Question:

Why am I unable to remember my abductions?

Answer:

Many different reasons are offered regarding why people are unable to remember their abductions. The most frequently given reason is that people can’t remember their abductions because the Aliens have told them they would not be able to remember. In fact, many abductees say this while under hypnotic regression. Whether this is a hypnotic suggestion is unknown.

Some people believe not being able to remember is induced through trauma associated with the abduction experience. Others feel the Aliens erase their memories the same way we erase cassette tapes. Whatever the method, the Aliens clearly have a better grasp of how our brains function than we do. They know how "to push our buttons" to make us forget. But not everyone forgets.

There are some people who remember their abductions regardless of what the Aliens tell them. It is unknown why or how some people are able to override the Aliens’ attempt to suppress their memories. These abductees are able to remember larger portions of their abduction experience. They even remember being told they would forget the event, but they don’t.

During the course of an abductee’s life, memories may leak into the conscious mind. Leaking memories are referred to as "bleedthrough" memories. Bleedthrough memories are fragments or a few seconds recalled from an abduction. Many bleedthrough memories are terrifying emotionally for the abductee. They are especially terrifying because their origin may be unknown if the person is unaware of his abduction history. Bleedthrough memories serve as clues to the astute abductee as to what may have happened during an abduction. Therapists can use these memory fragments to assist the abductee in recalling an entire abduction event under hypnotic regression.

Bleedthrough memories are triggered by tiny events in the environment around us. The events can happen so quickly as to be undetectable to the person. A flash of light, a certain sound, a special motion, a smell, a touch, a word: any of these can release a buried memory if it matches a detail of the unremembered event. This instant matching of details results in the person suddenly having a "flashback" memory. Suddenly, the person remembers a fragment of the unremembered event. Behavioral psychologists refer to these subtle clues in the environment as the "discriminative stimulus." The discriminative stimulus is the subtle cue or event triggering the person’s memory of the event.

Memories can also leak through into our dreams. The dream state allows memories to surface without resistance from the conscious mind. Some abductees "dream" their abduction experiences at night while sleeping. This is another opportunity to re-live or recall abductions. These dreams will be very vivid and intense to the dreamer, capturing the emotional fervor associated with the original experience. In the dream state, there is no one to censor your dream as "Rated X due to nudity, violence, or graphic content!"