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                   Report on Hopkins' Napolitano case

A Report on Hopkin's Napolitano Case

This article taken from <A HREF="news:alt.paranet.ufo">
alt.paranet.ufo on 1/29/1994


This is the final report on the investigation of the Hopkins
Linda Napolitano case by George Hansen, Joe Stefula and Rich
Butler.

M E M O

To:   Those Interested in the UFO Problem

From: Joseph J. Stefula, Richard D. Butler, George P. Hansen

Date: 08 January 1993

Re:   Budd Hopkins' case of the abduction of Linda
Napolitano

Enclosed is our report on the much acclaimed case of the UFO
abduction of Linda Napolitano.  We invite your comments.

Hopkins' claims have generated enormous publicity and have
been mentioned in the New York Times, Omni, the Wall Street
Journal, and Paris Match, among others.  As such, this case is
likely to have a substantial impact on the field of ufology.

Leadership in both the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and the J.
Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) aggressively
opposed our investigation, and both previously refused to publish
our criticisms.  This raises grave questions about the scientific
and journalistic integrity of MUFON and CUFOS.

Those organizations have many members, and we are unable to
provide more than a few copies of this paper to others.  We
ask you to help us with the distribution.  Please feel free to make
copies of this article, post it on electronic bulletin boards, and
print it in periodicals.


A Critique of Budd Hopkins' Case of the UFO Abduction of Linda
Napolitano

by Joseph J. Stefula, Richard D. Butler, and George P. Hansen

ABSTRACT:  Budd Hopkins has made a number of public presentations of a
purported UFO abduction case with multiple witnesses.  The primary
abductee is Linda Napolitano, who lives in an apartment building on
the lower east side of Manhattan (New York City).  She claims to have
been abducted by extraterrestrial aliens from her 12th floor apartment
in November 1989.  It is claimed that three witnesses in a car two
blocks away observed Linda and alien beings float out of a window and
ascend into a craft.  One alleged witness was United Nations Secretary
General Javier Perez de Cuellar.  It is also claimed that a woman on
the Brooklyn Bridge observed the abduction.  Linda has reported nose
bleeds, and one X-ray displays an implant in her nose.

To date, Hopkins has provided no full, detailed written report,
but he did publish a couple five page articles in the September and
December 1992 issues of the Mufon UFO Journal and made a presentation
at the 1992 MUFON symposium. We have made use of that information as
well as records from other presentations, and we have interviewed the
abductee.  A number of serious questions arose from our examination.
The case has many exotic aspects, and we have identified a science
fiction novel that may have served as the basis for elements of the
story.

Several prominent leaders in ufology have become involved, and their
behavior and statements have been quite curious.  Some have aggressively
attempted to suppress evidence of a purported attempted murder.  The
implications for the understanding of ufology are discussed.

Budd Hopkins is the person most responsible for drawing attention
to the problem of the extraterrestrial (ET) abduction experience.  His
efforts have been instrumental in stimulating both media attention and
scientific research devoted to the problem.  He has written two popular
books (Missing Time, 1981, and Intruders, 1987), established the
Intruders Foundation, and has made innumerable appearances at conferences
and in the media.

Although Hopkins is neither a trained therapist, an academic, nor a
scientist, he has involved such people in his work.  John E. Mack, M.D.,
a Pulitzer Prize winner and former head of the psychiatry department at
Harvard Medical School, has praised Hopkins' work and acknowledged his
indebtedness to him (Mack, 1992a, 1992b).  Hopkins has collaborated with
university professors in co-authoring an article in the book
Unusual Personal Experiences (1992), which was sent to 100,000 mental
health professionals.  He has testified as an expert witness at a
hearing regarding the medical competence of a physician who claims to
have been abducted (McKenna, 1992).  Because of such strong endorsements
and impressive affiliations, and because of his untiring work on
behalf of abductees, Hopkins has become the single most visible figure
in the UFO abduction field.  His contributions, positive or negative,
will be quickly noticed by those inside and outside ufology.

