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1989 as a result of a letter she had written to him. His initial meetings with her centered on UFO abduction experiences that she recalled from her youth. However, on November 30, 1989, Linda Napolitano phoned Budd Hopkins and told him the story of her abduc- tion, only hours before, at 3:30 A.M. In subsequent months, Hopkins claimed he received additional eyewitness accounts of the Linda Napolitano abduction. Among those accounts was a letter from a woman who was on the Brooklyn Bridge that morning at 3:30. The woman reported that while driving along the Brooklyn Bridge, her car, along with other cars on the same bridge, lost power. She looked out her window and across the bridge, saw the reddish oval object and a woman in a white nightgown being escorted by three humanoid entities into the bottom of the UFO. She reported that others on the Brooklyn Bridge that night saw the event as well. There are many complex and convoluted details to this alleged abduction which Hopkins reported in his 1996 book, Witnessed. In addition, Hopkins claimed he has held back a number of details that he believes will help to corroborate the story if additional witnesses come forward. If further corroboration of the Linda Napolitano abduction is forthcoming in the months and years to come, it will undoubtedly prove to be the most significant abduction case in history. However, in the months and years since Hopkins first made public the story of the Linda Napolitano, the initial excitement regarding this case has been tempered by the discovery of a number of disturbing inconsistencies and intrigues. For example, shortly after the story of Linda Napolitano became public, researchers from the Mutual UFO Network revealed that there are more than a dozen striking similarities between Cortile's story and a book called Nighteyes by Garfield Reeves-Stevens, first published in April 1989, only a few months before Linda Napolitano told her story to Budd Hopkins.’ ** Even those within the ranks of Ufology have discovered disturbing evidence that the entire event may have been an elaborate hoax. Others believe that the event may have been part of a massive disinformation campaign, perpetrated with top-secret holographic technology, but for what purpose? The notion of alien abductions is obviously a highly charged and controversial topic. Verification of such encounters would be incredibly challenging to prevailing scientific, religious, and historical paradigms. It is likely that the proponents and skeptics regarding the reality of these encounters will continue to be debated for years to come. Nevertheless, the experts in the field of abduction research have put forth a number of theories regarding the nature and purpose abduction, as well as the agenda behind this 40- year wave of alleged contact with human kind. Budd Hopkins, author of Intruders, Missing Time, and Witnessed, sums up the nature of abductions with the following question: "And what is the ultimate purpose of these abductions, these examinations and implants, these genetic attempts to produce hybrids, which have inevitable created emotional havoc among many innocent people? Do the UFO occupants want to lessen the distance between our race and theirs in order to land, eventually, and join us on this planet? And if so, would this be an operation conducted in the open, or in a more sinister, covert manner? 71 THE PURPOSE OF ALIEN ABDUCTIONS