Alien Abduction Experiences
and the Dentist's Office

During a recent visit to the dentist, I became aware of several similarities between alien abduction experiences and dental examinations. The common features become apparent the moment you walk in the door.

Under hypnosis, many abductees report being kept in a "waiting room" with other abductees. Although complete strangers, these fellow abductees may seem oddly familiar. Coincidentally, this is exactly what happens when you go to the dentist's office. Although the other patients in the waiting room are strangers to you, chances are that you have seen them there before. You sit there in uncomfortable silence as you await your turn with mounting dread.

This brings us to the next common feature: fear. Everyone experiences some degree of anxiety when visiting the dentist. It can range from mild apprehension to outright panic. Despite this fear, the patient is unable to escape. Since it would be terribly rude and cowardly to run away in the middle of a dental exam, the patient must endure the unpleasant procedure. Unable to move, unable to scream in terror, the patient is essentially paralyzed, just like an alien abductee.

The similarities grow stronger as the examination begins. Although the patient may sit in a dentist's "chair", this chair ultimately leans back to become an examination table. A bright light is directed at the patient's face so that the dentist can see into his mouth. Abductees often report that their vision is obscured by the glare from a bright overhead light.

The dentist uses bizarre metal instruments to poke and prod the patient. This examination is often painful. The dentist may use a whizzing drill, which has also been reported by abductees. The dentist's mouth and nose are covered by a surgical mask. Abductees often describe their alien abductors as having no mouths or noses. The dentist also wears protective glasses while working on a patient. Abductees often describe large, dark, glossy, oval-shaped eyes.

Dentists sometimes use nitrous oxide to keep patients calm during minor procedures. Nitrous oxide produces an altered state of consciousness in which events seem strangely unreal. For major procedures, stronger drugs may be used to sedate the patient. The patient may awaken after sedation thinking that mere moments have passed, only to discover that he has been unconscious for over an hour. The patient is left with no recollection of the procedure, the dental equivalent of "missing time".

All of these similarities have led me to wonder whether abduction experiences and dentist visits might be related. Perhaps the abduction experience finds its roots (no pun intended) in the dentist's office. In many cases, memories of an alien abduction are triggered when an abductee sees a gleaming metal instrument at the dentist's office. Could it be that the dentist's office reminds the abductee of his abduction experience because his abduction experience is simply a distorted subconscious memory of a previous visit to the dentist's office?

Most abductees can only recall abduction experiences under hypnosis. Hypnosis allegedly accesses memories stored in the subconscious mind, but the subconscious mind is also a storehouse for nightmarish fantasies. It certainly seems possible that an unpleasant experience, like a dental procedure, muddled by mind-altering drugs, could combine with other horrors from the subconscious mind to form memories of a terrifying alien abduction experience.

Obviously, this hypothesis cannot explain all alien abduction experiences, but perhaps some abductees can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that they weren't necessarily abducted by creatures from another planet. Unfortunately, one disturbing, inescapable fact remains: the dentist is all too real.