Entities From A Hidden World Near Our Own: The Tujunga Canyon Abduction Incidents

The Tujunga Canyon Abductions is one of the most intriguing cases of presumed alien abduction on record, not least due to the incidents taking place over two decades and involving several different women. The Tujunga Canyon, near Los Angeles, California, has a long history of paranormal and UFO activity. Many locals even regard the canyon as a “window area” whose, sometimes, dark phenomena bleeds into others and should not be easily dismissed.

The same might be said for the Tujunga Canyon Abductions, and, in part, for many other such abduction cases. While it certainly doesn’t offer an all-encompassing answer to the UFO and alien question, it perhaps might offer an insight into one aspect of it. An aspect that itself is sometimes referred to as the “dark side of ufology”. And furthermore, one that both clarifies and blurs the UFO picture even more.

The first report wasn’t made to investigators until 1975, 22 years after the incident. All of the women involved remained living in and around the Tujunga Canyon region following their reporting of a lifetime of bizarre and frightening activity. In light of this, NICAP (National Investigations Committee for Aerial Phenomena) would “assign” names to each of the witnesses within their report.

Initial Contact At The Isolated Cabin

The first case on record occurred on the evening of 22^nd March 1953. Sara Shaw and Jan Whitley, who at the time lived in an isolated cabin in the Tujunga Canyon, were awoken by a bright light outside their home. The pair went to investigate and the next thing they realized they were outside their cabin, running, scared and confused, and with no memory of how they had ended up outside. Furthermore, according to their watches, two hours had passed in what seemed to them to be only seconds.

It was only when they made their report to NICAP years later, and following hypnotic regression, that the missing time was revealed.

According to Sara, while under regression, several “thin humanoids dressed in black” somehow entered their cabin through the closed window. They were taken to a “Saturn-shaped UFO” which hovered nearby over a stream. Sara cooperated with her unwelcome hosts. Jan, on the other hand, would put up substantial resistance, becoming quite hysterical, and was ultimately “taken away, protesting violently!”

Sara would describe stepping into a “solid beam of light” that would lift her “about the same angle as an escalator” but with no steps. The humanoids would examine Sara, using what she believed to be an “X-ray-type device”. She wasn’t sure how long the procedure took to complete, but the next thing she realized, the humanoids were “informing” her telepathically of cures for cancer. She failed to remember the details, feeling beyond overwhelmed with the situation. The humanoids themselves appeared to have white skin and elongated heads that were neither “wider at the top or the bottom!”

Following this, she and Jan found themselves back in the “beam of light” which returned them to their cabin.

Jan’s Second Encounter, with Emily Cronin

Jan, however, was much less receptive to the regression sessions. She was unable to recall any physical visions of the evening. She did state, however, that the “creatures were invisible to her!” Furthermore, she would state under hypnosis that these invisible entities “harassed” her in multiple homes over the years. Although she couldn’t see them, she could sense them via a “crunching pain” in her head, or by changes to the “atmospheric pressure” around her.

She would further describe engaging in a “mental battle of wills” with these entities. This is an interesting assertion that not only comes up in many alleged “reptilian sightings and experiences” but also crosses over into other fields of the paranormal such as demonic coercion and possession.

In 1956, Jan would experience a similar encounter with another woman, Emily Cronin. The two women were driving home one evening with Emily’s young son in the back seat. The traffic was increasingly heavy, so they decided to pull their vehicle into the layby, and rest for an hour or so. Much like in 1953, a bright, white, light would drag the two women from sleep. However, neither of them could move and remained frozen in their seats.

Emily would struggle but slowly managed to move her finger, which caused the paralysis to break for both of them. They put the vehicle into motion and finally pulled into a roadside café to gather their thoughts.

When Emily agreed to hypnosis, she managed to fill in the blanks of the evening. Following the bright light, a saucer-shaped craft descended near to them. Two tall humanoid figures with “long elongated” heads “circled” the car. Emily would state they seemed particularly interested in her son. They then re-entered the craft and left.

The Eerily Similar Encounters Of Lori Briggs

Emily, much like Jan, would also speak of entities attempting to take her over and urge her to “go with them”. Also like Jan, she would also talk of mentally struggling to overcome these entities, which she would further describe as taking a “whitish form”.

Following Emily’s revelations in 1975, two other women from the Tujunga Canyon region would contact her. They too had experienced a similar episode that involved missing time, paralysis, and a “vague perception of tall white entities!”

A UFO investigator who has studied the Tujunga Canyon contact cases extensively is Scott Rogo, who issued the initial report of Lori Briggs in April 1980. And it is to that report where we will turn our attention next.

