Wednesday, September 17, 2008





Would Fear of Alien Invasion Trigger Mass Psychogenic Illness?

One might wonder about unintended consequences of revealing our world has been visited by an extraterrestrial presence -- perhaps there should be a psychogenic/extraterrestrial threat assessment division at the Department of Homeland Security! (We were contacted by someone affiliated with DHS who expressed an interest in UFO-related phenomena, but assumed this was merely a personal inquiry.)

Is the fear of an alien invasion be enough to trigger a mass psychogenic illness?

4 comments:

Tony F. said...

The longer I stare into its eyes... the deeper into them I go.

Anonymous said...

Honestly, this is bunk. "Psychogenic Illness" is a wonderful little meme to sidestep the issue. Just like "Terrorism" I would expect the population to incorporate the new paradigm of alien contact into their day-to-day reality.

Sure it might take longer and have some casualties but I severely doubt we'd all hit the ground paralyzed with fear ;) This of course depends entirely on how the governments of this planet handle acclimation (they've done a shit job so far).

-Denny

Mac said...

I think exposure to FOX news can spread psychogenic illness . . .

Anonymous said...

"...I would expect the population to incorporate the new paradigm of alien contact into their day-to-day reality."

"Sure it might take longer and have some casualties but I severely doubt we'd all hit the ground paralyzed with fear..."


Pretty presumptuous when you have no idea what the nature or intent of any possible "alien presence" might be. Ditto on "disclosure" and "acclimation."

What if you're wrong?