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But the scientific approach to the study of the UFO phenomenon as a whole has proven less than successful. In spite of half a century of many intelligent people researching the UFO and alien presence with scientific methods, reliable answers to the primary questions have not been found. Investigations of sightings reports, landing traces, photos and video tapes, alleged implants, and related government documents have amassed a mountain of data and a number of theories-but nothing indisputably true about the nature of UFOs and their non- human occupants, their origin, or the reason for their presence here among us now. Great gains have been made in the area of abduction therapy, providing help and support for those who are living with the phenomenon and working to resolve their emotional trauma, to keep the disruption of their everyday lives to a minimum, and to transform or assimilate these experiences in a positive way. And while is this laudable, it is not necessarily research. Therapy’s goal is one of personal balance, but the goal of research is a larger, clearer understanding of the phenomenon. The point is not so much learning to live with abductions as it is finding out why they happen, what they mean, and whether and how the situation can be altered. It intimately affects people of all ages and backgrounds, irrevocably altering their personal lives and their perceptions of reality, and it raises immense questions about our past, present, and future as a species. But in spite of the best scientific approaches to the question, all that ufological research has brought to most people is a realization that UFOs exist-and perhaps a few cute, harmless aliens-but no confrontation with what this means. Science has been trying to measure a dream, it seems, using traditional ideas and practices, and it has proved elusive. The UFO phenomenon is not confined to our current scientific understanding of perceived reality. We do not yet have the technology or natural perceptive abilities to capture and assess it. That is why the scientific approach to photographic evidence, landing traces, implants, and document analyses has so little in the way of hard evidence to show for its work. Instead, its best results offer only circumstantial data, carrying very little more weight than the anecdotal data of abduction research in the scales of traditional science. It is in the abduction phenomenon that we come most urgently face to face with the alien presence and thus have our best opportunity to observe the activity and assess its purpose or agenda. All of the UFO photos in the world tell us nothing compared to the words of those who have encountered the alien force in their lives and those of their families. And there are many, like Pat and Amy and the others presented here. From the response to INTO THE FRINGE, it sometimes seemed that abduction experiences were becoming virtually epidemic. Yet studies by mental health professionals show that the people who make these reports are eminently sane, that the aftermath of these events is real, and that they do not spring from any mass psychosis but from experienced anomalous trauma. | also found that many of the reports contained details very similar to certain things my family and | had experienced. Still, in every case there was always present the “unique factor” within the situations, providing highly individualized episodes for each abductee. | often wondered if these unique events, these “one-time shots,” might not prove to have some unperceived correlations, to form a pattern as yet out of focus, and give us more The need for reliable answers is nowhere greater than in the abduction phenomenon.