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RESEARCH ARTICLE
A Study on Reported Contact with Non-Human Intelligence
Associated with Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
REINERIO HERNANDEZ
reineriohernandez@gmail.com
ROBERT DAVI S
davisri57@yahoo.com
RUSSELL SCALPONE
rscalpone@gmail.com
RUDOLPH SCHILD
rschild@cfa.harvard.edu
Submitted January 4, 2018; Accepted February 21, 2018; Published June 30, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31275/2018.1282
Abstract—This study, conducted by the Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for
Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Experiences (FREE), repre-
sents the rst comprehensive investigation on individuals (N = 3,256) who
have reported various forms of contact experience (CE) with a non-human
intelligent being (NHI) associated with or without an unidenti ed aerial phe-
nomenon (UAP). Our research methodology utilized two comprehensive
quantitative surveys totaling 554 questions administered to subjects with
reported non-hypnotic memory recall of their CE. This survey addressed a
diverse range of physical, psychological, perceptual, and paranormal aspects
of reported non-hypnotic–based recall of both physical and/or non-physical
interactions with an NHI. The results revealed complex reported CEs that in-
volve both physical and non-physical events (psychological outcomes, non-
ordinary states of consciousness, and paranormal experiences). What may
be the most signi cant aspect of the interim results is that approximately
70% (N = 2,279) of the study population claimed that their CE changed their
life in a “positive way.” In contrast, only 15–20% reported a “negative” impact
from their CE. Further, the majority of subjects did not report events typi-
cally associated with the traditionally held beliefs regarding the “alien-ab-
duction” phenomena. That is, the results suggest that the reported CE with
an NHI is largely non-physical and can occur via telepathy, during an out-of-
body experience, being oated into a “matrix-like” reality, as well as through
physical interaction on board a craft. Consequently, the results suggest that
a non-physical (“contactee”) CE is distinctly di erent from a physical (“ab-
duction”) CE and should be studied as separate but interrelated anomalous
Journal of Scienti c Exploration, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 298–348, 2018 0892-3310/18
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
299
events. In fact, the CE associated with a UAP is not the predominant form of
CE, and sighting a UAP is not necessarily associated with a CE. Consequently,
future studies should not focus exclusively on the analysis of UAP sightings
and traces alone which, based on decades of research, have not advanced
our understanding of the possible force that governs and regulates this
complex phenomenon. This is an important consideration since the FREE
study dispels the notion that contact with NHIs must always entail either a
physical abduction or a landed craft with beings interacting with humans.
This study may serve as a needed foundation for researchers to build upon
for validation purposes to better understand a unique and diverse range of
reported physical and non-physical type CEs with an NHI associated with or
without a UAP.
Introduction
A major contributing factor to the lack of scientifi c research has been an
apparent reluctance on the part of the general scientifi c community to con-
duct unidentifi ed aerial phenomena (UAP) research or to take it seriously,
possibly due to fear of ridicule, limited interest, or the negative reputation
of “ufology.” This is a fi eld felt to be fi lled with hoaxers, deceived or pos-
sibly disturbed individuals, and New Age seekers, and many academicians
regard publishing in this fi eld to be a “career-ending” event, fearing poten-
tial scorn and ridicule from colleagues. Moreover, the fact remains that
leading UAP researchers have failed to convince the scientifi c community
that even their best cases represent adequate evidence to stimulate either the
interest of granting agencies or institutional support. The UAP-related phe-
nomenon of “alien abduction” has been likewise dismissed as an illusory
byproduct of “false memory syndrome” or “sleep paralysis” (Clancy 2005,
McNally 2012). Some notable exceptions in applying scientifi c methods
have been individuals such as J. Allen Hynek, James E. McDonald, and
Jacques Vallee; although known as authors and speakers, scientists of their
stature have for the most part communicated their ideas and fi ndings about
UAP to lay audiences, rather than to scientists via refereed professional
journals.
Existing research on the nature and essence of the interaction and
subsequent behavioral outcomes for those who report contact experiences
(CEs), with or without the associated UAP, are virtually absent. Most studies
have focused exclusively on personality and cultural factors associated with
CE reports to help formulate theories (e.g, psycho-cultural, psychological,
physiological, atmospheric, extraterrestrial, and intra-dimensional, etc.)
to account for the phenomena. To date, however, no testable theories of
what may govern and regulate either the UAP or CE have been proposed or
empirically confi rmed. And while some theories may sound more plausible
300 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
than others, theories alone do not provide suffi cient proof to explain
the variables that control or regulate this phenomenon. Consequently,
any existing theories of the alien abduction phenomena (AAP) or, more
generally, the CE, should be regarded as tenuous at best.
The so-called “alien abduction” narratives have inspired much
theoretical speculation, but experimental research has been scarce.
This phenomenon is grounded in personal human experiences deemed
extraordinary by witnesses themselves. Historically, several academics
took the study of UAPs seriously and regularly engaged with ufologists,
including astronomers and astrophysicists William Hartmann, J. Allen
Hynek, Donald Menzel, Carl Sagan, Rudy Schild, and William Powers,
physicists James McDonald and Peter Sturrock, computer scientist Jacques
Vallee, psychologists David Saunders and Leo Sprinkle, and sociologist
Ron Westrum. Among these individuals, however, opinions about the
phenomenon differed sharply: McDonald, for instance, fi rmly believed
evidence pointed to the extraterrestrial origins of unidentifi ed fl ying
objects (UFOs); Hynek considered that UAPs warranted serious scientifi c
investigation, but questioned alien abductions; Vallee emphasized the
psychosocial dimensions of UAP sightings; and Sagan considered “alien”
visitation improbable, but communication with extraterrestrials possible.
Given this brief historical context, the primary objectives of the
present study by the Dr. Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into
Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Encounters (FREE) pertain to the
reported physical, psychological, paranormal, and perceptual effects and/
or outcomes associated with the CE. This study includes a large sample of
subjects (N = 3,256) who report having physical- and non-physical–based
CEs with one or more forms of non-human intelligence (NHI) associated
with or without a UAP. More specifi cally, this study represents the fi rst
quantitative analysis of a large population that is both multi-language and
cross-cultural, which addresses numerous topic areas associated with the
CE. According to FREE’s co-founder Dr. Edgar Mitchell (2014), FREE is
concerned with how consciousness works and its relation to the origin of life
and its current condition, the codependency and interconnectedness of all
life with itself and its environment, including the past, present, and future
evolution of our Universe and everything in it.
The FREE considers that The Quantum Hologram Theory of
Consciousness (QHTC), which explains the nature of our reality and non-
ordinary states of consciousness, may provide a foundation for understanding
the interrelationship among the various “contact modalities” (e.g., CE,
near-death experiences (NDE), out-of-body experiences (OBE), mystical
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
301
meditation travel, channeling, remote viewing, among other reported
human encounters with NHI) which appear to represent non-ordinary states
of consciousness. Consequently, all of these “contact modalities” are not
regarded as separate phenomena but instead may represent an interrelated
phenomenon with multiple consistencies that affect consciousness (Swanson
2003, 2010, Hernandez 2013, Guiley 2013, Schild 2014, Davis 2015, 2017).
Given this context, the FREE study attempted to capture the essence
of the reported CE from thousands of individuals as a means to explore the
possible nature of “consciousness.” That is, a comparative research analysis
of the role and impact of the CE on one’s reported spiritual and behavioral
transformations may provide insight into the signifi cance of consciousness
within the context of the CE. This paper, therefore, represents an analysis of
both physical and non-physical (perceptual, psychological, and paranormal)
interactions and outcomes facilitated by the CE in CErs. The possible
theories that may govern and regulate the CE will be addressed in future
papers developed by FREE.
Overview
The CE has inspired much theoretical speculation, but experimental research
has been scarce. Interestingly, interactions reported with NHI beings have
been described in various contexts throughout history (e.g., people from the
heavens or stars, often called gods, angels, or spirits), and there exist parallels
to such events as described within folklore, religion, and anthropology.
Similarities between this experience and shamanic journeys and stories of
fairies also suggest that modern accounts of interaction with NHI may be
related to the history of such unexplainable encounters. John Keel (2013),
who was one of the fi rst to recognize this, and others, including Vallee (1977)
and Steiger (1999), have also indicated the similarities between modern
UAP reports of so-called “alien abductions” and the ancient traditions. Even
astronomer Carl Sagan (1963) theorized that such stories of contact that are
common throughout history share remarkable similarities with the “alien
abduction experience.”
The interpretation that UAPs are extraterrestrial or extradimensional
in origin provides a foundation for understanding the CE. If UAPs are non-
earthly craft, the CE becomes remotely plausible, but if they are nothing
more than natural or man-made phenomena, then the CE may be explained
by one or more “non-alien” theories such as the false-memory syndrome,
sleep paralysis, psychological disorders, and/or psycho-cultural factors,
among others. But even if NHI beings are not interacting with humans, the
CE is still an extraordinary mystery worthy of further study by psychologists
and sociologists, in addition
to meteorologists, physicists, and other natural
302 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
scientists. If NHI beings are interacting with humans, how can it be proven?
The absence of irrefutable evidence to support the belief by many UAP
researchers that an alien intelligence has visited Earth also applies to the
CE. The strongest evidence to support the CE is the consistency of the
experience by those claiming to have been abducted, by Hopkins (1987),
Jacobs (2000), and Mack (1999). This anecdotal evidence, concomitant
with the controversial physiological effects that may accompany the AAP
such as scars and implants, and the absence from expected locations at the
time of abduction, verifi ed independently in a few cases by Mack (1999),
provide the primary evidence to support the CE. Researchers also report
that “alien abductions” occur in different members of the same families at
different stages of their lives. But since the scientifi c community considers
the UAP phenomenon highly unlikely, the CE, by default is also considered a
remote possibility. This is based, in large part, on the absence of compelling
physical evidence to validate that UAPs are extraterrestrial craft. The lack
of objective evidence in the form of corroborating physical evidence for
fi rst-hand accounts of alien abductions also serves to invalidate “alien
abduction” claims, and provides support for one or more “non-alien”–related
theories. The scientifi c community has also dismissed the CE on the basis
of research-supported psychological explanations, which include biased or
inaccurate memory, unreliable perception, social pressures motivating lies,
and hypnotists infl uencing highly suggestible witnesses.
Several investigations have concluded that approximately 90–95% of
all reported UAPs are explainable, with the remainder being of unknown
origin (Project Blue Book 1969). Since a very small percentage cannot be
reliably identifi ed as “known” objects or events, the key question is whether
or not the collective evidence of the 5–10% unexplained UAPs represents
a non-earth physical craft governed by a form of NHI. While controversial,
those who contend that UAPs are intelligently controlled believe suffi cient
evidence exists in many forms to support their position. This includes
the similarity of anecdotal testimony by both credible and multiple UAP
witnesses, simultaneous radar and visual sightings, declassifi ed government/
military documents, and inexplicable UAP maneuvers, among others. An
all-encompassing theory, however, has to be proposed to describe this small
percentage of UAPs.
