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Jennifer suggested that we pay for the meal and that she could finish up on the way back to the office building. We sorted out who owed what, gathered together the requisite amounts, left a tip and went off to find the cashier.

As we exited the restaurant, Jennifer picked up, more or less, where she had left off. "Among the experiences reported by the 'abductees' there are a few that suggest some sort of reincarnation motif.

"Essentially, some of the 'abductees' indicate having gone through a number of reincarnation-like cycles. These cycles consist of their spirit or soul or consciousness first becoming embodied, then disembodied, and, then, once again, embodied.

"The disembodied portion of these cycles tends to be described as one of returning to the 'Home' of unity, bliss, knowledge and light. Then, after an appropriate pregnant host is found, one's consciousness is removed from this realm and, so to speak, brought back to Earth."

We waited for traffic to ease up a bit and then dodged our way through the remaining vehicles. When we reached the sidewalk on the other side of the street, Jennifer continued her interrupted train of thought.

"The point I would like to make, David, is this. People have an experience of some kind, and, then, they interpret that experience. The interpretation may, or may not, accurately reflect the actual nature, character, purpose, meaning or significance of the experience in question.

"Altered states of consciousness are very tricky things. A person in such a state is encountering something which is not part of her or his normal routine.

"Individuals undergoing these states or conditions often tend to be disoriented and/or overawed. There may be a variety of emotions, biases, character flaws and pieces of one's life history that color and shape one's perception of such experiences.

"Generally speaking, one is not familiar with the rules, principles, values or etiquette that may govern what is transpiring. In addition, one may not understand the symbolic character of the forms and/or processes that are being given expression through one's altered state of consciousness.

"When one undergoes certain kinds of unitive states or conditions of being one with the universe, one is being affected by the character of those states and conditions. One sees, feels, senses, intuits, hears and is aware of something which overwhelms one's conceptual abilities.

"When one is removed from the altered state, one begins to take things out of context. Based on one's experience of such states, one starts to abstract ideas that are really distortions of the reality of the original experience.

"One also may begin to impose foreign, theoretical elements into the original experience which have little, or nothing, to do with the actual nature of that experience. Or, one may confuse and conflate different aspects of the experience in one's understanding."

We had reached the entrance to the office building. We stood by the entrance while she finished her explanation.

"During some of these altered states or conditions of consciousness, one comes into contact with the spirits of different people. Some of these people have passed away from the biological realm of existence.

"One's being can become entangled, in a sense, in their being. If one gets lost or disoriented or confused during these entanglements, one can come away from these encounters with something of an imprint of aspects of the other person's life history and personality superimposed on one's own life.

"Under such circumstances, there may be a tendency of an individual to mistake the other person's life history, personality and character for one's own. Indeed, not only does one mistake the other person's life for one's own, but the 'imprint' that occurred while their beings were entangled may begin to manifest itself and influence one even after one has become disengaged from the altered state.

"These manifestations and influences might even show up in various physical ways involving posture, mannerisms, gait, speech patterns, feelings, and body markings. Furthermore, the person who bears such an imprint could have knowledge about the life of the other person or the times in which that person lived as a result of the imprinting process.

"Despite the presence of such features, they are not necessarily indications of reincarnation but, rather, of a confusion. This confusion is rooted in the way an imprinting process, that occurred while in an altered state of consciousness, has come to dominate, influence, shape, color and orient certain aspects of a person's life.

"Consequently, when some of the 'abductees' talk about having an experience in which they claim to have seen themselves, or had an awareness of themselves, becoming embodied in the form of a foetus, after having had previous lives, several possibilities arise. One such possibility is that the individual is misinterpreting the experience and confusing someone else's life with his or her own life as a result of the previously described imprinting process that took place during an altered state of consciousness.

"Another possibility is that a non-human form of consciousness has hijacked a human body or foetus during pregnancy. This possibility would be consistent with reports of some of the 'abductees' who say they feel they have both an alien and a human dimension to them which must be integrated."

Jennifer waved and said hello to someone going into the office building. She made a gesture with her hand, like holding a phone up to her ear, indicating that someone should call someone.

"This brings me to my final point, David. If some form of non-human consciousness has been hijacking human bodies on a regular basis down through history, then ultimately, the abduction phenomenon, at least in one sense, may not turn out to be about human beings.

"Instead, this phenomenon may, to varying degrees, be about alien forms of being or consciousness that, through various means, have taken up residence in human bodies. If this were the case, then the process of abduction constitutes something like a procedure for taking these embodied beings back to the 'shop' for various checks, tests and experiments.

"The tremendous psychological trauma experienced by the 'abductees' could come from several factors. First, the process of embodiment, and the realm of intense emotions which comes with it, may have overwhelmed the consciousness of the being so embodied to such an extent that the being has forgotten all about his or her origins and actual identity. As such, the traumatized reaction is an issue of problematic adaptation to the host or human body.

"The other possibility concerns those 'abductees' who are aware of feeling both alien and human. They don't know how to reconcile the two, and they are having difficulty not only with the problem of integrating these very different dimensions of their being, but also with understanding what significance and meaning their experiences have in the cosmic or metaphysical scheme of things.

"Naturally, the truth of the abduction phenomenon could be an expression of any number of combinations of the many possibilities that I have placed before you. Then, again, maybe none, or only a few, of the things I've said is true. The reality may be even more incredible than we have been able to imagine up until now."

Jennifer looked at me and laughed. "You've been pretty quiet for quite a long time, David. I suppose I really haven't let you get a word in edgewise."

She studied me a bit more and then said in a somewhat amused tone of voice: "Has the inquiring mind found out perhaps more than it ever wanted to know back when it so naively asked its question from the floor of the restaurant?"

I shook my head, as if coming out of a trance. "I think," I said, "I must have fallen victim to your skills as a hypnotist.

"Your discussion of the abduction phenomenon has absolutely mesmerized me. I mean this in the best sense of the word. I've thoroughly enjoyed your account."

Jennifer seemed to be both pleased and somewhat surprised by my words. Surprised, perhaps, because there actually was someone interested in what she was doing and thinking. Pleased, perhaps, because the object of her surprise had been available to listen to her.

We entered the lobby of the office building and waited for the elevator. When the elevator arrived, we got in, pressed the buttons for our respective floors, and rode the elevator in silence to our destinations.

While riding on the elevator, I had been mulling over a possibility in my mind. After reaching my office, I decided to try to bring the possibility to realization.

Sitting down at the desk, I picked up the phone and pushed the appropriate sequence of numbers. Within a few seconds, my intended party answered.

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