The Dana Centre is the UK's only adults-only venue exploring contemporary and controversial science. Photo courtesy the Science Museum, London

New research has been released, supporting what scientists have long suspected: alien abduction may be all in the mind.

The Alien Intrigue debate at London’s Dana Centre on October 26 2005, explored the evidence showing that people who report contact with aliens have a psychological profile that makes them more prone to false memories. It also said that they are more likely to believe in the paranormal and claim to have experienced more paranormal activity than the wider public.

The research was carried out by Professor Chris French, Head of the Anomolistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmith's College, London. He examined the psychological differences between those who claimed to have experienced alien abduction and non-experiencers.

Thousands of people across the world have claimed to have been abducted by aliens. Image courtesy the Science Museum, London

Professor French studied psychological traits in two groups of 19 so-called ‘experiencers’ and 19 non-experiencers. He found that experiencers scored higher in tests like tendency to hallucinate, paranormal belief and experience, fantasy proneness, and history of sleep paralysis.

Sleep paralysis is a condition where, upon waking, a person is aware of their surroundings but unable to move. In this state they are susceptible to auditory and visual hallucinations.

“In the late 20th century, an increasing number of people around the world began to claim that they had had a most bizarre experience,” said Professor French.

The debate is part of a series of alien themed events and runs in conjunction with a new exhibition at the Science Museum. Image courtesy the Science Museum, London

“The abductees, or ‘experiencers’ as they prefer to be known, would describe how they had found themselves on board an alien spaceship where they were subjected to (often painful) medical examination…Although it is hard to estimate just how many people have conscious memories of this kind it is likely to run into at least several thousand worldwide.”

The debate also looked at wider aspects of mankind’s fascination with the concept of extra-terrestrial life. It explored the concept of ‘aliens’ in history, culture and psychology and why so many people believe that we have been visited by them.

The Dana Centre is part of the Science Museum and is the UK’s only venue for discussion of contemporary and controversial science. A season of Alien-themed events is running at the centre, in conjunction with the Science Museum’s major new exhibition The Science of Aliens.