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   For decades, people around the world have reported being taken by strange beings, subjected to medical examinations, shown unfamiliar places, and returned with missing time, fragmented memories, and unexplained marks on their bodies. Some of these witnesses appear sincere, deeply affected, and completely convinced that what happened to them was real. But does sincere testimony prove that alien abductions are physical events?

  In Part One: Taken, the first installment of the two-part series Alien Abductions: Real, Hoax, or Shared Hallucinations?, Sandman examines the cases that established the modern abduction narrative and asks what evidence—if any—supports the belief that people are physically being taken by a nonhuman intelligence. 

  The investigation begins before the flying-saucer era, exploring older stories of fairies, demons, spirits, missing time, and supernatural beings carrying people away. Are modern abduction accounts an entirely new phenomenon, or are they contemporary interpretations of experiences that human beings have reported for centuries?

  From there, the episode examines the alleged 1957 abduction of Brazilian farmer Antônio Villas Boas and the landmark case of Betty and Barney Hill. Their 1961 encounter introduced many of the features now associated with alien abduction, including a strange light, missing time, medical examinations, hypnotically recovered memories, and Betty Hill’s controversial star map.

  Sandman also investigates two famous multiple-witness cases: the Pascagoula encounter of Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, and the alleged Allagash abductions involving four friends in the Maine wilderness. Do multiple witnesses make an abduction claim more credible, or can suggestion, hypnosis, group influence, and the passage of time cause separate memories to become part of one shared story?

  The episode then takes a closer look at the mysterious disappearance of Travis Walton, who vanished for five days after six coworkers reported seeing him struck by a beam of light from a hovering object in an Arizona forest. Polygraph examinations, financial incentives, conflicting claims, and the differences between Walton’s account and the movie Fire in the Sky are all considered.

  Finally, Sandman examines the physical evidence most frequently connected to alien abductions: missing time, scars, bruises, alleged implants, electromagnetic disturbances, environmental traces, and the emotional trauma experienced by witnesses.

  Some cases may involve deception. Others may represent sincere but mistaken interpretations of unusual events. A small number continue to resist simple explanations. But is any of the available evidence strong enough to prove that human beings are being physically abducted by visitors from somewhere else?

This is Part One: Taken.

  To learn more, you’ll have to Turn On, Tune In, & Find Out!