as curly. They have
even recalled a nonexistent item as large as a barn in the middle of a
scene.
"People are particularly prone to having their memories modified when
the passage of time allows the original memory to fade," Loftus said.
These studies should be taken as a warning by all UFO witnesses. Most
people, after having experienced an anomalous event such as a
confrontation with what appear to be beings from another world, will
naturally seek out a UFO researcher in order to learn more about their
experiences. However, most UFO investigators are far from open-minded;
they have strong opinions about what UFOs are, despite the fact that
they have no evidence to back up their theories.
Some UFO investigators are convinced that aliens are here from
another planet, stealing eggs and sperm in order to create a new master
race. Others feel that aliens are here on military reconnaissance
flights or are scientists trying to learn more about the human race.
Still others delude themselves with the vain hope that aliens are
watching over us and will rescue us if we are on the brink of self-
destruction through the use of nuclear weapons or from excessive
pollution of our planet. There are so- called UFO investigators who
have taken the guise of religious leaders, who claim to channel
inspirational messages from other worlds. If a UFO witness comes into
contact with one of these highly opinionated "experts", there's a
chance that the truth of his experience will be lost forever.
What can you do to protect yourself? The best advice is to be
skeptical when confronted with the latest UFO theories - ask yourself,
where's the proof? Never let yourself be hypnotized by a UFO researcher
who is not a trained, professional hypnotist. Suggestions given to you
while you are in a hypnotic state are even more likely to distort your
memory.
A related matter, concerning what are called near-death experiences,
has recently come to light. This experience occurs when people are
brought back from the brink of death. They describe traveling out of
their bodies and often remember entering a dark tunnel, with a light at
the other end. When brought back to life, they find themselves to be
changed - spiritually, psychologically and physically.
In our Spring 1990 issue, we reported that the physical and
psychological changes undergone by people who have had visitor
experiences are similar to the aftereffects experienced by those who
survive a close brush with death.
Dr. Kenneth Ring, who has spent years interviewing UFO witnesses and
near-death survivors, discovered that people from both groups may
become more sensitive to light and sound, and have an increased
tendency towards allergies. Some gain psychic powers, such as the
ability to predict the future or to heal. Others become "electrical
sensitives", who can put out street lights simply by walking near them.
Now "The New York Times" reports that people who have near-death
experiences, and people who merely think they are about to die,
experience similar mental sensations. These results come from a study
done at the University of Virginia (and reported in the English medical
journal 'The Lancer') of twenty-eight patients who would have died
without medical intervention, and another thirty patients who were not
in danger of dying but who thought they were.
There are three theories about what causes the near-death experience:
it could be a glimpse of our after-life, it could be the result of
chemicals released in our bodies when we're dying which cause certain
types of visions, or it could be a psychological response to the trauma
of death.
Patients who had near-death experiences when they only thought they
were dying give support to the psychological theory. The theory
regarding biological changes is supported by the fact that more near-
death experiences were reported by patients who were actually dying.
And the idea that patients were seeing a glimpse of their future after
death is borne out by the fact that both groups managed to have visions
and enhanced mental experiences, despite the fact those who were dying
actually had diminished brain function during that time.
Does this mean that those people who only thought they were near
death might also have undergone some of the physical changes that Dr.
Ring discovered? Can we then draw the conclusion that people who only
thought they saw a UFO - who saw, for instance, a meteor instead -
might have the same aftereffects as UFO witnesses? There is fascinating
material here for future study.
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