My research project has been quite the roller coaster ride to this point. It started off great, with the toughest part being my having to choose between three topics—all of which interested me. I choose the subject of UFO’s and was off to the races. The research paper seemed to almost be writing itself, as the subject is one that peaks such an interest within me. But this became a problem as I became overloaded with the vast amount of material the subject contains. I have since narrowed my focus to the point that I am ready to really put it all together.

I need to find a way to work in the vast amount of content that I have collected pertaining to the phenomenon of alien abduction experiences. I have siphoned through about 10 different psychological studies on the victims of alien abduction. My paper is by no means a finished product, it is definitely a work in progress—hopefully a work of art. I wish that I was to the point of putting a finishing coat on it, but I am more at the point of scrapping off the old paint so the primer will stick.

I will find an angle that links; UFO’s, governmental knowledge of them, and alien abduction experiences. I believe I will accomplish this by pointing out various things about alien abduction experiences which lead one to the conclusion that there is more to the phenomenon than just a bunch of crazies making stuff up. I believe the phenomenon is actually a perfect mix of psychological disorders that form the perfect storm that leaves it victims with tangible experiences. I believe this will soften my audience and put them into the right mindset, which will allow my theory that UFO’s are also more than just a bunch of crazies making stuff up, to be given credence.

I have suddenly found myself in crisis mode when it comes to my research paper topic. I find myself in this predicament because I have three related topics—what are UFO’s, what is the government’s knowledge of the phenomenon, and alien abduction experiences—which I am trying to marry. To accomplish this I believe I will pose the question, what are UFO’s, and then try to answer it and support my answer with psychological studies on alien abduction experiences, and also present evidence towards possible government involvement in the UFO phenomenon.

My intended audience—besides Mrs. Stewart and my fellow ENG W-233 classmates—is the many skeptics of anything UFO related. We have progressed to a point in our culture where anything that has the slightest whiff of the supernatural is automatically dismissed without a second thought. For the most part this rational westernized mind set has been very productive for our civilization, but it can also prove to be a detriment when it comes to explaining things yet to be discovered. In the case of alien abduction experiences this detriment is on full display, as millions of people around the world are suffering from various combinations of psychological disorders that produce memories of being abducted and violated sexually by alien beings. These victims are for the most part given little or no sympathy, let alone help. In the case of UFO’s the same scenario likely exists, where the mere mention of the anagram is enough to evoke a chuckle, but this reaction is also a likely detriment to discovery, as the UFO phenomenon likely exists as something tangible, yet to be explained. This paper is proving to be quite challenging in terms of how to go about organizing the content, but in the end I believe it will be worth it, as this is a topic that I find to be fascinating.

My research this week consisted mainly of combing through the psychologically based articles that I have already found, including; Distinguishing Memory From Fantasy, Not Just Another False Memory: Further Thoughts on the UFO Abduction Phenomenon, Alien abduction experiences: Some clues from neuropsychology and neuropsychiatry, Memory Distortion in People Reporting Abduction by Aliens, UFO Abductees and Contactees: Psychopathology or Fantasy Proneness, and last but not least Ghosts, UFOs, and Magic: Positive Affect and the Experiential System. These articles had my complete attention, and as is usually the case when reading about anything related to UFOs, they left me wondering how it was possible that the problem they described is not public discourse. This problem, what ever it actually may be, of alien abduction experiences will sooner or later be exposed on an international level.

While I should theoretically have already mastered the majority of the concepts that have been presented this semester in W 233, I must admit that I have not. I am disappointed in myself because I have already completed W131, and it seems as if we went over most of the concepts such as; rhetoric, tone audience, ect. None the less I still find myself lost part of the time, and have to review terms that I thought I already knew. Much the same transpired this week, as I re-learned the difference between primary and secondary research. The best sense I could make out of it, is that primary research is sort of like first hand knowledge, whereas secondary research is sort of like second hand knowledge.

Is there anybody out there that is actually reading these blog posts? I am really beginning to feel as though I am talking to myself here. Is this thing on? Does anyone know if we have to make a research blog post over spring break? Look at me now, I am actually asking questions to, well I guess, to myself. But I fear not, because as we all know, it is when you start answering yourself that you know you are in trouble.

My background in Psychology—it being my major—began to show through this week during the research portion of my paper. I say this because while researching on my chosen topic of UFOs I began to look at it from more of a psychological view point. I believe that there are many answers to the question of what are UFOs, but I am just as certain that some of these answers can be provided to us from the field of psychology. To begin with I planned on not having a huge amount of material in my paper concerning psychology, but I decided that would not be true to my desire to write the best possible paper, nor would it be true to my actual beliefs. I suppose the only reason I wanted to leave it out, was because for many, it will take away credibility from the possible other answers to the question. I fear that readers will read possible solutions that seem rational, and stop there thinking process there. Although I believe most of the proposed rational solutions to UFOs are likely, I also believe that there is still a mystery left after applying these solutions.

I began by searching Academic Search Premier, PsycARTICLES, and the Research Starters databases for; UFO or abduction or alien, articles that were peer reviewed, and received 7160 results. At this point I narrowed my search to only include articles from the PsycARTICLES database, and struck gold in the form of Ghosts, UFOs, and Magic: Positive Affect and the Experiential System, which will undoubtedly be a valuable resource in my paper.

I also spent time this week trying to educate myself on what it takes for a source to be considered scholarly. I found a link for a nice little chart on the W233 research help page, which helped a little, when it comes to scholarly journals, but still left me scratching my head when it comes to books.

Having just returned home from my honeymoon in Florida and then Tennessee, I must admit that UFOs have not exactly been in the front of my mind. The honeymoon was my; first time traveling south of the Indiana border, first time that I ever saw the ocean (stayed on it actually), first time that I ever stayed in a log cabin on a mountain (Smokies), and of course it was my first honeymoon period. Good times!!!

To this point the research portion of my paper has gone rather roughly, maybe not, but kind of. My problem is not; that enough information on the topic of UFOs exists, or that I am having problems finding information on my narrowed topic of UFOs and Governmental Involvement, rather my main problem seems to be finding a criteria for deciding weather or not a source is scholarly. I must claim almost complete ignorance on the subject, except for the obvious ones, such as a college professor. In my annotated bibliography I included books by; Nick Pope a former head in the Ministry of Defense of England, Philip Corso a former Chief Army Intelligence Officer, and Stanton Friedman a former physicist that worked for the United States Government. I suppose my main question is, do these credentials qualify these individual’s work as scholarly? I am willing to concede that upon the mere mention of UFOs, the average person has visions of charlatans, or just burst into laughter, but I would argue that these are highly credible (scholarly?) individuals, making seemingly outrageous claims, that deserve research. As I mentioned previously, I have narrowed my topic from, what are UFOs, to UFOs and governmental involvement. Also I mentioned previously, there is an abundance of information available on this narrowed topic, I just hope it is considered scholarly.

I openly welcome, and would love to receive suggestions from my classmates on any aspect of my paper, from the direction, all the way to the sources.