Articles by Other Researchers 

It was MUFON State Section Director John Kirby who came up with the idea and had the enthusiasm to keep trying to persuade me to agree to having a video camera placed in my bedroom at night. The reason: to attempt to catch the aliens in the act of abducting me.

I talked it over with my husband Erik, who has always been supportive of my investigation of the abduction phenomenon. This time was no exception and we agreed to install the camera in our bedroom in order to video tape ourselves while we slept at night.

John Kirby is an engineer with a master's degree in electrical engineering. He is also a trusted friend, so it came as no surprise when John approached me with this idea. I personally want to thank John for researching and choosing the appropriate camera, purchasing the equipment for us, and especially for his patience throughout this project.

The three of us agreed that we would use a code name when the project was brought up during any phone conversations and we would only tell one other investigator about our plans. The premise was, if there are in fact agencies listening in on certain individual's telephone conversations, we wanted to eliminate the possibility of drawing any undue interest in our project, especially since I was experiencing unusual problems with my phone. [1]

Methodology

John purchased a sub-miniature, single board (one inch by one inch) CCD low-light security camera with audio. He ingeniously placed the small camera in a hidden location in our bedroom. From the position of the camera, the angle was broad enough to cover about one foot on either side of our double bed, the foot board, and all the way up to the ceiling. A VCR was placed underneath the bureau with a neutral colored towel placed over it at night to dim the lights on the VCR. The camera was a "black and white," and the test tape showed that one 4-watt night-light was enough to light the room for easy viewing.

An 8-hour video tape was used each night, and each morning the tape was viewed on fast forward. This took approximately five minutes per one hour of real time. For example, if we slept a seven hour night (our average) it took about 35 minutes to view the tape the following day. This was the most tedious part of the project, but also the most important. Because of the aliens' telepathic prowess, it is my belief that somehow they know everything I know. I decided to leave nothing to chance. The tape was viewed each day whether or not we suspected or remembered an event occurring the night before. The tape project ran for 61 days; from April 9, until June 7, 1995.

It was difficult to get a good night's rest the first week of the taping project. Erik and I were accustomed to sleeping without any lights on and we were somewhat uncomfortable with the camera. By the time the second week passed, we felt much less inhibited by the camera.

Neither of us had remembered anything unusual occurring during the first nine days of the taping project. It was our tenth day of taping when Erik and I awakened feeling that familiar drugged feeling. Excerpts from my journal follow:

"4-18-95 - Woke up feeling a lot of pain in my lower intestines and lower back. Erik immediately said he felt drugged. I got up and turned off the tape which was still recording, just like it is every morning. We went downstairs and played the tape immediately because Erik felt that the aliens had come, referencing his drugged state.

When the tape began there was nothing but a blue screen. We fast forwarded the tape several times and still only got a blue screen. Then we went upstairs to check the equipment, but found everything was as it should be. We were careful not to move anything and no loose connections were found. We put the tape back in and recorded a minute or so to see if everything was working. We then went back downstairs and played the tape on our other VCR. Our practice recording session was fine. The tape and the camera were working fine, just as we suspected. However, after the short morning practice recording, the tape went back to a blue screen.

What appears to have happened is that the tape recorded over the previous night's recording, but instead of taping us sleeping, it merely recorded the blue color that you get when the tape is over, or when there is nothing to record. Since all of the wiring, the VCR, and the camera are operating fine, it would seem that something interfered with the signal going between the camera and the VCR.

I am 100% positive that the tape was recording when I went to bed the night before (4-17-95) because I watched the numbers on the counter roll...0...1...2, before I got into bed.

Erik said he 'dreamed' but hasn't remembered his dreams yet. After his shower he showed me a small blue bruise under his left arm (bicep). The bruise is about half the diameter of a dime.

As I was laying in bed last night, prior to falling to sleep, I half-way expected something to happen. I felt relaxed and thought it was unusual for me because I spent the day (4-17-95) from two o'clock in the afternoon until 5:00 p.m. fighting to stay awake. I wrote on my calendar that I felt fatigued, hazy, and tired. Several times during the day I felt a presence and I told myself that I couldn't rest, couldn't lay down even for a minute without the camera recording me, and I didn't want to be taped. So, I forced myself to stay awake and tried to get some computer work done.

When I woke up this morning I remembered being in a dark area. All of the colors around me were shades of dark grays and black. I remember humanoid types - really almost human males. One reminded me of a human-looking being that I clearly remember seeing and communicating with a few weeks ago.

The clearest thing I remember is receiving several electrical shocks during this 'memory.' It was like there was some kind of concert, but there wasn't. Then there was a pool table, but I never actually saw it. The next thing was me touching something and all I can remember is that it was electrical because I received a mild electrical shock. I became concerned that the place we were in had bad wiring and should be checked. Then I received another shock. Then I thought I saw an electric guitar, but I didn't really see it. I touched something and received another shock." [end journal notes]

I watched the entire tape on fast forward, but other than our short morning taping session to see if the equipment was working properly, there was nothing on the tape but a blue screen.