Last year, Hopkins made a number of public presentations about a
spectacular UFO abduction case occurring in November 1989 and having
multiple witnesses. The primary abductee was Linda Napolitano, a
woman living on the 12th floor of a high-rise apartment building in
lower Manhattan (New York City) [Hopkins has previously used the
pseudonym "Linda Cortile" in this case]. It is claimed that three
witnesses in a car two blocks away observed Linda and three ET aliens
emerge from a window and ascend into a craft.  Further it is claimed
that a woman who was driving across the Brooklyn Bridge also saw the
event.

The case has generated enormous interest and drawn international
attention. It has been discussed in the Wall Street Journal
(Jefferson, 1992), Omni (Baskin, 1992), Paris Match (De Brosses, 1992),
the New York Times (Sontag, 1992), and Hopkins and Napolitano have
appeared on the television show Inside Edition.  The Mufon UFO Journal
labeled it "The Abduction Case of the Century" (Stacy, 1992, p. 9).
Even the technical magazine ADVANCE for Radiologic Science Professionals
carried a discussion of Linda's nasal implant (Hatfield, 1992).  We
should expect continuing coverage of the affair not only in the UFO
press but also in the major media.

In a short article previewing his 1992 MUFON symposium
presentation, he wrote: "I will be presenting what I believe to be the
most important case for establishing the objective reality of UFO
abductions that I have yet encountered" (Hopkins, 1992, p. 20).
During his lecture at the symposium he stated:
"This is probably the most important case I've ever run into in
my life" (tape recorded, July 1992).  In his abstract for the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Abduction Study Conference
held in June 1992 he wrote: "The importance of this case is virtually
immeasurable, as it powerfully supports both the objective reality of
UFO abductions and the accuracy of regressive hypnosis as employed
with this abductee."  Because of Hopkins' renown, and because of his
evaluation, this case warrants our careful scrutiny.

THE AUTHORS' INVOLVEMENT

The first two authors had learned of the case before Hopkins had spoken
publicly of it, and they decided to monitor its progress.  They
regularly briefed the third author as their investigation progressed.
As the affair became publicized, all three became concerned about the
long term effect it might have on abduction research.

For several years Richard Butler attended Hopkins' informal meetings
organized for abductees and abduction researchers.  Butler became
familiar with the case during those meetings, and he invited Stefula to
a gathering in early October 1991.  At the meeting, Hopkins outlined the
case, and afterward, Stefula had a chance to chat with Linda about her
experiences.  Butler and Stefula gave Linda their telephone numbers.
She was advised that if she needed any assistance she could contact them.
Stefula told her that he had numerous contacts in federal and state law
enforcement agencies that could be of aid to her.  The same information
was provided to Hopkins.

On January 28, 1992, Linda requested a meeting with Richard Butler, and
on February 1, 1992, Linda, Stefula and Butler met in New York City,
and Linda provided additional details about her experiences (described
below).  During that meeting, she asked them not to inform Hopkins of
their discussions.  At the 1992 MUFON convention in Albuquerque, New
Mexico in July, both Hopkins and Linda appeared on the podium and
presented the case.  Stefula attended the convention and heard the talk,
and disturbing questions arose.  Some of the statements directly
contradicted what Linda had earlier told Stefula and Butler.  We
contacted Hopkins in an attempt to resolve these matters, but he
declined to meet with us, saying that he didn't want to discuss the
case until his book manuscript was submitted.  Despite his initial
reluctance, eventually a meeting was arranged on October 3, 1992 at
Hopkins' home, and a few more details then emerged.

SUMMARY OF CASE

In order to compile this summary of alleged events, we have relied upon
Hopkins' and Linda's talks from the podium of the 1992 MUFON symposium,
on our interviews with Linda, on Hopkins' talk at the  Portsmouth, New
Hampshire UFO conference, September 13, 1992, and Hopkins' two five-page
articles in the September and December issues of the Mufon UFO Journal.

