Oct 25 - Week 7: History of Extraterrestrial Life Debate PDF

Oct 25 - Week 7 Issac Newton The universe of Newton was a deterministic universe, i.e. it was governed by a set of laws. For many, this eliminated the need for a God who constantly oversees and interferes in the matters of the universe. This view is called Deism He is respo...

Oct 25 - Week 7 Issac Newton The universe of Newton was a deterministic universe, i.e. it was governed by a set of laws. For many, this eliminated the need for a God who constantly oversees and interferes in the matters of the universe. This view is called Deism He is responsible for his invention of calculus as well as the three laws of motion and the universal law of gravity. His law of gravity could be used to directly derive the shape of the orbit of planets, what Kepler found experimentally Newton believed that stars are systems similar to our own Sun. the massive body of Newton’s writings, one comes across only four passages which point to the idea of pluralism. Passage by Newton states “God is able to create Particles of Matter of several Sizes and Figures, and in several Proportions to Space, and perhaps of different densities and Forces, and thereby vary the Laws of Nature and make Worlds of several sorts in several Parts of the Universe.” And it’s an example of the Copernican Principle and Principle of Relativity By accepting that the laws of nature can vary in different parts of the universe, Newton is rejecting his own universal law of gravitation! Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) Leibniz is known for his theodicy, the idea that our universe is the best of all possible universes despite the existence of evil Leibniz uses his pluralism to confront the problem of evil by arguing that our planet is the worst world in the best possible universe! Theodicy is the idea that our universe is the best of all possible Problem of Evil: How can evil exist in a universe that is created by an omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God?  Christian Wolff (1679-1754) Wolff’s pluralist passages, one is especially interesting where he sets out to measure the height of Jupiterians using the amount of light they receive on Jupiter. Wolff used the amount of light received on every planet to estimate the size of the inhabitants of that planet. Wolff’s calculation is based on the inverse square law for light, meaning that the amount of light received on a planet is inversely proportional to the square of the distance of that planet from the Sun. The inverse square law states that if the distance between a planet and the Sun increases by a factor of d, the light received on that planet decreases by a factor of d2. For instance, Saturn is 10 times farther from the Sun than the Earth, so it receives 1/102 = 1/100 of the light that the Earth receives. the square of the diameter of the pupil is inversely proportional to the amount of light available. Wolff argues that the size of the human eye is proportional to the height. Height of jupiterians (Jupiter inhabitants/ living beings) is estimated to be 13.5 feet Voltaire Francois-Marie Arouet assumed the name Voltaire in 1717 and went on to become one of the greatest writers and philosophers of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment is the period in the history of Western thought and culture, He received his early education primarily from the Jesuits but later turned into a deist. Following a 2-year exile to Britain, he espoused the Newtonian system of Mechanics and upon his return to France became a popularizer of Newton’s ideas.  His belief in extraterrestrials however appears to have come from reading Fontenelle’s book. Micromegas Voltaire’s pluralism is best seen in his book Micromegas (1752), a book filled with pluralism, satire, criticism of institutional religion (especially Catholicism) and politics. Micromegas (small/large) is the itinerant inhabitant of a planet orbiting the star Sirius. Sirius (the dog star) is the brightest star of the night sky Upon being Exiled from his home planet on charges of heresy(controversial word) Micromegas decides to travel around the universe and he visits our solar system, in particular Saturn and Earth. Upon arriving on Saturn, he finds that Saturnian are dwarfs, standing at only 1.8 km (6000 ft) tall. When he arrives on earth he sees the earthlings/humans as weaklings, as he sees a lot of conflict and war and he thinks that we should live in peace. He befriends the secretary of the Academy of Saturn “a man of good spirit, who in truth had invented nothing, but who rendered a very good account of the inventions of others, and who made passably good small verse and large calculations”. They both lament that the 1000 senses of Micromegas and 72 senses of the Saturnian will leave them ill-equipped on planets where their inhabitants are endowed with more senses. The Sirian and Saturnian mount on a comet to travel first to Jupiter and then to Earth.  