It is important to note that the FREE does not claim to provide a
defi nitive explanation of this phenomenon. The research objective is
to simply present the study results to facilitate discussion and continued
multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary research in this arena. This research
is just an initial step in a long process to better understand what governs and
regulates the CE. It is also hoped that this paper will help others to better
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
303
understand a unique and profound personal event that may have facilitated
pronounced behavioral and psycho-spiritual (i.e. states of awareness and
values such as ethical, aesthetic, humanitarian, and altruistic) outcomes in
CErs. At the very least, the FREE hopes to stimulate the thinking of the
general population as well as enlist support of some of the world’s leading
academicians and researchers. The quantitative results developed from a
large database of CErs may provide a more comprehensive and informative
representation of this phenomenon to gain greater understanding of a unique
and transformative experience shared by many thousands if not millions of
individuals worldwide who are yearning for an answer.
Methodology
Objective
This study incorporated a comprehensive quantitative survey totaling 554
questions completed by subjects (N = 3,256) from more than 100 countries
via the online program Survey Monkey. The interim analysis presented in
this article represents the outcomes of our ongoing study as of April 10,
2017. It is important to note that a specifi c subset (i.e. CErs) of the general
population was targeted for inclusion to accomplish the objective of this
study. That is, to better understand the essence and impact of the type of CE
on the individual’s personal viewpoints and values, a recruitment strategy
was developed to generate a large database of CErs who reported physical
(“Abductees”) and non-physical (“Contactees”) type CE(s) with an NHI
associated with or without a UAP.
Subject Recruitment
Since only a few studies (Ring 1984, Marden & Stoner 2012) with small
sample sizes have examined the relationship between the type of CE
(abduction vs. contactee) and behavioral outcomes in CErs, an attempt was
made to generate a large database of CErs for study. Consequently, this
subsection of the population was purposely targeted from sources where
CErs were expected to be found. Unlike previous studies that focused solely
on “abductions,” our subject recruitment process centered on informing
individuals, organizations (ufology, parapsychology, psychology, physics,
consciousness, and near-death and out-of body experiences, among others),
researchers, authors, radio stations, and websites that might facilitate a
diversity of CErs (abductees and contactees) to visit our website to complete
the survey. This resulted in a large subject population comprising CErs who
reported having had one or more CEs with an NHI being associated with or
without physical interaction with a UAP. Thus, the study conclusions apply
only to this specifi c subsection of the general population.
304 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
Study Survey
The survey questions were modeled after those applied by psychologist
Kenneth Ring (1984) in his study with subjects who reported having either
interacted with a UAP or having had an NDE. These questions were modifi ed
by members of FREE who have had research experience with survey design
and knowledge of the UAP literature. The survey was divided into two phases
(Phase 1, N = 3,256, and Phase 2, N = 1,919). The analysis of responses
obtained in Phase 1 helped to inform us of additional questions for the Phase
2 survey. All subjects who participated in Phase 2 completed Phase 1. That
is, only those subjects who completed Phase 1 were invited to participate
in Phase 2. The qualitative information received from subjects in Phase 3,
composed of written responses to 70 open-ended questions administered to
those who completed both Phase 1 and 2, will be analyzed and addressed in
another study. All subjects provided consent to participate in this study, and
all responses were anonymous except for their email addresses.
While few studies have focused on limited survey questions pertaining
to a UAP “abduction” (fewer than 50), the FREE study explored areas that
have never been comprehensively addressed in this arena. More specifi cally,
554 questions made up our survey which addressed six major topic areas.
The topic areas addressed in Phase 1 and 2 of the survey are as follows:
Phase 1: a) Family history of contact, b) Contact experience, and c)
Nature of non-human intelligence.
Phase 2: a) Information received from non-human intelligence, b) The
physical experiences resulting from non-human intelligence contact, and c)
Psychological aspects of the contact experience.
The wide range of attributes covered is the biggest difference between
the FREE research study and the few studies in this fi eld, most of which
focus exclusively on the psychological profi le of the “abductee” as reported
by Bullard (1987), Hopkins (1987), Jacobs (2000), and Mack (1999), among
others. It is important to note that none of the subjects in the FREE study
responded to the survey while under hypnosis, i.e. they were asked to
respond to the questions only if they had “conscious” recall of their CE(s)
not with hypnosis.
Assessment of Potential Response Bias
One potential source of bias in any survey occurs when respondents are
undermotivated to complete the survey and hurry through the survey task,
checking responses in a haphazard way. These respondents are often referred
to as “speeders.” In order to assess the integrity of responses by completion
time, respondents were divided into four groups, based upon time spent on
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
305
the survey. Start time and date and completion time and date were logged
by Survey Monkey for each respondent, such that a duration (time spent on
survey) could be calculated for each respondent. Based upon this duration
score, four groups were constructed for the Phase 1 survey: less than 10
minutes (n = 434), 10–20 minutes (n = 511), 21–30 minutes (n = 575), and
more than 30 minutes (n = 1,736). The Phase 1 survey consisted of 102
response items, although some items permitted multiple responses (“Check
any that apply . . . ”), resulting in a total of 166 “response opportunities.”
On average, respondents endorsed 48% of these opportunities. Respondents
spending less than 10 minutes skipped many items, endorsing only 9% of
these response blanks, while the 10–20 minute group endorsed 43%, and
the remaining two groups (21–30 minutes and >30 minutes) averaged 55%
of response blanks completed.
There was some tendency for “speeders”, those spending less than 21
minutes, to skip more items and to be somewhat more negative in evaluating
the impact of their contact experience in “changing your life in a Negative
or Positive way” (F = 4.24, p < .006). However, given that the positivity
question was near the end of the Phase 1 survey, only a small fraction of
“speeders” remained to rate this item (3% of the <10 minutes group, 33%
of the 10–20 minute group), so “speeders” tended to have a relatively
small infl uence on the majority of response items. A visual inspection of
“speeder” responses to both rating and fi ll-in/verbatim items did not reveal
any obvious attempts at frivolous or insincere responses—their reported
occupations and descriptions of experiences appeared similar to those of
other respondents. Thus, a decision was made to include their responses in
the Phase 1 analysis.
For the Phase 2 survey, “speeders” constituted less of a concern, despite
the survey length (434 response items), since respondents continuing into
Phase 2 were a subset of Phase 1 and thus appeared to be motivated to
continue with the survey process. For Phase 2, the same four duration
categories established and analyzed for Phase 1 were constructed: <10
minutes (n = 133), 10–20 minutes (n = 64), 21–30 minutes (n = 49), and
>30 minutes (n = 1,645). Of the 1,891 respondents who started the Phase
2 questionnaire, 71% (n = 1,335) completed the last 10 questions on the
survey, which was identical to the completion rate for Phase 1 (71%). What
is most surprising about the Phase 1 and Phase 2 surveys is that almost three-
quarters of the large respondent samples for each Phase were motivated to
complete these lengthy questionnaires in the absence of any incentive or
reward.
Another potential source of bias on surveys results from “acquiescence”
(i.e. the tendency to agree with any and all statements). In the Phase 1
306 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
survey, directionality of response scales for individual items was mixed,
so that in some cases endorsing a “5” on a fi ve-point Likert scale was
the most positive option, and in other cases, a “1” on the scale was most
positive. Similarly, on the Phase 2 questionnaire, for some attitude change
items, selecting a “Strongly Increased” on a 5-point Likert response scale
represented a favorable attitude change, whereas on other response items,
the same response option would represent an unfavorable attitude change.
Changing directionality of item wordings should therefore have mitigated
any response biases toward response scale position or acquiescence.
Social desirability bias, or the tendency for survey participants to
respond in ways consistent with societal norms or beliefs and to ascribe
positive traits to themselves, is more diffi cult to evaluate for the FREE
survey. Endorsing response items indicating very frequent interaction
with NHI, telepathic communication with NHIs, or decreased interest
in organized religion, would all appear to be admitting to things that are
socially undesirable, or in some cases could be regarded as an admission of
psychopathology. Yet, the majority of survey respondents checked response
options consistent with these experiences. Consequently, if participants were
attempting to conform to prescribed societal norms and expectations, for
the majority of respondents a different set of norms or group identifi cations
must have been operating.
The Psychology of Contact Experiencers
All subjects in the FREE study reported that they had “never been
diagnosed with a mental illness by a licensed mental health professional.”
The application of a standardized psychological test, however, could not
be applied due to the signifi cant time and cost involved. Consequently, the
lack of an objective evaluation of the psychological/personality state of the
subjects is an acknowledged confounding variable of this study. Despite
this limitation, however, indirect evidence from prior studies has shown that
the personality characteristics of those who report having been “abducted”
may not be different from the general population.
Several researchers, for example, have emphasized that since abductees
“do not suffer from psychopathology,” there is no a priori reason to reject
their reports because their personality characteristics make them less
reliable than other reporters of phenomena (Appelle 1995, Jacobs 2000,
Parnell & Sprinkle 1990, Mack, McLeod, & Corbisier 1996, Mack 1999,
and Hopkins 1987). In one study, Appelle (1995) confi rmed that “assessment
by both clinical examination and standardized tests has shown that, as a
group, abductees are not different from the general population in terms of
psychopathology prevalence.” In a study of more than 800 alleged abductees,
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
307
Mack, McLeod, & Corbisier (1996) also concluded that neurophysiological
explanations such as sleep paralysis and temporal lobe epilepsy, proposed
as a basis for the “alien abduction phenomenon,” have “either failed to fi nd
such pathology among abduction experiencers or have chosen to overlook
important aspects of the phenomenon.” Based on this study, the researchers
concluded that “the majority of abductees do not appear to be deluded,
confabulating, lying, self-dramatizing, or suffering from a clear mental
illness.” Baumeister (1989) also ruled out psychological interpretations
such as lies, attention-seeking behavior, mental illness, and desire for
victim status as possible causes for abduction reports. In a study by Parnell
and Sprinkle (1990) on 225 subjects (ranging from those who made no
claim of observing a UAP to those who reported observing a UAP craft or
occupants, having been taken aboard a craft, or having communicated with
UAP occupants) who completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory, the researchers concluded that even those who reported occupant
sightings and communication with NHIs performed within the normal
range on items such as mood stability, psychomotor excitement, bohemian
behavior, and fl ight of ideas.
It appears that the scientifi c community, which is unable to explain the
unusual consistencies of the AAP, dismiss it on the basis of psychological
explanations such as biased or inaccurate memory, unreliable perception,
social pressures motivating lies, and hypnotists infl uencing highly sugges-
tible witnesses. Forrest (2008), for example, concluded that several pre-
disposing factors such as sleep paralysis, a history of being hypnotized,
and preoccupation with the paranormal and extraterrestrial, are largely
responsible for the belief held by those who feel they were abducted by
aliens. In a study of 18 abductees, French et al. (2008) concluded that
abductees show higher levels of dissociativity, absorption, paranormal
belief, paranormal experience, self-reported psychic ability, fantasy
proneness, tendency to hallucinate, and self-reported incidence of sleep
paralysis. Additionally, Newman and Baumeister (1996) explained the
AAP on a cognitive basis which involves the “integration and elaborations
of hallucinations” aided by hypnosis. Thus the “pitfalls” of hypnosis are
believed to contribute to the AAP. However, since about 30% of abduction
reports are obtained without hypnosis (Mack, McLeod, & Corbisier 1996),
a non-hypnotic explanation must be made to account for their reports. Based
on a literature review of psychological studies of “abduction experiencers,”
Marden (2017) concluded that
fantasy-prone persons with thin boundaries; individuals who experience
dissociative states hi gh on the multiple personality disorder scale; and those
who experience certain sleep anomalies (narcolepsy); might believe they
have been abducted by aliens, when they have not.
