Earth to humans: Alien obsessions can cloud judgment

Stories like this one are reported every day all over a planet that is obsessed with aliens. What is fictionalized by shows like the "X-Files," is written as fact by self-claimed alien abductee and author Whitley Streiber. Many dishonest men and women like Streiber have made a fortune deceiving our nation with "personal accounts" and "scientific evidence" of alien contact. Because of the fascinating nature of these accounts, they must always be approached with great skepticism -- a skepticism which we do not currently apply.

The reports of crop circles, cattle mutilations, child abductions by aliens, extraction of embryos, artificial insemination aboard orbiting spacecraft, sterilization of men and women by the theft of ova and testicles, rectal probes, telepathic communication, blinding flashes of light in residential neighborhoods and on farms in the Midwest where one can see for 20 miles in any direction, the Roswell incident, "The Alien Autopsy" and many more, have all been debunked by science.

I find evidence of extra-terrestrial life, however speculative, to be compelling. In all of the vastness of the universe, it seems unlikely that we are the only sentient inhabitants. If there is only a possibility of life on one in a trillion star systems, then there are thousands or millions of possibilities out there. However, I find evidence for visitation from these beings to be most improbable.

We are to believe that an alien race that is hundreds or thousands of years ahead of us technologically, is so sloppy that not only does it announce itself with lights as bright as a hotel in Las Vegas (which the neighbors always seem to miss), but it also lets its "patients" remember their experiences.

With the ability to travel light-years, they still leave very visible scars on our skin as they probe our bodies for our gametes or implant some silly little tracking device. In the United States we are able to leave next to no scar tissue on patients that have to have small incisions made.

On top of this, people seem to like to believe that hypnosis can provide ample evidence for the presence of aliens and their thievish ways. People have claimed to have had experiences like the ones I mentioned earlier.

They are unsure as to what the experience was. They have their suspicions but are unsure. They go see someone who specializes in alien abductions and the like. They are then hypnotized, asked questions, many of which are leading, and come out of it with the revelation of an alien abduction.

But what they apparently don't know or forget is that being hypnotized is a lot like being asleep. You are not in control of what is happening in your mind. You are at the whim of the power of suggestion. Even the smallest cue from a hypnotist can set off a very real "memory" -- a memory you may not really have. A hypnotist can make us forget our own names or forget all numbers with the number seven in them. Why couldn't he or she not accidentally implant a "memory" of an alien abduction, past lives or child abuse. They are even able to implant "memories" of your future!

The wonderful alien-attributed crop circle also is a hoax. Two drunk men in England started it all one night after a few beers. They decided to play a joke on the UFO fanatics.

Thus, the crop circle was born. They used exceedingly simple steel beams, wooden planks and rope to carve out the intricate designs in the fields. During the course of 15 years they stumped scientists and the public.

Doug Bower and David Chorley even started signing their circles with two D's. No one caught on. So in 1991, they came forward and admitted to their hoax.

But nobody knows about the jokes or the scientific explanations or the hoaxes. They aren't as cool. They limit the imagination and take away our aliens. They make life boring.

We want our fun and excitement, even at the price of being deceived.