I told Erik that I felt a presence in the house. I also told him I felt some pain on the right side of my face near my cheek, just under my right eye. I looked myself over, but did not find any other marks.

Since the camera hadn't been moved, the VCR was still under the dresser, and the test tape worked fine, my conclusion (based on what I remember) is that somehow the aliens were able to block the signal, and therefore, the picture from being recorded onto the tape. If the camera hadn't recorded anything, we still should have been able to view the previous night's recording. This indicates to me that the camera and the VCR were working, they simply didn't have anything to record. The VCR continued to run, but as stated before, it did not record us sleeping. It merely recorded a blue screen.

Viewing the recordings from April 19 through April 27, 1995 showed that everything was all clear. [2] We had no memories of anything occurring and did not awaken with a drugged feeling or any abduction related aftereffects during this nine day time frame.

Then it happened. A full-blown memory. Excerpts from my journal follow:

"4-28-95-Well, it doesn't surprise me that I had to watch a blue screen again this morning. The tape didn't record us, it did the same thing it did on 4-18-95. Somehow they interfered with the signal again. It recorded over the previous night's recording, but nothing showed up on the tape except a blue screen.

The reason it doesn't surprise me is because I felt the aliens' presence last night. We got up at 4:30 a.m. because our cat began vomiting. I distinctly felt the beings' presence and remembered a very strong feeling of a telepathic probing of my mind. We got back into bed and I tried to concentrate on the feeling I had. It was a familiar and strong feeling of a deep connection with something, or someone. I then remembered what happened sometime prior to 4:30 a.m.:

I believe I was naked, at least from the waist up, and I was facing a glass wall. Behind this wall were several beings, but I could not make them out clearly. I felt them probing my mind. That is to say, they were in telepathic contact with me for the purposes of reading and experiencing my emotions about what I was experiencing.

They were about twenty feet away from me and between them, the glass wall and myself, was a primate "looking" being holding a small infant that appeared to be of the same species. This primate looking being was three feet tall and her infant was clinging to her waist. The 'mother' was holding her baby with her left arm and hand, and I could see that they were both terrified. They were terrified of where they were and of the other beings. There was at least one other being in this space outside the glass wall with the primate, the infant, and myself. This other being was in charge of this 'experiment' and was observing.

The 'mother' primate was very scared and confused. She was moving in a sideways stepping fashion and she reached out to me in a panic. I don't think she could contain her fear. She seemed to trust me more than the others, but once when she reached out to me, she tried to hold on to my breast, but I backed away so she couldn't touch me. I think that is why the beings took my clothes away, so this primate 'mother' could see that I was a female.

Anyway, she desperately wanted 'contact comfort,' someone to hold onto and someone to comfort her. If I had been clothed and had not felt so vulnerable I would have let her hold onto to me and I would have held her and her baby in order to calm them down. The entire situation was painful and wrong. These are the beings who perform 'experiments' at the expense of other life forms. I could, to a certain degree, make sense of my predicament, but this primate and her infant had no way of doing this. All they were experiencing was a primal fear. These beings are wrong to do this type of experimentation." [end journal notes]

After I documented everything I could remember, I made a note that I felt the hazy, pre-pain symptoms of a migraine headache coming on.

The following night the tape showed us sleeping normally, but on April 30, I awakened to find that the tape showed nothing but a blue screen again. I checked the equipment and re-taped a segment of the tape and everything was working fine, so I did not attribute it to anything technical. However - I also awakened with another memory, and this time it involved what looked like FBI agents or a SWAT team escorting an alien through an underground facility. [3]

The recordings did not show anything unusual occurring again until May 5, 1995. This was the first time I determined that a technical glitch occurred. When the equipment is operating properly, I can hear a very high pitched frequency that is associated with the camera. Before getting into bed (late 5-4-95), I listened for the frequency, but did not hear it. I decided to let it go. The next morning there wasn't anything on the tape, but there was a blue screen again. I conducted a test tape and it still did not record, so I checked the camera and moved the wires around a little. It looked as if the casing around the camera had worked its way loose. In this case an obvious technical problem occurred.

It is important to restate that after the previous instances during which only a blue screen was recorded, a test taping was performed. The tape was put back into the VCR without moving any wires or controls on the VCR (other than the eject button) or the camera. In addition, each time a blue screen was somehow recorded, the entire tape was viewed on fast forward to make sure nothing occurred later on during the night.

The last portion of the videotaping project covers the dates May 6, through June 7. Erik and I didn't record the nights of May 29 and May 30. On May 30, I had some very unusual dreams that involved flying in a craft and landing in three different locations at very steep angles of descent. I also remembered being escorted by an alien (using camouflage) inside a dormitory-type building with a lot of small rooms, small beds, and a communal bathroom at the end of a long hallway.