308 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
This confl icting evidence makes it diffi cult to adequately explain the
role of the abductee’s psychological state and associated report of his/
her CE. However, it would seem highly unlikely that the vast majority of
subjects in our study suffer from a mental illness that would contribute to
their reported CE. The evidence that abductees are not different from the
general population in terms of psychopathology, however, does not exclude
the possibility that a certain percentage of our subject population may have,
for whatever reason(s) (e.g., false memory, hoax, and/or psychological
disorder, etc.), provided inaccurate information in their survey responses.
Nevertheless, the large subject population in our study likely mitigates any
signifi cant contribution of this questionable subject population on the overall
results reported in this study. Added support for this position is represented
by the fi nding that approximately 70% of our large study sample contend
to have had “positive” behavioral outcomes resulting from their CE, which
is not consistent with many symptoms typically associated with common
psychological disorders (e.g., fantasy-prone personality, dissociative states,
boundary defi cit disorder, and delusional behavior, and schizophrenia).
Ideally, future research should compare predisposing, consequent, and/or
resultant personality attributes of CErs of this kind.
Results
The Demographic Breakdown of the Study Population and Consistency
of Reported Contact Experiences
Critics who challenge the validity of reported CE with NHI often claim that
CErs are simply recounting cultural stories, and myths from their own culture
as depicted in movies, books, and legends prevalent in their culture. If this
were the case, we would expect to see noticeable variations across different
nationalities and ethnic groups in the types of NHI beings encountered, the
positivity or negativity of the reported experiences, frequency of experience,
and types of craft observed, and nature of paranormal phenomena perceived
in connection with the contact. The fi ndings presented in this study, however,
argue against the notion that CEs are some kind of aberrant experience
that has simply been fi ltered through cultural myths, since it is unlikely
that the cultures, myths, and memes would be so consistent across the
countries and ethnic/racial backgrounds represented in the survey results.
The results presented indicate that when samples sizes are suffi ciently large
for reliable reporting, they tend to be consistent across national and racial/
ethnic boundaries as follows: 1) The features associated with sighting a
UAP craft, 2) Conscious recollection of being on board a UAP craft, 3) The
types of NHI beings encountered, 4) The types of paranormal phenomena
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
309
experienced, 5) The frequency of reported encounters with NHI, and 6) The
positivity of impact of CE upon respondents.
The comparison of Phase 1 (N = 3,256) and Phase 2 (N = 1,919) by
age and gender are shown in Table 1. The Phase 1 and Phase 2 data were
merged using the only identifi er for each survey record, which was their
email address. After eliminating 233 different surveys where two or more
people used the same email address, 1,686 Phase 2 survey records remained
that were aligned with Phase 1 demographic questions. This permitted a
comparison of Phase 1 and Phase 2 age and gender demographics, which
TABLE 1
The Racial and Ethnic Breakdown of the Study Population
Percent of
Sample
Number of
Subjects
American Indian or Alaska Native 1.6% 52
Asian 1.2% 38
Black or African American 1.0% 34
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.2% 6
White/Caucasian 70.7% 2,303
American Indian/Alaska Native and Another
Race Code, not Hispanic/Latino 4.0% 131
Multiple race code without American Indian
or Alaska Native or Hispanic/Latino 1.1% 35
Hispanic or Latino 2.5% 83
Hispanic or Latino and another race code,
not American Indian or Alaska Native 4.8% 157
Hispanic or Latino and American
Indian or Alaska Native
1.3% 43
Missing 11.5% 374
Total 100.0% 3,256
310 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
were remarkably similar. More specifi cally, of the 3,256 subjects in Phase 1,
57% were female and 43% male. Similarly, of the 1,686 subjects in Phase 2,
58% were female and 42% male. The majority of subjects (55% in Phase 1,
and 57% in Phase 2) were between the ages of 45 and 64 years. The mean
age of the subjects at the time of the study was 49.5 years (SD = 13.6, range
18–86 years) for each sample in Phase 1 and 2.
The racial and ethnic breakdown of the study population in Table 1
indicates that the study population is overwhelmingly White/Caucasian
(70.7%), with less than 5% constituting other population categories. Since
the percentage of African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and
Asians in the U.S. were 13.3%, 17.8%, and 5.8%, respectively, as of July
2016 (U.S. Census Bureau 2016), the results are not necessarily generalizable
to the population distribution in the United States, or to African American,
Hispanic, or Asian populations of CErs.
Table 2 illustrates that the majority of subjects were from the U.S.
(64.1%), Canada (8.4%), Australia (8.3%), and the United Kingdom
(7.2%). These four countries constitute more than 88% of the respondent
sample. The subjects from the remaining 84 countries each represented less
than 1% of the study population (8.1% of the total sample; range of 16 to
30 individuals) and are not as reliable for demographic analyses. Since the
U.S. sample comprised almost two-thirds of all Phase 1 respondents, the
total sample average of all countries would be little different from the U.S.
average. Thus, a decision was made to weight each country equally when
calculating averages across countries shown in Tables 2–4.
An analysis of CErs by country of origin was remarkably consistent
across several topic areas and associated sub-questions as shown in Table
3 (Experience of Intelligently Controlled Craft—Not Man-Made), and
Table 4 (Anomalous Experiences in the Home). Of the four countries
with the largest sample sizes (United States, Canada, Australia, and the
United Kingdom), approximately two-thirds (62–73%) reported seeing
an intelligently controlled craft. And of this group, 44–52% reported
that it hovered, made impossible maneuvers (30–39%), and disappeared
quickly (33–42%). Additionally, more than one-third (36–47%) were
reportedly seen by multiple observers of sightings of assumed non–man-
made craft in these four countries. For the larger samples from these four
countries, the characteristics of sightings of craft were also remarkably
similar, with no country varying by more than 11% from the average;
and in most cases by less than 10%. This implies that the experience of
sighting these different craft is remarkably consistent across countries
with larger sample sizes. Additionally, 64% (N = 993) of 1,556 subjects
responded “yes” to the question: “Was there some kind of craft/ship
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
311
associated with the CE?” From this sample, the most common UAP shape
reported was “circular” (70%), followed by “triangle” (36%), “oval” (34%),
“cylindrical/cigar” (28%), and “cloud-like” (22%).
The occurrence of reported anomalous experiences showed that for
the four largest country samples, the greatest difference of any country
from the country average for a given type of phenomenon experienced is
only about 10% (Table 4). For example, telepathic messages (52–58%),
electrical appliance malfunctions (45–55%), “missing time” (40–48%), and
strange lights in their home (36–48%) were the most frequently reported
anomalous experiences. The results from the remaining countries were also
very similar to those reported by subjects from the four countries with the
TABLE 2
The Number and Percent of Subjects by Country of Origin
Country Number of
Respondents Percent of Sample*
United States 2,088 64.1%
Canada 273 8.4%
Australia 271 8.3%
United Kingdom 235 7.2%
New Zealand 30 0.9%
Germany 25 0.8%
Ireland 22 0.7%
Denmark 16 0.5%
Mexico 16 0.5%
Netherlands 16 0.5%
Other countries (n = 84) 264 8.1%
Total 3,256 100.0%
* The country sample sizes were used as a baseline in calculating percent answering “Yes.”
312 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
TABLE 3
The Percent Responding “Yes” to Various Experiences with Intelligently Controlled
Craft (“Not Man-Made”) Reported by Subject Country of Origin
Country See
intelligently
controlled
craft?
Did it stay
still and/or
hover?
Did it make
impossible
maneuvers?
Did it
disappear
quickly?
None of
the above
Multiple
witnesses?
Number
in country
United
States
73% 52% 39% 42% 9% 47% 2088
Canada 62% 44% 32% 33% 11% 36% 273
Australia 68% 45% 38% 42% 5% 41% 271
United
Kingdom 65% 46% 30% 35% 9% 38% 235
New Zealand 70% 47% 27% 47% 10% 20% 30
Germany 40% 16% 4% 8% 16% 24% 25
Ireland 68% 23% 18% 23% 32% 41% 22
Denmark 69% 38% 50% 44% 13% 56% 16
Mexico 75% 44% 38% 38% 6% 69% 16
Netherlands 75% 63% 31% 44% 0% 38% 16
Other
countries
(n = 84)
57% 37% 30% 33% 11% 36% 264
Average of
Countries
(Average of Rows
above)
66% 41% 31% 35% 11% 40%
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
313
TABLE 4
Anomalous Experiences in the Home Reported by Subject’s Country of Origin
(Percent Reporting “Yes”)
Do watches
mal-
function or
stop when
you wear
them?
Have
electrical
appliances
such as
computers
mal-
functioned
around
you?
Have you
experi-
enced any
“missing
time”?
Have you
experi-
enced
any “extra
time”?
Have you
awakened
in a
different
location?
Have you
awakened
in a
strange
position in
your bed?
Were
you fully
awake and
suddenly
found
yourself
in a new
location?
Have you
awakened
to find
clothing
missing or
arranged
ifferently?
Have you
heard
telepathic
messages?
Have
you seen
strange
lights in
your home
with no
known
source?
United
States 30% 54% 48% 29% 22% 35% 18% 17% 58% 48%
Canada 22% 45% 40% 24% 16% 27% 11% 10% 52% 36%
Australia 30% 55% 45% 27% 13% 38% 15% 14% 58% 47%
United
Kingdom 24% 53% 44% 27% 16% 34% 14% 14% 55% 46%
New
Zealand 27% 47% 43% 27% 10% 20% 17% 17% 53% 57%
Germany 20% 32% 32% 8% 8% 16% 4% 0% 48% 24%
Ireland 27% 36% 27% 32% 18% 36% 23% 9% 41% 32%
Denmark 25% 63% 56% 31% 13% 44% 19% 19% 31% 50%
Mexico 38% 50% 56% 31% 19% 44% 6% 19% 63% 56%
Netherland 31% 44% 44% 25% 25% 31% 19% 31% 63% 50%
Other
countries
(n = 84)
29% 50% 44% 34% 20% 34% 18% 12% 53% 41%
Average of
countries
(average of
rows above)
28% 48% 44% 27% 16% 33% 15% 15% 52% 44%
314 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
largest sample sizes. Again, this implies a very small difference if cultures
were infl uencing the kinds of experiences people have.
Figure 1 indicates that slightly more than half (53–61% of N = 2,430) of
the subjects from the four largest country samples believe they observed an
NHI being. Approximately one-fourth were “not sure” and less than 15–17%
did not observe an NHI being. The percent of people who reported having
seen an NHI, were not sure, or did not see an NHI, varied by no more than 8%
across the largest country samples. The reported frequency of subjects who
reported having seen or interacted with the NHI entity was also remarkably
consistent across the four larger country samples. Approximately one-half
of this sample (N = 1,316), and of the total population (N = 1,670) who
reported the number of interactions with an NHI, claimed to have interacted
11 or more times, ~15% between 5–10 times, and ~30% just once. Similar
results were also found in response to the question “How many times have
you interacted with this [non visible] non-human intelligent entity?” The
percentage of subjects who reported having interacted “more than 20 times”
with an NHI being by age was approximately 50% for each decade between
25 to 74 years. The youngest age group (18–24 years) reported the least
(27%) and those 75 and older the most (78%).
