As with the study of any subjective phenomenon, whether it is a form of poetry, history, art, or science, there comes a time when fragments of the ideas that drive it are captured. Captured for at least a moment, and displayed before us to be examined until they can slip away, change, or find their way to completion. Prof. David Jacobs appears to have done that in The Threat. He seems to be allowing us a view into the private agenda of one non-human species' pervasive interactions with a subset of our own species.

He starts with a substantial overview of the history of "ufology," which is based upon his own involvement with the field over the years and many references to the work of others. This book has both very detailed "Notes" and "Index" sections which help ground the reader, even one who may be unfamiliar with this phenomenon and field of study. This approach continues through his discovery of abductees and his first impressions of their hazy-sounding claims of interactions with other beings. And it takes a number of years before he becomes convinced enough to think that their claims could be real. This attitude-swaying evidence includes physical marks, emotional impact on the abductees, as well as the cross-section of people affected, none of whom fit the stereotype of the hapless person. His interest at that point was sufficient to persuade him to learn hypnosis techniques and begin working with abductees.

From what can be gathered from the book, that process took three to four years, and clearly was not a skill learned overnight. Jacobs devotes an entire chapter (Shadows of the Mind) to the methods, benefits, and pitfalls of hypnosis, where he details his own approach. He seems greatly interested in the human side — the trauma and difficulties the abductees face in their day-to-day lives while struggling to cope with the aftermath of the abductions. He also covers an array of issues involved with hypnosis ranging from "Normal Event Memory" through "False Memory Syndrome" to "Media Contamination," plus "Leading the Witness" and "Mutual Confirmation Fantasies."

What does he encounter in these hypnotic regressions with the abductees? Plenty! Is all of it believable? Personally, I don't know. My own way of pondering something this fantastic is to consider that maybe only x% might be true — the "x" representing a decreasing value as the level of "fantastic" rises. Which things fall into that x%? Which do not? That is hard to decide. Perhaps many people will find his compilation of, and speculation about, the abductees' stories concerning the following topics somewhere on a scale from compelling through repulsive:

1. Breeding program (alien/human hybrids);

2. Extrauterine gestational units;

3. Unaware abductees;

4. Human interaction with and nurturing of the hybrids;

5. Current and continuing roles of abductees with aliens;

6. Jacobs' opinion of the "Positives";

7. Future result of this interaction (agenda) and roles.

In addition to numbers 3 and 6, the ideas most interesting to me were: The "eyes" (specifically, pages 83 through 85) — Alien ability to bypass short-term memory (page 111, middle paragraph) — Independent Hybrid Activity (Chapter 10).

While I do find a number of concepts he discusses intriguing, the very nature of his unilateral approach to the enigma of alien abduction bothers me. My response to his basic attitude towards the "Positives" (people who view the phenomenon as having more mutually beneficial motivations) reflects my own overall reaction. The impression Jacobs leaves about the Positives implies that they are hiding from the harsher truths surrounding abductions, or that they are deluded into their lighter viewpoints. Is his outlook complete? I suspect not. Even Jacobs admits that there may be some merit to the Positives' stance. I sincerely hope that the various beings, which appear to share our universe(s), are capable of a broad spectrum of attitudes. If the groups of beings that Jacobs refers to in The Threat are a ruthless lot towards us, then perhaps others are more compassionate. I am not ready to judge the whole lot of "them" as being negative or positive.

Perhaps the most amazing statements Jacobs makes, amidst all the details of the aliens' motivations, was at the end of Chapter 2. There he describes the abductees ("the scouts") as being in a "special situation" on the "front lines" of a very important series of happenings:

"As 'participants/observers,' they have the most important role of all. They bring researchers like me the pieces of the puzzle so that we can put them together. They are not just the victims of abductions, they are also the heroes, without whose accounts we would have no meaningful insight whatsoever into the UFO phenomenon" (p. 29).

Hmmm. If more than my own x% view of this book is true and abductees are "heroes" deep down inside themselves, then maybe the many human beings that share that same kind of strength are our hope. Maybe that basic rough-hewn part of us which is inseparably coupled with our hearts, genes, and souls will be a bit more than the aliens bargained for. Is the heart, perhaps, mightier than the scalpel?

Frances Langelier
1503 Regents Ct.
Hillsborough, New Jersey 08876-5532

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