British "skepicatl ufologist Peter Rogerson found in a book that one Lucille Harbour wrote to FATE magazine in 1964 to report an experience she said she lived in 1930 in Anderson, California, USA, at "0600hrs".
We are told she had just wakened and was reaching for the alarm clock when she saw a black hooded figure bending over her, its featureless face no more than 15 cm away. The thing then floated away through a table and a closed door.
Basic information table:
Case number:
URECAT-001688
Date of event:
1930
Earliest report of event:
1964
Delay of report:
34 years.
Witness reported via:
Letter to FATE magazine.
First alleged record by:
Witness letter in FATE magazine.
First certain record by:
Ufology catalogue Peter Rogerson.
First alleged record type:
Witness letter to magazine.
First certain record type:
"Skeptical" ufology catalogue.
This file created on:
September 6, 2018
This file last updated on:
September 6, 2018
Country of event:
USA
State/Department:
Califonria.
Type of location:
In bed in bedroon in Anderson.
Lighting conditions:
Not reported.
UFO observed:
No
UFO arrival observed:
N/A
UFO departure observed:
N/A
UFO/Entity Relation:
None
Witnesses numbers:
1
Witnesses ages:
Not reported. Adult or child.
Witnesses types:
Not reported. Adult female of female child.
Photograph(s):
No.
Witnesses drawing:
No.
Witnesses-approved drawing:
No.
Number of entities:
1
Type of entities:
Not reported
Entities height:
Not reported
Entities outfit type:
Not reported. Hood.
Entities outfit color:
Black.
Entities skin color:
Not reported.
Entities body:
Not reported.
Entities head:
Featureless face.
Entities eyes:
Not reported or none.
Entities mouth:
Not reported or none.
Entities nose:
Not reported or none.
Entities feet:
Not reported.
Entities arms:
Not reported or not seen.
Entities fingers:
Not reported or not seen.
Entities fingers number:
Not reported or not seen.
Entities hair:
Not reported or not seen.
Entities voice:
None heard.
Entities actions:
Was next to the witness bed, floated away through furnitures.
Entities/witness interactions:
None.
Witness(es) reactions:
Observed, went.
Witness(es) feelings:
Not reported.
Witness(es) interpretation:
Not reported.
Explanation category:
Probable hypnagogic hallucination. Not intrinsically UFO-related.
Lucille Harbour had just wakened and was reaching for the alarm clock when she saw a black hooded figure bending over her, its featureless face no more than 15cm away. The thing then floated away through a table and a closed door
(Evans 2002 p50 citing letter from witness in Fate August 1964 p61
Points to consider:
This is apparently a letter from the reader Lucille Harbor to FATE magazine in 1964. The very content of the story has nothing to do with UFOs or their occupants, but the "skeptical" ufologist Peter Rogerson included such cases (fairies, ghosts, "virgin Mary" etc.) in his INTCAT catalog in the idea of ??showing that, I quote, "imagination and the invention have always existed".
The problem is that with this case, there is no need to appeal either to the thesis of "imagination" nor to that of "invention": the reported episode can easily be a hypnagogic hallucination, a phenomenon well-known to ufologists, or one that should be well-known. The body still asleep, the half-awaken brain, make an ordinary dream appear more "real" than a dream. This always existed, and sometimes explains visions of "ghosts" or "monsters", but also "bedroom visitors" or other visions of "aliens" passing through the walls of a witness's bedroom. Why does Peter Rogerson not give any proposal for explanation, in particular, why does he not evoke this simple potential explanation?
I provide a few references among dozens about the topic of hypnagogic hallucination and sleep paralysis:
"The Old Hag phenomenon as sleep paralysis: a biocultural interpretation", paper by R.C. Ness, in Cultural and Medical Psychiatry, vol. 2 #1, pp 15-39, March 1978.
"Lucid Dreaming: The Paradox of Consciousness During Sleep", book by Celia Green and Charles McCreery, Routledge publisher, U-K., 1994.
"Wrestling With Ghosts: A Personal And Scientific Account Of Sleep Paralysis", book by Jorge Conesa Sevilla, Xlibris Corporation publishers, U-K., 2004.
"Hallucinations and pathological visual perceptions in Maupassant's fantastical short stories - a neurological approach", by L.C. Alvaro, in Journal of the History of Neuroscience, vol 14, #2, pp 100-115, June 2005.
"Effects of hypnagogic imagery on the event-related potential to external tone stimuli", paper by N. Michida, M. Hayashi, T. Hori, in Sleep, Vol. 28 #7, pp 813-818, July 2005.
"Sleep and Society: Ventures into the (Un)Known", book by Simon A. Williams, Routledge publisher, 2005.
"Mental representation of space: Insights from an oblique distribution of hallucinations", paper by T.A Girard, D.L. Martius, J.A. Cheyne in Neuropsychologia, vol. 45 #6, pp 1257-1269, 2007.
"Parasomnias", paper by D.T. Plante, J.W. Winkelman, in The Psychiatric Clinics of North America, Vol. 29 #4, pp 969-987, December 2006.
"Paranoid delusions and threatening hallucinations: A prospective study of sleep paralysis experiences", paper preview by J.A. Cheyne, T.A. Girard, scheduled in Consciousness and Cognition for April 2007.
List of issues:
Id:
Topic:
Severity:
Date noted:
Raised by:
Noted by:
Description:
Proposal:
Status:
1
Data
Medium
September 6, 2018
Patrick Gross
Patrick Gross
Missing primary source FATE magazine August 1964 page 61.
Help needed.
Opened.
Evaluation:
Probable hypnagogic hallucination. Not intrinsically UFO-related.
Sources references:
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
[fa1] ? Witness letter in Fate magazine, USA, page 61, August 1964.
[pr1] * "INTCAT - International Catalogue of close encounters and entity reports", compiled by Peter Rogerson, U-K., not dated, circa 1971-1972, updates 2005-2018, available at http://intcat.blogspot.com/2012/08/intcat-1930-1939.html
