Secret life: firsthand accounts of UFO abductions (27 page)

By far the most common types of aliens reported are the Small and Taller Beings. The Small Beings are from two to four and one-half feet tall, thin, slight, and even “delicate” in appearance. They have a head, a body, two arms, two hands, fingers, two legs, two feet. They stand and walk like humans. The Small Beings are light in weight.
Taller Beings stand from two to six inches above the Small Beings and have most of the same gross physical characteristics.

Abductees are often vague about what the aliens wear. In many cases it is difficult to detect whether or not they are actually wearing clothes. Sometimes the color of their skin and the color of their clothes are reported to be exactly the same. Many abductees cannot see where the clothes end and the skin begins. They feel quite certain that the aliens are wearing something, but it is difficult to describe the “fabric” that the clothes are made of. Other abductees have described alien “garments” that fit so tightly that they look “spray painted.” They are able to describe the end of the “fabric,” the beginning of the skin on the hand and the neck, and so forth. On occasion the Small Beings are wearing robes or garments that are loose-fitting. Sometimes abductees report a belt around the aliens’ midsections, but this is unusual.

Abductees rarely describe bodily adornment. The Beings’ clothing has no personal touches, no expressions of individuality. Some Beings might have an insignia on their clothes that seems to resemble “serpents” or some sort of elongated shape. Sometimes it is simply a jagged line. In general, however, abductees see little or no diversity in the garments the aliens wear.

Descriptions of the aliens’ skin color vary from dark gray to gray to light gray to tan to tannish-gray to white (not Caucasian) to pale white. If an abductee reports another color (like yellow, green, or blue), it is almost always in conjunction with gray. The skin color is uniform, without darker and lighter spots or areas (often the lighting in the room will change the way the aliens’ color appears). By and large, most witnesses report the Small Beings’ skin as just “gray.” There is no visual evidence of a vascular system that might add streaks of other colors.

When abductees touch alien skin or are touched by the aliens (usually when being escorted down a hallway or into a room), they report it to range from a rough, leathery feel (for the Taller Being) to a soft rubbery or plastic quality (for Small Beings). The skin is extremely smooth, without the pores, hair, freckles, bumps, ridges, discolorations, warts, moles, scratches, wrinkles, and other common elements found on human skin.

It is difficult to tell whether aliens grow older. The abductees are unable to discern the slightest change over time in alien facial features or physical demeanor. When abductees have had experiences
for thirty or forty years with presumably the same group of aliens, they report that the aliens look the same during the last experience as they did during the first.

The Small Beings all look basically the same. Their faces do not betray a readily detectable uniqueness that might distinguish one from another. Nor do they seem to have any sort of emotional characteristics that can be seen on their faces. For instance, one does not look “happy” while another looks “sad.” Although abductees cannot tell one Small Being from another, they commonly report that they in some way “know” that they are dealing with the same Taller Being during all their abductions.

The physical frames of both the Taller Beings and the Small Beings do not reveal any boniness. Most of the contours on their bodies are smooth and rounded, with no hard angles. Witnesses do not report bones, such as the clavicle or sternum, apparent under their skin. They do not see evidence of ribs or wrist bones or the like. Nor do they see any form of apparent musculature.

The heads of the aliens are, in human terms, disproportionately large for their bodies. Their craniums are bulbous, especially above the eyes. There is no indication of cranial, facial, or neck hair, or hair anywhere else on the body. The neck and face are smooth with no wrinkles. The Small Beings’ heads are also smooth, with no indication whatever of any external markings.

The aliens’ faces somewhat resemble humans’. They have eyes approximately halfway down the face, an area where a nose might be, a small mouthlike slit, an area where one might envision “cheeks” (although none can be seen), and a chin. Using humans or higher primates as a model, all of the features are in the correct position. But the resemblance is merely in the general effect, and each organ and feature differs markedly from that of humans.