In April 1989 Hopkins received a letter from Linda Napolitano, a
resident of New York City.  Linda wrote that she had begun reading his
book Intruders and had remembered that 13 years earlier she had detected
a bump next to her nose.  It was examined by a physician who insisted
that she had undergone nasal surgery.  Linda claimed that she never had
such surgery, and she even checked with her mother, who confirmed that
impression.

Hopkins took an interest in the case because there was a potential for
medical evidence and because Linda lived relatively close to Hopkins,
which facilitated their meeting.  Linda visited Hopkins and discussed
her past experiences with him. She recalled some pertinent earlier events
in her life but believed that she was no longer directly involved
with any abduction phenomena.  Linda then began attending meetings of
Hopkins' support group for abductees.

On November 30, 1989, Linda called Hopkins and reported that she
had been abducted during the early morning hours of that day, and she
provided some details.  A few days later, she underwent regressive
hypnosis, and Linda remembered floating out of her apartment window,
12 stories above the ground. She recalled ascending in a bluish-white
beam of light into a craft which was hovering over the building.

Richard and Dan

Over a year later (February 1991), Hopkins received a letter signed
with the first names, Richard and Dan.  (We have no hard evidence that
"Richard" and "Dan" actually exist.  In order to avoid overburdening
the reader, we will typically omit the word "alleged" when mentioning
them.)  The letter claimed that the two were police officers who were
under cover in a car beneath the elevated FDR Drive between 3:00 and
3:30 a.m. in late November 1989.  Above a high-rise apartment building,
they observed a large, bright reddish-orange object with green lights
around its side.  They wrote that they saw a woman and several strange
figures float out a window and up into the object. Richard and Dan said
that they had come across Hopkins' name and decided to write to him.
They went on to say that they were extremely concerned about her well
being, wanted to locate the woman, talk to her, and be assured that she
was alive and safe.  The two also mentioned that they could identify
the building and window from which she emerged.

After receiving the letter, Hopkins promptly called Linda and told her
that she might expect a visit from two policemen.  A few days later,
Linda telephoned Hopkins to tell him that she had been visited by
Richard and Dan.  When they had knocked on her door, introducing
themselves as police officers, she was not too surprized because she
reports that police frequently canvass her apartment complex looking
for witnesses to crimes.  Even with Hopkins' prior call, she did not
expect Richard and Dan to actually appear.  After they arrived and
entered her home, there was an emotional greeting, and they expressed
relief that she was alive.  However, Richard and Dan were disinclined
to meet with or talk to Hopkins, despite the fact that they had written
him earlier and despite Linda's entreaties to do so.  Richard asked
Linda if it was acceptable for them to write out an account of their
experience and then read it into a tape recorder.  She agreed, and a
couple weeks later Hopkins received a tape recording from Richard
describing their experience.

Some time thereafter, Hopkins received a letter from Dan giving a bit
more information.  The letter reported that Richard had taken a leave
of absence because the close encounter had been so emotionally
traumatic.  Dan also mentioned that Richard secretly watched Linda.
(This information is from Hopkins' oral presentation at the 1992 MUFON
symposium in Albuquerque.  At the Portsmouth, New Hampshire conference,
Hopkins said that he had received a letter from Richard saying that Dan
was forced to take of leave of absence.  It is not clear if Hopkins
misspoke at some point, or whether both individuals took leaves of
absence.)

Hopkins received another letter from Dan which said that he and
Richard were not really police officers but actually security officers
who had been driving a very important person (VIP) to a helicopter pad
in lower Manhattan when the sighting occurred.  The letter claimed that
their car stalled, and Richard had pushed it, parking it beneath the
FDR Drive.  According to Dan, the VIP had also witnessed the abduction
event and had become hysterical.