It was while Rogo and fellow investigator Ann Druffel were studying Emily’s case, that she became aware of the encounters of Lori Briggs, when Emily revealed to her that she had a friend who had a very similar encounter several years earlier in the summer of 1975. In fact, when the investigators met with Lori, they discovered she had actually had an even earlier encounter, in 1970.

According to Lori, she was at her parents’ home in Redondo Beach, California, and was asleep in her room when the first incident occurred. She claims that the “extremely strange experience” began as she was suddenly “dragged from sleep” by “some force” that was strange and chilling in equal measure.

When she was finally awake, she realized she couldn’t move and was completely paralyzed. She closed her eyes but had the distinct sense that something was in the room with her. Some strange entity. At the same time, voices sounded in her head to “prepare herself” and that something was about to happen.

Then, with this sense of imminency running through her, she opened her eyes. In front of her was the outline of a humanoid being, with “thin whitish fingers” and “red glowing eyes”. She would further describe the eyes as “intense” and containing “power”. She also felt as if she was unable to unlock her stare from them. Then, just as quickly as everything had started, the presence was gone, and she was able to move.

It is perhaps interesting to note here that it is not clear exactly how long this encounter went on for. Briggs claims that she locked stares for what seemed like “eternity”. It is perhaps possible, that shortly after being subjected to this paralyzing gaze and shortly before it suddenly ended, that an abduction incident involving the usual experimentation and procuring of samples could have taken place.

A Sudden Communication “With Someone Or Some Beings!”

By the summer of 1975 Lori, recently graduated from UCLA, was living in the Panorama City region of Los Angeles in an apartment she shared with her roommate, Jo Maine. In fact, one of the first things that Lori noticed was how on the evening in question, Jo – who was a “chronic insomniac” – had seemingly fallen asleep almost as soon as getting into bed.

What is perhaps interesting here is that UFO researchers have noted how many alien abduction encounters feature details of people near the abductee, essentially, being “switched off”. For example, many people are taken from their beds while their partners remain in an unusually deep sleep beside them.

It was, in fact, around midnight when Lori noticed how deep her roommate appeared to be sleeping, almost as if “she had been drugged”. Then, without warning, voices began sounding inside her mind. She realized she was “communicating with someone or some beings”. And she was doing so through “mental telepathy”.

She claimed this telepathic conversation unfolded over a considerable amount of time. Then, the voices began to ask that “she go with them” – something she claimed she didn’t want to do. Shortly after this, a “high-pitched sound started” as if it was a consequence of her decline.

A Realization Of Missing Time?

Realizing that some kind of mental battle was taking place between herself and this unknown presence, Lori began to shake Jo in an effort to waken her. She eventually did so, although it took much longer and much more effort than one would think. However, upon her waking, each woman had the distinct feeling that more time had gone by than they thought. Jo would even tell investigators that she instantly felt that a “chunk of her life” was missing from her memory. Once more, this could suggest an abduction incident.

There are a few differing details that follow this. And whether that is simply forgotten details due to the course of time, or simply how different people remember the same incident differently is perhaps open to debate.

For example, Lori claimed that upon coming to and sensing some kind of “time-lapse”, they immediately called Emily. However, Emily claimed that it was after the two women had been sat at the kitchen table discussing what had happened when they called her, claiming they had seen a bright light that lit up their apartment from outside, as well as hearing a “high-pitched whining noise”. Also, Emily had claimed that during the phone call, Lori had recalled seeing “white, large-headed entities” in the room with them. However, she failed to recall this to Druffel and Rogo.

There was the possibility, Rogo wrote, that “Lori was undergoing some mental block about precisely what happened that eerie night”. Once more, this is a detail that surfaces a lot in alien abduction or close encounters with alleged extraterrestrials. When Rogo reminded Lori of what she had seemingly told Emily on the night of the incident, it appeared to spark her mind once more.

Incidentally, it was from this phone call that Emily first learned of Lori’s encounter, although she declined to tell her friend, at the time, that she too had experienced similar incidents.

A Spark Of Memory

It wasn’t merely that Lori suddenly remembered the details she had forgotten, Rogo would recall how “a look of astonishment” spread completely over her face. She would, it appeared, suddenly recall not only the strange figures but also the intense light that was shining in through the window of the apartment.

As the investigators were speaking with Emily, Lori, at the request of Rogo and Druffel, sketched anything she could remember from her first strange encounter, or of any strange dreams she might have had. Rogo noticed she was drawing a “picture of a young woman suspended over a table”. What’s more, a “light from underneath the table was illuminating it”. Rogo wrote how the scene Lori had sketched was “virtually identical” to the many descriptions of alien abductees and their accounts.

