                          Abduction Digest, Number 71
 
                            Monday, August 17th 1992
 
     (C) Copyright 1992 Paranet Information Service.  All Rights Reserved.
 
Today's Topics:
 
                                  Re: "Vision"
                                Selection factors
                            Return and Clarifications

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Subject: Re: "Vision"
Date: 16 Aug 92 18:12:00 GMT

Hi Tom,
 
Thanks for your reply about my vision of the stars and universe.  That 
happened about 2 1/2 years ago, and I had no physical symptons of any 
kind at the time.
 
I just had an EKG, check-up, etc. and am in pretty good shape for being 
40-something.  :-)
 
Thanks for writing!
 
Best,
 
Linda

--  
Linda Bird - via ParaNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: Linda.Bird@f100.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG



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From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs)
Subject: Selection factors
Date: 12 Aug 92 07:32:18 GMT


    Thanks for your note Peggy.  We are not sure of the selection factor  for
abductees.  My best guess is that it was originally random probably  at the
beginning of the century or thereabouts.  Through natural  population increase,
marriages, divorces, remarriages and so forth, the  population of abductees
expanded in a cone-like effect.  So that while it  might have started
relatively small, it is now relatively extensive.
  
     Our population is not large enough to include everybody in it. For example
I know of no Eskimos who are abductees.  That is not to say that  there are
none, but we have not yet seen any.  My own population includes  black, white,
Jewish, Christian, male, female, young, old, Hispanic, and  so forth.  But
there are so many different human groupings that we just  do not know if any
groups have been left out.  I have heard from  people who are Asian, Egyptian,
Iranian, and from other countries as  well, but I have not worked with them so
I guess they must remain in the  "potential" abductee category.
  
     I have also thought about the problem of gross physical disabilities  as
being underrepresented in the abductee population.  However, I have  recently
heard of an abductee who is a paraplegic, one who has  scleraderma, and several
others with serious medical problems.  So I  think that the more we learn about
the abductee population the more it  might include all groups suggesting once
again that it might indeed be  random.
  
     Ultimately, the only way to determine if the group is random is to do
extensive medical analyses of bones, blood, genes, and everything else.   This
has not been done so far but it is something that I believe must be  done in
the future.  Right now  there is nothing overt--weight, size, facial  hair, and
so forth--that would set abductees off from the rest of the  population.  The
only significant factor that we can find that determines  if a person is an
abductee is whether one or both of his or her parents  were abductees as well.
 Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2


--  
David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG



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From: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG (David Jacobs)
Subject: Return and Clarifications
Date: 13 Aug 92 22:17:34 GMT


    I'm back in town for a few days and on August 19 I will be going to England
for about ten days.  I will give a few lectures there thanks to the help of
Stuart Smith and Steve Gamble.  One will be in Manchester and  one will be in
London.  I am looking forward to describing my research  and probably fanning
the fires of controversy.
  
     I would like to take a few minutes to discuss the curent controversy  that
has arisen with a few of the Paranet members.  When I was asked to be moderator
of the abduction bulletin board, I was asked to respond to questions about the
current state of abduction research in general and my own findings in
particular. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be controversial.
After all this is an extremely controversial subject and because methodology
has not yet been standardized, other  researchers may well have difficulties
with my results because they have  not found the same things.  I expected a
lively give and take and in the  main this has been the case.  I think that my
exchanges with Keith  Basterfield are good examples of that give and take. (I
will have more to  say about the Puddy case in an upcoming IUR--if I can get
the time to  write it up).  A few people, however, have decided that exchanges
over the material are not adequate for debate and have resorted to critically
picking apart my messages.  This is often not too difficult because I
 usually log on to the BBS late at night when I am too tired to continue  my
work.  I write my messages off the top of my head and send them.   There are
bound to be contradictions and ambiguities.  I am fair game for  those who
delight in pointing these out.  I am not, however, fair game  for personal
attacks and I will not abide by them--I have had enough of  those from the
lunatic fringe debunkers to last a life time, thank you very  much.  I hope
that this will be my last word on the subject and that we can get back to
discussing in a reasonable and rational way the mysteries  of the enormously
important abduction phenomenon.
 Via SPITFIRE Bulletin Board System - Version 3.2


--  
David Jacobs - via ParaNet node 1:104/422
UUCP: !scicom!paranet!User_Name
INTERNET: David.Jacobs@f21.n1010.z9.FIDONET.ORG


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