The Kidnappings

Linda claimed that in April of 1991 she encountered Richard on the
street near her apartment.  She was asked to get into a car that Dan
was driving, but she refused.  Richard picked her up and, with some
struggle, forced her into the vehicle.  Linda reported that she was
driven around for 3 1/2 hours, interrogated about the aliens, and asked
whether she worked for the government. She also said that she was forced
to remove her shoes so they could examine her feet to determine whether
she was an ET alien (they later claimed that aliens lack toes).  Linda
did remember another car being involved with the kidnapping, and under
hypnotic regression she recalled the license plate number of that car,
as well as part of the number of the car in which she rode. Hopkins
reports that the numbers have been traced to particular "agencies" (he
gave no further details).

At the MUFON symposium, Linda was asked if she had reported the
kidnapping to the police.  She said that she had not and went on to
say that the kidnapping was legal because it had to do with national
security.

In conversations with Butler in early 1992, Linda had expressed concerns
about her personal safety.  A meeting was arranged with Stefula because
of his background in law enforcement.  During the afternoon and early
evening of February 1, the three met in New York City, and Linda
described further details of the kidnappings.

She reported that on the morning of October 15, 1991, Dan accosted her
on the street and pulled her into a red Jaguar sports car.  Linda
happened to be carrying a tape recorder and was able to surreptitiously
record a few minutes of Dan's questioning, but he soon discovered and
confiscated it.  Dan drove to a beach house on the shore of Long
Island.  There he demanded that Linda remove her clothes and put on a
white nightgown, similar to the one she wore the night of the abduction.
He said he wanted to have sex with her.  She refused but then agreed to
put on the nightgown over her clothes. Once she did, Dan dropped to his
knees and started to talk incoherently about her being the "Lady of
the Sands."  She fled the beach house, but Dan caught her on the beach
and bent her arm behind her.  He placed two fingers on the back of her
neck, leading Linda to believe that it was a gun.  He then forced her
into the water and pushed her head under twice. He continued to rave
incoherently, and as her head was being pushed under for the third time, she
believed that she would not come up again.  Then, a "force" hit Dan and
knocked him back onto the beach. She started to run but heard a sound
like a gun being cocked.  She looked back and saw Dan taking a picture
of her (Linda mentioned that pictures from the beach were eventually
sent to Hopkins).  She continued running, but Richard appeared beside
her, seemingly out of nowhere.  He stopped her and convinced her to
return to the beach house and told her that he would control Dan by
giving him a Mickey Finn.  She agreed.  Once inside, Richard put Dan in
the shower to wash off the mud and sand from the beach.  This gave Linda
a chance to search the premises; she recovered her casette tape and
discovered stationery bearing a Central Intelligence Agency letterhead.

In a brief conversation on October 3, 1992, Hopkins told Hansen that
Linda came to him shortly after she arrived back in Manhattan after the
kidnapping. She was disheveled, had sand in her hair, and was
traumatized by the experience.

Further Contacts with Richard and Dan

During the February 1 meeting with Butler and Stefula, Linda reported
that she had met Richard outside a Manhattan bank on November 21, 1991.
He told her of Dan's deteriorating mental condition.  During the
Christmas season, Linda received a card and a three page letter from Dan
(dated 12/14/91). The letter bore a United Nations stamp and postmark
(the UN building in New York has a post office which anyone can use).
Dan wrote that he was in a mental institution and was kept sedated.  He
expressed a strong romantic interest in Linda.  Some of his remarks
suggested that he wanted to kidnap her, take her out of the country, and
marry her; Linda seemed alarmed by this (she gave a copy of the letter
to Stefula and Butler).

Linda also asserted that on December 15 and December 16, 1991, one of
the men had tried to make contact with her near the shopping area of
the South Street Seaport.  He was driving a large black sedan with Saudi
Arabian United Nations license plates.  During the first incident, to
avoid him, Linda reported that she went into a shop.  The second day a
similar thing happened, and she stood next to some businessmen until
he left the area.

