PIT2 said:
Is there no other debunk than the 'hypnosis screwed his mind' theory?
Because that seems to be an inappropriate explanation, given the fact that he remembered certain parts (including seeing an 'alien') before ever being hypnotised.
The hypnosis thing does not carry any weight on its own. Like any objective inquiry, you should consider all the facts before forming an opinion. Here are some facts to consider:
He is very imaginative and creative:
Whitley Strieber began his writing career with two horror novels - 'The Wolfen' and 'The Hunger'. Both were made into films. He followed this early success with two more novels - 'Warday' and 'Wolf of Shadows', a bestseller. The book Communion followed - an autobiographical account of his experiences with strange “visitors”. Communion was followed by a half dozen or so sequels and he also wrote more novels - 'The Last Vampire' , 'Lilith's Dream',and the eco-thriller 'The Coming Global Superstorm', which was the basis for the film 'The Day After Tomorrow.'.
He has a history of mental health issues:
By his own admission, he is a long time sufferer of acute anxiety. But he has gone to great lengths to prove he is sane, which I find a bit odd. And his proof is not altogether convincing. For instance, at the top of his eeg report: http://www.unknowncountry.com/img/edge/tests/eeg.jpg .
"HISTORY: This is a 42 year old patient with hallucinatory episodes for many years."
In this interview Whitley seems to affirm this aspect of his struggle:
http://www.seancasteel.com/Strieber_The_Key.htm
"The direction of my search has always been to try to define the line between the real and the imaginary. I think that the line became unfocused in my life in 1985."
Apparently he suffers both anxiety attacks and hallucinatory episodes and is blessed with a prolific imagination. Does this sound like the kind of person who could be susceptible to hypnotic suggestion? His analyst was Budd Hopkins, a hypnotist with his own claim to fame as an expert on alien abduction. Hopkins appeared on a NOVA documentary in 1996. Nova followed Hopkins to Florida where he 'helped' a visibly agitated woman help her children realize they were victims of alien abduction. Between sessions with more of Hopkin's "patients", he plugged his books and explained why there was absolutely no reason to doubt the authenticity of stories he was eliciting from his "patients". Afterall, how and why would anyone concoct such incredible, highly detailed stories? Is it conceivable Hopkins planted the notion of alien abduction in the vulnerable, fertile mind of his famous 'patient'?
From his website:
http://www.unknowncountry.com/dreamland/?id=225
Thunderbirds--They're Out There
"... Mark Hall has crisscrossed the country in search of these creatures, and he lays out exciting and provocative evidence that a small population of these enormous, rare birds is still out there. The interview takes a surprising turn when Whitey [sic] Strieber tells Mark about his own extremely scary 1979 sighting of just such a bird--which seemed to be taking an interest in the Striebers' 6 month old child!"
Did the interview with Mark Hall jog loose yet another repressed memory?
Whitley recounts other remarkable experiences in this interview:
http://www.seancasteel.com/ws2.htm
Q: The nine lessons of The Secret School start with a trip to Mars and end with a visit to yourself sometime in the Earth's future with a side trip to a former life in Rome How do all those elements fit together?
Strieber: The way the elements fit together is that they all involve a different kind of movement through space/time. The trip to Mars-I don't know whether that was a physical journey or not... my book recognizes the use of prophecy as a tool, which is why it both warns against a number of futures that I have seen... you can reach out so far with remote viewing. You can go into the past. You can go into the future. You can go to other worlds. You can go essentially anywhere in the universe which has ever been or will be.
In 1995 Whitley speaks of cover ups and rude house guests:
http://www.seancasteel.com/breakingthrough.ht
Q: How would public ackowledgement of the UFO phenomenon help you and others in your situation?
Strieber: First of all, the government cover-up and the policy of secrecy dovetails. So, when we talk about the government, I don't think we can meaningfully talk about a government cover-up without also talking about the Visitors and their own policy of secrecy. They come at night. They hide. They're incredibly secretive. I think that the cover-up is loose compared to the level of secrecy that they themselves maintain. And I suspect that the cover-up is simply an outgrowth of their own desire for secrecy.
Question: Well, it seems from reading Breakthrough that a gray moved in for about three months.
Strieber: Oh, longer than that.
but he does show his humorous side:
"I don't think that many of the abductee researchers have ever seen anybody except a person who needs help."
Whitley is barely lucid and unsure of what is real vs imaginary in this increasingly bizarre interview::
http://www.seancasteel.com/toronto.htm.
