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Cosmic Kidnapping: Alien Abduction Narratives, Popular (Oc)culture and the Folkloresque
Stockholm University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Stockholm Business School.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2787-7438
2026 (English)In: Handbook of Contemporary Religion, Film, and Television / [ed] Carole M. Cusack; Venetia Laura Delano Robertson, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2026, p. 403-431Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Beginning in the mid-1960s, and reaching its apex in the 1980s and 1990s, narratives about alien abductions would become an increasingly central part within the ufological movement or milieu. These narratives typically relate a purported experience where a victim is captured in bed, or on the road, at night, and is forced to undergo terrorising medical procedures. From a folkloric perspective, such narratives show an affinity with similar folk beliefs about supernatural assault, kidnap or capture. At the same time, the image of the abducting grey alien has spread outside of the confines of ufology and entered popular culture. Investigating this intersection of folklore and popular culture, this chapter discusses how films and series such as The UFO Incident, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The X-Files and Taken draws upon a wider occultural milieu, and further on how they can act as vectors in the proliferation of the contemporary legends of alien abductions.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2026. p. 403-431
Series
Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, ISSN 1874-6691 ; 24
National Category
History of Religions
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-251415DOI: 10.1163/9789004727595_022ISBN: 978-90-04-72758-8 (print)ISBN: 978-90-04-72759-5 (electronic)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-251415DiVA, id: diva2:2030347
Available from: 2026-01-20 Created: 2026-01-20 Last updated: 2026-02-02Bibliographically approved

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Östling, Erik A. W.

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
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  • de-DE
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Output format
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