Review of Electric UFOs

Albert Budden presents the hypothesis many paranormal events happen because certain humans respond with unusual sensitivity to electromagnetic (EM) stimuli. Exposing such people to EM fields produces altered physical states including hallucination, automatic behavior, narcolepsy, and allergies. The book includes a diagram describing the relationship between specific paranormal events and EM pollution, a catalog of EM pollution sources, an inventory of anomalous physical events, physical and mental effects attributed to EM stimuli, a chapter on "electric fireballs," eight case histories, and a surprisingly competent bibliography.

Briefly, Budden claims a Major Electrical Event (MEE) such as lightning strikes, early or prolonged exposure to RF or other EM, child abuse or head trauma sensitizes an individual to EM fields. Further irradiation affects human health, consciousness and the sensitized person's local environment. Human health effects include food allergies, electrical hypersensitivity (easily shocked, electrical equipment behaves strangely, etc.), dyslexia and photophobia. Consciousness changes include hallucination (usu. out-of-body-experiences, UFO encounters, alien abductions, guardian angels, ESP), seizures and trance states ("missing time"), hypergraphia, and deja vu/jamais vu. Local environment changes can trigger these effects, but can also generate non-biological events like electric fireballs or poltergeist effects.

Budden suggests that hallucinations tend to reflect "subconscious" perception of dangerous EM fields. The common themes of alien encounters, biological experimentation, and warning messages supposedly symbolize the threat of EM pollution to human health. His thesis seems to over explain a wide range of claims, and his well written text lacks hard evidence (field strength) that it identifies.

That said, this is a great book for horror gaming from about 1885 forward. It provides a good and complete way to debunk supernatural events. Better still, it allows PC adversaries to induce "supernatural" events at will. Why fluoridate the water if you can just add a antenna or two to the city's skyline? This allows scenarios to exist where PCs experience the inexplicable, become convinced of it and then find a "rational" explanation for it. This directly counteracts the traditional suspension of disbelief players bring to gaming. Of course the fantastic is real--we're playing a fantastic game! Reinforcing "reasonable" paradigms strengthens the dramatic potential of revealing a deeper truth (the Cthulhu Mythos/ Metropolis/the Secret Chiefs/whatever). Note that this "reasonable" paradigm needn't be the dominant or conventional one. If PCs wear grounded tinfoil skullcaps to shield against EM pollution, how normal are they?

Three ideas follow to get you started.

In turn-of-the-century New York, a Spiritualist society claims good results with their new medium. This star only performs for very high prices and only at her studio--right next to a newly installed Westinghouse substation... Near WW2's end in Europe, reports of "foo fighters" abounded among air crews on both sides. A pair of OSS members investigate losses attributed to these odd things. One strongly suspects these are fireballs formed from stray material electrically heated to incandescence by aircraft systems or AA radar sets. The other has a more sinister suspicions, especially after one aircraft lands sans crew... A group of oil wells straddling a hitherto unknown fault lost workers after repeated mild tremors. The quakes stopped, but workers now whisper about seeing strange lights rising from the ground. The company sends geologists and psychologists to investigate and law enforcement becomes involved after the loudest complainer vanishes into the ground--before a group of witnesses!

No web site, this time.

Budden, A. _Electric UFOs: Fireballs, Electromagnetics and Abnormal States_. 286 pp. Blandford, 1998. ISBN 0-7137-2730-6 (hardback), 0-7137-2685-7 (paperback). US$14.95.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)