They justify Mars’s having two satellites due to its proximity to the Sun. The moons of Mars were discovered in 1877 Richard Bentley was amongst the very first to popularize Newton’s deterministic universe and employ this new system of Mechanics in Natural Theology. Argued for the existence of extraterrestrials based on the concept of teleology: he cannot find any purpose for the existence of stars as they do not provide any advantage to us. Natural Theology is a theological system framed “entirely out of the religious truths which may be learned from natural sources, that is, from the constitution of the human mind, and the phenomena of the mental and material universe.” Natural theology relies on reason and is contrary to revealed theology. His belief in the existence of extraterrestrials arises from the fact that he cannot find any purpose for the existence of stars as clearly they do not provide any advantage to us. He argues that just as the Earth was made for man, “why may not all other Planets be created … for their inhabitants which have Life and Understanding?” Bentley was aware of the fact that Mercury and Venus were probably too close to the Sun for an Earthly type of life to exist on them. He however argues that these planets are still populated (otherwise what is the point of having them? They are of no advantage to us). Then and Now Habitable Zone More luminous stars have wider habitable zones which are located relatively far from the star. Less luminous stars have thinner habitable zones which are located relatively close to the star. Stars come in a variety of masses. For the majority of the life of a star, the more  massive it is, the hotter its surface temperature Kepler space telescope was launched in 2009 to search for Earth-like planets. Nov 1- Week 8 William Herchel (1738-1822) William Herschel believed in life on the moon and sun as well as other planets His many contributions are the discovery of Uranus (1781) and infrared radiation. Herschel also discovered two moons of Uranus, Titania and Oberon as well as the Martian Polar Caps Herschel's views on the existence of ET life are fascinating but perplexing. It appears that his fascination with extraterrestrial life was behind his strange change of career Nebulae was a term used in the past to refer to many faint patches observed in the sky (today, many of these are identified as other galaxies) During his career, Herschel mapped more than 2500 nebulae and investigated the nature of these objects. Recent scholarly work on some of Herschel’s unpublished manuscripts shows that pluralism was his primary concern These manuscripts depict a much different image of Herschel Herschel’s radical claim of an inhabited Moon was even though he himself had shown that the Moon does not have an atmosphere. His claim led the president of the Royal Society to request more details in response to which Herschel wrote: “Promise not to call me a lunatic….” Herschel shows that he believed he had substantial evidence of life on the moon. William Herschel thought the crater Herschel mistakenly thought that the impact craters were cities on the moon. Impact Craters are depressions on the surface of the moon as well as all other bodies in the solar system which are caused when these bodies are bombarded by asteroids (leftover junks from the formation of the solar system) Herschel also believed that life existed on other planets. On the possibility of life on Mars Herschel believed that all other planets, including Uranus, the moons of planets and even the dwarf planet Ceres (to which he surprisingly attributed a considerable atmosphere) were inhabited.  Herschel believed the Sun to be inhabited Many astronomers of the time, saw Herschel as being “fit for bedlam” which is a word for being outlandish Herschel, submitted two papers to Philosophical Transactions in 1795 and 1801, advocating for the existence of life on the Sun. He argued that the sun had a cool, solid and dark spherical interior on top of which a layer of hot clouds floats He proposed that the outer layer consisted of two separate layers, the outermost is glowing and the inner one acts as a shield and reflects the heat to keep the inner surface cool. “The sun … appears to be nothing else than a very eminent, large, and lucid planet, evidently the first, or in strictness of speaking, the only primary one of our system … Its similarities to the other globes of the solar system … leads us to suppose that it is most probably … inhabited by beings whose organs are adapted to the peculiar circumstances of that vast globe.” His passage represents Argument from Analogy William Herschel’s thoughts on two types of arguments can be seen, teleology