The Third Man

At the February 1 meeting, Linda mentioned that Hopkins had received a
letter from "the third man" (the VIP), and she was able to repeat entire
sentences from this letter, seemingly verbatim.  It discussed ecological
danger to the planet, and Linda indicated that aliens were involved in
ending the Cold War.  The letter ended with a warning to Hopkins
to stop searching for "the third man" because it could potentially do
harm to world peace.

Linda also related a few more details of her November 1989 abduction.
She said that the men in the car had felt a strong vibration at the
time of the sighting.  Linda also claimed that in subsequent hypnotic
regressions she recalled being on a beach with Dan, Richard, and the
third man, and she thought somehow she was being used by the aliens to
control the men.  She communicated with the men telepathically and said
that she felt that she had known Richard prior to the November 1989
abduction, and she suggested that they possibly had been abducted
together previously.  We also learned that the third man was actually
Javier Perez de Cuellar, at that time Secretary General of the United
Nations.  Linda claimed that the various vehicles used in her
kidnappings had been traced to several countries' missions at the UN.

At the Portsmouth, New Hampshire conference, Hopkins spoke of the third
man saying: "I am trying to do what I can to shame this person to come
forward."

Witness on the Brooklyn Bridge

In the summer of 1991, a year and a half after the UFO abduction, Hopkins
received a letter from a woman who is a retired telephone operator from
Putnam County, New York (Hopkins has given this woman the pseudonym of
Janet Kimble). Hopkins did not bother to open the letter, and in
November 1991, he received another one from her marked on the outside
"CONFIDENTIAL, RE: BROOKLYN BRIDGE." The odd outside marking and the fact
that she had written two letters, seem to have raised no suspicions in
Hopkins' mind.  The woman, a widow of about sixty, claimed to have been
driving on the Brooklyn Bridge at 3:16 a.m., November 30, 1989.  She
reported that her car stopped and the lights went out.  She too saw a
large, brightly lit object over a building; in fact, the light was so
bright that she was forced to shield her eyes, though she was over a
quarter mile away.  Nevertheless, she claimed to have observed four
figures in fetal positions emerge from a window.  The figures
simultaneously uncurled and then moved up into the craft.  Ms. Kimble was
quite frightened by the event, and people in cars behind her were
"running all around their cars with theirs (sic) hands on their heads,
screaming from horror and disbelief" (quoted in Hopkins, 1992d, p. 7).

She wrote:
"I have never traveled back to New York City after what I saw and
I never will again, for any reason" (Hopkins, 1992d, p. 5). Despite her
intense fear and all the commotion, she had the presence of mind to
rummage through her purse to find her cigarette lighter to illuminate
her watch in order to determine the time.

Hopkins has interviewed this woman in person and over the phone.  The
woman claimed to have obtained his name in a bookstore; she called the
Manhattan directory assistance for his telephone number and then looked
up his address in the Manhattan White Pages.  She alleges that she was
reticent about speaking of the incident and had only told her son,
daughter, sister, and brother-in-law about the event.

The Nasal X-ray

In November 1991 a doctor, whom Hopkins describes as "closely connected
with Linda," took an X-ray of Linda's head because she knew about the
story of the nasal implant and because Linda frequently spoke of the
problem with her nose.  The X-ray was not developed immediately.  A few
days later the doctor brought it to Linda but was very nervous and
unwilling to discuss it.  Linda took it to Hopkins, who showed it to a
neurosurgeon friend of his.  The neurosurgeon was astounded; a sizeable,
clearly non-natural object could be seen in the nasal area.  Hopkins has
shown a slide of the X-ray during his presentations, and the implant is
strikingly apparent, even to a lay audience. The object has a shaft
approximately 1/4 inch long with a curly-cue wire structure on each end.

