- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: New Page Books; First Edition edition (15 May 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1601632711
- ISBN-13: 978-1601632715
Despite getting fed up with hearing about Betty and Barney Hill in 1961 or that Marden is the niece of Betty Hill, I purchased a copy of Marden and Stoner's The Alien Abduction Files.
It was built up as a major study of these cases but turned into just another alien abduction book -most of it about Stoner's own life long abduction experiences. Despite what Marden claims, there is no solid independent testimony to Stoner and her husband (NOT the focus of abductions) abductions.
Stoner's mother confirmed that Stoner and her husband turned up late one evening. No UFOs seen. A family across the road from where Stoner lived reported seeing her heading back to the house after one abduction and also seeing a UFO. Marden mentions nothing more seemingly indicating that she never tracked down or spoke to said two adult witnesses. We have to take Stoner's word on it.
Here are some of my book notes:
Decades after looking into UFOs and UFO abductions, mainly for MUFON, Stoner decided to look into her own suspected missing time experience. She had read Hopkins,Mack, Jacobs, Streiber and much more BEFORE doing so. We are led to believe that none of this would influence her 'memories'
The only person who heard Stoner's abduction revelations was a Dr Romack -a Dr who was interested in alien abductions and whom Stoner had assisted. Romack died and all of his recordings and notes were lost. Convenient.
Stoner runs one of those abductee groups where 'abductees' can discuss what they have gone through -much of what Stoner revealed could have come from these group sessions and certainly, several times, I read what she recounted and it sounded exactly like accounts published by Hopkins and Jacobs.
Stoner's husband, Ed, had "never proven a good hypnotic subject before" and THAT needs explaining. He had certainly heard his wife's account and perhaps stories in group sessions at their home. Marden needed to explain fully what was meant by that comment as it throws all revelations out of the window. Was Ed also regressed by Dr Romack?
I quote:
"She (Stoner) had responded to an advertisement in the Denver (which one? THS) newspaper soliciting volunteers for an experimental study using hypnosis. The study was directed by Robert Romack and was designed to alleviate symptoms in chronic pain sufferers"
Nothing wrong with that if it rules out using strong pain relief medication. Stoner was enrolled in the study and after they got to know each other she revealed her UFO sighting and missing time. It was "now" that Stoner discovered Romack was searching for answers to the alien abduction phenomenon.
The only reference regarding Romack and alien abduction research that I can find comes from Marden and Stoner and there is nothing on his background. Podcasts, video talks, in print -only sources are Marden and Stoner and Marden is taking Stoner's word on this (if she is not then she left out a great deal of very pertinent information). How professional was Dr Romack, especially if the files and notes on all his subjects vanished after he died?
While on a cave diving weekend, Stoner is made to get out of bed, drive her husband's van to a location and a very brief walk onto the craft to have stapler-looking device put onto her head. It hurt. She then drove back to the motel. Her husband never noticed any of this or the increased mileage? It all sounds like a dream state -Stoner finds blood on her pillow -evidence of her abduction or did she scratch or hit her head while sleeping and the 'stapler' incident fitted? Oh, next day the two are intercepted -Stoner taken aboard a UFO to follow up on the 'stapler' incident.
We are supposed to suspend credibility again and believe that these super sophisticated aliens -insect like, 9ft tall bluish grey and normal little ones- get someone to travel for a brief procedure which -sorry there is no logic in this at all- they have to follow up with another abduction during daylight? At this point I am screaming in my own head to stop my eyes rolling up again in incredulity.
I began to wonder how much Ed was influenced by his wife's work and whether this was a case of a husband wanting to stop people from thinking his wife was crazy by backing her up and I have seen this in other fields and I am quite sure that there are a lot of psychological papers out there on this subject (there are)
Stoner's testimony goes back to when she was 2.5 years old. Wonderful accuracy when remembering but her account adds in a lot of "I think NOW" so not evidence of any kind. What I thought was surprising (this is ufology so not that surprising) was that, as Marden puts it:
"I asked her (Stoner) to search her memory for possible youthful visitations with extraterrestrials..."
That is called "influencing the witness" either accidentally or deliberately and creating a subconscious false memory to be created -remember that Stoner was no innocent when it came to UFOs, literature or abduction claims. That line, and the fact that Marden states "A few days later, I received the following..." -Stoner's 'remembrance of the events at 2.5 years of age, gave every debunker the ammunition they needed.
Stoner notes that "She knew they were coming whenever an odd feeling in her brain signaled their impending arrival". I repeat: "whenever an odd feeling in her brain" which in itself needs explaining but as I pointed out in UFO Contact? this appears to be rather like some epileptics or others who know an episode is about to occur because of an odd feeling -and I have seen this first hand on a number of occasions. It seems Stoner may have been experiencing an altered reality dream state which explains much of the inconsistencies in her statements.