and argument from Analogy. Herschel believed that sunspots are openings in the Sun through which the inhabitants of the Sun can look at the outside world. Today we know that sunspots are areas of the Sun that are significantly cooler than their surroundings Herschel and his claim for the Sun being inhabited can be understood through his study of globular clusters and binary stars One reason behind Herschel’s strange stellar model was the existence of globular clusters: too tightly packed to let any planet revolve around these stars..so the argument from teleology dictates that these stars must themselves serve a purpose by being the abode of life. Globular clusters are spherical collections of very tightly packed stars that orbit the galaxy as a satellite. They were first resolved into individual stars by William Herschel in 1782 Herschel’s strange stellar model saved the stars in a globular cluster from being “mere useless brilliant points.  Nov 8- Week 9 Thomas Paine argued that one has to either believe in Christianity or abandon the idea of extraterrestrials as the two are not compatible In his book, Age of Reason (1794), he argues that the central Christian claim that God became incarnated in Christ, came to earth, suffered and died to redeem the sinful inhabitants of Earth is irreconcilable with the doctrine of Plurality of the World Age of Reason Paine’s book, the following concept that is attacked by anthropocentrism important arguments including, Original Sin, Anthropocentrism and Doctrine of Atonement, none of which in Paine’s opinion were reconcilable with Extraterrestrials(ET). Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) pluralists were facing two difficult obstacles that needed to be addressed: (1) As put forward by Thomas Paine, is Christianity REALLY reconcilable with pluralism? (2) The paucity of the astronomical evidence in favour of the existence of extraterrestrial life. The man who addressed these difficulties was Thomas Chalmers, an evangelical Scottish priest and a fervent supporter of pluralism. Thomas Chalmers had a different opinion and response to Thomas Paine Thomas Chalmers suggested that the actions of Christ dying on Earth can extend not only through time but also across space, encompassing inhabitants of other worlds/planets William Whewell a prominent natural philosopher who coined the term scientist. was a pluralist had a change of position to anti-pluralism In 1833 He initially supported the thought of extraterrestrial life But in 1853 only 20 years later he changed his position/thought and ended up arguing against the abundance of life in the universe Whewell agreed with the objection of Thomas Paine that Christianity and Extraterrestrial life cannot be compatible. As you either believe in Christianity or abandon the idea of Extraterrestrial life The difference between Paine and Whewell is that Paine abandoned Christianity to follow up on the thought of extraterrestrial life. Whewell was different as he abandoned the idea of extraterrestrial life to favour his religion Whewell’s objections were primarily motivated by the conflict that he saw between the idea of extraterrestrials and Christianity, he supplemented his arguments with scientific evidence Whewell’s conflict answered the two groups of extraterrestrials and Christianity: Religious thinkers who based their arguments for the existence of ET on teleological arguments Opponents of religion who are in favour of ET and believe that the doctrine of atonement and anthropocentrism was in conflict with religion and used extraterrestrials as a means to attack Christianity One of Whewell’s arguments against Pluralism was his geological argument. Here he argued that the Earth was without intelligent life for the majority of its history. This however must not be considered a waste of space. In nature, waste is a common occurrence Suggested the Rare Earth Hypothesis asserting that we are the only intelligent beings in the universe Whewell geological argument was an alternative to the theological argument. This The argument was against extraterrestrial life Geological argument: the Earth was without intelligent life for the majority of its history. This however must not be considered a waste of space. In nature waste is a common occurrence: Thousands of seeds fall on the ground but only a few bloom; a fish produces millions of embryos but only a few reach adulthood… The fact that waste exists in nature must not be considered as God creating in Vain Media and Ideology Analyzing media as ideological: the idea that media contains values and norms that are in service of a particular belief system or politics This is why it’s so important to critically analyze the media we consumer John Herschel (1792-1871) , William Herschel's son, inherited both his father's instruments and beliefs in