John Mack, Alien Abduction "Scholar," Dies
The Boston Globe reports:
In 1990, Dr. Mack began his research on people who say they have encountered extraterrestrials. He held that such encounters were real, though probably more spiritual than physical in character. His work drew widespread attention in 1994 with the publication of a best-selling book, "Abduction." That year, Harvard Medical School appointed a special faculty committee to review Dr. Mack's clinical care and clinical investigation of his subjects. After a 15-month process, the committee declined to take any action against him.
Dr. Mack eventually interviewed some 200 individuals who said they had encounters with extraterrestrials. Although he was subjected to widespread ridicule because of his work, Dr. Mack saw it as a unique opportunity to study spiritual or transformational experience, a theme that ran through much of his earlier work. "No one has been able to come up with a counter-formulation that explains what's going on," Dr. Mack said in a 1992 Globe interview in which he discussed his view of alien encounters. "But if people can't be convinced that this is real, that's OK. All I want is for people to be convinced that there's something going on here that is not explainable."
They say that one shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but this man was an embarrassment to Harvard and to the medical community generally. I'm amazed that they didn't do anything about him. His bona fides as a quack are make crystal clear in the above where he is quoted as saying that he wants to convince people that there is something going on that is "not explainable."
How on earth did he ever come to know for sure that what was going on was beyond explanation? It's not possible to come to such a conclusion. It's reasonable for a person to say that they can't explain it and perhaps even that something isn't explainable based upon current knowledge, but the far more sweeping claim made by Mack is totally outside the bounds of scientific practice — or ethics.
In point of fact the things he discovered are explainable — and there is no need to resort to pseudoscientific quackery about "spiritual" experiences, either. Explanations have been documented in great detail by many authors, but you wouldn't know that to read Mack's "scholarship." The study of transformational experiences is certainly a good thing that is worthy of time and effort; it's a pity that Mack had to muck it up with his nonsense about alien abductions.
Read More:
Comments
Although Mack’s death was awhile back, I find in light of the serious reputation Mack possessed, the comments of this auhor uninformed.
If you believe that they are “uninformed,” perhaps you can provide the “information” which would reveal where I have made any errors.
Frankly, I don’t think you can — Mack’s work on alien abductions was so absurd and so lack in any sort of factual or rational foundation that he basically flushed down the toilet any positive reputation he might have had.