When she was asked what she was drawing, Lori replied that she was “not really sure”, elaborating that, after going over the events of the 1975 incident, she had begun thinking of any strange dreams she had experienced when she seemed to have a sudden “awareness…of being suspended”. This was not by a person or a machine, but “by a force”. She could see below her “a very long, flat table” with a “light underneath it”. She would go on to suggest that she believed the light shined through her body, allowing anyone watching the scene to see her skeleton.

For Rogo, who noted how Lori seemingly had little to no interest in UFO incidents (she didn’t believe her own encounters were UFO-related, for example), these descriptions that matched other alien abductees were another sign that something truly out of the ordinary might have happened to Lori. In fact, it appeared that she had very likely been abducted from her apartment during the summer of 1975, and was only now recalling snippets of that experience, an experience she believed was nothing more than a dream. It was at this point, that investigators suggested she undergo hypnotic regression.

A Flood Of Revelations From Hypnotic Regression

Several weeks later, Lori would be regressed back to the night in question in the summer of 1975. And with that regression came a flood of previously suppressed (or blocked) memories.

She would recall how she began hearing strange “frequency noises” all around her before several of the strange white beings appeared in the room with her. They were, she would recall, between three to four feet tall with overly large heads and an overall thin frame.

She would then state that she believed she was “supposed to go with them” – that they wanted to “show me something”. Still under hypnosis, Lori claimed she didn’t want to go with them. At this stage, the strange beings began to float around the room, as if giving a “demonstration of their power”. They also made objects in the room float of their own accord, seemingly using a light that emerged from their hands.

Then, it was Lori who found herself floating before a light “enveloped” her. The next thing she realized, she was outside the apartment after having passed through the solid walls of the building. She was seemingly moving toward a “dark, dome-shaped object” in one of the fields next to the apartment building.

These details of being “enveloped” in a strange, bright light and floating, even of be made to pass through solid walls, can be found in multiple other claims of alien abduction, right down to the order they appear to take place in.

Indeed, the more Lori would reveal, the more outrageous and seemingly credible (in terms of matching details with other cases) it appeared to be.

Strange Lights, Mirrors, And Records In Stone!

Lori would tell how she now found herself inside the domed craft after having been floated inside (yet another detail that is found in multiple other cases). Even more intriguingly, she claimed she was intentionally “floated” above a long table that seemed to be made of some kind of stone.

The next thing she realized she was in the middle of “being studied”. She revealed that she was “staring at myself” and was looking into what appeared to be a mirror. We might recall here Lori’s comments regarding her sketch that the light under the table was to shine through her body and make her skeleton visible.

Then, while still under hypnosis she went on to state:

They do so many things with the light. That’s their power. It’s all light and they have these different kinds of stone that act as different kinds of shields with the light and filters. It allows light to do a lot of things. (It) also takes imprints of the light. That creates certain records for them!

She would add that she “didn’t really understand it, but I do”. Whether that understanding came to her through the telepathic communication that took place between herself and the apparent extraterrestrial abductors is open to debate. However, during this telepathic communication, she understood that it was very much “planned” and even purposeful.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing claims, however, were those that her abductors wished to take her with them to a “mothership” that was somewhere in space to “train her” for a very specific purpose as she was a “good subject”. We will return to this in a little more detail shortly as it could potentially be important.

The claim of keeping records is an intriguing detail. It has been claimed by multiple UFO researchers, particularly those who concentrate on alien abduction accounts, that some kind of “tagging” or record keeping is taking place. This, for example, might explain repeat abductees and how they are found by their abductors. We will also return to this idea a little more shortly.

Further Details Recalled

Following these most recent revelations, Lori suddenly found herself back in her apartment, seemingly locked in the mental battle with her abductors. Then, she came out of hypnosis – seemingly of her own accord – and despite efforts to put her under again, the session was for all intents and purposes, over.

Lori was more than intrigued and confused about what she had revealed, even asking Rogo at one point as they prepared to leave “how much of this is real”?

Several weeks later, in June 1979, Lori would undergo hypnotic regression again – and this time, even more details came to light. For example, of the apparent alien beings, they appeared to be without clothing yet not naked. There are several accounts of alien abduction where abductees have described the skin of these entities as being more akin to some kind of suit or outer shell. Might this have been what Lori was attempting to describe here?

Perhaps one of the most revealing aspects of this second regression session is wrapped in a part of the abduction that revealed no new details.

It is perhaps interesting to note that many abductees do not recall the moments between being captured in the enveloping light and the examination that takes place on or above a long, flat table. One moment they are approaching the craft, the next they are waking up in the middle of a bizarre examination. This was the case with Lori, who despite the best of efforts of the investigators to relive this moment in “slow-motion” was simply outside the craft one moment, and then was inside the strange room and being floated above the table the next.

