Was Author  Abducted by Aliens?
Whitley Strieber can thank his lucky starships for an incident he alleges 
occurred 13 years ago. While on a skiing trip with his wife and son in 
upstate New York, Strieber claims to have been abducted for six hours by 
aliens - 31/2 feet tall, with big bulging shiny eyes, pointy chins and wide 
foreheads. "They had changed me, done something to me. I could sense it 
clearly that night but I couldn't articulate it," Strieber would later write 
in "Communion," his 1987 acount of the ordeal.
The aliens changed him in more ways than one: The book would spend 25 
weeksonthe New York Times best-seller list, making Strieber a celebrity 
ufologist. But along with accolades came the attacks. He was condemned as a 
kook, a cultist and a CIA agent - despite having subjected himself to a 
polygraph test and psychiatric interviews. So, in "Confirmation: The Hard 
Evidence ofAliens Among Us," his latest book and sixth on close encounters, 
Strieber answers the critics with scientific evidence - and finds that 
abductees have a common trait: They contain silicon and metallic implants in 
their ears, calf muscles and nasal passages. Does this and video footage of 
UFOs (accessible on his Web site: www.strieber.com) mean something strange is 
happening out there? How strange? At 7 p.m.,May 11, 1998;  you can ask him 
yourself. He's coming to Borders Books & Music, 17200 Royalton Rd., in 
Strongsville, (440) 846-1144, for a book-signing and talk. I'm just wondering 
if the aliens get a percentage of the book sales.
Simulated Abduction
If you want to get in the mood for the alien encounter in Strongsville, try 
Planet e at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Dr., in 
University Circle. The intergalactic exhibit offers simulated space travel by 
combining NASA space mission footage with computer-generated space images and 
videos. You get to pick which planet in the solar system you want to travel 
to and then a simulated shuttle provides an overflight of that planet, 
allowing you to compare volcanoes, mountains and other rock formations with 
Earth's. Admission is $6.50 for adults, $4.50 for children. Museum hours are 
10 a.m. to 5 p.m., today. Call (216) 231-4600. It just might make you want to 
take the shuttle to Borders so you can compare your travels with Whitley 
Strieber's.
---JOHN PETKOVIC
www.cleveland.com
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