The Folklore of UFO Support Groups
INTRODUCTION
Since the late 1900’s, encounters, experiences, abductions, and sightings of UFO’s (Unidentified Flying Objects) and extraterrestrials have increased exponentially within America. Reports of these encounters, sometimes accompanied by photographs or video, sparked both interest and debate among both public and private entities.
Gatherings among like-minded experiencers has instigated the creation of UFO folklore, which is typically reproduced through verbal and written texts. According to Sims and Stephens, folklore "helps us learn who we are and how to derive meaning from the world around us", as such the reproduction of UFO folklore among UFO experiencers allows them to seek ways of explaining, understanding, and coping with their encounters with UFOs and extraterrestrials (2011:2). UFO experiencers in America, according to a survey conducted by Christopher Bader, are mostly white, working class individuals from a large variety of backgrounds and professions (2003:673-675).
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Pictured to the right is an example of written folklore located on a plaque in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, commemorating the UFO experience of Betty and Barney Hill (Blumenthal 2013).
UFO experiencers, in lieu of their abductions, sightings, or beliefs, sought ways to speak safely about their encounters, in turn many UFO enthusiasts have supported the creation of UFO support groups and contact networks, as well as contributed towards both amateur and scientific research relating to UFOs and otherworldly intelligent life and have spoken out through media (such as news coverage, books, films, documentaries etc.) (Eghigian 2017:612-613).
UFO folk groups, in turn, have created their own variety of folklore and attributed folk groups (Dewan 2006). These folk groups offer a space where identifying members can safely discuss their experiences and folklore while avoiding the social stigma surrounding UFO’s from both public and private people or institutions.
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*MUFON support group meeting in Ilinois*
"A survey of UFO sighters conducted in 1968 under the auspices of the University of Colorado revealed that 87% of those surveyed reported their experience to no one other than family or friends" (Eghigian 2015:616).
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MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, is an organization that has supported the creation of UFO Witness and Abductee support groups (mufon.com). These support groups allow for mutual discussion of UFO experiences, mythology, research, and recent news (mufon.com). However, technological improvement in recent years has allowed support groups to expand in the form of online forums, group chats, blogs, and websites.
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Other varying types of support groups can be found all across the United States, the UFO Contact Center International for example has over 30 locations nationally (Bader 2003:671). Private or online support groups are also prevalent (Blumenthal 2013).
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In reference to UFO narratives regarding abduction, David Clarke, a UFO researcher states that “there are many people who believe these things happen, but I think that they’ve retreated from public view and they talk amongst themselves” (McRobbie 2016).
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Christopher Bader states that "UFO abductee support groups attempt to help people recover re-pressed memories of victimization at the hands of extraterrestrial" (2003:671). These support groups also allow UFO experiencers to feel that they have a safe place to share their experiences, many who have been abducted feel that they may be put in danger if they speak openly about their experiences, the threat of ridicule from the public and exposing themselves to both UFO's and government's is only one area of stigmatization that members of this folk group face.
In 2012, a survey conducted by National Geographic reported that "38% of Americans believe that UFO's exist, while 77% believe there are signs that aliens have visited our planet" (Eghigian 2017:612-613).
However, despite these statistics, UFO narratives are still socially stigmatized and devalued by the public and academic/scientific research regarding UFOs and extraterrestrials has been dismissed and ignored.
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