UFO researcher, Budd Hopkins would theorize that it appeared some kind of incapacitation of the abductee took place before these extraterrestrial examinations. Perhaps in order to prepare them for the procedures, which often involved the removing of clothes. Might this be the reason why Lori simply could not recall these moments? Was she intentionally incapacitated?

Or might it be the result of a technology that immediately transports the abductee from outside the craft to the examination room, perhaps a similar technology that allows people to pass through solid walls? Perhaps this might be the technology that she claimed “turned sound into light”, although she didn’t understand how it worked.

Again, this is another seemingly trivial detail that resonates nicely with the wealth of other alien abduction claims on record.

Records In An Extraterrestrial Databank

Lori would provide a wealth of other details, however. For example, she would describe the stone-like table below her in the following way:

The light that’s down below me…makes certain imprints on this stone. It’s really kind of a strange X-ray. They shine different kinds of light through this type of stone (table)…There’s a slot where they put these like slabs…They slide it through, then it’s in the stone that I’m lying on, and they shine the light up from where it comes out from the bottom of the floor…and the whole thing gets transparent and that makes kind of an imprint on the thing, and they take the slab out.

Her abductors would repeat this procedure several times during the examination. And, as Lori described, this does appear to be some kind of X-ray type record of Lori. One kept in an extraterrestrial databank in an unknown location.

One of the most intriguing details offered by Lori during this second regression session was how, despite the room being illuminated brightly, there was no apparent source of this lighting anywhere (no bulb or light strip, for example). The light just seemed to come from the walls themselves. This is a detail that is repeated, often without the importance of it being realized by the abductees themselves. It is, though, one of those seemingly mundane details that surface repeatedly in alien abduction accounts.

Lori recalled that following the examination, she began to walk toward a doorway, intent on leaving the craft. She even managed to reach forward and press a button by the door causing it to open. However, her abductors stopped her from stepping out of the room, and she immediately found herself enveloped in the strange light once more, and seemingly in a flash she was back inside her apartment.

The strange noises were all around her again. She would claim that she believed the beings were using these sounds in an attempt to mentally manipulate her. Ultimately, they would disappear after several moments, leaving Lori in her bedroom.

The Further Revealing Claims Of Jo Maine

For her part, Jo recalled even less than Lori. At least initially. However, as the second and third regressions sessions took place over the following weeks, what was initially an abduction of one person appeared to unfold into a double abduction.

She would eventually recall seeing a strange light in her room during which time she “merged” with it. While this was happening, she also recalled hearing a strange, constant wave-like sound. The next thing she realized she was in a dark room. Inside, she could see strange triangular-shaped objects that appeared to rise from the floor. It was here where she underwent an “intense conversation” with a presence or entity she couldn’t see. However, frustratingly for Rogo, Jo couldn’t recall any of the details of this apparent telepathic communication.

She would also recall being inside something akin to a tube with strange lights seeming to move around her. As she watched these lights, she noticed a permanent light below her (much like Lori). She would further recall that she “felt like being on an operating table and (of) being inspected”. She would go on to describe the lights that were moving around as being “scanner lights”. These comments once more reflect the recollections of Lori.

Also of importance, was the fact that Jo recalled the telephone call they had made to Emily. She claimed that she had dialed the number had told her friend that “something weird has happened”, before handing the phone to Lori. She recalled Lori telling Emily of a “short being in white”, and that “she could have gone (with them) but didn’t”, that she “didn’t want to go with them”.

Despite the several gaps in the incident, that something real – if only to them – happened to Lori Briggs and Jo Maine appeared highly likely.

Suggestions Of A Psychic Element To Alien Abductions?

It was considered by Rogo and Druffel that there was something decidedly different about the Briggs-Maine UFO case. In fact, it is very worth our time examining some of the initial conclusions of the incident.

Rogo would write how the case was not a “double abduction” in the sense that most would understand it, in that neither person played any part in the other’s encounter. In fact, Lori believed that Jo had remained asleep in the apartment.

They were also troubled with the lack of corroborating witnesses, if only to the presence of the UFO. Rogo would write how it was hard “to believe that a UFO could land in Panorama City (and just off a busy thoroughfare) without causing an enormous commotion”.

It was at this point in his report where Rogo considered whether the two women, as real as the experience was, might have undergone the encounter purely in their minds, psychically. He would mention the work and theories of paranormal researcher and author, John Keel, who he noted had claimed in his book UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse that “UFO abductions are not truly physical events, but are false memories directly implanted into the witness’s mind by an alien intelligence”. He also turns to another UFO researcher, Jacques Vallee, who had made similar claims that “UFOs have a psychic as well as a physical basis” to them.