At one point we get the familiar abductee group meeting on a UFO which always seems to involve someone not willing to take part and trying to escape. Stoner noted a man in a jogging suit. As is standard, Stoner later saw the man at a party and described the jogging suit to him without stating how or where she had seen him before. Marden notes: "This gave Denise an additional morsel of confirmation that the event was real and not a dream". In fact it proves absolutely nothing. Stoner may have seen the man out jogging or whatever -this then becomes her seeing him on a UFO in his track suit.
Another abductee describes something that Marden grabs hold of: another abductee named Jennie had woken with "information nearly identical" to what Stoner had related. This was far too much of a coincidence for Marden -remember that "nearly identical" is not the same as "identical" and having dealt with abductees and read all the literature, as MOST abductees appear to have before seeing an investigator or going under regression hypnosis, this is not in any way surprising but Marden goes further.
"Whether or not this was a dual dream, she (Jennie) might have been the woman with shoulder-length, copper-blonde hair that Denise observed attempting to flee. She was intercepted and led to a balcony, where a frigid breeze lashed her face. A woman that she didn't recognise, but who fit Denise's description, caught her eye."
Jennie described the outfit worn by this woman so asked Stoner if she owned a pair of pajamas that matched. Yes, she did. Well there you go. No one can possibly argue with evidence like that can they? A woman who looked similar, wearing a pair of fashionable pajamaas...case closed (I was being sarcastic there just so you know).
Marden labels alleged alien abductees who come forward as "heroes" (the Hills were only known, as she points out, due to sopmeone breaching confidentiality). Marden appears to be unaware of certain psychological conditions including "Ruth Syndrome" as I called it in UFO Contact?
Then we had the study notes that I had been waiting so long to get to. In this Marden-Stoner Commonalities Among Abduction Experiencers those participating were all "self identified experiencers" and these had ample time to have absorbed the whole gamut of abduction documentaries, books and so on.
Firstly, to be absolutely independent and avoid any accusations of data results being contaminated, there should never be aelf declared UFOI abductee involved as one of the two main researchers. Study negated.
As a pertinent aside, I did laugh when Marden stated that she had asked Stoner, as an experienced MUFON investigator and abduction researcher, to assess her own (Stoner's)claim. Guiess what? Stoner assessed it as being genuine.
There was a control group of 25 persons added to the 50 self identified experiencers -50-50 would have provided better statistics. It seems that only 23 of the 45 questions provided any sort of correlation:
"The answers were compared to responses from a control group that denies having experienced alien abduction. Not all participants answered all the questions. Some could not recall or did not know the answer..."
Which, apart from a group of 50-50, starts to sound very messy. Marden continues:
"...Fractions were rounded off. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed that the experiencer group shares a unique constellation of characteristics not found in the control group."
The complete report can be found at www.kathleen-marden.com.)
I gave a big sigh. The "experiencers" had all been to groups or were immersed in the whole alien abduction culture whereas the smaller control group was not which is why they did not kbnow the answers or had no knowledge pertaining to the questions. "Fractions were rounded off. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed" -NO. You see, this is why you have to have a matching number of people in such a study -50% Control and 50% 'experiencers'. You do not pick at fractions to rounbd them off and use that for a very slanted non-statistical analysis BECAUSE there were far more people versed in the phenomenon than not versed in it.
Remember only 23 of the 45 questions "yielded correlations".
Get 50 "black" people and 25 "white" people then ask them 45 questions relating to "Black Culture" and/or "Black History"...what woul;d the result be I wonder....
Study negated as a mess.
Points needing to be made.
I have read a great many accounts pertaining to natural light phenomena as well as ball lightning. Many times you will read or hear that "It seemed under intelligent control" simply because the person(s) involved are seeing something they know nothing about and so its movements look controlled. How many of the experiencers had their observation skills tested -their ability to identify satellites, aircraft, drones or even the International Space Station? It is a very subjective question and I have been in amongst groups of UFO fans who see a satellite go overhead, brighten as it reaches the zenith and they will all be ecstatic that the space brothers showed themselves.
Experiencers will clearly state they have sighted intelligently controlled aliuen craft.
Paranormal events, claims to have become healers and even 'implants' and so on all tend to fall apart once seriously examined.
I had expected something from this book (it was originally published in 2013)but it seems to be a book about Stoner's alleged abduction experiences along with a side helping of Jennie's story since it "backed-up" Stoner's.
"The most startling cases of human-alien contacte ever reported" is false advertising for one thing. It is a standard alien abduction book about one person really -Denise Stoner. Stanton Friedman lent it far more credibility than it deserves.
Friedman and Marden's book on the Hill case I would still recommend. Review here:
If you have read anything I have written then you will know that I like as good an amount of evidence as it is possible to get and I do NOT dismiss certain claims. For me this book is being thrown in amongst all the other alien abduction books -despite all the claims it "finally reveals" nothing except a book that every debunker will (sadly) want to get their hands on.
