Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 9, 1995 TAG: 9508090071
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CLARA G. HERRERA FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
DATELINE: PLANO, TEXAS LENGTH: Long
``Mommy, there's an alien at the end of my bed.''
Amy Hebert, 41, of the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch heard that from her 10-year-old daughter at 3 a.m. and she believed her. By then, it was pretty easy because Hebert had unexplained scars on her own body, had experienced strange dreams and suspected that something of an extraterrestrial nature was happening against her will. Now it was happening to her daughter.
At first, Hebert, who has a master's degree in counseling, didn't believe that space aliens could be abducting her from her bed at night. She searched for other explanations and found none, she said. Finally, she found a group who did and would offer her help.
At a suburban home, 15 people who are part of the UFOlogy Society Support Group lounge on couches and try to find help from each other by discussing their personal experiences with extraterrestrials.
They meet once a month, drink iced tea, eat cake and bring photos of body scars, drawings of alien spacecraft and books about close encounters. The conversation can range from discussing a recent abduction to organizing a potluck supper for a slide show at the next get-together.
``Some people don't have anywhere to go but this place,'' said Lacy Shields, who holds the meetings at her home. ``Many abductees have stated that for the first time in their lives they do not feel alone. They no longer feel weird and lonely because they know that others have experienced the same thing.''
At this Sunday meeting, they discussed how their rights are being violated because they have no control over their abductions. But mostly, the relating of experiences by one member triggers a recollection by another member. Their therapy is just being able to talk to a group that understands.
``Alien encounters have ruined a lot of people's lives,'' Shields said. ``This may come across as a bunch of crazy people if you don't know much about this. But these people sincerely believe in their hearts that this is happening.''
It is a group of ordinary people who - by some standards - hold an extraordinary belief. An artist, a retired taxi driver and a technical writer are among the members of the support group, which has been around for four years, Shields said. Shields saw the need for such a group after attending the meetings of the Mutual UFO Network in Dallas.
At first, four or five people would show up for the meetings at her house. Now there are 25 members who come and go as they please. There are no dues to pay. All are from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Not all of them say they have been abducted by aliens. Some just believe.
John Hoppe, 74, has been attending the meetings for about a year. He saw his first spaceship in 1989 near his home in Arlington, he said. Hoppe doesn't ``consciously'' recollect being abducted but believes that he was.
Besides his two experiences, Hoppe said most of his knowledge of and belief in extraterrestrials comes from reading and from talking to people who say they have spoken to aliens. He doesn't try to persuade those who don't believe.
``I don't try to convince them of anything,'' Hoppe said. ``Everybody proceeds at their own pace. I try to inspire people to learn. I tell people of things they may not believe but that they will think about. And later, perhaps, they will come to their own understanding.''
Most of the people say the abductions occur between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., when a person is less likely to remember and more likely to question if they occurred at all. The abductions happen at random. Sometimes it will be months between each.
Later, the abductee will draw oval-eyed creatures they remember seeing or sketch an oblong spacecraft and compare these drawings with those of other abductees. The drawings often are similar.
Annette James, 46, of Mesquite said she is abducted regularly and her experiences are not positive. She thinks the aliens have taken her to conduct scientific experiments.
``This is no dream. This is real,'' James said, showing a picture of herself with a swollen face that she said occurred after one abduction. ``I have a lot of anger. I would like to be awake and not frozen and be able to come back with some evidence.''
Evidence also is what Amy Hebert seeks, not for other people but for herself and her daughter. ``You need to prove to yourself you're not nuts,'' she said. ``At first I thought, it can happen to anybody else but it can't happen to me. But I realized it can happen to me.''
Hebert studies reports of mass cattle mutilations in the Southwest as well as government denials of the existence of aliens, she said. She looks at other cases similar to her own.
``To know that nobody was paying attention to this, at first, was frustrating,'' she said. ``I definitely have seen something. I have seen a white alien being about 31/2 feet tall standing beside my bed. I know I saw that critter.''
For more information on the UFOlogy Society Support Group, call (214) 497-1505.
by CNB