The number and percent of subjects who reported having conscious
memories of being on board a UAP craft by country of origin was also
remarkablly consistent across respondents among the four countries with
the largest samples. More specifi cally, approximately one-fourth (range
of 20–29%) of the sample from these countries (N = 2,368 or 88.9% of
total population) reported conscious recall of being on board a UAP craft,
whereas a slight majority (53–62%) of subjects reported “not” having
conscious memories of this experience.
The results for conscious memories of being on board a UAP craft were
also similar for race/ethnicity and gender. Conscious memory of being on
board a UAP craft fell within a relatively small range of 20–32% for all
racial/ethnic categories and combinations except those who checked both
Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native. Of all ethnic/racial
categories, about one-fourth (24%) of the White/Caucasian group (N =
2,097; 79.9% of all respondents) reported having conscious memories of
being on board a UAP craft. Approximately one-half to two-thirds (range
= 48–68%) of subjects across all ethnic categories did not have conscious
recall of this event. Further, about one-fourth of females (27% or N = 1,512)
and males (23% or N = 1,152) reported having conscious memories of being
on board a UAP craft.
The “type of being” most commonly reported by subjects claiming to
have conscious recall of being on board a UAP craft is shown in Figure 2
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
315
Figure 1. A breakdown of subject’s country of origin response to the question: “Do you believe you have observed a non-human
intelligent entity”? (A) illustrates the number and percent of subjects responding, and (B) represents the actual response (“yes,”
“not sure,” and “no,”) by country of origin to this question.
316 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
Figure 2. Types of beings encountered by those with conscious recall (N = 604) of being on board a UAP craft versus those with no
recall (N = 668). ***chi -square for di erence is signi cant, p < .001; **chi -square for di erence is signi cant p < .003; *chi -square
for di erence is signi cant, p < .007.
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
317
as follows: 1) short grey (67%), 2) human-looking (64%), 3) energy being
(55%), 4) spirit form including ghost-like (50%), 4) tall grey (47%), and
5) hybrid (40%). Subjects reporting having had “conscious memory of
being on board a UAP craft,” as opposed to those who had “no conscious
memories” of such an experience, were more likely to report seeing one
of many different types of beings. What is especially interesting is that
the non-physical being in the form of a “spirit” or “energy being” was
relatively more common (~50%) and similar (4–10%) between those who
report either a conscious or non-conscious recall of their CE with an NHI
on board a UAP craft. This fi nding supports the unique attribute of the CE
being associated more often with a non-physical NHI regardless of one’s
conscious state.
The Behavioral Outcomes Resulting from a Reported Contact
Experience with Non-Human Intelligent Beings
A key fi nding of the FREE study was that the contact experience for most
people, contrary to popular movie accounts of unpleasant “abductions” and
medical experiments, was predominantly positive (Figure 3). This fi nding
is consistent across almost all country samples, with roughly two-thirds of
respondents of the four largest country samples reporting “Highly Positive”
or “Slightly Positive” life changes resulting from contact. The number and
percentage of subjects by race/ethnicity responding to this same question
indicated that for all racial/ethnic categories and combinations, all were in
the range of 61–86% positive in their rating of the positivity of impact of
CE upon their life.
Approximately one-half to three-quarters (50–84%) of the subjects
for each age category shown reported their CE as “Mainly Positive” as a
function of age. There was a slight increase in reported positivity as age
increased from 18 to 24 (50%, N = 66), 25 to 54 (61%, N = 942), to 55 and
older (78%, N = 669). The reported CE also had a similar effect on changing
one’s life by gender. For instance, 66% (N = 1,016) of females and 62% (N
= 729) males claimed to have been changed in a “positive” way, whereas
only 13% females and 12% males considered their CE as changing their
life in a “negative way.” The increase in positivity in older CErs may be
associated with the fi nding that this age group reported having had more
frequent CEs than younger groups. This possibility is evidenced in Figure
4 which illustrates the signifi cant relationship (F = 9.03, p < .000) between
the frequency of reported interactions with an NHI and the subjects’ (N
= 1,670) responses to the impact of their CEs on “changing their life in
a negative, neutral, or positive way.” This result indicates a signifi cant
positive impact upon positivity of life changes with approximately one-
318 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
Figure 3. The type, number, and percentage of subjects by country of origin
responding to the question “Did your contact experience with a
non-human intelligent being change your life in a positive, negative,
or neutral way?” Positive E ect = Percent responding “Highly Positive”
or “Slightly Positive.” Neutral E ect = Percent responding “Neutral.” Negative
E ect = Percent responding “Highly Negative” or “Slightly Negative.”
(A) illustrates # and % rate for subjects responding by country of origin,
(B) represents the type of response to the question by subject country of origin.
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
319
Figure 4. The relationship between the frequency of reported in teractions with a non-human intelligence
and the subject’s (N = 1,670) response to the impact of their contact experience(s) on “changing
their life in a negative, neutral, or positive way.” 1) Frequency of interaction with non-human
intelligence has a positive impact upon positivity of life change (F = 9.03, p <.0000). 2) “Positive E ect”
= percent responding “Highly Positive” or “Slightly Positive.” Neutral E ect = Percent responding
“Neutral.” Negative E ect = Percent responding “Highly Negative” or “Slightly Negative.”
320 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
half to three-fourths of the subjects reporting that their interaction(s) with
an NHI had a “positive impact” and only 15–20% reporting a “negative
impact.” Those groups reporting more frequent interactions (e.g., 8–10
and more than 20 times) were more likely (~15–20%) to report a “positive
impact” than for those reporting fewer interactions (e.g., once, and between
two to seven times). About half (50.4%) of the respondents indicated that
they had interacted more than 20 times with an NHI, and of this group 53%
(N = 1,001) were female and 46% (N = 669) male.
The impact of those who report conscious (N = 455) and no conscious
(N = 1,012) memories (total N = 1,725) of being on board a UAP and
changes in their life showed some tendency for conscious recall (71%, N
= 455), as opposed to no conscious (61%, N = 1,012) recall, and the result
of greater positivity about their CEs (F = 4.58, p = .0103). In contrast, only
approximately 15% of the subjects who had either conscious or no conscious
recall of their CE reported having their life changed in a negative way.
The results in Figure 5 represent a comparison of the type of reported
fi rst and last few CEs associated with being on board a UAP craft [i.e. a)
“More egalitarian”—being treated as more of an equal; b) “Abduction with
permission and compassion”; and c) “More negative-like abduction”] as
a function of those who claimed to have had either a “conscious” or “no
conscious” memory recall of being on board a UAP craft. During the fi rst
few encounters, the CE group with conscious recall of being on board a
UAP fell into two distinct categories: a) those with more positive, egalitarian
experiences (47%, N = 209), and b) those with more negative, abduction-
like encounters (42%, N = 186). In contrast, the CE group with no conscious
recall of being on board a craft had signifi cantly more positive, egalitarian
experiences during their fi rst few encounters (t = 2.8503, p = .004) than
the CE group with conscious recall. However, both groups reported similar
positive, egalitarian experiences (N = 71%) in their last few encounters (t
= .871, p = .383). Interestingly, the percentage of subjects with conscious
recall of their “abduction” on board a UAP craft reported a more positive,
egalitarian experience in their last few (71%) than fi rst few (47%) CEs.
This fi nding suggests a type of integrated adaptation of their CE which
manifests in a reported increase (24%) in their positive viewpoint of their
CE over time. Collectively, therefore, it appears that approximately three-
quarters of those who have had a CE consider themselves “contactees”
(“more egalitarian”—being treated as more of an “equal”). In contrast,
~10% of those who report having had a CE considered it an “abduction
with permission and compassion” and ~20% felt it to be a “more negative-
like abduction.” Despite traditionally held beliefs, these results suggest that
even individuals who report having been “abducted” consider themselves
“contactees.”
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
321
An analysis of the CErs’ responses to the question, “How would you
describe your experiences with these entities?” indicated that the type of
NHI being most likely to facilitate a “positive” response was the “Human
Looking” (N = 903, 60% positive and 5% negative) and “Hybrid” (N = 669,
43% positive and 6% negative). In contrast, the “Reptilian” was considered
the least positive and most negative (N = 554, 16% positive and 23%
negative) of all NHI beings experienced. This outcome may be related to
the physical appearance of the being encountered.
Figure 5. The di erence in encounter experience between those with conscious
(N = 443) and no conscious (N = 737) memories of being on board a
UAP craft for the rst and last few encounters. Subjects were asked
to identify their type of experience among di erent types of encounter
experiences included in the following: 1) “More Egalitarian” = percent
responding “Being a “Contactee” or “Experiencer” (treating you as more
of an equal) plus percent responding “Being a conscious contactee”;
“conscious, cooperative, egalitarian and collegial”: 2) “Abduction with
permission and compassion” = percent responding “Case of Abduction”:
seeking permission, explaining, more compassionate,” and 3) “More
Negative-Like Abduction” = percent responding “Case of Abduction”;
“Milder, slightly more caring” plus percent responding “Case of Abduc tion,”
most negative kind.” The di erence for Conscious versus Non-Conscious
groups was signi cant for First Few Encounters (t = 2.8503; p = .004), but
not for the Last Few Encounters (t = .871; p = .383).
322 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
The Comparison of Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experiencers in Terms
of Their Overall Emotional Evaluative Response (Positivity Index)
Resulting from Contact Experiences
Since an OBE and an NDE have been documented to facilitate positive
after-effects on personal viewpoints and values (Ring 1984, Long 2011,
Morse & Perry 1994), we attempted to minimize potential sampling bias
of such outcomes on positivity-related attributes in our study. It should
be noted, however, that since the criteria for an OBE and an NDE were
not fully delineated in our survey, their incidence and analyses may not be
accurate since each are diffi cult to verify solely on the basis of their “yes”
response. Despite this limitation, a measure of positivity of the subject’s
“overall emotional evaluative response” resulting from their CEs in those
who also have had an OBE or NDE is shown in Figure 6A and Figure 6B,
respectively. This overall measure of positivity (Positivity Index) was
constructed for use in correlational analyses using four Phase 2 response
items (Alpha = .805) as follows:
1. Did your Contact Experience change your life in a Negative or a
Positive way? How much?
2. Please provide an overall emotional evaluative response to your
Contact Experience.
3. How would you characterize your fi rst few initial Extraterrestrial
Encounter Experiences? What were your initial beliefs about
your experiences?
4. How would you characterize your last few Extraterrestrial
Encounter Experiences? What are your beliefs now about your
experiences?
