The regression began with her memories of the night of July 30, 1985. She did not know it at the time, but there was some evidence in one of our son's school journals that an event.
involving her might have taken place on that night, when she and he were in the country and I was away on business. Rather than suggest to her in any way that we thought this might be the case, Dr. Naiman began with that night without telling her why.
Hypnosis
JULY 30, OCTOBER 4, AND DECEMBER 26, 1985
SESSION DATES: March 13, March 21, 1986
SUBJECT: Anne Strieber
PSYCHIATRIST: Robert Naiman, MD
Dr. Naiman: "First we want to concentrate on July thirtieth, 1985. You were with your son?"
"Yeah."
"You were in the country then?"
"Yeah."
"Who was there?"
"A lot of workmen came that day, so I wouldn't be too lonely because I didn't have the car. Whitley took the car to go to the city. The workmen were going to be there, so I wouldn't be too lonely. I believe I bicycled to the store. I went to the store. I remember thinking how am I going to go to the store. I wouldn't want to drive anyway but I've got my bicycle and I can leave my son because the workmen are there. And I did. We wanted something to make some treat or something. We wanted some snacks or something."
"He wanted some snacks?"
"And I did too. I remember it was going to be lonely putting him to bed that night and it was. I don't remember anything strange."
"Was it unusual for you to be there alone with him?"
"Yes, because we always all drive up together and I can't drive very well, and I wouldn't want to drive so I'm never alone there with just our son overnight."
"I want you to concentrate on coming back from the grocery store with the treats."
"Yeah."
"When was that?"
"It was afternoon. Late afternoon. About four or three, I think, because the workmen were there but they were leaving."
"What are they working on?"
"Building the pool on the deck."
"And they left around four, and n was just you and your son?"
"Yeah."
"And then what?"
"I don't remember what we had for dinner. but it would have been something fairly simple. I might have baked something, but I don't remember. I think I went to get some chocolate chips, and we made cookies. It must have been earlier in the day because I might have given some cookies to the workmen. I think we did. Maybe that was another time, but it could have been that time. I remember we did that once. And that's the kind of thing I would have gone to get. I wouldn't have had any chocolate chips, and I think that's what I went to get. I wanted to get a paper and I wanted-yes, I remember that. And I said, 'Why should I wait when I have a bicycle?"'
"So you and your son had dinner together. the two of you?"
"Yeah."
"What time would that be?'
"Six or so. [Sounds perplexed.] I don't remember dinner. Were we invited somewhere? I don't think so"
"And what time would you be putting him to bed?"
"Around eight. Seven-thirty."
"Something you were not looking forward to?"
"Well, it's hard being all alone all day with a .kid and I'm tired at night. and I'm not usually the one who puts him to bed. And I'm not as good at reading stories as Whitley is, and I don't look forward when Whitley's gone to putting him to bed."
"But it went all right?"
"Yeah . . . I don't remember. No . . . I couldn't have watched TV because we had no TV reception. But we had the VCR. I don't think I had a movie to watch. I don't remember. I remember Whitley came back and it was earlier than I thought."
"When was that?"
"The next day."
"Do you remember anything that night, when you were sleeping alone?"
"No — I — well, no."
"Did your son call you during the night?"
"I don't think so."
"You slept your usual sound sleep?"
"I think so. But it's lonely going to sleep in the country alone at night. I might have heard some noises. It seems like maybe I did, but they weren't any thing because I had the doors locked."
"And you have a burglar-alarm system?"
"Yeah."
"Do you often hear steps . . . sounds?"
"Not steps . . . I doubt if it was steps. You don't always hear sounds. It was pretty quiet. Not noisy."
"All right, so let me give you one more minute to concentrate. I want you to concentrate as hard as you can because you have this very special brand of concentration ability right now, this capacity to concentrate. I want you to just concentrate on that night from sundown on."
"Funny. I remember the afternoon but I don't remember the night. I don't remember after the workmen left. [Long pause.]"
"All right, we won't put any more tame in on that right now. But it's very possible that after I take you out of the trance, between now and the end of the weekend something will come to you about the thirtieth. And if it does, try very hard to remember. If something passes through your mind."
"Yes." (Nothing ever did. She was left with a memory that just stops right before dinner and doesn't start again until I returned the next morning. What happened in between was completely blank, as if powerfully blocked. Her earlier memories of that Say are perfectly normal.)
"Because of this procedure we are going through now, we may be loosening up some memories that will not emerge until you're out of the trance. So be alert."
"Yes."
"Now let's go to the night of October the fourth. As I understand it. you and Whitley were there and your son was there and you had guests, Jacques and his woman friend."
"Annie."
"Everybody's going to bed. You've had a good tame, a good meal, and a lot of good wine and conversation. Is that true?"
"Well, we went to a restaurant."
"Next day we had fun because Jacques went swimming, and the water was very cold."
"Let's go back to that night of October fourth. You've said good night to your guests and your son is already asleep, of course —"
"We got home late. We didn't get finished at the restaurant until about nine. They had been there before but they slept on the couch. This was the first time they saw the guest room. It didn't have a bed in it before. So dark you couldn't see anything very well though. Everybody just came home and got our beds ready and put on our pajamas. Because we were all tired. I don't think we talked much that night."
"Yes?"
"We left later than usual or — I don't remember. I think that's why we ate out. There was no time to buy groceries. So we must have left later than usual, for some reason."
"This was a Friday evening?"
"Yeah."
"So you said good night to everyone. And you and Whitley went upstairs?"
"Yeah."
"Just give me to the best of your recollection what happened that night, concentrating as hard as you can."
"[Long pause.] It wasn't a peaceful eight, but don't remember why. [Pause. Seems distressed.]"
"What are you thinking of right now?"
"Well, I don't know."
"Because you just screwed up your face and clenched your eyes."
"It seems like there was a lot going on, but I don't remember. I — I — remember when Whitley thought the roof was on fire. I don't remember that. But I remember it was like a culmination of a lot of other — it was like — it was surprising, because it was like a culmination of a lot of other activity. I don't — I don't — seems like it was late and not dark but I don't remember that, and it's not clear. But it doesn't seem like it was dark enough.
"Usually it's so dark. It's all dark. And so restful and quiet, but I don't get that feeling about it. I get the feeling that Whitley was up all night, and it was this thing and that thing and finally it was the roof. It was something else other than the roof on fire. There was something about the stove for another reason."