The huge eyes are the single most striking feature of the aliens. They span the entire width of the broad forehead. They are largest in the center and taper off to a tip on the side of the head. They contain no pupils, irises, or corneas. When people look into their eyes during Mindscan or other staring procedures, they see black, usually opaque organs. The eyes have no gradation in color, and they do not move from side to side as would a human’s. At times abductees see some hint of liquidy “movement” inside the eyes. A few witnesses have reported a “sparkle” or “light” inside the eyes. Some aliens’ eves can “move”: They can squint and turn on their axes so
that the outside tip can be raised or lowered. This is done mainly in Mindscan procedures. Other aliens have eyes that are more rounded and not as almond-shaped as the others. A few abductees have thought that the external eye might be a covering for an eye inside.

Witnesses generally do not report eyelids. Although some abductees have said that they have seen the Beings blink in unison, this may be confabulation; blinking is usually not reported. The aliens do not have eyebrows, although it is commonly reported that they have a ridge that might be caused by a “bone” around their eyes.

A few abductees report noses on the Small Beings, but the overwhelming majority of the reports indicate that the Small Beings have a slight raised bump but no nostrils or openings that might be interpreted as nasal passages.

The aliens’ slitlike mouth does not have lips. Witnesses are ambivalent about an opening for the mouth. Most do not see one, but some have mentioned seeing a “membrane” over an opening. (A small number of abductees report that the mouth is perfectly round, forming an “O”.) Abductees do not see teeth, a tongue, or saliva. The aliens do not use their mouths for communication.

A small and pointed chin lies below their mouths. Sometimes the mouth is so low that there is the appearance of no chin at all. The aliens do not appear to have a jaw or jaw hinge below where the ears would be. They seem to have no muscles attached from anywhere on the face to the top of the head for mastication. The overall look of the face, then, is that of a large forehead leading down to a tiny pointed chin. When they look at the face, some witnesses are reminded of a light bulb, a skeleton head, or a parking meter.

Aliens sometimes may have a small raised feature where human ears would be, but without an opening. Abductees can find no evidence of a device for collecting sound waves on alien heads.

Aliens do not have a thick neck with the head fitting on it in a human fashion. Instead, the head is attached to an extremely narrow, tubelike neck that seems too thin to support the head’s weight. The head does not fit into the neck as human heads would. The neck is short and sticks into the bottom of the head much like, as one abductee put it, “a pumpkin on a stick.” Witnesses see no throat movement denoting a tongue or a swallowing mechanism. The aliens do not appear to have an epiglottis. When Ken Rogers was twelve years old, he was able to reach up during the Mindscan procedure and grab a Taller Being by the throat. He reported that the neck seemed solid,
as if it contained material inside, but it did not have the feel of moving muscles. No Adam’s apple is evident in their throats, and there is no indication of vocal cords since communication is telepathic and abductees usually do not hear sounds coming from the aliens.

The alien’s chest is small and narrow, with no noticeable bony structure in it. No sternum or clavicle is discernible. Abductees report no ribs protruding from under the skin. Nor is the chest bifurcated like a human’s chest. Witnesses see no breasts or nipples. The normal human triangular configuration of the shoulders leading down to the waist is not present. The overall outline of the upper and lower body is one of rectangular straightness down to the legs, with no waist. The aliens do not appear to have a pelvis or prominent hip bones.

The area where the stomach would be is flat. The aliens have no rounded paunch or line of demarcation for a food-processing mechanism like upper and lower intestines. Witnesses do not see a navel. Nor do they see genitals. If the “male” Being is wearing tight-fitting clothes, no bulge is evident where human male genitals would be. If he is not wearing clothes, then abductees specifically state that he does not have genitals. Similarly, in the “female” alien, abductees can see no hint of a pubic arch, which is consistent with a lack of pelvis. There is no apparent method for the elimination of liquid waste.

The aliens’ backs are consistent with what witnesses describe on the front of the Beings. There is no triangular shape to the back. It is smooth, with no discernible “bumps” of vertebrae. Most abductees do not see shoulder blades. If witnesses see the buttocks area, it is not fleshy and padded as on humans. While abductees do not see individual buttocks per se, they often describe a horizontal oblong ridge at the base of the alien’s back that does not protrude.