Since the question “Please provide an overall emotional evaluative
response to your Contact Experience” had the highest item-scale correlation
(r = .679), this item was used as a surrogate for the Positivity Index in
subsequent analyses for simplicity sake. As such, approximately two-thirds
of the subjects reported having had a positive effect in terms of their overall
emotional evaluative response resulting from their CE. Approximately 15%
or less reported that their CE, with or without an OBE or an NDE, had a
negative effect in this regard. A small 9% increase in positivity was seen
for subjects who had both an OBE and a CE (71% of N = 1,103) versus
a CE and no OBE (62% of N = 268). In contrast, there was no difference
in the overall emotional evaluative response for subjects who had both an
NDE and a CE (70% of N = 505) versus a CE without an NDE (70% of
N = 822). Most respondents were positive about their CE whether or not
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
323
Figure 6. Comparison of OBE (A) and NDE (B) experiencers in terms of their
overall emotional evaluative response resulting from contact
experience. Positive = percent responding “Most positive emotional
experiences in your life” or “Mostly positive emotional experiences,” Neutral
= percent responding “Average emotional experiences,” and Negative =
percent responding “Most negative emotional experiences in your life” or
“Mostly negative.” The questions asking about positivity of experience used
a 5-point scale (i.e. a rating of 4 and 5 are combined as “Positive,” a rating of
3 is considered “Neutral,” and a rating of 1 or 2 is scored as “Negative”).
they had an OBE or an NDE. Consequently, the effect of an OBE or an
NDE in those reporting a CE had a minimal effect, if any, on positivity of
their emotional evaluative response. Further, the presence of a prior OBE
or NDE had little if any potentiation effect on the positivity results. The
increase in positivity resulting from having an OBE or NDE plus a CE
versus just a CE alone did not exceed 9% for the OBE and 7% for the NDE
324 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
TABLE 5
Items Showing Largest Attitude Change among Those Who Responded
“More Than 10 Times” to the Question: How many times have you had this type
of contact without a non-human intelligent being physically present?
Favorable Neutral Unfavorable Number
Responding
Response
Rate
My understanding of myself 90% 9% 1% 500 85%
My understanding of “What is Life all
about” 87% 10% 2% 500 85%
My interest in self-understanding 87% 13% 0% 503 86%
My concern with the welfare of the planet
Earth 87% 12% 1%502 86%
My desire to achieve a higher
consciousness 86% 13% 0% 502 86%
My concern with spiritual matters 86% 13% 1% 501 86%
My Spiritual feelings 85% 13% 2% 500 85%
My insight into the problems of others 84% 15% 1% 499 85%
My appreciation of nature 84% 16% 0% 502 86%
My understanding of others 83% 16% 2% 502 86%
My personal sense of “Purpose in Life” 83% 14% 3% 499 85%
My sense that there is some inner meaning
to my life 82% 16% 2% 501 86%
My interest in psychic phenomena 82% 17% 1% 500 85%
My interest in the possibility of
Extraterrestrial life 82% 18% 1% 502 86%
My compassion for others 82% 16% 2% 499 85%
My sense of the sacred aspect of life 80% 18% 2% 499 85%
My concern with Ecological matters 80% 18% 2% 503 86%
Percent Favorable = percent responding “Strongly Increased” or “Increased Somewhat”
Percent Neutral = percent responding “Had Not Changed”
Percent Unfavorable = percent responding “Decreased Somewhat” or “Strongly Decreased.”
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
325
group comparisons. Consequently, the CE alone, which resulted in a largely
positive impact in the majority of subjects in this study, suggests that the
CE is generally positive for those who either have had or not had an OBE
or NDE. Consequently, an NDE or OBE makes virtually no difference on
positivity measures.
TABLE 6
Items Showing Largest Attitude Change Among Those Who Responded “More Than
10 Times” to the Question: How many times have you had this type
of contact with an NHI Physically Present?
Favorable Neutral Unfavorable Number
Responding
Response
Rate
My interest in self-understanding 86% 14% 1% 200 85%
My appreciation of nature 85% 15% 0% 202 86%
My concern with the welfare of the
planet Earth 85% 14% 1% 200 85%
My understanding of myself 84% 13% 3% 198 84%
My interest in the possibility of
Extraterrestrial life 83% 17% 1% 200 85%
My sense that there is some inner
meaning to my life 81% 17% 2% 199 84%
My understanding of “What is Life
all about” 81% 15% 4% 198 84%
My interest in psychic phenomena 81% 19% 0% 201 85%
My Spiritual feelings 80% 16% 4% 202 86%
My concern with spiritual matters 80% 17% 3% 201 85%
My desire to achieve a higher
consciousness 80% 19% 1% 201 85%
Favorable = percent responding “Strongly Increased” or “Increased Somewhat”
Neutral = percent responding “Had Not Changed”
Unfavorable = percent responding “Decreased Somewhat” or “Strongly Decreased”
326 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
What is especially interesting is that a very large percentage of the study
sample (80.4% of N = 1,381) reported having had an OBE as part of the CE.
Given that only about 10% of all people in the U.S. report having had at least
one OBE in their lifetime, this unusually high incidence of OBEs associated
with a CE provokes further questions of the phenomenon’s infl uence on
the psychological state of the individual, and the potential nature of the
phenomenon itself (Terhune 2009).
Analysis of Reported Attitude Change Resulting from Contact Experience
The positive attitude analyses for items showing the greatest increase
(>80%; N = 499–503) in respondents with “More than 10” CEs of both a
nonphysical (without an NHI present) and physical (with an NHI present)
nature are represented in Table 5 and Table 6, respectively. The specifi c
attitudes showing reported positive change (“strongly increased” or
“increased somewhat”) were similar for both the nonphysical and physical
CErs. This included matters of insights associated with understanding
oneself and others, life, concern for the planet, spiritual concerns, psychic
phenomena, and achieving a higher consciousness, among others.
Response items correlating (Pearson) most highly with an increase in
positivity (average N for correlations = 1,490) to the four-item “positivity
index” (Alpha = 0.805) included an increase in feelings of “self-worth;”
sense of “purpose and meaning of life;” and ability to love others in an
impersonal way, among others. This outcome was reinforced in a stepwise
regression of attitude-change items with the positivity index as the dependent
variable. More specifi cally, the item “My feeling of self-worth” was found
to both best predict the positivity index (12.2% of variance explained) and
to correlate most highly with the positivity index (r = 0.383). The similarity
of these statistical results reinforces the fi nding that the CErs have a distinct
and largely positive outcome in their perception of themselves and others.
Using the positivity index, a comparison of “positive” outcomes
indicated that a non-physical (without an NHI physically present) CE
facilitates a more positive outcome than the physical kind (NHI physically
present) for those reporting more than 10 CEs. Moreover, this increased
sense of “positivity” was refl ected in the comparatively larger percentage
of subjects who reported more than 10 CEs with a non-physical (81%: N
= 485) than a physical 68% (N = 196) NHI. Apparently, frequent CEs with
either a physical or non-physical NHI facilitates a dramatic increase in many
attributes and viewpoints that seem to alter one’s perspectives on life and
oneself. Based on such reported psycho-spiritual outcomes, the question
remains as to what specifi c characteristic of the CE serves to trigger an
increase in one’s appreciation of life and concern for the welfare of others.
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
327
The positive outcomes measured using the “positivity index” (Table
5) likely contributed to the result in Figure 7 that indicated that of 1,919
subjects, 84% reported that they did “Not” want their CEs to end. This
dramatic outcome was reinforced by the result that the majority of subjects
(60%, N = 609) who claimed to have been “taken and relocated to another
location” also did not want their CE to end. This result was supported
in another study (N = 10) by McNally (2012) who concluded that “on
balance” 90% of his study sample reported that they were “glad to have
been abducted.” Despite the large difference in sample sizes, McNally’s
conclusion is consistent with the FREE result that 84% of a large population
sample did not want their CE to end.
Contact Experience in a Matrix Reality
An analysis of CE in a “matrix reality” (MR) shown in Table 7 was performed
since a much larger population of CErs reported a positive attitude change
resulting from a non-physical (N = ~500) rather than from a physical (N =
~100) nature experience. An MR was defi ned for the respondents as follows:
Figure 7. Subject responses (N = 1,410 or 73% responding) to the survey
question: “If you could stop your contact experience, would you?”
328 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
TABLE 7
The Subject Responses for Individuals Who Reported to Have: 1) “Met an NHI Being in a Matrix Reality”,
2) More than Ten Contact Experiences of a Non-Physical Nature, and for Whom, 3) the Matrix Realtiy Was
as “Real as Talking with a Family Member”. 34% (N = 655) of Phase 2 Respondents Met These Criteria
Responded
Did this NHI contact experience happen when you were
physically in your body?
Yes, 53% No, 47% 612
Was your consciousness separated from your body at
the time of the NHI contact experience?
Yes, 79% No, 21% 615
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, were your
thoughts sped up?
No, 39% Faster than usual,
32%
Incredibly fast,
29%
609
While in thi s “Matrix”- like type of reality, were your
senses more vivid than usual?
No, 18% More vivid, 40% Incredibly more
vivid, 42%
614
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you
feel separated from your body? For example, I lost
awareness of my body, I clearly left my body and
existed outside it.
Yes, 60% No, 16% Not sure, 24% 637
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you have
a feeling of peace or pleasantness?
No, 22% Relief or calmness,
29%
Incredible peace
or pleasantness,
49%
631
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you see or
feel surrounded by a brilliant light?
No, 45% An unusually
bright light, 13%
A light clearly of
mystical or other-
worldly origin,
42%
618
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you seem
to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an
unidentifiable voice?
No, 16% I sensed their
presence, 37%
I actually saw this
being, 47%
634
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you see
deceased or religious spirits?
No, 61% I sensed their
presence, 12%
I actually saw this
being or beings,
27%
630
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you seem
to enter some other, unearthly world?
No, 23% Some unfamiliar
and strange place,
31%
A clearly mystical
or unearthly
realm, 47%
625
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did time
seem to speed up or slow down?
Time seemed
to go faster
or slower
than usual,
10%
Everything
seemed to be
happening at
once, 15%
Time stopped or
lost all meaning,
55%
625
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you feel a
sense of harmony or unity with the universe?
No, 25% I felt no longer
in conflict with
nature, 14%
I felt united or one
with the world,
61%
619
While in this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you
suddenly seem to understand everything?
No, 35% Everything
about myself or
others, 22%
Everything about
the universe, 43%
622
In this “Matrix”-like type of reality, did you perceive
that Time did not exist?
Yes, 79% No, 21% 621
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
329
Not in a 3-Dimensional reality, i.e. you were not in a perceived physical loca-
tion such as on earth, on a planet, or ship, etc., but instead you perceived
yourself in a “Matrix” type of reality (a reality with no boundaries, similar to
like you are in the middle of outer space).
Additional criteria for subject inclusion comprised the following:
1)
frequent CErs (>10 times) whose responses were considered more
reliable than those who had fewer CEs; 2) CErs who responded “yes” to
the questions: a) “Did you ever have an NHI CE not in a 3-dimensional
reality, and b) for whom the matrix reality was as “real as talking with a
family member.”
Of the 35% (N = 655) of Phase 2 respondents who met these criteria,
approximately three-quarters to two-thirds of the subjects responded
“yes” to the diverse range of the following: 1) an altered sense of reality
(e.g., consciousness leaving the body; losing body awareness; entering an
“unearthly world”, a feeling of “harmony with the universe”; and “understood
everything”), and 2) perception (senses more vivid; absence of time, or that
time sped up or slowed down, and thoughts sped up). Approximately one-
half to one-quarter reported seeing a bright light; encountering a mystical
being or presence or hearing an unidentifi able voice; seeing deceased
or religious spirits; and an incredible feeling of peace or pleasantness.
Approximately 80% also claimed that their consciousness was separated
from their body and 72% experienced a sense of “expanded consciousness”
in the presence of the NHI at the time of the CE. What is especially interesting
is the fi nding that reports of perceptions of alternate realities/dimensions,
OBEs, perceived dimensions/alternate realities, and past-life experiences,
were more frequent in occurrence than reports of having been physically
“abducted” and brought to a craft. In fact, only approximately one-fourth or
fewer of the subjects claimed to have conscious recall of being on board a
UAP craft and physically interacting with an NHI.
