Beyond the Beyond: From Skeptic to Seeker – John Mack’s Evolution in Alien Abduction Studies
Beyond the Beyond: From Skeptic to Seeker – John Mack’s Evolution in Alien Abduction Studies
It’s almost black outside. A clouded night creeps in and only the streetlights dot the dark with a pale, white glow. The people living in this neighborhood don’t realize it, but they’ve all fallen under a much deeper sleep than normal. And from one particularly dark cloud, a gray, metallic shape breaks from the bottom and drops silently over the houses. No dogs bark, no cameras are alerted. It’s as if time itself has stopped.
A woman awakens to see three small beings at the foot of her bed. She tries to scream but cannot. She tries to run but her legs won’t work. A force she can’t see the source of lifts her from her bed and rips her through the ceiling completely intact. She loses consciousness for a moment. And when she awakens, she finds herself lying on a cold metal table. There’s a different set of beings here now. They’re bigger, and she can see herself reflecting off their large, insect eyes. And now she knows the terrifying truth. She knows they’ve come back for her.
The world of alien abductions is so strange that I’ve found myself having trouble writing about it. The amount of mud in the waters is staggering, and a lot of the first hand accounts I’ve tried to take apart just end up, in the end, being made-up malarkey. Even some of the sacred cows in the UFO field will fall apart the more you investigate. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself. But there are other cases that hold up even under the most intense scrutiny.
There was another man who took great interest in the abduction phenomenon. His name was John Mack, and he was an American psychiatrist, and professor at Harvard Medical School. Mack had a prestigious career long before his interest in this subject started. He was a founder of the Center for Psychology and Social Change, whose goal was to address global issues through a psychological lens. Mack also published a book called A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T.E. Lawrence, which was a biography of the British soldier and writer known as Lawrence of Arabia, and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. He also had a respected career as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
Initially skeptical on the subject, Mack was introduced to the abduction phenomenon in the late 1980s after reading Budd Hopkins’ book Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods. He later met Hopkins, who introduced him to individuals who claimed to have aliens abduction experiences.
Unlike many others in his field, Mack approached these stories with an open mind and listened intently. His style differed from Hopkins, in that he was a trained psychiatrist and was not only able to analyze the stories presented, but was also able to better understand the emotional and psychological impact.
For the next twelve years, he interviewed over two hundred people who claimed to have been abducted. He sought to understand not only the psychological and emotional aspects of these encounters, but also the spiritual. Mack wrote two books on the subject: Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens (1994) and Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters (1999). Both are considered seminal works in the field.
His work inspired controversy, and Mack faced criticism and attempts to discredit him within the academic and scientific community. Carl Sagan, perhaps that era’s Neil Degrass Tyson, was an outspoken opponent of Mack. Susan Clancy, author of the book Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens, was a psychologist and perhaps the antithesis of everything John Mack wrote about. Her claim was that social and psychological factors could influence a person to think they were abducted by aliens. She maintained a skeptical perspective that looked at suggestibility, sleep paralysis, and false memories.
Harvard University, where he taught, faced pressure due to the work Mack was doing. Some colleagues and professors reportedly expressed concerns about the school’s association with someone like Mack.
Mack suggested that alien abductions should be taken as the truth. That, whatever these people were experiencing and no matter how outlandish and fantastical it seemed, the phenomenon should be looked at with a serious lens. He believed that the experiences had a deep psychological and existential significance, and often led to extreme transformations for those that were involved. He criticized the materialistic view of modern science, and suggested that alien experiences were something that is not easily quantifiable. That whatever is happening, it must be approached with an open mind.
Was he getting closer to the truth? On September 27, 2004, John Mack died after being struck by a drunk driver in London. The driver, Raymond Czechowski, was found guilty of careless driving under the influence of alcohol and sentenced to six months in prison. Mack was in London for a crop circle symposium, and while his death is thought to be just a tragic accident, one has to wonder if that really is case. Some have speculated that the event was orchestrated to keep him quiet. To extinguish the work he had been doing for the last fifteen years.
But that type of thing never happens, right?
http://copycateffect.blogspot.com/2009/10/tonnies.html
https://www.wdbj7.com/2024/05/18/police-release-investigation-report-boeing-whistleblower-death/
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/02/second-boeing-whistleblower-dies
Have you been abducted? Message @beyondthebeyond1 on Instagram.
Tanner Rush
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Eastern Sierra Now. Readers are encouraged to conduct further research and consult with relevant experts or professionals before making any decisions or taking any actions based on the information provided in this article.
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