You hear about it all the time; it's becoming a part of the human experience in the 21st century. It's not a fashion, a new video game, a fast food, or a high tech cell phone. This new fad is people claiming contact with an alien intelligence.

Although it may seem that I am making light of this experience, this is not the case. Paranormal experiences, especially those that involve psychic contact or physical abduction by an alleged unknown alien race, are on the rise.

One of the most common types of contact is people who claim to be in psychic communication with a wiser, older "alien" race. These people have small to moderate gatherings and channel spiritual teachings from what they say is some alien brotherhood on the other side or in another galaxy. Over the years I have attended many of these channeling sessions, many more than I care to remember. In most cases the individual channels information that originates from "our space brothers."

During one of these "space brothers" sessions with a middle aged man who channeled a being called Soltar, I apparently got out of line and asked, "Are there no space sisters?" I was not ready to accept that the universe was male-dominated. Although the channel did not answer my question, it did stir laughter in the audience; many of the female attendees clapped their hands or yelled out "right on." As a result, I was asked to leave and was never invited back. However, what was nice of them is they returned my admission fee; that was fine with me, since I put the $150 fee to better use: Starbucks and gas in my car for the week.

The number of men and women who claim to channel "from a higher source" is growing, and hundreds (if not thousands) can be found in just the United States and Canada alone. In the past fifteen years, I have investigated many of these claims and attended dozens of channeling sessions. In over ninety-seven percent of all of these cases I was convinced that the person was in contact with nothing more than their own imagination. And the other three percent? Although they only represent a small fraction of the total number of channels I have investigated, they did convince me that something very unusual was going on.

In these rare cases the channels were able to produce technical diagrams, music, symbols, and an unknown language. There were no long-winded messages about the space brothers or spiritual teachings. These people did not have an audience, nor did they charge an admission fee to hear them channel. For the most part, they did not understand what was happening to them and wanted no publicity or attention at all. Quite a few just wanted things to return to normal so that they could go on with their lives in a normal way.

In one case, a night watchman who had no training as an engineer or artist produced thirty-two color diagrams of technical devices that the scientists of today are just beginning to understand. The diagrams are in full color and look like they were done by a master draftsman. They have to be seen to be believed. This individual claimed that a higher order of ascended beings contacted him through telepathy and instructed him to produce the diagrams, saying that one day they would benefit the human race.

In another case the individual was able to channel an unknown language that is much more than gibberish. An analysis of the script by a number of linguistic experts have proven that it is a real language similar to Sumerian, but with over 250 characters. Over the past twenty-five years I have been working on these symbols and believe I have actually been able to translate about thirty percent of the material.

So what about alien abductions? A well-known psychologist who has been an associate of mine over the years told me that he believes the alien abduction phenomenon is a psychosis of modern times. This person, who specializes in providing therapy for traumatic experiences, said,

"It is my opinion from studying the many cases you have given me that the alien abduction thing is nothing more than people trying to escape the reality of a troubled life. In many cases they use the alien abduction story so that they will not be accountable for responsibilities in everyday life."

Although I agree that some of his conclusions are true and right on target, they do not apply to all cases. Yes, I have investigated quite a number of cases in which the claim of an alien abduction was imaginary. However, there are also a number of cases where it is my opinion the person related what they considered to be a real experience.

In one case a number of campers observed a strange object descend from the sky and hover above a stand of trees not far from their camp site around two a.m. Armed with only flashlights and a binocular, they went to investigate, sure in their mind that it was some type of military helicopter. However, what puzzled them was that the object had so many bright color lights and made no noise.

As they approached the location where the UFO was located they noticed a number of small beings under the object illuminated by a beam of white light. As they watched with binoculars from what they considered to be a safe distance, they got a good look at the little men and were shocked to see that they were not human. Then, without warning, they were hit by a beam of light that knocked all three men to the ground and left them in a state of partial paralysis.

The next thing they were aware of was about a dozen or so of the creatures were all around them, and they were being carried them to the direction of what they now knew was some type of ship.

The oldest member of the three had the greatest recollection; he said,

"The creatures were very small; I would say less than four feet in height. They were very slim with gray skin, large heads, and black, round eyes. I'm not sure, but to me some seemed to have slanted eyes."