Subjects who reported having had an OBE or NDE were also much
more likely to have had CEs in an MR. There was a signifi cant effect (chi-
square p < .0001), for example, for those having an OBE and meeting an
NHI in an MR (68%; N = 702) than meeting an NHI in a non-MR (24%;
N = 611). A similar result was observed for those having had an NDE and
meeting an NHI in an MR (44%; N = 732) than meeting an NHI in a non-MR
(30%; N = 701). While the likelihood of reporting an NHI was signifi cantly
greater for those who reported either an OBE or an NDE in an MR than in a
non-MR, the percent difference was much greater for the OBE (44%) than
for the NDE (14%) group.
330 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
TABLE 8
Information Reported Received during a Contact Experience. Items Ranked by
Percent for Subjects (N = 1,184) Answering “Yes” to the Question:
“Did you receive any type of communication from a non-human intelligence?”
Percent
Responded
“Yes”
Percent
Responded
“No”
Missing Number
Responding
Can the NHIs travel to other
dimensions?
97% 3% 208 976
Can the NHIs travel to the
future?
85% 15% 377 807
Can the NHIs travel to both the
past and also to the future?
84% 16% 373 811
Can the NHIs travel to the past? 83% 17% 377 807
Did the NHIs impart reassuring
messages to you?
67% 33% 113 1071
Did the NHIs provide you with a
spiritual message?
59%41% 111 1073
Did the NHIs give you a
message of Love or of
Oneness?
59% 41% 96 1088
Did the NHIs ever tell you
about the concept of Parallel
Universes (many universes)?
36% 64% 128 1056
Did you ever call down a UAP
craft?
35% 65% 112 1072
Did the NHIs ever tell you about
the concept of “Time”?
35% 65% 113 1071
Did the NHIs give you any
message about God or a
Creator?
34% 66% 113 1071
Did the NHIs tell you of your
mission here on Earth?
34% 66% 110 1074
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
331
Communication Received During Contact Experience
An often-ignored aspect of the CE pertains to reported communications with
NHI beings. Table 8 illustrates, for instance, that an overwhelming majority
of the subjects (>83%: N = 1,184) who responded “yes” to the question: “Did
you receive any type of communication from an NHI?” claimed that the NHI
had the ability to travel to another dimension and/or time (past or future),
and more than half reported having received “reassuring messages” (67%),
a “spiritual message” (59%), and/or a “message of Love or of Oneness”
(59%). Additionally, approximately one-third contend to have received
information regarding parallel universes, the concept of time, and messages
about God or a Creator. Of this group, 37% (N = 438) claimed that the
communication was “two-way using telepathy” (NHI present) and 34% (N
= 402) reported it as “non-physical thought/voice downloaded from an NHI
to a human” (NHI not present). Sixty percent (N = 710) also reported having
received telepathic messages on more than fi ve occasions.
The positivity index was also found to correlate most strongly with
the message of “Love or of Oneness” incurred during their CE. This result
was further reinforced by a stepwise regression which indicated that this
message accounted for the greatest percent of variance (N = 1,014: 14.9%)
in positivity. It is important to note, however, that much of the unaccounted
variance in positivity (69.4%) is likely related to personality traits and
environment-related factors not specifi cally addressed in this survey.
Physical Aspects of Being “Abducted” by a Non-Human Intelligence
The incidence of the reported physical characteristics associated with
NHI interactions shown in Figure 8 indicate that the majority of subjects
(>65%) did not report events and/or experiences typically associated with
traditionally held beliefs of the “alien-abduction phenomenon.” More
specifi cally, only approximately one-fourth or fewer of the subjects claimed
to have conscious recall of the following CEs: 1) subjected to biological
examinations while lying on a table, 2) being told about the implantation of
a device, and 3) having a fetus removed from their body. The most common
(53%) physically related experience reported was the presence of wounds
on their skin following their CE.
What may be the most signifi cant type of physical CE outcome was
the fi nding that 50% of 1,465 CErs responded “yes” to the question: “Do
you believe that any of these NHIs have performed a medical healing on
either you or another member of your family?” This medical outcome was
consistent with the fi ndings by Dennett (1996) who reported more than 100
accounts of healings of injuries, illnesses, and diseases performed by an
332 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
NHI associated with or without a UAP craft. Another surprising outcome
was that 41% (N = 1,141) of respondents believed they were “part of an
alien breeding program” which included “genetic material being taken” for
the “creation of another being.” In fact, approximately three-quarters (79%,
N = 533) of those participating in this kind of program claimed to have had
an alien hybrid child or children.
Figure 8. Responses to questions related to physical aspects of being abducted
by a non-human intelligent being.
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
333
Comparison of the FREE Study to Prior Investigations
The lack of CE-related research in the literature mitigates any reliable
comparative analyses between the FREE and other studies on those who
report having had an “alien abduction experience.” Comparisons with
the few studies in this area by Ring (1984, 1992), Clancy (2005), Marden
and Stoner (2012, 2013), and Friedman and Marden (2016) also are not
straightforward given the associated methodological differences as follows:
1) the number of subjects (FREE study: N = 3,256 vs. < N = 100); 2) the
type, wording, and number of survey questions asked (more than 500 in the
FREE study vs. ~50); 3) the state of memory recall (hypnotic regression,
lucid dreaming, conscious, and not-conscious, etc.) during the CE; 4)
the incidence and type of CEs (“abduction” or “contactee”); and 5) the
impact of pre-existing OBE/NDE on the positivity of CErs. Consequently,
the comparisons made among the FREE and other study results must be
regarded as tenuous and interpreted with caution.
While prior studies have focused on physical-type “Abductions” or
individuals who have been taken and relocated on board a UAP craft by
so-called “extraterrestrials,” the FREE study analyzed those who reported
either a physical (abductee) or non-physical (contactee) type CE that may
or may not relate to sightings of a UAP. This is represented, in part, by the
fi nding that the majority (~75%) of the FREE study population reported
“not” having conscious memories of being on board a UAP craft. Prior
studies which have not made this distinction, therefore, may have excluded
a certain percentage of CErs who were “contactees” and not “abductees.”
That is, all prior studies have focused on those who claim to have been
physically abducted, whereas the FREE study included subjects who have
reported having had both abduction and contactee CEs. Moreover, while
most studies have understandably focused on the psychological profi le
of the CEr noted before the events, very few studies have examined the
outcomes facilitated by the CE on their personal viewpoints and values, and
characteristics of altered perceptions incurred during their CE.
The most signifi cant comparative psychologically based study of
behavioral outcomes facilitated by the CE, to that of the FREE study, was
that obtained by psychologist Ring (1992) in CErs who reported either an
NDE or UAP. In the Ring study, both the UAP encounter (N = 97) and NDE
(N = 74) subject groups manifested very similar behavioral transformations
despite their uniquely different experiences. Remarkably, the behavioral
outcomes reported by CErs in the FREE study, which showed an increase
in social concern, spirituality, appreciation of life, self-worth, compassion
toward others, telepathy, and belief in life after death, were similar to
those reported in the UAP and NDE groups in the Ring (1992) study. The
334 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
reported consistency between the FREE and Ring study subjects support
the conclusion by Ring (1992) of a “pervasive pattern of wide-ranging and
powerful psychophysical changes following either a UAP abduction or
NDE experience.” The overarching question is whether or not such insights
and beliefs actually represent a greater understanding and true perspective
of these extraordinary experiences.
In a questionnaire study to determine common characteristics of the
abduction experience, for example, Marden and Stoner (2012) analyzed
50 questions from abduction experiencer (AE) (N = 50) and control non-
abduction experiencer (NAE) (N = 25) groups that pertained to the subjects’
demographics, memories, and emotional and physiological responses.
This study indicated that the vast majority of the AE group was revisited
(some more than 10 times) and taken from their homes to an alien craft. In
contrast, the FREE study also revealed that it is not uncommon for subjects
to report frequent CEs (approximately one-half of the sample of 1,316
subjects interacted 11 or more times). In the Marden and Stoner study, 62%
of the AE group stated that they consciously recalled the observation of an
NHI immediately prior to an abduction while they were outside their home,
and 67% consciously recalled the observation of an “unconventional craft.”
Similarly, in the FREE study subjects, slightly more than half (53–61% of
N = 2,430) claimed to have observed an NHI being, and approximately two-
thirds reported seeing an “intelligently controlled craft” which “hovered”
(44–52%), made “impossible maneuvers” (30–39%), and “disappeared
quickly” (33–42%).
Other similar results reported in both the Marden and Stoner (2012) and
FREE study included the following: 1) Forty-three percent (N = 21) of the AE
group in the Marden and Stoner (2012) study stated that “witnesses reported
the observation of a UAP prior to or during their abduction.” In contrast,
41% (N = 2,368) of the FREE subjects reported that the UAP was “not a
man-made craft” and seen by multiple observers; 2) Fifty-three percent (21
of 40 subjects) of the AE group believed they felt an alien implant in their
body, and 83% stated that they had awoken with unexplained marks on
their bodies. Similarly, 52% (N = 1,302) of the FREE subjects believed that
an NHI placed a permanent foreign object in their body, and 53% reported
having awakened to see puncture wounds or scoop marks on their skin that
they could not recall how they received; and 3) The reported experience of
telepathic communication associated with the CE was a common result in
the Marden and Stoner study (88% of AE group) and the FREE study (55%
of N = 2,368).
The most commonly reported types of paranormal anomalous activity
associated with the CE in the FREE study (receiving telepathic messages;
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
335
malfunctioning electrical appliances; sightings of orbs, ghosts and/or
poltergeists; “missing time”; and observing “strange lights in their house
with no known source”) were surprisingly consistent with Vallee’s (1977,
2008) description of the UAP in his “Layer V: Psychic Effects” model:
Impressions of communication without a direct sensory channel, polter-
geist phenomena: motions and sounds without a speci c cause, outside
the observed presence of a UFO, etc.
Other studies also have reported increased paranormal abilities in the
aftermath of an “alien abduction” (Bullard 1994, Ring 1984, 1992), and
many report long histories of ostensibly paranormal events preceding their
“abduction” experience (Bullard 1987, Randle, Estes, & Cone 1999, Ring
1992). Similarly, 88% (AE Group; N = 43) of the subjects in the Marden
and Stoner (2012) study reported paranormal activity in their homes (light
orbs that dart or fl oat through the air, poltergeist activity such as household
items fl ying through the air, and pictures fl ying off walls, etc.). This activity
was also noted by Hopkins, Jacobs, and Westrum (1992) of CEs associated
with a sense of a “strange fi gure(s) present, missing time, seeing strange
balls of light in one’s room, and unexplained scars on their body.” In fact,
one of the major fi ndings in the FREE study was the frequent report by CErs
of sightings of orbs, ghosts, and/or poltergeists.
The traditionally held belief that an “abduction”-related CE commonly
involves sexual and biological examinations, which may include the
removal of a fetus, was evidenced to a lesser extent in the FREE study.
That is, approximately one-fourth and fewer of the sample population (N
= 1,224) reported being subjected to biological examinations (28%), sex
(12%), and to “know for a fact that a fetus was taken” from them (12%).