We should also note that the above encounters were just one of many such incidents that had taken place in the Tujunga Canyon region that were being investigated by the pair at the time. Many other accounts can be read about in their book The Tujunga Canyon Contacts. We will return to this psychic aspect again shortly.

A Credibility In The Era Of The Report?

We have to remember that when Lori (and to a lesser extent, Jo) was divulging this information containing such details as waking up paralyzed or of sensing there was some strange presence in the room and even telepathic communication – details that match multiple other alien abduction accounts – in the late-1970s, such seemingly trivial pieces of information were not known (outside of limited UFO investigator and enthusiast circles, themselves much separated from each other in the pre-Internet world) to be important.

Researchers such as Budd Hopkins and later, John Mack, for example, as well as Rogo and Druffel, were only beginning to compile the data that such patterns would eventually be highlighted from. This perhaps, albeit with limited gravitas, gives such people as Lori Briggs a little more credibility than many might be willing to grant her and, in turn, the Tujunga Canyon and other alien encounters in general.

The video below features Ann Druffel, one of the prime investigators of the Tujunga Canyon Abductions speaking a little further.

Many Corroborating Details

There are many details in Lori’s account – as well as Emily and Jan’s – that are intriguing to UFO researchers, to say the least. And as outlandish and truly bizarre as her claims and revelations are, they make a certain amount of sense to those who are familiar with alien abduction events and scenarios.

If we remind ourselves of some of these once more, they almost resonate that much louder. For example, the sudden appearance or disappearance of alien beings in the room where the encounter unfolds.

A recent encounter that took place in the Laguna Hills in California during Christmas 2016 is worth noting when the witness claimed in their report to MUFON that a strange creature “materialized” straight out of the wall of his room. In 1957 in Birmingham, England, Cynthia Appleton also claims that several strange figures “materialized” in her room. Nick Redfern wrote of an incident at the Marconi facility in the book A Covert Agenda where a security guard witnessed a “non-human humanoid sifting through the pages of top-secret files” before it “de-materialized” right before his eyes. This last encounter perhaps also suggests that these extraterrestrials have an interest in learning about humans and of keeping records.

The enveloping light, usually of an intense white brightness is perhaps one of the most repeated. So much so that even those (now in the contemporary world of the twenty-first century) would imagine such a scenario if asked to describe a “typical” alien abduction, and indeed it is to be found in countless accounts of alien abduction.

Being made to float through the air is yet another detail that repeatedly comes up in other UFO and alien encounters. Perhaps one of the most well-known is that of Linda Cortile, investigated by veteran UFO researcher, Budd Hopkins. What is particularly intriguing about the Cortile case is that two people would eventually come forward claiming they had seen Cortile, as well as three strange creatures “floating through the air” from her apartment to a waiting UFO – just as Briggs claimed happened to her.

As well as the detail of floating through the air there is the further seemingly bizarre detail of passing through walls. Although it didn’t feature a person passing through the walls, an intriguing case investigated by MUFON from March 2012 in Miami, Florida, did feature strange orb-like objects that had appeared in the home of Mary Alvarez (a false name) before changing shape in front her and her husband’s eyes and then vanishing into their living room wall as if it wasn’t there.

In short, then, many of the details in the Tujunga Canyon encounters – perhaps especially the experiences of Lori Briggs – are corroborated with the details of many other UFO encounters from across the ages.

Connections To Out-Of-Body Experiences

Perhaps we should also consider the notion that the abductions may have been something more akin to an out-of-body experience, particularly so in the case of Lori. That she was brought out of her body and into another realm so that her abductors could interact with her. Might this explain why she was returned to her apartment in a flash?

We should remind ourselves that even Rogo was bothered by the fact that no passing motorists or even others who lived in the apartment buildings witnessed the supposedly bright, glowing UFO. This made Rogo question whether the incident, although real, might have played out in the minds of those involved in the Tujunga Canyon encounters.

Might this also be why there was a “persuasion” on the part of the alleged aliens for her to go with them? Might it be that she had to leave her physical body in order to do so?

Lori would claim, remember, that the aliens were urging her “go with them” and that she became involved in a mental battle with them. We might also recall that both Emily and Jan spoke of this similar “mental struggle” who also wished the women to “go with them”.

Might it be, then, that at least some alien abduction encounters do have a psychic aspect to them?

There are yet further details contained in the Tujunga Canyon encounters that also reach out to other alien abduction cases. And these, as we shall see shortly, perhaps paint a picture that is potentially of concern to humanity as a whole.