Aliens’ arms are long and very thin, with no apparent musculature. They bend at the “elbows” and can be used the way humans use their arms, with a free range of motion. Their arms and elbows do not display any boniness and are apparently the same diameter from the shoulder to where the hands join. They have no wrists.

Their hands and fingers also resemble humans’ although they are thin and long. Their fingers are most often said to have rounded “pads” at the ends, although sometimes they are described as being tapered at the end. They have no fingernails. Frequently abductees see only three fingers. They have an opposable “thumb” or at least
an appendage that acts as a thumb. Occasionally abductees report that the thumb is in a lower position on the hand than humans have. They have no small, curved ridges or swirls on their hands or fingertips that might denote fingerprints.

Their two legs are short and thin, and they bend at the “knees.” The limbs have no evident muscle development. Their legs go straight down, with no sense of a thigh, calf, or ankle. The legs are the same diameter from the top of the thigh to the bottom of the calf, and flow smoothly into the feet. Little is known about the feet and toes. Abductees describe the feet as being either rounded or elongated, and toes are not usually noticed.

When a female alien is described, it is generally in vague terms. The abductee knows that the alien is female, but the physical description is not unique enough to suggest significant anatomical differences. The female is often the same size as the Taller Being. She has no mammary glands and no hair, cranial, facial, or pubic. When asked to describe the differences between the male and female, the abductees say that the female alien is thinner, more “graceful,” more “sensitive,” and “kinder.” Even with these vague descriptions, the abductees are quite clear about whether they are being tended by a male or female.

The aliens’ small motor dexterity is excellent. They are able to conduct physical examinations with great speed—touching, poking, prodding, lifting, and feeling. They can maneuver instruments with precision, for example in performing tissue-sampling procedures. They generally do not drop instruments or have accidents where things spill or are knocked over. They remove abductees’ clothes without much fumbling or clumsiness.
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Abductees have the impression that the aliens are weak and frail, and they are often surprised at the strength the Beings can display. The aliens can maneuver humans through hallways and rooms and onto tables. They can push and pull abductees. Working together, two or three of them can carry an abductee to a table and then lift the abductee up onto it. They can grip abductees’ arms and legs with strong hand pressure. In spite of the aliens’ abilities, abductees usually think that the Beings can be swept aside, pushed over, or hurt, if only the abductees had the muscle control to do it.

The Taller Being is very similar to the Small Beings. He can be a few inches to a head taller. His skin is often more leathery and striated. Because of the nature of his tasks—egg and sperm harvesting,
Mindscan, etc.—the abductees usually have stronger reactions to him than to the Small Beings. The abductees who hate and fear him tend to describe him as being “uglier.” Others, especially those who are more “bonded” to him, think that he is friendly and kind and tend to describe him as not being any uglier than the Small Beings. Both groups, however, describe his specific features in similar ways. He has enormous, liquid, black eyes. He usually does not have a nose although sometimes abductees do report seeing a nose. His head is not as smoothly rounded as the Small Beings’; it is more angular. He seems to have more “character” in his face. Abductees sometimes report striations and indentations in the Taller Being’s forehead or on top and in back of the head. He also has no hair anywhere on his head. He frequently wears distinguishable covering, such as a white, gray, or black “lab coat,” smock, or robe. Sometimes abductees report that is he wearing something on his head like a hat or a surgeon’s cap.

Although we know little about the physiology of the aliens, speculation often leads to interesting hypotheses. For instance, if we ask, “Do aliens breathe?” the speculative answer can lead in surprising directions. To answer this question we must put together bits of information. In virtually all abduction accounts, the communication between the aliens and the abductees is done through “telepathy,” and not aurally through their ears. Words are not sent through the air in the form of aspirated sound waves formed by lungs expelling air through a set of vibrating vocal cords. The same phenomenon is reported when aliens talk among themselves: Abductees report that they can also nonaurally understand what the aliens are saying to each other. Also, open mouths are rarely reported, and neither are mouths assuming various shapes as if in word formation. In fact, mouth animation does not appear to be a function.