A group of Russian researchers at Phase Research Center released a report probing the unusual encounters some people have claimed to experience involving purported abductions by foreign or nonnative biological organisms.
The report was published in the International Journal of Dream Research.
In the paper, the Moscow-based research team suggests that purported cases of abductions may in fact be lucid dreams, or a form of sleep phenomenon.
As part of the study, 152 adult participants who can be described as lucid dreamers were instructed to dream about the unusual encounters.
Researchers were able to establish that the majority of the participants, or 114 of them, had experienced such unusual encounters during their phases of sleep.
“The volunteers made these attempts at home, and their reports were verified and analyzed by the researchers,” Michael Raduga, and his colleagues, stated in their findings.
“The results indicate that 61% of participants encountered alien-like creatures, 28% encountered UFOs, and 24% experienced fear,” the co-authors also stated in the report.
“This study can be used to examine—and even emulate—other paranormal, religious, or mystical encounters, thus helping us to understand our culture and the human brain better.”
