Report on Communion: An Independent Investigation of and Commentary on Whitley Strieber's Communion

by Ed Conroy

Presents an investigation of the claims presented in "Communion," Whitley Strieber's account of an extraterrestrial abduction, discussing the significance of this event, and other "visitor" experiences

Genres: Nonfiction

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting journalistic investigation into the surrounding biographical context around bestselling horror author turned UFO contactee Whitley Strieber, which collects much of the information surrounding his life that isn't readily available from Strieber's own books.

The interesting biographical information includes for example the fact that Strieber was obsessed with spaceflight and extraterrestrial life as a child. Author Ed Conroy also documents several mysterious occurrences from Strieber's childhood in the overall area he lived, in that weren't interpreted as "close encounters" at the time but probably would be if they happened today. More damning of Strieber's accuracy as a narrator, however, is what the other reviewer noted about Strieber claiming to have been present at a mass shooting on a university campus he probably wasn't. In the meantime, of course, Strieber has added more and more layers to his UFO contact experiences that become more and more outlandish even to other contactees.

The author of his book, Ed Conroy also spends much time on noting that supposed extraterrestrial contact experiences like Strieber's follow the same templates as shamanic journeys and fairy stories as well as religious experiences wherein angels or demons are encountered. Compare and contrast also the facial physiognomy of the "Visitors" with how elves are typically depicted in modern epic fantasy fiction like the "Warhammer" roleplaying game: Long thin faces with low foreheads, slanted eyes, high cheekbones, small noses and pointed sharp chins. The Vinca culture of Bronze Age Eastern Europe also depicted their deities with that physical appearance now that we are at it.

This becomes relevant to Strieber's case in light of his feud with ufologist Budd Hopkins, who also dedicated his life to studying the alien abduction phenomenon. Hopkins believes the Visitors literally are other planets' equivalents to Josef Mengele and Shirô Ishii, but Strieber thinks they're supernatural spirit guide entities whom pre-modern cultures knew as angels, demons, elves and whatnot. I was genuinely surprised at learning that "Communion" was quite controversial in ufological circles when it first was published, not just because it was the work of a long time popular horror novelist (which instantly made science-fiction author Samuel Delany suspect the contact experiences were some elaborate publicity stunt on Strieber's part) but also for two other reasons. One being Strieber being absolutely convinced in the reality of his Visitor experiences, the other being him thinking they're not spacefarers from other planets but rather the same spirit guide entities shamans meet on their vision quests. Which would alienate both the skeptics and the nuts-and-bolts Extraterrestrial Hypothesis crowd.

And that is where Conroy loses me: He seems to go all in on using Whitley Strieber's experiences as an example of how alien contact stories are basically the same phenomenon as stories of angels and demons, and Conroy apparently buys Strieber's belief there are literal existing entities who have presented themselves as gods, demons, fairies or aliens depending on the culture of the humans they interact with. Some of Strieber's attempts at fitting his various experiences into one larger narrative can get pretty damn loopy, hence my surprise at Conroy not being more critical of them. There's lots of interesting investigative work here, but also much of the selectively applied skepticism that aggravates me more and more about the more unorthodox corners of ufology and other paranormal subcultures.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good companion to Communion. A very good example of journalism.

I haven't read the book in over ten years, but I think this was where I learned of Strieber's apparent brain abnormality and his inability to determine where he was on a particularly significant historic day. Was he on campus the day the clocktower shooter took his shots, or not, because Strieber has said he both was and wasn't there. His inability to differntiate truth from imagined truth is interesting, to say the least. This raised many questions on my part, but they were also weaved with curiosity regarding whether or not this potential brain defect led to Strieber being such a good writer and creator of tales in the first place.

[Judy]

Readable but not convincing.