extraterrestrial life He became embroiled in the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, a series of articles in the New York Sun falsely claiming Herschel had made incredible discoveries on the moon, including observing intelligent bat-like creatures and other fantastical beings. This hoax, likely intended as satire by Richard Adams Locke (1800-1871), highlights the public's fascination with the possibility of extraterrestrial life, particularly on the moon. Locke's satire might have been aimed at the "religion-scientific rhapsodies" of Thomas Dick, which he felt harmed both religion and science John Herschel continued to advocate ideas of life on the Sun and other planets….little by little people are realizing that the moon cannot support life as it has no atmosphere Thomas Dick Rev. Thomas Dick almost spent his whole career writing and preaching about extraterrestrials The many books that Thomas Dick wrote show how pluralism was deeply ingrained in the thoughts of the people of the early 19th century despite the existence of no observational evidence. It is important not to forget that such conclusions were entirely based on teleology. , Thomas Dick populated the solar system with inhabitants based on his teleological argument  Dick presents a population table for all the objects in the solar system. calculating the square milage of dry land available on each object (he assumed no oceans occurred! that the average population per square mile in all the bodies of the solar system is equal to that of England, being 280 people at the time The Great Moon Hoax of 1835, a series of articles in the New York Sun a series of articles published by the New York Sun The name of the author: Richard Adams Locke Even though the article is generally considered a hoax There is strong scholarly evidence which points to the fact that it was written as a satire piece. Was satire mainly targeting Thomas dick Richard Procter Richard Proctor was a popularizer of Science who turned Whewellian arguments into popular science. Proctor put forward the idea that each planet, at some stage/phase of its life becomes hospitable to life…. Jupiter is currently inhospitable to life but can provide heat for its moons. At some point in the future, it might be an abode of life itself. Richard Procter proposed that each planet goes through a phase in its evolution where it becomes capable of supporting life. Richard Adams Locke was the author of the Great Moon Hoax (1875), which was published in The New York Sun Origin of life Panspermia: the idea that the seeds of life exist in the universe and travel on comets, asteroid Can life be brought to Earth from other places? The concepts of Meteoroid, meteor and meteorite Nov 22 - Week 10 Key Details of Lecture 9 on the History of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate Giovanni Schiaparelli By the 1870s, most astronomers believed that with the exception of Mars was the only planet in the solar system where life might exist. In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli observed Mars and reported seeing canali. ○ In English translations, canali became "canals" instead of "channels," giving the impression that these were structures built by Martians. ○ While “Channels” are formed in nature, “Canals” are man-made and thus gave the impression of structures made by Martians. The year 1877 was significant because Mars was in opposition, meaning Mars and the Sun were on opposite sides of Earth. This event brought Mars and Earth as close as 56 million km. Percival Lowell (1855-1916) While many dismissed the canals as optical illusions, Percival Lowell, a wealthy businessman, strongly advocated for the idea of Martian canals. Lowell believed that Mars is covered by a system of Canals ○ Lowell funded the construction of the Lowell Observatory to study Mars and Lowell believed the canals were a system built by an intelligent Martian civilization to transport water from the polar caps towards the martian equator.  ○ What he was seeing was nothing but an optical illusion which had poisoned Schiaparelli’s vision as well Wallace and life on Mars Alfred Russel Wallace challenged Lowell's claims in his 1907 book, Is Mars Habitable? ○ In this book Wallace argued that Mars had a very thin atmosphere and much colder temperatures than Lowell claimed, rejecting the possibility of complex life on Mars. Pictures from Mariner 4 disproved the existence of Martian canals. Today, we know that Mars had a much warmer climate and abundant water in the past, but the planet gradually lost a significant portion of its atmosphere and water. Communicating with Extraterrestrials Early ideas for communicating with extraterrestrials, particularly those on the moon (Selenites or Lunarians) and Mars, emerged in the 19th century. ○ These methods relied on mathematics