Stone Spaceships And Record Keeping

Although Lori recalled being made to float before her examination, many abductees appear to blackout before realizing, as Lori did, that they were being examined or studied in some way, often on or over a long, flat table and surrounded by a certain amount of bright intense light. However, it is one particular detail of the table itself that is of interest to us here, being described as resembling some kind of stone. This is certainly a detail that appears in other UFO encounters.

For example, an anonymous abductee to an apparent alien abduction event in January 2008 would recall how the walls and ceiling of the room he found himself in were “cave-like”. The Lynda Jones case is also of interest to us here. Lynda described the craft that she was abducted in as “Biblical” in her appearance, and while this is perhaps open to interpretation, Biblical evokes an image of stone.

Another intriguing case in relation to stone and UFOs is that of James Lumley, who after witnessing a rocket-like object zipping through the air in Missouri in 1865 which seemed to crash to the ground. Lumley finally tracked down the UFO which appeared to be a “stone object” that contained several compartments inside of it. What’s more, this apparent aerial vehicle contained hieroglyphics that were similar to those found in Ancient Egypt.

Perhaps of most intrigue, though, are the claims made by Lori Briggs of some kind of record-keeping. If there is, for example, as some UFO researchers believe, a systematic extraterrestrial program of studying humanity through repeat abductions taking place, then some kind of tagging or record-keeping would have to take place.

It is perhaps also interesting to note how crystal is able to store data. Might the “stone table” have been some kind of alien crystal that does indeed store such data relating to these abductions, examinations, and apparent experiments?

If these records suggest some kind of long-term, organized study of humans by these extraterrestrial entities, what might the reason for this be?

A “Good Subject” For A Systematic Program?

Some UFO researchers suggest that the reason behind alien abductions is to create alien-human hybrids and ultimately “take over the planet”. And while this sounds outlandish to many, even within the UFO community, many who make such claims are otherwise serious-minded researchers and investigators.

With regard to the Tujunga Canyon encounters, the notion of being a “good subject” and of being “trained” by these extraterrestrials is most certainly an outlandish claim. And one that many people will see as a red flag to a person who is essentially, making up an account and casting themselves as special or important. And there are perhaps many reasons why someone might do such a thing, ranging from a desire for monetary reward or fame to genuine mental problems that are displayed in such elaborate claims.

However, when we consider some of the findings of David Jacobs or Budd Hopkins, for example, these claims should make us take a little closer notice. Both researchers would ultimately come to the conclusion that the reason behind alien abduction appeared to be a systematic hybrid breeding program. And part of that program involved these repeat abductees being used to “train” and learn these alien-human hybrids to “be human”. Might this be what was meant when Lori was told she was a “good subject” by her apparent abductors? Was she perhaps involved, against her knowledge and her conscious will, in some kind of alien-human hybridization program?

With this last point in mind, we might ask why Jo was abducted that evening? We can assume that Lori had suffered at least one other abduction encounter, and perhaps more dating back to early childhood. Indeed, many researchers believe that these abductions take place across generations. Might Jo have been part of that program along with Lori? Or was her abduction – if we accept it as definitely real for a moment – be a simple random and opportunistic alien act? And how do the others involved in the Tujunga Canyon encounters fit into this speculative program?

As we can see, the Tujunga Canyon encounters are certainly interesting and potentially important to the UFO and alien question. However, there is the possibility, as many would suggest, that the incidents are at best, confused memories and repressed feelings, and at worst, pure fabrication.

Sufficient Room For Skepticism

If we play Devil’s Advocate for a moment, might it be possible that these claims were fabricated by Sara Shaw, Jan Whitley, Emily Cronin, and Lori Briggs? Of course, that is most definitely possible. What is there to stop anyone making such brash claims? The answer, at least on the surface, is absolutely nothing.

And there is also the possibility that the incident didn’t happen at all, even though it was very real to the women involved. Perhaps, for reasons unknown to us, the women subconsciously invented the incidents as a reaction to their personal circumstances.

That is certainly the conclusions of the author, David Halperin, who states that it was clear that “the women’s abduction experiences were embedded in their earthly lives”, noting that many of those who were involved were, in fact, lovers (something that was confirmed in reissues of Rogo and Druffel’s book). He notes, for example, that even Druffel herself writes that “Sara (Shaw) was troubled at the time with problems of finding herself”, something that Rogo also speculated on during his summing up of the case.

