In August 1976 four men — two artist brothers and two friends — were night fishing from a boat on a lake in the north Maine woods when, by their account, a bright sphere over the water put a beam on them. After that there was a gap: the campfire they had built before going out had burned to ash. Twelve years later all four went under hypnosis separately and described an examination inside a craft. One of the brothers drew what he had seen, and the drawings became the well-known part of the story. It is one of very few abduction cases with several witnesses at once, and simultaneously the sceptics' main exhibit: hypnosis recovers suggested images as readily as memories.

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Zhigulyovsk and the Mirages of the Samara Bend

Samarskaya Luka and the Zhiguli Mountains surrounding the town of Zhigulyovsk form a dramatic tectonic bend where the Volga River loops 200 kilometers around an ancient limestone massif. The region is recognized as one of Russia's primary epicenters for optical anomalies, where chronic mirages, floating "ghost cities" over the water, and mysterious light pillars have been documented for centuries.