Like many of the respondents to this page I too am not entirely convinced what happened to me was an abduction, but I certainly have had many odd little occurences that seem to fit the bill.
Let me begin by addressing the issue of memory. I suppose there are many rational explanations for why one would suffer from memory loss, but I can't put a finger on why I have such limited recollection of my past. I'm 24 years old, but I feel like I've already got the beginnings of Alzheimer's. So many people I know can recall many specific incidents from their childhood, but I just don't have those memories. It's all just a blur for the most part. It's as though my memory functions more like an outline of my past with only major sections stored with little detail available.
The few distinct memories I do have revolve around some peculiar "dreams" I had when I was around 4-6 years old. One of these dreams was (to the best of my recollection) a recurring one which I always seemed to understand was going to happen. In it, a "bigfoot" creature would come through my window and pick me up to take me to where the other "bigfoot" creatures were. I remember specifically the fact that there was a larger, more caring "bigfoot" that told me she was my mother. That calmed my fear. There was also a smaller one who was there to just help out it seemed. I was taken to the group of "bigfoots" and then returned later. I suppose this dream could be interpreted and explained in many ways, but I found it odd that it is the only dream that I recall from my childhood. And it seems to fit the replacement memory theory where-in one replaces a more disturbing image with one that is less bothersome (although I don't know why I would replace an alien with the image of bigfoot).
Another thing that I experienced was something that I had always kept to myself for lack of any means of explaining it. Then I read a book on abductions and found a very similar experience. It was around the same time, 4-6 years old, when I was in my sister's bed just laying there. The next thing I knew I had this low tone vibrating in my head. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt/heard. It was completely internal, but there was a visual element to it that was projected in my head. It was like a TV static looking ball, but it had an organic nature to it. And as crazy as this seems, I remember feeling it's intelligence. It wasn't like it was talking to me, but I just had this inner understanding that this "energy packet" was pure intelligence.
Okay, now I'll skip ahead to about fourteen years later. I have always had more than just a passing interest in UFOs and the entire alien phenomenon, but I have experienced strange spurts of increased interest then subsequent disinterest. Is that a trait? Anyway, when I was about eighteen, I went through a period where for no apparent reason, I would wake up on various mornings to find blood stains in my underwear. The occasions were completely random and spread apart, and when I went to a urologist he really couldn't give me any explanation. I remember around this time having a very vivid dream where I went to the window in the middle of the night and the entire sky was glowing with a bright blue light.
As for a feeling of paralysis that everyone has been describing, I too have had this. However, I'm fairly certain this is a completely explainable phenomenon known as sleep paralysis. When you go to sleep your mind sends out a chemical to your muscles to "paralyze" them so you won't physicalize your dream movements. Sometimes the brain sends out the chemical too early when you're not quite asleep. The result is a terrifying concious feeling of paralyzation.
Well, there are other experiences I've had that I won't bother you with since I've taken up way too much space already, but I would appreciate your comments on my occurences.
I find your 'Bigfoot' encounter of particular interest as I recalled standing in front of a large Grey who I called 'Father'. Incredible, but true. What if these alien creatures are somehow 'related' to us? Not to our biological bodies, but to the essence that we call soul or spirit. What if our very life-force is other-than-human?
Regarding your comments on "sleep paralysis". I disagree that this is a natural process of sleep and biochemically caused to prevent us from moving about in our sleep. I believe the state of paralysis is externally produced to awaken our soul/spirit/etheral self into what is commonly known as an OBE state. I have produced "sleep paralysis" repeatedly through the use of auto-hypnosis, deeping the self-imposed hypnotic trance until my body was completely paralyzed but my mind was fully consciously awake. In each instance, an OBE occurred, preceded by a low-tone vibration in my head.
Don't look for logical, rational answers to this baffling phenomena. There simply aren't any. -- Editor