And, of course, it certainly isn’t out of the question that those involved did know more about UFOs and alien abductions than she would let on. For example, the Betty and Barney Hill case was (relatively) well-known at that point. And the idea of alien abduction certainly existed during the 1970s. As was the television movie, The UFO Incident (based on the Betty and Barney Hill abductions), which was widely shown on national television in late-1975. With that in mind, we have to accept that there was indeed a possibility that the women involved in the Tujunga Canyon encounters had at least some prior knowledge of UFO abductions.

However, despite the obvious room for skepticism in the encounters, we have to ask, why do so many seemingly trivial (if bizarre) claims match those that would surface in the years that followed the revelations. There are also further, possible connections.

Perception Of A Malevolent Extraterrestrial Race?

Aside from the varied witnesses and the length of the timeline of events, the Tujunga Canyon Abductions seem to suggest enticing entities that are seeking to trick and even take over possession of a person’s thoughts and actions.

Some UFO researchers, particularly but not exclusively, those of a “religious” outlook or background suggest that aliens are not extraterrestrial but demonic forces. Perhaps entities that are arriving here, not from another planet, but from another realm or dimension.

However, is it possible that elements of all of those things are at work here? The idea that aliens are “demons” is perhaps (and likely) another way that we perceive them. Perhaps this perception is different for each person? Similarly, “Hell” could actually be a planet, one perhaps where fire does flow instead of water, and, for reasons unknown to us, stories of that planet have filtered down the ages, been “rationalized” and turned into a domain where evil spirits reside. The book, ‘Round Trip To Hell In A Flying Saucer” by Tim Beckley, offers just such an account.

The account tells of “spacemen” who appear at of nowhere and “practice all types of experiments” on an unfortunate auto-mechanic. They eventually take him on board a spacecraft and arrive at a “bleak red planet with a lake of fire”. It is certainly an interesting theory and one that should really attempt to make sense of the religious connections to ufology in the same way the Ancient Astronaut Theory has. In short, demons are not necessarily the “work of the devil”. Rather our perception of a malevolent extraterrestrial race that, in turn, uses that perception against us.

Energy-Based Entities?

Many researchers have alluded to this notion, and not just recently. Respected UFO researcher, Jacques Vallee would state in his book ‘Passport to Magonia” that “UFOs are real but not physical”. He would further state that they were “messengers of deception”. And that the UFOs witnessed in modern times, and those behind them, “belong to the same class of manifestation as the occult entities that were described in centuries past!”

In the introduction of a 1969 publication titled ‘UFOs and Related Subjects” by the US Printing Office for the US Air Force and the Library of Congress, Lynn Catoe states there is a close link between the UFO phenomenon and “mysticism and the metaphysical”. She would also state that “mental telepathy, automatic writing (channeling), and invisible entities” appear regularly within such accounts. Further still, she would claim many UFO reports “are strikingly similar to demonic possession and psychic phenomenon…long known to theologians and parapsychologists!”

One of the main researchers and investigators on the Tujunga Canyon incidents was Ann Druffel, a highly respected UFO researcher. She would state it to be her firm belief that what we know as aliens are “unwholesome entities who have deceived and interacted with humans since the dawn of history!” She would go on to say that every culture across the planet, whether major or small, have legends and myths of “interfering, shape-shifting, other-worldly entities” that reside in a “hidden world which somehow exists in or alongside our own Earth plane!”

Controversial author, David Icke, describes the “reptilian entities” in much the same way. As does researcher and author, John Keel, who refers to them as “ultra-terrestrials”.

While these theories might not be relevant to all alien races, it might perhaps be a valuable perspective. If only of the “Grays” that most associate with extraterrestrials.

The Mind-Power of Non-Human Entities

Another theory, and again one found in numerous works in many different ways is the “gray alien”, as well as multiple other “aliens”, are actually manifestations of energy. Some researchers would include ourselves, animals, and perhaps everything we can see and touch at any one time in this. That all we are is energy, vibrating at a certain frequency. All the while existing around other energies that vibrate at frequencies invisible to us. Remember, Jan would claim that the entities were invisible. Some believe there is a connection to these terrestrial entities and claims of the Hollow Earth. This would perhaps also explain perceptions of Hell and demons.

Another respected author and researcher, Nick Redfern, in his book ‘Final Events And The Secret Government Group on UFOs and the Afterlife’ would make some similar, and chilling claims along such lines. He would state this secretive group was aware that “gray aliens” were “non-human entities”. And furthermore, they were looking to use their “mind-power” as a “mind-weapon”. As a side-note, does this lend credibility to the apparent deal made with “the Grays” in 1954 by President Eisenhower? What is perhaps also interesting are claims of meetings with “several different races”, all of whom had apparently different agendas.

According to Redfern’s work, “the more the Pentagon got into it” they quickly realized the deceptive nature of the Grays. Redfern would offer that the belief is that “these entities (Grays) are here to harvest and feed upon the energy of our soul at death”. Quite simply, they were “energy based and our energy feeds and fuels them!”

