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References acknowledged might have grown in the alleged abductee. . . . Pritchard conceded: don’t have I don’t have anything conclusive. What I have is just what you usually get in this business: it will provide more beliefs for the believers and will conclusive. be instantly skeptified by the skeptics, and it’s not very good evidence if it won’t move the lines at all. The point is to convince the jury... (Bryan 1995, en cA pp. 50-51) Of course, it is not skeptics but implant advocates who have the burden of proof a burden they have emphatically failed to meet. Indeed, the implant concept—like the larger alien abduction phenomenon itself—lacks proof that it has an objective reality. Instead, the evidence indicates it is simply part of an evolving UFO mytholo- gy. Its theme of entities exerting influence over humans is one seen in many variants, ranging from ancient mythical lore to modern science fiction and over humans is one lore science and to persisting in some form in popular culture. There have always been individu- als—fantasizers as well as_ paranoid in form some als—fantasizers as well as_ paranoid schizophrenics who have beard voices that directed or controlled them, voices that are expressions of hopes and fears. Therefore it seems safe to predict that, as the millennium draws near, there will be further claims of “hard evidence” of as as expect that misperceptions and exaggera- tions of natural phenomena, as well as hoaxes, will abound. Iam grateful to Barry Karr and Tim Binga for research assistance, Ranjit Sandhu for manuscript preparation, and Ben Radford for reading the manuscript and making helpful suggestions. 53 Baker, Robert A., and Joe Nickell 1992. Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics, and Other Mysteries. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 227. Bryan, C. D. B. 1995. Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind. New York: Knopf, 50- 51. Clark, Jerome. 1992. “Abduction Artifact,” Fate April, 19-22. Fowler, Raymond E. 1979. The Andreasson Affair. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice- Hall. Jacobs, David. 1992. Secret Life: Firsthand Documented Accounts of UFO Abduc- tions. New York: Simon & Schuster. Klass, Philip J. 1974. UFOs Explained, New York: Vintage Books, 299. . 1989. UFO Abductions: A Danger- ous Game. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. Linderman, Debra L. 1998. “Surgeon Tells First Results of Implant Analysis.” Excerpted from CNI News vol. 15.8 (February 26, 1996). Mack, John E. 1994. Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens. New York: Ballantine. Nickell, Joe. 1995. Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons, and Other Alien Beings. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, nada to 211. Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. 1997. The Star Trek Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books, 141, 303. Priscu, Virgil. 1998. “Rebuttal to Derrell Sims the Implant Guy!’ Internet posting to the UFO Folklore Center. Rachleff, Owen S. 1971 The Occult Conceit. Chicago: Cowles Book Co., 108. Sachs, Margaret. 1980. The UFO Encyclope- dia. New York: Perigee Books. Strieber, Whitley. 1985. Communion: A True Story. New York: William Internet True Story.” Morrow. 1998. Confirmation: The Hard Evidence of Aliens Among Us. New York: St. Martin’s press. The Hard als—fantasizers extraterrestrial visitation. We may also Lat 7 1 Acknowledgments