Budd Hopkins - Missing Time

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MISSING TIME

forgotten abduction experiences. I had described the time in al­ most every abduction when the captive feels relaxed and calm, even sometimes recalling, as we have seen, waves of warmth and happiness. About a half-hour later, as we stood beside Mac McMahon's car and looked out over the lake, I happened to ask Paul Federico if he remembered ever dreaming about his experi­ ence. He said that he had, but the dream was peculiar and he felt funny repeating it. I assured him that I took it very seriously, and prevailed upon him to share it. Federico spoke slowly without a trace of uncertainty or hesitation. Obviously, it had been a very clear and vivid dream. "I could see an obj ect coming down . . . landing . . . staying there for about fifteen or twenty minutes, and seeing a beam of light come out, shine on the area, shine on me, and one thing I could remember that seemed very strange-I was not scared at all. I felt very relaxed, very calm, and very at ease, almost as if I was in my mother's arms as a little baby." Paul is a bespectacled, schol­ arly-looking man in his late twenties, and is employed by a large airline. His dream as he retold it was oddly touching and inge­ nuous. By the end of that afternoon, the experience at DeForest Lake had been revivified for Mac McMahon. Over the past several weeks, he had spent hours reviewing the details for Harry and me, going over his recollections, and thinking intensely about what had happened that night. He saw the television program as it finally appeared in three successive segments on the NBC "Six O'Clock News," watching himself and Paul Federico standing at the site. A few weeks later, I called Mac to ask how he was and to inquire about his reaction to the documentary. More or less spon­ taneously, the wall of amnesia had begun to crumble . He told me that he and his girlfriend were driving home late one evening, when suddenly, in a rush, he said memories began flooding back.3 He remembered the UFO landing and the beam of light shining on him exactly as Federico had "dreamed" it. He recalled being inside the ship and being examined by small, frightening beings. The television program had dealt exten$ively with the idea of ab­ ductions but without presenting any details of the UFO's interior or the "examination" process. A drawing of UFO occupants had been shown, but McMahon described his captives somewhat dif­ ferently. There was no way anyone could connect his specific re­ call with what had been discussed or portrayed on the screen. The


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