Something unusual occurred May 31, 1995, and we were recording that night. Admittedly, this was a night without a lot of restful sleep. Erik and I tossed and turned most of the night. At 2:46 a.m. I awakened to a mechanical humming sound. It was the same sound Erik and I have heard before and we associate it with abduction. I got out of bed to use the bathroom and took two aspirin and drank a medium glass of water because I had a headache. I walked into my office and looked through the window at the night sky. I was angry and I felt the aliens' presence.

The time that elapsed between getting out of bed and getting back into bed was about five minutes. After I went back to sleep I experienced an unsettling event. I felt as if I was paralyzed with my arms outstretched toward my husband. I also felt that I was in a partially reclined position on the rug next to our bed. I told myself I had to force myself to move and tried to call out for Erik, but there was no sound to my voice. Just when I thought it was all I could take, I was back in bed next to my husband.

I looked at the clock and it read 3:10 a.m. I reached out and touched Erik's back because I wanted to make sure he was really there. He moved a bit, and I went to sleep.

Then I had a dream of about fifty boomerang-shaped objects flying through the sky. I also had a dream of flying very fast above a highway at night.

The next morning the tape showed nothing unusual, only Erik and me sleeping. When I watched the portion of the tape from 2:46 a.m. to 3:10 a.m. in real time, I saw myself get up and leave the room (to use the bathroom and take the two aspirin). I then watched myself get back into bed and go back to sleep. Then, at what would have been 3:10 a.m., I saw myself look up at the clock.

Discussion

There may be more than one explanation for what occurred the night of May 31st. It is difficult to say for certain, but the fact that there are elements related to the paralysis portion of an abduction, but with no proof on the videotape, leads me to suspect that this may have been one of several things.

The first possibility that comes to mind is sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a normal process that the body goes through at night when we dream. During rapid eye movement, or when we are dreaming, a signal from our brain causes our body to become paralyzed to a certain degree. This is believed to be a protective mechanism that prevents us from acting out our dreams and therefore harming ourselves. However, this does not explain the mechanical humming sound I heard or the presence I felt while walking around that night just prior to the paralysis event.

The second possibility is that the beings were attempting to abduct me and because I fought against it I was able to break free from their paralysis. The last possibility involves the use of neural implants: The aliens (or even other humans) may have tried to initiate a virtual reality scenario in my brain, thereby leading me to believe that I had a physical experience when it was really a "mental" experience. [4]

The dream about the boomerang objects was just that - a dream. It did not feel like a physical experience, and importantly, I did not have the in-depth detailed memories that I had after I remembered interacting with the primate and the baby, and when I saw the men and the alien wearing the black jumpsuits.

If we imply that the videotape records a blue screen and there is some kind of interruption of the signal from the camera to the VCR when aliens are present (and an abduction is recalled), then we are left with the following possibilities:

The experience was telepathically induced by alien beings, or created and transmitted by the use of a neural implant either by alien beings or human beings.

I still cannot say which event actually took place the night of May 31, 1995. However, because I videotaped myself, I know that an abduction did not occur.

Conclusions

• From my videotaping experiment, I can imply that the phenomenon we interpret as an "alien abduction" can somehow nullify the signal from a camera to a VCR, which was set up for the specific purpose of documenting the phenomenon.
• At the same time, this phenomenon does not affect other electronic equipment such as a digital clock that is located in the same room.
• When I remembered a detailed experience that involved seeing alien beings, or what I thought were alien beings, the camera/VCR malfunctioned.
• When Erik and I had no memories, but experienced physical aftereffects such as soreness or a drugged feeling, the camera/VCR malfunctioned.
• When I had an ordinary dream or no memory of an abduction, the camera/VCR did not malfunction.

At the very least, this indicates to me that there was some force or energy that entered into our home and was able to affect the electronic equipment that could have recorded its image.

I want to encourage other abductees to videotape themselves at night in order to obtain more data involving the use of video cameras to document an alien abduction.

Notes:

[1] The unusual problems consist of echoing sounds during conversations, soft to loud clicking sounds, and a soft clicking sound after saying "hello" or the first few words of a greeting. In addition, there is also a second hang-up after the person I'm speaking with hangs up. I have had the phone company look into it and one operator told me she, too, could hear the clicking sound I was referring to. The phone company sent someone out to my house three times, but there was never anything wrong with the lines inside or outside of our house. I also had our alarm company out to check their equipment. Not only did they tell us they didn't know what was causing the problem they also said they had never encountered a problem like it before. This unusual problem persists each time I use either of my two phones. I can only assume that I have some type of automatic "tap" on my phone numbers. Incidentally, I did not have this problem until approximately one year after I published my first book.

[2] There was one night that I forgot to record.

[3] This experience, 4-30-95, is published in its entirety in Project Open Mind (MILABS). To locate it, go to the front page and click on Project Open Mind. Then scroll down to Part Seven, Some of Them Were Military. The experience begins with 1995: Staging.

[4] For more information about a VRS or a virtual reality scenario,  please refer to Project Open Mind, Part Two: The Technology.

By Katharina Wilson, © 1995