Other Unusual Aspects of the Case <P>

During our meeting with Linda on February 1, she gave us additional
miscellaneous details that might be pertinent.  We were told that she
believed that she was under surveillance and described a light
silver-gray van that had parked near her apartment.  She also claimed
that she had once been a professional singer and the lead on a hit
record, but she had lost her singing voice one day while in the shower.
Linda mentioned that she was given to understand that her blood was
quite unusual.  A doctor had informed her that her red blood cells did
not die, but instead they rejuvenated.  She wondered whether this might
be due to an alien influence; some time later she attempted to locate
the doctor but was unable to do so.  Linda seemed to imply that she now
believed that she was part alien or somehow worked with the aliens.

Linda also told us that she had an agreement with Budd Hopkins to split
equally any profits from a book on the case.

INITIAL PROBLEMS WITH THE CASE

There are a number of obvious but unanswered questions that raise
immediate doubts about the credibility of the case.

The most serious problem is that the three alleged principal
corroborating witnesses (Richard, Dan, and Perez de Cuellar) have not
been interviewed face-to-face by Hopkins, although it has been over a
year and a half since initial contact with Hopkins and over three years
since the abduction.

Richard and Dan allegedly met with Linda and have written letters to
Hopkins.  Linda has a picture of Dan.  Yet Dan and Richard refuse to
speak directly with Hopkins.  No hard evidence confirms that Richard
and Dan even exist.

Though they initially expressed extreme concern over the well being of
Linda, the alleged "Dan" and "Richard" waited more than a year before
contacting Linda and Hopkins.  Why?  Furthermore, they contacted
Hopkins before they visited Linda.  How did this come about?  After all,
they knew the location of Linda's apartment, so it would seem that they
would have had no reason to contact Hopkins.  Why did they bother with
him at all?
The woman on the bridge said that before contacting Hopkins she only
discussed the matter with her son, daughter, sister and brother-in-law.
Why didn't she contact other UFO investigators?  Why only
Hopkins?  If there is some unclear reporting on this point and she did
actually contact others, can such be verified?  Has there been any
investigation of this woman such as checking with her neighbors, friends,
family, or previous employers? What is her background?  Has she had any
previous relationship with Linda? These questions have not been
addressed, and thus the credibility of the only directly interviewed,
corroborating, first-hand witness remains in doubt.

Dan has spent time in a mental institution.  Richard suffered extreme
emotional distress, forcing him to take a leave of absence from his job.
Assuming that these two people actually exist, one must now be careful in
accepting their claims (even if offered in good faith).  Despite their
debilitating mental problems, at least one of them was allowed to drive a
car with UN license plates.  Are we really to believe that they returned
to active duty in a sensitive position (presumably carrying firearms) and
were given use of an official car?

Who was the doctor who took the X-rays?  We are only told that this
person is closely connected with Linda.  Why isn't a formal report
available?
Given the alarming nature of the outcome, why wasn't there an immediate
examination? Linda said that the doctor was "nervous" and didn't want to
talk about the X- ray.  It is not clear whether Hopkins has ever met this
alleged doctor. Instead, Hopkins showed the X-ray to a friend of his.
Some have speculated that Linda may have simply put some small object in
her nose and had a friendly X-ray technician assist.  We have seen no
evidence to exclude this possibility.

Linda claims that she was kidnapped twice, nearly drowned, and further
harassed.  Yet she refuses to contact the police, even after Hopkins'
urging. During the February 1, 1992 meeting with Stefula and Butler,
Linda asked if she had legal grounds to "shoot" Dan if he attempted
another abduction of her by force.  Stefula advised against it and
recommended that she go to the police and make an official complaint.
She declined.  If she was afraid, why didn't her husband contact
authorities?  The most plausible reason is that if a report was filed,
and her story proved false, she could be subject to criminal charges.
Linda's failure here raises enormous questions of credibility.