as a universal language or sending light signals. Mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss proposed constructing a giant "windmill" diagram using wheat fields in Siberia, believing that Lunarians, with their understanding of mathematics, would recognize the Pythagorean theorem and understand it as a sign of intelligent life on Earth. Astronomer Joseph Johann von Littrow suggested creating a large square or circle canal filled with kerosene in the Sahara Desert. ○ The idea was that the burning kerosene would signal the presence of intelligent life on Earth to the Lunarians. Statistician Francis Galton proposed using mirrors to reflect sunlight to Mars, creating a detectable light signal. ○ Galton also explored the development of an interstellar language using light signals consisting of dots, dashes, and lines with varying durations. ○ He acknowledged that extraterrestrials might use a numerical base other than the decimal system. Nikola Tesla believed strong electrical signals could enable wireless communication with Mars and claimed to have received signals he believed originated from Mars while investigating electrical phenomena at Pike's Peak in 1899. Today, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) focuses on finding artificially generated electromagnetic signals from other planetary systems. Is Mathematics a Universal Language?  The use of mathematics in messages to extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) raises the question of whether mathematics is a universal language. Two schools of thought address this question: 1. Extreme Platonism: This view posits that mathematical objects exist in a "hyper-world" of perfect objects and are discovered rather than invented. Extreme Platonists believe that intelligent alien species would also discover mathematics, making it a universal language. 2. Strict Formalism: This perspective views mathematics as a game with specific rules created by the human mind. Strict Formalists believe that not all intelligent aliens would share or understand our mathematical systems. Composing a Mathematical Message Messages designed to communicate with ETI often assume that advanced civilizations share a common understanding of science and mathematics. The Pioneer plaque, sent into space on Pioneer 10 in 1972, exemplifies this assumption. ○ The plaque aims to convey information about humanity and our location in the universe using symbols and mathematical concepts believed to be universally understandable. Key features of the Pioneer plaque: ○ Uses the atomic properties of hydrogen to define a unit of length (21 cm), assuming extraterrestrial civilizations understand quantum mechanics. ○ Employs binary code (1s and 0s) to represent numbers. ○ Includes a radial pattern representing the location of our solar system relative to pulsars, acting like a cosmic address. ○ Shows the location of each planet in our solar system using binary numbers, with Mercury's distance as the unit. The Pioneer plaque's design highlights the challenges and assumptions inherent in attempting to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations, relying on the belief in a shared understanding of fundamental scientific and mathematical principles. The Risks of Communicating with Extraterrestrials While the desire to communicate with extraterrestrials stems from human curiosity, there are potential risks associated with sending messages into space. ○ Risk of detection: This risk is somewhat calculable and involves the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations detecting our signals. ○ Risk of contact: The consequences of contact with an extraterrestrial civilization are unknown and potentially unpredictable. The question of whether we should send messages into space remains a topic of debate. Nov 29th -Week 11 Key Details from Lecture 10 on the History of Extraterrestrial Life Debate Even though little hope remained of finding life on other planets in the solar system by the mid-20th century, a wave of UFO sightings emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. This UFO craze started with the 1947 report by Kenneth Arnold, an Idaho businessman and amateur pilot. Arnold observed nine unidentified flying objects moving at incredible speeds, resembling "saucers skipping over water". A few days after Arnold's report, debris resembling aluminum foil was found on a ranch outside Roswell, New Mexico. ○ The authorities' initial report described the recovery of a "flying disc", but quickly changed their story to "broken pieces of a meteorological balloon". ○ Thirty years later, a dramatically different story about the Roswell incident emerged from the intelligence officer present at the scene, making it one of the most well-known UFO incidents. ○ The Roswell crash is still shrouded in conspiracy theories