Field Investigation Frustrations

A field investigation for MUFON can often be an extremely frustrating experience. When this becomes the case, the most important thing you know may be when to walk away.

I’d like to tell you about two cases in point that I have been investigating. Both are referred to by FIs as historical cases. They are cases that occurred years or decades ago and only now a witness has come forward to report them. This leaves the FI in a difficult position. Physical evidence can be difficult to impossible to find, if it ever existed, due to the passage of time and land development. Corroborative witnesses likewise. Often the only source the FI has is the original witness. All then depends on the cooperation of that one person.

The first case:

Sometime in the 1970s a group of teenagers spent the night out in a heavily wooded area for, what the primary witness (Witness A) referred to as, “a night of romance.” The location they chose was a deserted spot on the shore of a major reservoir. The surrounding area was undeveloped except for a few dozen houses on the shore, a few bait shops, and a marina. The reservoir was a popular fishing and boating area. Since then the area has been heavily developed and it's crowded with restaurants, strip malls, and very expensive houses.

According to the initial statement by Witness A, well after dark a large number of dogs began to bark from what he believed to be a kennel on the other side of the lake. A red lit object then descended over the water. It emitted a flash that silenced the dogs instantly. Most of the group, including all of the girls, then retreated to their cars in panic leaving two boys, Witness A and Witness B, to continued to watch from the shore. The red lit object resolved itself into a domed saucer shaped craft which hovered over the water, then and suddenly shined a light on the boys. It then appeared to depart quite abruptly. When the boys returned to the group they were asked what took them so long. Apparently a good deal of time had passed.

This had the potential to be a significant case. First, two individuals stayed to watch the object and may have experienced missing time. It was possible that both had been taken aboard the craft. If I could find the second individual he could corroborate the statement of the first. Hypnotic regression of both individuals revealing the same indecent from two entirely different points of view, could be very exiting. Second, there are the others who retreated to the car. These could be witnesses who experienced no missing time and may have been unaffected by the craft. Their statements could offer new details and vital support.

I was soon deflated. I was successful in identifying only three other witnesses. Witness B was deceased. My hopes of having two significant witnesses to an important case vanished. I located two of the girls whom I designated Witnesses C and D but they were difficult. Witness C refused to see me or speak on the telephone. Her only communication with me was a short email stating that the only thing she saw was a light on a boat and “We were all stoned out of our gourds, anyway.” Without more evidence that last sentence alone would invalidate the case.

Witness D refused to respond. Witness A didn't want to try to contact her himself.

MUFON Field Investigators are not police! We have no authority at all. We cannot just knock on somebody's door and insist they talk to us. Pestering someone to do something they don't want to do is called harassment. My final communication to both these witnesses was to inform them how to contact MUFON or myself should they decide to do so and to promise never to initiate contact myself again.

This left me with Witness A and his completely unsupported statement. I spoke to him extensively over the phone. He seemed very troubled by the event and was seeking help. He had read a good deal about UFOs. He agreed to meet me and other FIs for a hypnotic regression. This seemed to me the only way learn more about the event and to corroborate his statement.

In Indiana our hypnotherapist is Craig Lang. Craig is a certified hypnotherapist and has conducted hypnotic regression on many apparent UFO abductees. He has written a book on the subject, The Cosmic Bridge. He is also the Director of MUFON Minnesota, and has recently been appointed Assistant Director of MUFON's Abduction Research Team. Craig's approach is as much therapy as investigation. An abduction experience can be quite traumatic. Along with discovering details about the event, Craig helps the subject to deal with the trauma and leave the session in a better state than when they approached it.

Witness A did not appear for the session or call to say he wasn't coming. When I spoke to him about this he said that some friends had told him that hypnosis could “mess with your mind.” He was afraid to go deeper in this in any manner.

I closed the case.

The second case:

A similar case involved a couple who saw a large object at very close quarters while on a drive. This was also an historic case reportedly occurring in the summer of 1989. The couple was a man and a woman who it seems had an off again, on again relationship. They were on a drive together for the purpose of discussing the future of that relationship. At the time of the actual sighting they were arguing over Whitley Striber's book, Transformations, which had come out the previous year. At one point the woman threw the book out of the window. The couple noticed a light in the trees and decided it was a flying illuminated object and it appeared to be stalking them. After several minutes they drove around a bend and the object or craft was sitting on the ground waiting for them. Nothing else was remembered beyond that point.

The couple reported other experiences, including one where they were out doors again at night, they briefly noticed a light in the sky and then suddenly found themselves lying in the grass naked next to an astronomical observatory on a college campus. Their clothes were nearby.

Here was a case with two witnesses reporting the same experience. The similarity to The Betty an Barney Hill Case is striking.

The couple is no longer together. Both have married other people. He lives in Ohio, she, it turned out, lives about twenty minutes from my house. I thought this would be easy.

I interviewed both extensively over the phone. I arranged for them to meet with Craig Lang at one of Indiana MUFON's regression sessions. They both backed out.

Since the woman lived near me I decided to conduct a cognitive interview. This is an advanced technique of interview that must be conducted in person. It forces the subject to recall events in different chronological orders and from different points of view. This give the technique a capability of discovering new previously unremembered details almost as strong as hypnosis. Unlike hypnosis the subject remains fully awake and a trained practitioner is not required. It's described in detail in the MUFON FI manual as well as Wikipedia. Jill Beitz, Indiana's Chief Investigator, agreed to be present to observe. The witness also agreed to meet with us but on two occasions, when the time came she couldn't make it.

The man has again contacted MUFON HQ and I have spoken to him. Now he's reported nightmares. I'll try again to schedule a regression. So however I have never been able to meet either face to face.

I will visit the observatory site this summer with a Geiger counter and magnetometer. After so many years I really don't expect to find anything out of the ordinary. Barring a major development I will then walk away.

Both of these cases appeared to have great potential. Both have a complete lack of physical evidence. Both have apparently met a dead end due to a lack of cooperation from the witnesses. Both may not be true.

Hypnotic regression and cognitive interviews have another important capability beyond the discovery of new details. They can uncover a lie. The field investigator must keep in mind that if a purported witness is trying to carry out a hoax he might try to avoid something that would expose him. A skilled conman may try to string his target along with little snippets of information while keeping the prize just out of reach. Until one of these definitive techniques is applied these cases remain in a state of limbo. They may be hoaxes or they may be two important abduction cases where the subjects could benefit from hypnotherapy and understanding of the trauma they may have gone through.