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When Beth had left, I turned to Jennifer. "Do you have time for some lunch? We could go across the street to one of the restaurants or sandwich shops over there."

Jennifer pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows in consideration of the suggestion. Shortly thereafter, she replied: "Sure, I could use something to eat. "

She grabbed her purse from the desk top, pushed one of the buttons on the door edge near the handle, and motioned for me to vacate the premises. She shut the door behind her on the way out of the office.

As we approached the elevator, I asked her where she would like to eat. She indicated her choice, and we headed off in the direction of her preference.

I was happy with her selection. The service was slow, and the atmosphere was casual and laid back. It was a great place to have a conversation.

With the exception of a few pleasantries here and there, we both had been fairly non-talkative on the way over to the restaurant. The relative lack of talk continued until we were seated at a table in the restaurant.

The waiter came with menus and water. We both passed on the menus, but accepted the water.

Each of us knew what we wanted to eat. We ordered accordingly.

I decided to break the silence: "I really did read your article you know. Of course, I'm not sure I could pass an examination on its finer points."

Jennifer looked at me in a way that seemed to say: 'What's all this about?' She appeared to be waiting for some sort of an elaboration from me.

In an attempt to clarify things, I reminded her of what she had said several days earlier during our private discussion following the hypnosis session with Beth. "During the course of that discussion, you seemed to be calling into question the credibility of my claim, made to you when I first called you on the phone, that I had read your article."

Jennifer made a dismissive gesture with her mouth and head. "Must have been something I said in the heat of the moment. I wouldn't worry about it."

"I'm not exactly worried about it," I remarked, "... just trying to shore up my credibility history. You know, in case you decided to have me investigated."

A puzzled expression appeared on Jennifer's face. "Why would I want to do that?" she asked.

"Don't you remember?" I responded. "When I called you up on the phone, seeking your assistance with respect to Beth, you said you wouldn't be prepared to accept my offer of an eternity-minus-a-day's worth of gratitude without checking up on my credibility history."

An expression of recall flashed across her face. "Oh, yeah," she confirmed with a smile.

"Consequently," I said, "in order to put to rest any doubts you might have had concerning the genuineness of my claim of having perused your article on the abduction phenomenon, I'm taking this opportunity to set the record straight. I hope shoring up the rest of my credibility history is not going to require as much effort as this aspect has taken."

Jennifer countered with: "Well, David, if you start a program of aerobics right away, I'm confident you'll be able to keep up with whatever exertions will be required of you in that department." She punctuated her barb with a radiant smile that made one forget all about the barb.

I was beginning to feel that I might be out of my depth in a variety of ways. I enjoyed her sense of humor, but there also was something very appealing about the person through whom the humor was being given expression, as if the humor were but a small sample of something much more valuable that was hidden behind the visible.

Jennifer looked to be in her early-, possibly mid-, thirties. She was not beautiful or cute or striking, but I found her to be very attractive in a sort of plain way.

The attraction was not so much her physical presence, although that was not unappealing to me. The source of attraction seemed to be her inner being.

She exuded a kind of radiant integrity that was felt more than seen. Being near her was like being caught in the invisible lines of force of an incredibly powerful magnet.

I returned to the topic of her article. "I actually came across your article quite by chance," I admitted. "I was looking for something else in the journal in which your article appeared.

"When I opened the journal, your article was staring me in the face. I remembered having met you at several conferences, so I thought I would see what you were up to. I also wanted to find out something about the 'abduction phenomenon'. Your article afforded me a chance to accomplish both goals simultaneously."

"David, in light of your previous statement about not being able to pass an examination about the finer points of the article, I'll only inquire after your general impressions of the material."

While I reflected on how to respond to her query, I took a drink of water. I began by saying: "One of the things that struck me about your article is that you spent quite a bit of time trying to say what the abduction phenomenon was not.

"You argued that 'abductees' were not delusional or suffering from any kind of psychiatric disturbance, either organic or functional. You further indicated the experiences of 'abductees' were not motivated by a desire for attention, notoriety or fame. In fact, almost all of the abductees emphatically stated, at one time or another, that they wished the abduction experiences had never taken place.

"You also said 'abductees' were not caught up in some sort of runaway fantasy. Moreover, there was no evidence to suggest the 'abductees' were undergoing a dream state."

I thought a bit more and added: "If memory serves me on this, you ruled out multiple personality disorder as being related to the abduction phenomenon. In addition, you rejected satanic ritual abuse syndrome as having any connection with, or role to play in, the abduction phenomenon.

"Your article stipulated that the abduction phenomenon was not a psychological device for masking some underlying history of sexual or physical abuse. In fact, you argued in just the opposite fashion. Your article pointed out that although there had been a number of cases in which instances of sexual abuse had been used to mask an underlying experience of abduction, the reverse had never been found to be true."

Somewhat surprised about the amount of material I was retrieving from memory, I continued to regurgitate to my teacher, Jennifer, what I had learned from her article on the abduction phenomenon. "Another point of importance covered by your article revolved around the issue of whether or not the experiences of the abductees were merely a set of beliefs that were derived from the subtle suggestions and expectations of the hypnotist.

"I think your article did a good job of arguing against the notion of any sort of fabricated contamination being introduced into the situation, provided the hypnotist observed appropriate guidelines while conducting the sessions. Perhaps, more to the point, as far as I'm concerned, I had a first-hand demonstration of the truth of your article's argument on this issue during your session with Beth."

I dug a bit deeper into my memory banks. "The article explored, and rejected, the possibility that the incredible consistency of the stories of different abductees was the result of their having been in communication with one another or because they had read literature on the phenomenon.