with many people believing that the government is hiding the truth. Interestingly, accounts of contact with extraterrestrials date back to the 18th century. Early Contactees Emmanuel Swedenborg is considered the first contactee. ○ In his 1758 book The Earths in the Universe, Swedenborg discussed his visions of travelling to the planets of the solar system and beyond. ○ He described the inhabitants of the moon as speaking with "voices like thunder" because they speak from their abdomens, not their lungs. ○ He wrote that Martians lived content and honourable lives, esteeming justice and loving their neighbours. ○ He described the inhabitants of Jupiter as having larger faces than humans and seeing faces as "the mind in the form". He also noted that Jupiterians found human faces to be unattractive. ○ Notably, Swedenborg did not mention visiting Uranus and Neptune, which had not been discovered at the time. Ellen G. White, the prophetess of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, also claimed contact with extraterrestrials. ○ In her visions, she saw extraterrestrials living in worlds free of sin. ○ She wrote about the inhabitants of Saturn, describing them as a "tall majestic people" untouched by sin.  ○ She developed a theology where Christ came to Earth only because humans were the only race who had sinned. Helene Smith, a French medium, is another famous contactee. ○ Her claims were studied by psychologist Theodore Flournoy and published in his book, From India to Planet Mars. ○ Over seven years, Smith claimed to have travelled to Mars frequently and learned to speak and write Martian. ○ She even painted pictures of Martian landscapes and inhabitants. ○ A study of her Martian language revealed it to be a rudimentary form of French. Before the 1950s, contactees described their mode of travel as astral travel, where they experienced their body and consciousness separately. Their body remained in one place while their consciousness was free to travel. Contactees and New Religions Historical and modern accounts of contactees often incorporate religious messages, with the contactee entrusted to deliver them. Some contactees have even founded new religions based on their experiences. ○ Swedenborg founded the New Jerusalem Church, which today has over 40,000 adherents. ○ Ellen G. White became the prophetess of the Seventh Day Adventists, with over 20 million members today. The experiences of these contactees often relied on the popular science of their time. ○ As mentioned earlier, Swedenborg didn't visit Uranus and Neptune because they hadn't been discovered yet. ○ Reports of contact with Martians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries were filled with accounts of Martian canals, which were a popular scientific idea at the time. J. Gordon Melton, in his book The Gods Have Landed, argues that contactees used their experiences to replace the authority of traditional religion with the authority of science, bolstered by their claims of direct contact with a new and authoritative source of information. Modern Contactee-Based Religions The Aetherius Society, founded by George King in 1955, is based on his contact with aliens he called "Cosmic Masters," including an extraterrestrial "Master Jesus" from Venus. The Unarius Academy of Sciences was founded in 1954 by Ernest and Ruth Norman, who claimed to channel with extraterrestrials and receive teachings from "infinite intelligence". ○ Unarians were initially expecting the arrival of a "vehicle of light" in 1975, then in 2001, and now at some uncertain future date.  ○ The academy even bought 67 acres of land in the mountains of San Diego, California for their awaited starships to land. ○ Unarians believe in reincarnation, and Ernest and Ruth claimed to have been Jesus and Mary Magdalene in past lives. ○ After Ernest's death, Ruth claimed to have more intense channelling experiences and was named "Queen Uriel," Queen of Archangels. Raëlism was founded by Claude Vorilhon (Raël) in 1973 after his alleged encounter with advanced extraterrestrials who revealed the origin of humankind. ○ According to Raël, humans are the result of genetic engineering by these extraterrestrials, who made us in their "own image" and placed us on Earth. ○ Raëlism believes in achieving immortality through serial cloning for those considered morally good. ○ To be initiated into Raëlism, converts sign a contract with a mortician to remove a piece of bone from their forehead after death (known as the "3rd eye") so it can be preserved for cloning when their creators return. ○ The religion generally discourages long-term relationships and marriage, promotes contraception and abortion, and in extreme cases, even abandons one's children. ○ Raëlians avoid drugs, coffee, alcohol, and vaccines (or anything they believe might damage their