When I returned to Dr. Klein's office, I described myself as "uneasy." He said, "Is that all?"
I admitted: "Terrified."
"Very understandable."
We began the session covering December 26 as soon as I was comfortable. Again, Budd Hopkins was present and allowed to question me under the same rules agreed to in the previous session.
"I want to take you back to December twenty-sixth. Going back to December twenty-sixth. Arid you are having supper. You are going to talk to me now, but stay completely asleep. Completely, deeply asleep. Where are you having supper?"
"In the country."
"Tell me who's there."
"Anne and our son."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Nice."
"What are you doing?"
"We're having super."
"What are you eating?"
"Goose. Cold goose. It's a used supper ... Christmas dinner. And cranberry sauce. Sweet potatoes."
"How do you feel?"
"I'm very happy. I'm feeling great."
"Had you been feeling great the previous few weeks?"
"[Long silence.] I had a hard time up until Christmas."
"What sort of hard time?
"[Long pause.] Was-scared. Unhappy. I felt like the world was caving in on me. Kept thinking there were these people hiding in the closet. Went all through the house every night. Checking."
"Were you checking anything out?"
"I was checking out the house."
"Did you have any idea why you were searching?"
"In case there might be somebody hiding in the house."
"Who might be hiding?"
"People. Them. Those people."
"Did you know about those people then?"
"Yeah."
"What did you know?"
"They might be hiding in the house."
"Did you tell anyone about it?"
"No. I didn't know about 'em."
"Did your wife ask you why- you were looking in the closet?"
"No. She never saw."
"You hid that from her?"
"Yeah. And from my boy. I've got a gun."
"What sort of gun?"
"Riot gun."
"When did you get that?"
"October."
"When in October?"
"We went to the gun store. About . . . the leaves were falling .... I don't know, I think it was . . . in October . . . middle of October . . . but I went right out and got it . . . ."
"What did you want it for?"
"Protection."
"From what?"
"Not sure. I just have the feeling sometimes . . . there are people in the house."
"I'm going to take you forward in time, forward in time to the evening of the twenty-sixth. You're going up to bed to go to sleep."
"Yeah."
"Going up to bed to go to sleep now. I want you to tell me everything that happens. You are going to remain calm, and tell me what happens."
"We go to sleep in bed. I have a real good book to read. Give Anne kiss. Can hear the snow on the house, a little bit of snow. Turn out the light. I go to sleep. Did I turn on the burglar alarm? Hmm. I listen to the radio for a while. They have on 'Our Front Porch'? Jazz. S'late. Turn it off and the whole place fills with quiet. Now I'm getting sleepy. Go to sleep. [Long pause.] Definitely . . . think . . . I hear 'em. I hear them. Comes right in the door, looks like he's wearing — cards. God damn! I can really see this! He looks like he's wearing cards.
"On his chest, this big, square blue card on his chest. An oblong one down on his middle. And he has on a — a round hat. And he's wearing a face mask with two eyeholes and a round hole between them down toward the bottom and he's moving real fast. And he makes stands beside my bed and makes a gesture to the door. And there's a hell of a lot of them! Filing into the room! I'm talking about a lot of them. They're not wearing the cards. They're wearing overalls — coveralls — blue. I can see their heads, which are bald. Time to get up. I get up. I'm scared, you see. I'm scared as hell. I take off my pajamas. Scariest to see Anne. I have to say good-bye to her now. There's two whole rows of 'em. I'm going out. They're moving me.
"They're moving me. They're moving me. Are they moving me from hand to hand? They're little bitty people. I feel like I could almost pick. one of them up with one hand." (I was taken downstairs onto the front porch, where I saw a sort of black iron cot.)
"I don't like the look of that thing. That's a cot. or like a bed. Only-it's for me. I feel sick inside. Just sick! I'm not-I'm not. I'm just sort of watching all of this. Because it always starts like that where you don't know it's not a dream, but it's not, you know. And when they came in, like two big lines of them cane right in the door. The whole room. I mean, there were a lot of them. You're talking about a whole bunch of them.
"I don't know where they are now. I lie down on the cot. It dust gets . . . sort of jumbled. I remember I thought it was almost like getting into the electric chair. And it goes off the back of the porch and I know this is a dream because I'm flying. I'm flying so this must be a dream. I don't want to see the last of that house, though. I don't. I don't want to see the last of that house. [Sobs, gasps.]
"Where is the snow? We're way out in the woods. way the hell. You know, I can't understand this because I've gone so far from- It's like there's vines right on my shoulder. [Long pause.]" (I was trying to hear one of them, who was explaining something to me. But I could not repeat what I heard. Whatever it was, it terrified me. I opened my eyes.)
"What woke you up?"
"I don't know if I can tell you. And also I'm not sure I'm awake. Am I awake?" (The room had a vague look to it, and I felt deeply relaxed.)
"Hard to tell at this point. Why don't we try to go back in. Very quiet. Relaxed . . ."
"It was real clear at first. Then just this second it got —"
"Things will be slowed down for you. We'll go through this very slowly."
"OK."
"Slow and relaxed. Slowing down for you. Back to this time. Are you floating?"
"No, they're carrying me. At least they're around me. You see, what's so funny is I'm lying down and I can see the sky. I can see the clouds. And-they're all around me, though. And I'm naked and I'm not cold. And I can see the sky. This thing has like . . . there's two places for my arms . . . and it's not like a bed. It's got places for my feet and it's got a place for my-head. I'm lying on it and I'm looking up at the sky and I can see . . . things-like the clouds.
"And they have a-there's like a swarm of them, they're around me. And I have a feeling — I don't feel very much. I feel very numb and funny. Not bad. It's kind of nice. It's a feeling like you're just sort of numb. And the next thing I know I'm sitting' . I'm still in this thing but I'm sitting in the woos. It's almost as if it became a part of me. Like a — It keeps me in it, you know, but if I move around it stays with me. And I'm not going anywhere, that's for sure. Because this thing just stays right with me.
"We're sitting in a little — we're sitting in a hole. Like a little hole. I'm just like this. [Shows a semi-reclining position, hands as if grasping the arms of a chair.] I remembered someone sitting right over there, but now I don't remember it. Or they're not there anymore. [Pause.] These people are scaring me. Terribly, because . . . whooof! Right up! Just shot right up. Yeah, that scared the dickens out of me. I saw the trees down there! Now they've got a floor under me again."
"You went up?"
"I just shot right up out of the woods. In this chair. this thing. I just went whoompf, right up out of the woods." (Other people have. reported this sailing up into the air also. I did not see what I entered...Very high?"
"Yeah, you're telling me! I went way up. Right up. I must have gone up a hundred feet. More than a hundred feet. Up past the trees. Just like that. Whooompf. Right up out of the woods. It was like going up in an elevator. Really felt it. I mean, I felt it. Right up. Whoof!
"And now they've got a floor under me. I know this is no dream. I sure hope I get home again. I'm glad they took that thing away. I'm sitting on a bench in a little room. [Sniffs.] And it smells funny. Smells somethin' like cheese in here. Smells kind of nasty, to tell you the truth.