"Your article also argued against the idea that any sort of memory confabulation process or false memory syndrome was at work in the reporting of abduction experiences. You pointed out in this respect that just because, under some circumstances, memories can be shown to have been altered or restructured, it does not follow that, therefore, all memories are suspect.

"In fact, you cited research to support your argument. According to the research, the more intense an experience is, the more likely it is that the essential features of such an experience will be recalled accurately, even if peripheral aspects of the experience are forgotten or distorted.

"Finally," I said, " your article discussed how the abductees do not exhibit any identifiable profile of personality, race, gender, socio-economic or educational characteristics. In other words, the abductees seem to constitute a fully cross-sectional reflection of the general population."

I took another drink of water. "On the basis of the foregoing points, you drew a number of conclusions.

"First, you maintained there is no credible, conventional psychological theory which is capable of accounting for the abduction phenomenon. Secondly, you entreated the psychological community to refrain from trying to force-fit the abduction phenomenon into inappropriate diagnostic categories. Thirdly, you suggested the abduction phenomenon is not indicative of a pathological condition or disease process of any kind. And, fourthly, you called for a commitment of time, money and talent to investigate what may be one of the most significant and interesting phenomena of the modern era."

Jennifer said: "I'm very impressed. In fact, I'm nonplussed that not only have I found someone who has read the dumb article, but the person in question actually was prepared to sacrifice his poor memory cells in conjunction with such a dubious enterprise."

I held up my hands in a cautioning fashion. "Please, lady and non-gentlemen, hold the applause - which I don't mind pointing out is very much deserved. There is a question from the floor for our esteemed authoress. Speak directly into the microphone, sir."

Making the transition from my role of MC to that of audience, I proceeded to raise my question from the floor. "Dr. Ormsby, given that your article addresses itself to what the abduction phenomenon is not, would you care to direct your current efforts to explaining to the kind man in the audience just what the abduction phenomenon is?"

Jennifer was about to speak, when the waiter came with our food. "Saved by the lunch bell," she murmured.

"Au contraire!" I protested. "You're going to have to find a way to juggle eating and talking. Inquiring minds want to know."

She considered the challenges before her: me, the food and the explanation. She raised her eyebrows, as if to ask herself: 'Am I up to this?', and, then, launched into a wonderfully choreographed set of movements that treated all of her challenges in a harmonious fashion, never ignoring, for too long a period of time, the food, me, or the explanation.

"The short answer to the question from the floor," Jennifer began, "is that no one really knows what is going on. They only know that something...something significant appears to be happening.

"Contrary to popular opinion, neither the ships nor the aliens involved in the abduction experiences are necessarily from outer space. They might be from another non-physical dimension of reality or consciousness.

"Whatever the alien beings are, they seem to be consummate shape-shifters. In other words, they appear to be able to manifest themselves in many different forms, often assuming the shape of a variety of different animals.

"Quite a few 'abductees' develop an intense, intimate relationship with the 'spirit' of these animals. It is almost like they have a totem relationship with them."

Jennifer saw the look of mystification on my face. She took a minute to explain what she meant.

"These totem relationships," she said, "that are established by the 'abductees' are similar, in some respects, to the ones that different Native clans develop with the spirits of particular animal species. In both cases, there seems to be some sort of guidance or assistance that comes through the relationship. The animal species through which the various kinds of help come is the totem around which a great deal of individual or clan activity revolves."

Returning to the original theme of the apparent capacity of the aliens to shape-shift, she continued on. "In any event, there is no consensus of opinion among clinicians or researchers about whether the various elements of the abduction experiences involving, what appear to be, shape-shifting phenomena are even primarily physical in nature.

"Many of the features of those experiences may be the result of some kind of psychic projection on the part of the aliens. Alternatively, some form of hypnotic induction or altered state of consciousness may be involved in the abduction phenomenon.

"You're probably aware of the fact, David, that through hypnosis, one can produce all manner of physical effects, such as making blisters appear, or making warts disappear, or manipulating the perception of pain, and so on. We know these things can happen, but we don't have a clue about how they are possible.

"The ability of many yogis to exercise tremendous control over their autonomic, supposedly involuntary, nervous systems has been rigorously demonstrated under laboratory conditions. Where our bodies leave off and our consciousness begins, is a complete mystery to all of our scientists and medical researchers. How body and mind interact with, or affect, one another is also unknown.

"Consequently, the fact there is a variety of physical symptoms and effects associated with the abduction experience, does not, in and of itself, prove that such symptoms or effects were caused by purely physical processes. For example, the 'abductees' reports of undergoing biological examinations, or their accounts of the alien genetic experiments that try to produce part-human and part-alien hybrid off-spring may involve more than just physical/material phenomena.

"All Christians accept that Jesus came into created existence when the spirit of God entered into the body of Mary to produce a being that was part-human and part-spirit-of-God. Maybe, there are other combinations of spirit or energy or soul or consciousness which, under the right circumstances, are capable of being combined with the human form to produce new, hybrid species of being.

"Is the abduction phenomenon a physical process? Is it a psychological process? Is it an invasion from outer space or inner space? Is it a spiritual process? Is it an altered state of consciousness? Is it a form of possession? Is it a the result of the penetration of our four-dimensional world by another dimension of a non-physical nature? Is it a combination of all of these things? Does it involve an encounter with some realm of reality that, heretofore, has been veiled from us?

"We simply do not know. In fact, not only do we not know the nature of the kind of reality with which we are dealing in the abduction phenomenon, we also don't know what the meaning or purpose or significance of these experiences is."

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