Interestingly, however, 41% (N = 1,141) of respondents believed they
were “part of an alien breeding program” that included “genetic material
being taken” for the “creation of another being.” Although these physical
experiences do seem to occur, their reported incidence appears to be less
than that suggested by those who have described a typical abduction as
follows: 1) Jacobs (2000) with hypnotized “abductees,” described a typical
abduction experience as being associated with “harvesting” by which the
“alien” causes sexual stimulation prior to an internal procedure to recover an
egg or sperm; 2) Newman and Baumeister (1996) reported women having
“sexual intercourse with aliens,” with some women reporting having had
offspring resulting from this act; and 3) Based on an analysis of a sample of
270 abduction reports, Bullard (1987) described the most common features
of an “abduction experience” as “capture” (caught and taken aboard a UFO)
and “examination” (subjected to physical, sexual, mental, and/or spiritual
examinations).
336 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
Spiritual, Mystical, and Extraordinary Experiences
Spiritual, mystical, and extraordinary experiences (SMEE), which
represent various types of non-ordinary or altered states of consciousness
(ASC), and associated encounters with a so-called “supernatural world,”
have been widely reported throughout human history across cultures.
These experiences are often characterized by perceptions of oneness/
interconnectedness with the universe, positive emotions, alterations of
spatial and temporal awareness, insight and wisdom, a sense of spirituality,
the absence of physical and mental objects of ordinary consciousness, and
the compelling sense that the experience feels “real” (Griffi ths et al. 2008,
Beauregard 2012).
SMEE, which has the potential to dramatically trigger a fragmented
self-identity and transcendent experience that can be life-changing, has
been elicited in retreat settings (Hood 1975), through meditation (Newberg
et al. 2001), under conditions of sensory isolation, with psychedelic drugs
(Griffi ths et al. 2006, 2008, Hood 2014), and even by non-invasive brain
stimulation (Yaden et al. 2015, 2016). These experiences have been shown
to occur spontaneously, resulting from brain injuries, exposure to awe-
inspiring situations, NDE/OBEs, and even in CEs with or without a UAP
interaction. What is especially interesting is that SMEEs also appear to
correlate with positive changes in family life, reduced fear of death, and a
greater sense of purpose (Koenig, King, & Carson 2012). In fact, the analysis
of the diverse range of CEs in the FREE study, which appeared to facilitate
similar positive behavioral outcomes in the majority of the population
sample, may actually represent a type of SMEE. If such outcomes are
indeed valid, then one may speculate that an aspect of consciousness may
serve as the fundamental characteristic associated with a diverse range of
SMEEs, of which the CE associated with or without a UAP may be a part.
Given this context, a key question pertains to how one can explain
aspects of physical and non- physical interactions with NHI beings as
reported by CErs in the FREE study, as well as by those who report NDEs
and OBEs, among other SMEEs. Many researchers have demonstrated, for
instance, that both NDEs (Atwater 2017, Long 2011, Morse 1994, Ring
1984, 1992, 1994) and OBEs (Alegretti 2004, Buhlman 2013, Minero 2012,
Monroe 1977) involve contact experiences with NHI beings. Studies have
also documented individuals who reported contact with NHI beings while
remote viewing (Adams & Luke 2013, Targ 2012) and during hallucinogenic
experiences using Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) (Harner 1990, Adams &
Luke 2013, Strassman 2001). The behavioral outcomes of subjects in these
studies, however, have not been suffi ciently analyzed to determine the
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
337
similarities and differences, if any, incurred from different SMEEs. When
mystical experiences have occurred in experimental settings, whether
facilitated by hallucinogenic drugs (Grof 1980, Pahnke & Richards 1966),
hypnosis (Cardeña & Beard 1996), meditation, or sensory modifi cation
(Masters & Houston 1973), there has been a strong consistency of such
experiences on behavioral outcomes which also appear to be similar to
those reported in the FREE study population.
Collectively, these studies suggest that an aspect of consciousness may
actually represent the key unifying characteristic that explains each distinct
CE (i.e. SMEE). In fact, consciousness, which has been acknowledged to
affect quantum systems (Dunne & Jahn 1992, Jahn et al. 2000, Radin 2002,
2006, 2008) is largely ignored as a contributing variable for such CEs,
despite the fact that many are directly aligned with ASC. The component
of consciousness, for instance, was represented in the FREE study as
follows: 1) Sixty-seven percent reported that their “consciousness separated
from their body” at the time of the CE, and 2) Seventy percent believed
they felt a “sense of expanded consciousness” in the presence of NHIs,
among others illustrated in Table 7. Alterations in perception, emotion, and
attitudes/viewpoints were also a major component of the CE as indicated in
Tables 5–7, and Figures 4–7. Interestingly, such changed perceptions and
perspectives reported by CErs in this study have also been documented in
other studies associated with different types of SMEEs (CErs, NDE, OBE,
and DMT, etc.) noted earlier.
Within this context, the consistency of reported CEs, OBE/NDEs,
and SMEEs may be critical for understanding a unique aspect of human
perception and ASC. Although our current medical and scientifi c concepts
are inadequate to explain all aspects of reported CEs, certain features appear
to correspond with some of the basic principles from quantum mechanics,
such as non-locality, coherence or interconnectedness, knowledge of
existence in another dimension without a body, the perception of time as
if the past, present, and future exist simultaneously and instantaneously,
and the instantaneous information exchange in a timeless and placeless
dimension. This concept may be indirectly supported by the results in this
paper and from the broad discipline of SMEEs of subjective reports that
“time and space no longer existed,” and that it is possible to “see everything
at once” and “through any obstacle and in every detail as a holographic
view.” Consequently, a key question emerges as to whether or not the
similarity of such ASC helps facilitate changes in one’s personal viewpoints
and philosophical values. This notion should be addressed in future studies
of CErs with NHI and UAP.
338 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
Future Directions
A major goal for researchers should be to establish agreed-upon principles
and theories to be tested by recognized scholars among different scientifi c
disciplines, and supported by independent studies to verify research outcomes
in the study of CErs associated with and without the UAP. This research
mission, however, is impeded by the following: 1) intangible personal
accounts serve as the primary source of the CE evidence for study with a
paucity of tangible, objective UAP evidence available for study, 2) it lacks a
widely accepted theory of its phenomena, 3) research cannot be performed
and replicated upon demand or be controlled in a laboratory setting, 4)
according to the general scientifi c community, extraordinary claims made
by many UAP researchers have not been suffi ciently supported by empirical
evidence, and 5) limited progress has been made in understanding the nature
and origin of the phenomenon despite many decades of UAP investigations
that have focused almost exclusively on the psychology of so-called “alien
abductees” and the physical aspects of the phenomenon.
It is very diffi cult to either reject or confi rm any hypothesis since
the scientifi c method and principles routinely applied in research do not
easily conform to the anecdotal testimony of reported CEs. Consequently,
the FREE study results cannot be suffi ciently explained and confi rmed at
the present time. Despite this lack of validation, the similarity of reported
psycho-spiritual outcomes engendered by CEs warrant the need to further
study aspects of these results within the physical, behavioral, and social
sciences. The diffi culty for researchers in this arena, however, is that one
can’t control for when such transformational experiences specifi cally occur.
This makes studying them directly nearly impossible. In spite of this, it
is clear that such behaviorally transformative outcomes may result from
either the reported CE by subjects in this study, a psychological aberration,
or possibly something else which cannot be conceptualized at the present
time. Consequently, the CE catalyst, which appears to alter aspects of
consciousness and personal attitudes and viewpoints, is very diffi cult, if not
impossible, to research (e.g., psychological and physiological) since the CE
and associated effects spontaneously emerge in the CEr.
Based on the FREE study fi ndings, future research in this arena should
focus on experienced individuals (CErs) who report: 1) being “frequent
interactors” (more than 10 CEs), 2) having conscious recall of their CE, and
3) having not reported a prior SMEE. This homogeneous population should
be developed as part of a multidisciplinary study to address the following
questions and methodological considerations:
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
339
1. Construct a reliable and valid psychological instrument to identify
“true CErs” in order to assess the psychological outcomes of their CE. This
instrument should be capable of measuring the extent and progression of an
individual’s CE, and distinguishing among different SMEEs (e.g., physical/
sensory CE, non-physical/extrasensory CE, OBE, NDE, and DMT, etc.).
The next step should be to assess via both quantitative and qualitative
questionnaire measures, the features, attributes, and other dimensions of
the CE that appear to infl uence or predict the extent of personal change that
occurs in the CErs. For example, what role do such things as the content of
communications with NHI beings, the modality of contact, and the reported
sense of one’s consciousness separating from the body, among other factors,
play in eliciting changes in CEr attitudes, motivation, personality, and/
or sense of well-being? Future studies should, therefore, begin to isolate
the relative contribution of personal and situational variables, and related
interactions, to observed changes in experiencers.
2. Future research should focus on frequent interactors whose responses
may be more accurate and representative of characteristics associated with
the CE. More specifi cally, how does a group of “frequent interactors”
compare with the normal adult population and/or a control group on both
standard psychological inventories, and on Positive Psychology measures?
And how have the behavioral effects resulting from CE infl uenced their
lives, social interactions, and family over time?
3. Collectively, the FREE study results, which suggest that the CE
appears to be more a non-physical than physical type event, imply that
future research may be more productive by incorporating both non-physical
and physical CE populations to better understand the similarities of how
each are described and experienced, and determining what factors may
contribute to them in CErs.
It is critical to these research considerations that researchers
cease studying the phenomenon as a separate science and to apply a
multidisciplinary research-based approach. That is, to better understand the
complex aspects of the apparent physical and non-physical characteristics of
the CE and their associated impact on human behavior, research with CErs
should be conducted using different approaches unique to several fi elds of
study (psychology, physics, sociology, and biology, etc.). Consequently,
a research plan supported by suffi cient fi scal resources should contain
appropriate goals as part of a protocol to help attract and assemble a
multidisciplinary team of scientists to develop methodological approaches
340 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
to test agreed-upon hypotheses to study the phenomenon, and to publish
their research in established refereed journals.
Discussion
Overview
While most UAP studies have focused on the psychological profi le of
the abductee/contactee, only a few studies with small sample sizes have
examined the essence and impact of the CE on the individual’s personal
viewpoints and values, perceptions, and emotions. This is an important
consideration for future research, especially since the FREE study indicates
that approximately 70% (N = 3,256) of the study population claimed to
have had very similar positive behavioral transformations as a direct
outcome of their CE. In contrast, only 15–20% reported a “negative” impact
resulting from their CE. In fact, the reported altered patterns of behavior and
associated positive psycho-spiritual transformative outcomes in one or more
forms of personal growth, attitudes, philosophical values, and an awareness
and knowledge of other realities, represent the most signifi cant outcomes of
the FREE study. In addition, this study suggests that the CE with an NHI
is largely non-physical and can occur via telepathy, during an OBE, being
fl oated into a “matrix-like” reality, as well as through physical interaction
on board a craft. Consequently, the non-physical (“contactee”) CE, which
appears to be distinctly different from the physical (“abduction”) CE,
suggests that they should be studied as separate but interrelated anomalous
events.