Again, this is a claim numerous researchers make. Many paranormal investigators also state that “manifestations feed from human emotion and energy!”

Alistair Crowley’s “Contact” With Lam

The point made about feeding on the human “soul at death” is another interesting, if bleak one. Going back to David Icke and his claims of reptilians, he stresses that these reptilians are “energy frequencies”. They manifest in reptilian form and then in turn, in human form, incidentally, often in positions of power. Who we collectively refer to as, the elite.

Icke also writes extensively across his books about “occult or satanic” ritual. These often involve human sacrifice so that the elite (reptilians) can feed upon the release of energy upon death. While many shun Icke’s claims, it is an interesting claim when placed alongside those of Redfern’s. Icke also contends this is the reasons for vast amounts of missing people, particularly children, in the North American continent, and to a lesser degree throughout Europe.

Perhaps it is also worth looking at the famous occultist, Alistair Crowley, and in particular, his apparent communication with an “entity from another realm”, Lam. The communications took place between January and March 1918 in furnished rooms of the Central Park West in New York.

These sessions, referred to as The Amalantrah Working, would use incantations and esoteric knowledge (of which Crowley was very adept). Ultimately, he would open a portal, and the entity known as Lam communicated directly with him.

The sketch that Crowley would produce of his contact from another dimension looks remarkably similar to what we would describe as a “gray alien” today. And remember, this was at a time when such an image was simply not in the collective human consciousness.

Crowley wouldn’t elaborate to any great degree as to what Lam would tell him. He had, however, already produced several books the decade previously, supposedly through “automatic writing” of an invisible entity.

Did An Occult Ritual Open A Portal To Another Dimension?

While Alistair Crowley is largely considered a skilled and extremely efficient occultist, some of his followers weren’t. So much so, that when two such followers, Jack Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard, conducted their own occult rituals in an attempt to open portals to interdimensional entities, he was said to be horrified, writing at the time that he gets “fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts!”

In the early days of January 1946, the two men performed a similar ritual to those performed by Crowley in his New York hotel when making contact with Lam. Apparently, they succeeded, at least according to their writings. Perhaps it is interesting to note that Parsons would go on to start the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Hubbard, meanwhile, would begin the Scientology movement. Were these two successes thanks to assistance from entities from another world or dimension?

According to some, however, the two amateur occultists were not as successful when it came to closing the portal. Although it is pure speculation, some researchers assert that this opening of space-time allowed the surge of UFO sightings. These would begin, incidentally, eighteen months later with the Roswell crash in New Mexico. As would, more interestingly, the sightings of the entities that we refer to as “gray aliens”. They further point to the closeness of lines of latitude. The crash site sits on the 33^rd line, while the location of the ritual in Pasadena, resides on the 34^th.

It is an interesting theory, to say the very least.

The video below looks at the claims of Crowley, as well as Parsons and Hubbard. Did they open a portal that is, in part, responsible for the surge of UFO sightings and alien abductions?

The “Paranormal Fallout” Of Those Who Encounter UFOs

Perhaps what makes the Tujunga abduction contact encounters so important is that they offer a glimpse into the fuller picture of the alien abduction phenomena, and quite possibly our own collective reality. It also suggests definite connections to other paranormal anomalies that, in turn, suggest seemingly unconnected events very much are.

For example, writing in the book Cinema of the Psychic Realm: A Critical Survey, Paul Meehan notes that the previously mentioned Scott Rogo (while writing of the Tujunga Canyon incidents) writes of a “paranormal fallout” with people who have had encounters with UFOs or their occupants, even going as far as to say that many such people “become poltergeist victims”. What’s more, many other UFO researchers have arrived at the same conclusion.

Or might it be a hint that these incidents, as real as they are to those who experience them, are nothing more than the tricks of their own minds creating something so real that even people around them can’t tell the difference?

Might there be more credibility in such claims as the Psychic Internet Theory, for example, than many people would think? As we can see, many of the claims in the Tujunga Canyon encounters do sit nicely in the idea that human emotions and thoughts could indeed create very real encounters. Incidentally, if this was the case, rather than merely explaining such encounters as extraterrestrials and UFOs as nothing more than an intense hallucination or illusion, it perhaps highlights how little we know and understand of just how the brain works and what its absolute capabilities might actually be.

Quite possibly, if we subscribe to the idea that these encounters are “all in a person’s mind”, then studying such cases might very well lead us to a better understanding of the collective brains of humanity, and potentially, what we are able to do with it.

The short video below examines such ideas in more detail.