As they approach the beam of light under the ship they were "transported" into an opening on the bottom. When this took place he heard a whooshing sound. He then found himself on a black table in an oval room. He noticed that his two other friends were alongside him on separate tables, though they seemed unconscious. He also saw at least ten other tables in the room and people, both men and women, laying on them apparently also unable to move. Some were awake while others seemed sleeping. He tried to get up, but could not move; it was as if some type of powerful magnetic force was holding him down.

The room was faintly lit by a grayish-white, light and it was difficult to see the walls or if there was a doorway. Out of the darkness an uncertain number of the beings emerged. Some went to the other tables and appeared to be scanning the bodies of the people on them with some type of device.

One of the "aliens" then walked toward him; he started to panic. The "alien" positioned itself close to the left side of his table and spoke to him in English, saying,

"Do not be frightened; we will not harm you or the others. We are sorry that you did not sleep, but another race, other than ours, placed a device in you that prevented this. When we release you, you will remember this time, but your friends and the others will not."

The "alien" then told him that it would be too dangerous to remove the "device" in his head; they would not try to since doing so might cause his death.

He described this creature as being tall, almost six feet, and very slim, with a large oval head and grayish-white skin. He was wearing a skin-tight black uniform and had very long fingers. It was quite different in appearance than the smaller "aliens" that had carried them to the beam of light.

The tall alien then waved a device over his head; when he opened his eyes it was daylight and they were all back at the campsite. His comrades had no recollection of the abduction experience. The last thing they remembered was seeing the small creatures under the object.

This case was followed up by my psychological consultant. After interviewing the three men in detail, the conclusion of the doctor was that there was indeed the sighting of an object that they could not identify. He felt that perhaps it was a helicopter or blimp, since before the sighting all three men were engaged in stories of alien creatures and UFO sightings that had been seen in the past at the location they were in. It was the opinion of the psychologist that the "abduction by aliens" was a dream or imaginary account that was triggered by the sighting and the UFO stories being told around the campfire. The psychologist also thought that the alien abduction experience was then transferred by the older one to the two younger men, who in his opinion were "young and impressionable."

It was difficult for me to believe that the entire experience was nothing more than a dream resulting from seeing strange lights in the sky. The details that the main witness was able to give me in an interview were much too precise. Despite a number of sessions he never wavered from the facts in his story and never embellished it. Also, although the other two men do not remember being taken aboard the ship by the "aliens," they do remember watching a number of "little men working" in the beam of light that was projected downward from a very large object, which hovered above the trees without a sound.

Although this case took place several years ago, today all three witnesses do not want to discuss the incident that took place and shy away from any type of publicity or media presentations of the UFO phenomena. This case remains unsolved in my files. It is one of the many cases in which I believe that people who are very credible had an incredible experience that took them to the edge of what we consider reality.

The contact experience is not limited to the UFO or channeling phenomena. In the past ten years an increasing number of people claim to have been visited by dark humanoid figures that enter their bedroom in the middle of night. The dark phantoms are seen entering the room and sometimes, when the witness wakes up, observed standing at the foot of the bed as if observing. Paranormal investigators have called these nighttime visitations "shadow people." I believe they are entities from a nearby dimension that are observing selected human beings, the purpose being unknown.

It is clear that a percentage of these non-human contacts are not extraterrestrial, but ultraterrestrial in origin. If we were dealing with only a handful of claims, then we could dismiss them as the result of an overactive imagination. But, the case numbers are increasing at an alarming rate as more and more people are claiming some type of contact with a non-human intelligence that is not a part of our reality.

It has been my experience that only about two to five percent of all people having this type of paranormal experience ever report it. Most are afraid that others might think them crazy. Some feel that the visiting or abducting entity does not want others to know about the encounter. The witness feels strongly that if they violate this code of silence the being might come back to harm them. The disturbing thing about this is I do have cases in my files where the entity did return after the encounter was reported and physically attacked the witness; perhaps these fears are well justified.

For the first time in over twenty years, my case files on the contact experience is being released to the public. My book, Ultraterrestrial Contact: A Paranormal Investigator's Exploration Into The Hidden Abduction Epidemic, documents this experience.