Why would Aliens Abduct Humans?

Hello. My name is Chris, and I'm an independent investigator and researcher. I run a blog which catalogs information about UFOs and supposed alien abduction. I have been doing this blog for about three years now, and have collected hundreds of testimonials of people claiming to have been abducted.

When people learn of my hobby, one of the common questions I get, following the initial "Do you think UFOs are Extraterrestrial Craft?" is "Do you think people are being abducted?" To both questions, I'm always careful how I answer, but ultimately the question is possibly for the first, and no for the second. While the evidence could be falsified, there are a few instances of video and photographic evidence dealing with unidentified flying objects, which leave me puzzled. However, in no case do I have proof positive of anything.

But, when people do ask me these questions, a bigger question looms in the back of my mind. "Why?"

I've taken time to look over accounts, and have a theory. Before we can explore my theory, we have to take into account a few things. I have to modify your thinking. First, you need to let go, and assume that these Unidentified Craft are really what they are purported to be. Second, you need to assume that they are manned by living creatures.

Large assumptions, I know, but bear with me.

Before we can examine why, we need to look at decent reasons 'why not'. As a result, I will try to offer explanations, trying to debunk a few other theories as to why the beings might be on Earth. Thus, advanced drone craft, or using long-range telescopes for monitoring life, are out of the question (even though they are great explanations to why aliens wouldn't leave their own home systems).

Experimentation or Study

Being technologically advanced, it seems doubtful to me that aliens would need more than a few human specimens. After these initial encounters, their computers should likely be able to construct mathematical models of us, to run simulations for experiments. Star Trek alluded to this all the time, and much of our entertainment (video games) is broaching the line from being simple amusement to actual simulation.

Benevolence

If we assume aliens are here, and they are benevolent, I think they would choose one of two routes. Either they would choose the route of full disclosure to us, or they would choose to hide their presence in order to preserve our cultural evolution. In doing so, I believe that they would try to avoid any situation where they might contaminate us, so they wouldn't be landing on Earth at all.

Malevolence

One of the more interesting theories I've always heard, is that there are secret cabals of Aliens working on the Planet, attempting to conquer us from within. This strikes me as particularly odd. While we can guess at the level of computer and social technology they might have, having FTL drive as well, we are pretty confident in knowing they have an energy generator that exceeds anything we know of today, at least anti-matter based, or more advanced. Naturally, it wouldn't be too hard to adapt this into a weapon system. The idea that they wouldn't be able to obliterate us from Orbit...or from Pluto for that matter, seems odd.

Now given that, why would they be visiting us? Well, to me, there are few reasons why they would ever want to come in contact with a singular human being. I've only come up with two theories. The first I believe to be only one step above utter nonsense, the second actually seems somewhat logical, assuming they are flying around in the first place.

Breeding

I used to reject all Alien Abduction narratives that involved sexuality, almost immediately, likely due to my own bias. It seemed hard for me to imagine that alien beings would travel 1000 light-years, just in order to have sex with a farmer, or to probe someone. It seemed even weirder that our thermometers and suppositories were less invasive than this advanced civilization's probing devices. To some extent, I still hold that most of these stories are the result of either delusions of grandeur (I'm so important, Aliens want me) or sexual repression.

However, that being said, one thing did strike my attention. Imagine you were an alien species seeking to colonize a planet, however the planet is not in your habitable zone, but something close to it. Somehow, your technology is able to overcome whatever genetic differences, so that you can create a hybrid.

However, this still seems incredibly unlikely. Even if you assume that the alien's technology is sufficient enough to ignore natural laws, it still seems like a huge waste of resources for relatively minor gain, especially given that you could fly off somewhere, and find a suitable planet that was within your range of habitation. The only way this would make sense, is if we had a resource that was relatively rare.

Pit-Stop Theory

I used to be in the United States Army, and this is where my second theory came from. No, I never worked on government black ops, I never saw an extraterrestrial, nor did I find an underground base or weird document. Trust me, I wish I had, that would be way cooler.

Actually, my idea came to me, while I was driving from Atlanta Georgia to Ft Stewart, in a convoy of about five National Guard Humvees. Anyone who has been with the Guard, knows that the trucks we have back in the States, are...ahem...unreliable. No matter what convoy, you will have one truck break down about every 100 miles, any less than that, and you are lucky.

Well, today was my day. The truck I was driving started getting hot, and we pulled it over on the side of the road in rural Georgia. One of us walked to the nearest gas station to get some sodas, and the other two waited for a service truck (which broke down while coming to get us). The guy I was stranded with was a good friend of mine, so it was good conversation.

Eventually, we talked about a science-fiction MMORPG game we both play, EVE Online. He remarked, "I'm glad my ship doesn't ever break down."

That is when it occurred to me. It was the most plausible explanation I had ever heard. Imagine there is intergalactic traffic, even if Earth is not a major 'space lane' so to speak, the occasional exploration or survey ship passing through might encounter technical difficulties. If the ship was close to Earth, or if Earth would be the best environment to make repairs, you would have to set down, and conduct your business as quick as you could.

How would this explain the abduction narrative though? That is when my military experience did play a direct role. I remember in Iraq, whenever we had an Iraqi working with us, or for us, we had to insure their personal safety and well-being. If they got hurt on base, we had to treat their injuries, and make sure to 'make them whole' before returning them to the real world. What if abduction narratives are actually the result of alien beings who need to insure that the animal is returned to its natural habitat, with as little damage to it as possible?

If their sufficiently advanced society believed that we should not be interfered with, it would also make a great deal of sense to try to erase the memory of that creature as well. Thus, changing the entirety of the narrative, where the creatures need to make an emergency landing, a couple traveling in the car notice them, the beings apprehend the people, conduct medical checks, erase their memories, and set them on their way. All the while, continuing their own repairs.

Lastly, some of the creatures, specifically the 'Grey' Aliens, have been described as being automatons or robots. This would make sense in order to prevent the real inhabitants from being exposed to danger, and would also make sense if the ship was completely unmanned, like a remote survey drone.

Thanks for taking this trip with me. You were forced to surrender your disbelief, and accept, for a small period of time, that Extraterrestrials were here. I believe that this theory, the Pit-Stop theory, might account for abduction narratives, assuming Aliens or alien craft are operating nearby.

That being said though, this is not an argument that they are operating nearby. Indeed, the arguments against such contact are still rather large. Given the most optimistic estimates allowed in the Drake Equation, there are 72000 civilizations trying to communicate. If we assume 5% are space travelling (in some capacity) that is 3600. There are 300 Billion Stars. As a result, using this as a guideline, there are something like 84 Million Stars for every space faring civilization in the Galaxy.

That is a large number of stars to be explored. Of course, an advanced civilizations could be looking for certain signals that might indicate life. In fact, it seems unlikely that they would dispatch an exploration mission at all, at least, not without significant discovery from their remote sensing equipment.