
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 1, 1993                   TAG: 9311010061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

SEEN A UFO? STUDY SAYS NOT TO WORRY

People who think they've seen a UFO or a space alien appear to be just as intelligent and psychologically healthy as other people, a new study says.

Researchers found that UFO reporters scored no worse than other people on tests of psychological health, intelligence and fantasy-proneness.

They appeared to be "very normal," said study co-author Patricia Cross of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Many of their reports may just be misinterpretations of unfamiliar sights or experiences, influenced by a prior belief in visits by space aliens, she said.

Cross, a psychology graduate student who did the study as her master's thesis, reports the work with psychologist Nicholas Spanos and others at Carleton in the November issue of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

"Our findings clearly contradict the previously held notions that people who seemingly had bizarre experiences, such as missing time and communicating with aliens, have wild imaginations and are easily swayed into believing the unbelievable," the study said.

The study included 49 adults who said they had seen UFOs, 39 members of the general public and 74 introductory psychology students.

Eighteen of the UFO spotters said they had simply seen something in the sky. The other 31 reported a more intense experience. For example, 10 said they had seen a spacecraft close-up, 10 said they had spotted an alien, seven reported verbal contact with aliens, and eight cited telepathic contact. Seven recalled total body paralysis, and eight said time was inexplicably lost. Two said they were taken up in a spaceship.

As a whole, the UFO spotters were more likely than other study participants to report belief in visits from space aliens. It was unclear whether that belief preceded or followed their UFO experiences, although some evidence suggests it came before, researchers said.

If a person who believed in alien visitation had that experience, "you might interpret that experience in terms of those beliefs," she said.

by CNB