We're All Human

 Yesterday's postings of various UFO abductee videos should have allowed you to see the difference between various claimed percipients characters.  There were the "Starborn" types and their attitudes and behaviour clearly fall into a type.  

"Debbie" -I have met a couple of people like her and to date I have found no accounts given by "Tom" or others. Debbie is always the centre "My friend" -"My daughter" and the emphasi always tends to be self-focused.

We have the Wiener brothers and I have given my assessment of the Alagash incident elsewhere https://terryhooper.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-allagash-abduction-updated-appraisal.html

Travis Walton (and, no, I have not just left it with my conclusions from UFO Contact? as anything pro or con in the case that crop up I look into) is typical of the type that know they can do nothing to prove 100% that what happened did happen and so shrug and adopt the "It happened. Get on with your life". However, there is still a certain look in the eyes that when you see it you know that something is haunting them. In many cases these people are even afraid to smile or try to behave normally at events because it will be used against them.

Of course, it's very easy to say everyone falls into this or that type but they do not. You have to be aware of everything from body language, eye, mouth and other facial movements that reveal a person is being genuine or faking it. It does take a lot of covert people watching. Only experience is going to teach you but the videos I chose should be able to help you see what I mean.

One important thing never to forget is that interviews should be very informal and relaxed. Joke or see what you can spot in the room to start a conversation on. Even pet can get a relaxed conversation going. Remember that you are not talking to a "weirdo" claiming UFO abduction or an alien encounter but a human being who has had (possibly) a completely world view shattering experience.

And it is important that you listen and observe carefully but also do nbot raise eye-brows or give any other form of expression of incredulity. Keep the relaxed posture and just nod when required to show that you undertand what they are saying and mentally note points you want to come back to later -scribbling down notes whle someone is talking can be distracting and makes everything seem very official and formal. You have a tape recorder use that because it is small and soon vanishe as a distraction. 

Also, before you start any taping and have the person relaxed ask them if there is anything they want to add about their experience (before or after) that they do not want recorded.  In the case of the two girls at Oulton Marsh in 1978 the investigator was given information by the mothers while the girls were not present as it might be very embarassing if he were told in their presence.

It may seem that I keep on about this but these are people and not just a source of material for books or TV shows. There are certain things that you may be told that you can make notes on but should never include in general articles on the report.  I was once told by a witness, in hushed tones, that her menstral cycle had started earlier than expected after a UFO sighting that also involved three other people. There was no connection but the UFO experience was so outside her established world view (which included jokes about "nutters" seeing UFOs) that she had no idea.

I have spoken to people in the past who were told that seeing a UFO usually meant death followed. I explained that I had never read or heard of such a thing and that there were many local superstitions but these referred to "supernatural" things not UFOs in general. There is usually a sigh of relief -in two cases from Somerset in the 1970s I was asked whether what the witneses had seen was the "Devil' eye" -a local legend.  I put them at their ease. No laughing. No mocking. Just a simple response.  People still avoid walking under ladders.

And experience tells you that "People who stop and look down to their left when asked a question are lying" is not always true. 

We're all human.