Associate Professor of Rhetoric Stephanie Kelley-Romano has interviewed many people whose deeply held personal beliefs help give meaning to their lives.
And, by the way, these people think they were once abducted by aliens.
In 2006, Kelley-Romano published her Ph.D. thesis, "Mythmaking in Alien Abduction Narratives," in which she drew from 130 interviews with people who believe they've been abducted by aliens.
One of her conclusions is that people who believe they've been abducted have woven a collective myth that acts as a kind of religion.
"In the narratives, you see people using their experience like a religion: for self-guidance on how to live or to achieve a sense of unity and transcendence," she says. "For example, if the narrative talks about extraterrestrials visiting Earth to help integrate humanity into the larger cosmic community, that puts the myth into the realm of religious communion."
And it's not hard to find subjects, she says. Some estimates suggest millions of people believe they've been abducted.
"They are everywhere," Kelley-Romano says. "When I got to Bates, several people came by to get my card because they have an aunt or brother who thinks they've been abducted. I've had many people with Ph.D.'s who e-mail me and say, 'Don't every tell anyone, but this is what I think': that they've had long-lasting, ongoing relationships with extraterrestrials."