Summary of Study Results
In summary, the study results incorporate a diverse and complex range of
physical, psychological, perceptual, and paranormal activity that involve
both perceived physical and non-physical type CEs, as follows: 1) The
altered patterns of behavior, perceptions, and associated positive behavioral
transformative outcomes were reported by approximately 70% of our study
population (N = 3,256). In fact, 84% of a study sample of 1,919 subjects
reported that they “did not want their CE to end.” 2) The majority (71%, N =
455) of those who reported having had “conscious recall of being on board
a UAP craft” claimed that their CE changed their life in a “positive way.” In
contrast, only 15–20% reported a “negative” impact from their CE; 3) The
majority (71%, N = 433) of those who reported more frequent CEs (>10
times) were more likely to report that the CEs had a “positive impact” on
“changing their life” (fewer than 25% reported a “negative impact”); 4) The
majority of subjects (56%, N = 1,560) reported having been “contacted” in
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
341
a non-physical way and not physically “abducted”; 5) Approximately three-
quarters of those who have had a CE consider themselves as “contactees”
(“more egalitarian”—being treated as more of an “equal”) and not
“abductees” (physically taken and relocated on board a UAP craft); 6) A
large percentage of the study sample (80.4% of N = 1,381) reported having
had an OBE as part of the CE; 7) The majority of subjects (>65%, N =
1,224) did not report events and/or experiences typically associated with
the traditionally held beliefs regarding the “alien-abduction” phenomenon.
In fact, the UAP (physical craft) is only one characteristic of the CE which
does not seem to be associated with most CEs; 8) The incidence of unusual
experiences, such as reported observation of paranormal phenomena, NHI
beings, and the positivity of the subjects’ responses to these experiences,
were remarkably consistent across countries and racial/ethnic groups
with suffi cient sample size to permit comparison. This argues against the
notion that these experiences are simply an expression of cultural myths,
archetypes, or memes; and 9) The reported positive behavioral outcomes
facilitated by the CE manifest in one or more forms of personal growth,
attitudes, spiritual and philosophical values. This is represented by their
conviction of having become more open-minded with a more expanded
worldview and understanding of themselves and what life is all about, and
an awareness and knowledge of other realities.
Given this context, the overarching question remains as to whether or not
the changes in one’s insights and beliefs, as facilitated by their CE, actually
represent a greater understanding and true perspective of one’s self and life,
or are instead induced in the CEr by some unexplained means. Collectively,
the unique similarity of the physical and non-physical characteristics of the
CE, and the associated behavioral outcomes reported by CErs, are certainly
a matter of speculation.
Conclusion
In summary, the FREE study results raise considerably more questions
than answers. One obvious question pertains to whether or not NHI beings
are actually interacting with humans. Another concerns the nature of the
specifi c characteristic(s) of the diverse range of both physical and non-
physical aspects of the CE that may be responsible for facilitating the
reported attitude changes reported by CErs. Within this context, it is worth
noting the similarity of the physical and non-physical characteristics of the
FREE study CE results with the general conclusions by noted researchers.
Astrophysicist J. Allen Hynek (1978), for example, who acted as scientifi c
advisor to UAP studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force (Project Sign,
Project Grudge, and Project Blue Book), concluded that:
342 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
I hold it entirely possible that a technology exists which encompasses both
the physical and the psychic, the material and the mental. . . . The UFO phe-
nomenon is “so strange and foreign to our daily terrestrial mode of thought”.
Similarly, computer scientist and astronomer Jacques Vallée (2003)
stated:
My personal contention is that the phenomenon is the result of an intel-
ligence, that is technology directed by an intelligence, and that this intel-
ligence is capable of manipulating space and time in ways that we don’t
understand. . . . The essential conclusion I’m tending to is that the origin of
the phenomenon of the intelligence is not necessarily extraterrestrial. . . .
I think we are dealing with something that is both technological and psy-
chic, and seems to be able to manipulate other dimensions. This is neither
wishful thinking nor personal speculation on my part. It’s a conclusion that
comes from interviewing critical witnesses, and then listening to what they
have to say.
The similar conclusions by both Hynek (1978) and Vallee (2003),
based upon decades of investigative research of UAP, are supported by the
FREE study which indicates that an apparent intelligence or force of some
type seems to take control of the individual and induces altered patterns
of behavior, telepathic communication, and/or perceptions of space and
time, among other complex symptoms during one’s CE. In some cases,
people also report receiving messages that contain personal counseling
and guidance, religious–spiritual and scientifi c/technological information
(Table 8). Such experiences may have contributed to the positive behavioral
transformations reported by the majority of our study population.
While subject to interpretation and debate, CEr’s dramatic change
in personal and philosophical viewpoints (it is tempting to speculate)
may support Vallee’s hypothesis that the messages they report receiving,
and their new transformative outlook on life, may contribute to what he
called a “new cosmic behavior” or belief system facilitated by some form
of intelligence to infl uence our society (i.e. altering old belief systems
and enacting new ones). This concept, however, cannot be either fi rmly
dismissed or supported since we have yet to determine the individual’s own
contribution to their overall experience of a unique constellation of physical
and non-physical phenomena. Consequently, the only thing that can be said
with certainty is that the reported atypical and extraordinary CEs, which
represent a diverse range of psychological, physiological, and paranormal
attributes, cannot be easily rationalized and scientifi cally validated but are
perceived as “real” to those who experience them.
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
343
While it is premature to develop any fi rm conclusion from the FREE
study, the results imply that the study population may actually characterize
two or more types of CEs and associated phenomena. That is, a physical-
based CE may be associated directly with the observation of a UAP and/
or interaction with an NHI being on board a craft (e.g., approximately two-
thirds (62–73% of N = 2,430) of the subjects reported seeing an “intelligently
controlled craft” not “man-made,” and slightly more than half (53–61%)
observed an NHI being). More specifi cally, approximately one-fourth of the
subjects who reported having had visual contact and communication with
NHI beings, believe they have had physical experiences on board a physical
craft. This included reported medical examinations and healings, and/or
the implantation of a device, among other types of physical experiences
with NHI mentioned previously. In contrast, a non-physical CE may be
more symptomatic of a OBE-like state as described by Minero (2012) and
Monroe (1977). This notion is based, in part, on the fi ndings that: 1) the
majority of subjects (56%, N = 1,560) reported having been “contacted”
in a non-physical way (e.g., telepathic communication) and not physically
“abducted”; and 2) the majority of subjects (53–62%, N = 2,368) reported
“not” having conscious memories of being on board a UAP craft. These
results are reinforced by the concomitent reports of experiencing telepathic
communication with NHI beings; perceived change in time and space; a
sense of “oneness” or “interconnectedness” with the universe, experiencing
an “expanded consciousness,” and the belief that their consciousness left
their body during the CE, among other non-physical type CEs noted prior
to the event.
Taken together, the results from the FREE study suggest that contact and
interaction in the form of sensing, visualizing, and/or communicating with
NHIs occurs frequently and only occasionally in connection with a UAP
sighting. In fact, more than 75% of the CErs view themselves as “contactees”
and not “abductees.” It appears, therefore, that the CE associated with a UAP
is not the predominant form of CE and that sighting a UAP is not necessarily
associated with a CE. Consequently, it is not surprising that the traditional
methodological approach of recording and investigating UAP sightings and
traces has failed to advance our understanding of the essence/meaning of
the phenomenon and the possible force which governs and regulates its
behavior. This is an important consideration since the FREE study dispels
the notion that contact with an NHI must entail either a physical abduction
or a landed craft with beings exiting to interact with humans.
There is certainly no easy way to explain the results of the FREE study
within a reductionistic standard model since current scientifi c principles
are inconsistent with the diverse aspects of the reported CE. Consequently,
344 Reinerio Hernandez, Robert Davis, Russell Scalpone, and Rudolph Schild
alternative theoretical perspectives and associated methodological
approaches
are needed to better understand unique experiences which
incorporate feelings of altered perceptions, and of one’s “consciousness
separating from the body,” often perceived as “very real” in nature by
individuals who report a CE and OBE/NDE, among other SMEEs.
Consequently, a new paradigm for viewing the role of consciousness,
which appears to be an essential component of the CE, should attempt to
determine if various SMEEs actually cause one to “see a different world,”
or instead, to “see the world differently” in a non-spatial/non-temporal
context. It is also important for there to be independent replication of this
study to help determine the validity of the reported results, which may serve
as a foundation for others to build upon. At the very least, this study should
serve to facilitate greater research interest on the part of psychologists
and sociologists because of the CE’s role and impact in the person’s
life, the association between the similarity among subjective reports and
memory processes, and possible psycho-cultural infl uences. Thus, using
a multidisciplinary approach that includes comprehensive psychological
assessments, both the physical and non-physical characteristics of the CE
must be analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to note unique similarities/
differences facilitated among different SMEEs, of which the CE with or
without a UAP appears to be a part. This approach may help determine
if a yet-to-be-defi ned aspect of consciousness serves as the unifying
characteristic among different SMEEs.
The FREE study suggests that the CE can occur in a non-physical
manner via telepathy, during an OBE, or being fl oated into a “Matrix-like”
reality, as well as via physical interaction aboard a craft. But since we do
not yet understand how to defi ne an OBE or matrix-like realities reportedly
acknowledged by a large percentage of our study population, it is likely that
the survey respondents could not do so either, other than perhaps knowing
that their state of consciousness was something different, yet “as real or
normal as speaking with a family member.” At this point, we can only
measure distinctions to the level of precision described by the wording of
the survey questions, and the meanings that “most people” would ascribe to
concepts like OBE, Matrix-like reality, and conscious memory.
This study, which indicates that contact and interaction with an NHI
happens very frequently via different altered states of consciousness
(SMEEs),
and only occasionally in connection with a UAP sighting, reinforces
the notion that researching the physical characteristics of the UAP alone will
likely not reveal the actual nature of what governs and regulates the CE and
associated phenomena. In particular, research is needed to help refi ne the
defi nition of such various altered states of consciousness to better determine
Contact with Non-Human Intelligence Associated with UAP
345
the causal forces (personal, environmental, and personal environmental
interaction effects) that are infl uencing our subjects’ reported experiences
with NHI associated both with and without UAP. This objective should be
facilitated using newly developed principles and associated methodologies,
unique to the physical and social sciences, to test hypotheses on the role(s)
that consciousness, and changes in CEr viewpoints and values, might play
in explaining a poorly understood complex and elusive phenomenon.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions to humanity by the late
Dr. Edgar Mitchell, one of FREE’s co-founders. During his lunar trip in 1971
as an astronaut on Apollo 14, Edgar experienced a Samadhi awakening, “a
sense of universal connectedness.” This awakening began his journey to
become one of the world’s pioneers in the study of “consciousness”; the
greatest mystery known to mankind. Edgar’s vision resulted in establishing
the world’s leading research institute on consciousness, the Institute for
Noetic Sciences. Growing up in Roswell, New Mexico, the site of the
famed 1947 UAP crash, and having conversed with hundreds of military
and government offi cials, Edgar became convinced that UAPs do in fact
exist, and he began to publicly speak on this phenomenon. He eventually
became the father of the modern UAP disclosure movement. This, in turn,
led Edgar to converse with hundreds of individuals who informed him of
their contact experiences with non-human intelligence. Edgar also became
deeply involved in promoting the sustainability of Earth and feared that
we are destroying our planet and humanity itself. Finally, Edgar’s greatest
accomplishment was in developing over the last 30 years of his life, with
the assistance of a team of physicists, a model for exploring consciousness
itself called the Quantum Hologram Theory of Consciousness.
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