Expert: Keith Patton - 3/24/2008

Question
for this qwestion I just want your opion. Do you think humans are prey to
aliens. Do you think aliens hide on earth grab a human and eat them instead
of cows. And sometimes even eat humans whole.

Answer
Tiffany:

No, I don't.  But if you are thinking about it, it is a good sign.  You might want to read Carl Sagan's book:

http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle-Dark/dp/0345409469/ref=...

It is called the The Demon Haunted World.

He points out how people during various times in history have managed to roll the pervailing superstitions or beliefs into the horrific occurances of everyday life.

For instance, the occurances of witchs and spell casting in Europe and Salem Mass. are now thought to be the result of a toxin that occurs in rye grain, called Argot.  The toxin, once formed will even be present in baked bread.  It causes convulsions, muscular contractions and rigor, and in some cases death.  To the uninitiated it can look alot like someone is possessed.  A scientist was able to place outbreaks of the mold that causes the toxin in the same locations and at the same time as the occurences of so called witchcraft and possessions.  It happened in France again in the 1950's and the French Army had to prevent some villagers from burning some of their neigbors as witches...this was in the 1950's!!  Old superstitions die hard.

Other occurances like demons, werewolfs, vampyres etc all occured in a time when religion preached the existence of such things.  So if you had a serial killer or cannibal like a Jeffery Dahmer, for instance, what better explanation that to blame it on a supernatural beast than one of your neigbors?  Much easier and soothing to believe that it was some supernatural beast disemboweling and eating your friends, than someone you grew up with.

Incubbi, and Succubui (Incubbus and Succubus singular) were demons believed to steal the life essence from a man or woman during sex after seducing them.  This would be in line with a morality lesson.  Don't engage in adultery or promiscous sex, it might be with a demon.  A lot of men with little willpower accused their partner of being a Succubi rather than admitting their own failure when succumbing to her feminine charms.  She probably ended up dead, while he was acclaimed a hero!  What better way to avoid a charge of adultery or fornication.

Sagan points out that one underlying current of all these beliefs is sex.  Modern alien abductions have replaced werewolfs and vampyres, you might ask yourself why?

It was because when claims of alien abductions first started to appear, the world was preoccupied with space travel, technology and the nuclear threat.  As a kid in school in the 60's I remember reading lots of books on the subject of alien abductions.  

The under lying theme is there again.  All the accounts have the aliens performing medical experiments that involve some measure of probing of the body.  I varies for women and men, but probably has its roots in the adolecent fantasies of the "abductee".  If you ever saw "Independence Day" or Saturday Night Live in the 90's there were running jokes about "anal probing" on the part of the aliens.

The book mentioned above explains how the pervailing culture of technology or theology can imprint some people to a degree that their delusions incorporate popular culture at the time.

Cattle mutilations and stuff like that have all been adequately explained by science.  I don't think Aliens came from light years away to eat the eyeballs and butt holes of cows and leave the steaks behind.  It is actually the selective work of the fly larvae that are laid on the dead animals.  Sure some wackos do mutilate cattle for kicks, but it isn't Mr. Spock or Warf and his Klingon buddies.  Besides they like that live worm salad.

Who knows maybe soon we will hear how people are being programmed by Aliens through their cell phones or Ipods to do weird things...
I wouldn't doubt it one bit.  Sorry I have to go...I am recieving subliminal messages from the Aliens through my Razor Phone to shut up...before I give everything away....