DNA). UFOs and Religion UFOs and their alleged occupants have not only influenced occult religions but also sparked new interpretations of the Bible. One interpretation within the Christian framework sees aliens as agents of God, meaning that God is active in human life but works through UFOs. Another interpretation, more prevalent, views God as an alien. ○ This view interprets the Old and New Testaments as narratives of human contact with extraterrestrial creators. ○ God is replaced by advanced aliens who created humans and guided their evolution. This interpretation was popularized by Swiss author Erich von Däniken. ○ In his 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods?, von Däniken argued that many biblical accounts describe ancient alien astronauts visiting Earth. ○ He suggested that humans were the result of a biological experiment by alien genetic engineers. ○ For example, he claimed that ancient astronauts led Moses through the wilderness, interpreting the story of Moses' encounter with Yahweh as the landing of a spaceship on Mount Sinai. ○ He cited the story of Ezekiel's vision as another example of an encounter with aliens.  Von Däniken's claims have been widely dismissed by the academic community as pseudoscience. Carl Sagan, for example, criticized von Däniken's work as riddled with logical and factual errors, calling it an "object lesson in sloppy thinking". Religious Themes in Alien Encounters Despite academic criticism, von Däniken's writings resonated with the public, and his book became a worldwide bestseller. Instead of ancient astronauts playing God, it's more likely that the expectation of extraterrestrial arrival is a religiously influenced theme. Carl Jung, a renowned 20th-century psychoanalyst, believed the theme of humanity's rescue by extraterrestrials is a religious myth disguised in technologically advanced terms. Alien Abductions The 1970s and 1980s saw the emergence of abductees, people claiming to have been abducted by aliens. Advocates believe abductions are widespread, but abductees have little or no memory of the events, with details often retrieved through hypnosis. ○ This reliance on hypnosis makes these memories questionable, as hypnosis can influence subjects to give responses that please the hypnotist. The earliest recorded abduction cases include a man in Brazil in 1957 and Betty and Barney Hill in 1961. Most abductions reportedly occur as the abductee is falling asleep and begin with an intense light that blinds or paralyzes them. The abduction experience is often described as dream-like and involves an out-of-body experience. The spacecraft is typically disc-shaped, with a circular and dome-shaped examination room lacking any sharp corners. Other common elements include uniform lighting, stuffy and heavy air that's difficult to breathe, and a misty atmosphere. All abductees undergo painful medical examinations, sometimes involving dismemberment or organ removal. There is a sexual aspect to all abduction narratives, usually involving the removal of sperm or ova, suggesting that the aliens are attempting to create a hybrid race. Kathie Davies (Debbie Tomey), the subject of the 1987 bestseller Intruders, is a classic example of an abductee who described her hybrid child. Appearance of Alien Abductors Most accounts describe aliens as 3-5 feet tall humanoids with large heads, huge almond-shaped eyes, small noses, very thin lips, and expressionless faces.  They reportedly wear seamless, shiny body suits with no fasteners and can pass through walls and barriers. Examination and Messages The physical examination is usually followed by a spiritual examination. The alien leader often forms an instant bond with the abductee, who feels like they've known the leader their entire life. The leader mysteriously removes any pain remaining from the medical examination. The abductee is then given a message to deliver, which can be categorized into four types: 1. Moral injunction messages: Humans have behaved badly and must change or face consequences. 2. Apocalyptic messages: A terrible catastrophe will end human history. 3. Messages revealing the aliens' identity and purpose: They are conducting genetic experiments to create a hybrid race, they created and guided human evolution, they have intervened in human history, and they now offer salvation (replacing the traditional role of God). Psychological Interpretation Carl Jung argued that the human subconscious contains archetypes, including religious symbols. From a Jungian perspective, abduction narratives are the externalization of these archetypes under stress or pressure. These archetypes can manifest as abduction narratives to please the hypnotist. Jung believed the sexual aspect of abduction narratives relates to human encounters with the "Other," with the alien personifying the "Other".