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Alien invasion is only one of the many conspiracy theories and=20
apocalyptic scenarios that constitute what the novelist Don=20
DeLillo calls "millennial hysteria." Believers can hitch their=20
scenarios to a multitude of alleged apocalyptic "signs" -- AIDS,=20
the breakdown of the family, the Internet. Lubavitcher Hassidic=20
Jews interpreted the Gulf War as a sign of the imminent=20
appearance of the Messiah. Egyptians, as The Post recently=20
reported, interpreted the death of Princess Diana as a=20
British-Israeli conspiracy designed to keep her from marrying a=20
Muslim. But, warn Thomas Robbins and Susan Palmer in the=20
introduction to their excellent Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem,=20
apocalyptic thinking can "become dangerous when actual events=20
appear markedly convergent with the anticipated scenarios of=20
zealots." The recent massacre of 70 tourists in Egypt is partly=20
the result of widespread cultural support of xenophobic=20
conspiracy theories.
The contributors to Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem analyze=20
contemporary religious and secular apocalyptic movements from the=20
Mormons to Waco and Aum Shinrikyo, and explain the central=20
significance of prophecy in these movements. Prophecies are=20
useful because they enhance the charismatic authority and power=20
of the leader, bind the followers together, and make leaving the=20
group seem risky.
Paradoxically, even "failed prophecy" or "apparent prophetic=20
failure" can unify millenarian groups. David G. Bromley notes=20
that "apocalyptic intensity can be maintained through predictions=20
that are imminent but indeterminate, which then necessitates and=20
legitimates a constant state of readiness." No amount of=20
counter-evidence, testimony by scientific panels, or=20
contradictory hypotheses can shake these firmly held beliefs and=20
suspicions. In fact, as anthropologists of religion have=20
demonstrated, disconfirmed prophecy leads to intensified faith=20
and proselytizing, as believers seek "dissonance reduction"=20
through disclaimers, rationalizations, and self-congratulation=20
that their faith has saved them.
With regard to the alien invasion stories, anthropologists have=20
also analyzed the role of folklore, myth, and media in the=20
construction of narrative. In UFO Crash at Roswell, cultural=20
anthropologists Benson Saler and Charles A. Ziegler, along with=20
atmospheric physicist Charles B. Moore, trace the process by=20
which the belief that a manned flying saucer had landed in New=20
Mexico in 1947 became a contemporary "technomyth" expressing=20
"antigovernment sentiment."=20
The authors offer a useful vocabulary and terminology for=20
understanding the formation of myth, in a "process of=20
transfiguration that involved successive retellings in which some=20
of the historically recorded events were retained, some were=20
distorted or repressed, and entirely new elements were inserted."=20
They identify six versions of the Roswell legend from 1980 to=20
1996, evolving from the genre of "crashed-saucer story" to a myth=20
of the culture-hero (the ufologist) wresting knowledge from an=20
evil monster (the government). The Roswell myth has been=20
assembled from various fragments and sources: documented events,=20
distorted historical events, previous crashed-saucer stories,=20
beliefs about government deviousness by UFO believers in the UFO=20
community, and new cultural ideas.=20
Most important, the authors argue, when tales move from the oral=20
to the written tradition, the process by which narrators=20
rationalize internal contradictions and implausibilities=20
accelerates. When tales are written down or "personal legends"=20
are collected and edited, they increasingly conform to prevailing=20
narrative concepts, introduce elements of fantasy, intensify=20
relations of dominance and subjugation, play down the shocking=20
and unpleasant, transpose subplots, and rationalize=20
discrepancies.
All of these elements are present in David Jacobs's retelling of=20
the stories he heard in interviews with his patients, almost all=20
of whom are women. He emphasizes the alien chain of command, with=20
insectoids and reptoids at the top, Tall Grays in the middle,=20
female Tall Grays (there do not appear to be females among the=20
other groups, including shorter Grays) tending to the offspring,=20
and handsome Nordics getting free time for "IHA" -- independent=20
hybrid activity. Kathleen, Susan, Diane, Sarah, Cindy, Rozanne,=20
Carla, Allison, Claudia, Beverly, Paula, Donna, Emily, Deborah,=20
and Doris tell very similar stories, in part because Jacobs does=20
not include the stories that do not conform to his model. They=20
are stories of displaced sexual desire, romantic fantasy, and=20
reproductive ambivalence. Many of his clients have had=20
hysterectomies, and yet they tell of alien insemination and being=20
forced to conceive an alien child. Could it be that they are=20
mourning lost fertility, fearing lost sexuality? Although they=20
sometimes express distress at their rapes, and at feelings of=20
sexual arousal they wish to disown, the more unpleasant aspects=20
of imagining forced sex with an alien are played down, and the=20
emotional satisfactions played up. At worst, we hear that male=20
aliens are not circumcised. (Presumably, there are no Jewish=20
hybrids).
At best, many of the women fall in love with their=20
"personal-project hybrids," male aliens who have lifelong=20
relationships with them, choosing them for frequent sex and=20
fathering their hybrid children. The PPHs joke and even linger=20
"for a short time" after sex "before putting on their clothes and=20
going to another task." (They wear blue jeans.) But alas, like so=20
many other men in romantic fiction, these hybrid males have=20
several personal "projects," are not monogamous, and lie.
Donna's PPH says "that he wants to be with me more than he's=20
often able to." Uh-huh. But "even the romantic hybrids can=20
suddenly display anger and malice," just like the guys on=20
"Melrose Place." Sympathetically understood, The Threat is a sort=20
of apocalyptic version of The Rules, a sad statement of women's=20
unmet needs for love, sexual attention, and adventure.
How much of the current hysteria is generic to the millennium? In=20
Questioning the Millennium, Stephen Jay Gould dismisses much of=20
this theorizing as "speculative, boring, and basically silly" and=20
refuses "to speculate about the psychological source either for=20
the angst that always accompanies the endings of centuries (not=20
to mention millennia) or for the apocalyptic beliefs that have=20
pervaded human culture throughout recorded history, particularly=20
among the miserable and malcontented." Instead, his subjects are=20
"calendrics, astronomy, and history."=20
BUT GOULD does get into the debate over the previous turn of the=20
millennium in 1000 A.D. While historians used to believe that the=20
year 1000 saw a wave of terror sweep over Europe, this view has=20
been widely challenged ever since French "positivist historians=20
of the subsequent Third Republic, imbued with the rationalist=20
spirit of the late nineteenth century, adopted an opposite and=20
skeptical attitude that has dominated the profession to the=20
present day." Nonetheless, Gould is convinced that modern=20
chronology had circulated so extensively among all social classes=20
in Europe by the year 1000 that there is reason to cautiously=20
support the idea of "substantial millennial stirring."=20
His own book concludes with "a little story about an ordinary=20
person who has done something heroic in the domain of calendrics=20
and who loves the millennium with all his heart." Gould's hero is=20
Jesse, a young autistic man who is a savant day-date calculator=20
-- what some label "with the stunningly insensitive name idiot=20
savants -- that is, globally retarded people with a highly=20
precise, separable, and definable skill." Jesse's fascination=20
with naming the day of the week for any date in history is a=20
substitute for his inability to understand other kinds of=20
relationships, and Gould explains the mental process behind what=20
seems an uncanny phenomenon. But his last paragraph is=20
unexpectedly moving, as he incorporates Jesse's world-view into a=20
broader sense of how we all question the millennium: "May we all=20
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