MovieChat Forums > The Fourth Kind (2009) Discussion > The Owl is is stolen from Whitley Strieb...

The Owl is is stolen from Whitley Strieber's 'Communion' .

posted 9 years ago by movie_nazi
19 replies | jump to latest

I am currently reading Whitley Strieber's Communion and he specifically states that when he tries to recall the events of the previous night's encounter all he can remember is seeing a barn Owl. Below is an excerpt from the book.

I awoke the morning of the twenty-seventh very much as usual, but grappling with a distinct sense of unease and a very improbable but intense memory of seeing a barn owl staring at me through the window sometime during the night.

I have a feeling that this entire film's script was pieced together from excerpts of allegedly real encounters from famous books dealing with the subject such as Whitley Strieber and famed Harvard psychiatrist John E. Mack who interviewed many victims of alien abduction. This is where they come out with this "real events" line. This script is hacky as f^%k.

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[–] sflowers539 9 years ago

Yeah, they pulled that and a few other things directly from abduction research from people like Jacobs, Mack and Hopkins. As for the real events thing, it is sick how far you can stretch that. The writer of the movie "The Strangers" once as a child had someone come to his parents house, ring the bell, and ask for someone who no longer lived there....... he somehow stretched that incident into being allowed to call that movie "based on real events", and there have been even more egregious stretches then that.

[–] movie_nazi 9 years ago

The writer of the movie "The Strangers" once as a child had someone come to his parents house, ring the bell, and ask for someone who no longer lived there....... he somehow stretched that incident into being allowed to call that movie "based on real events", and there have been even more egregious stretches then that.

Really? Man, that's BS! That means you can practically do any movie with a "based on real events" premise. LOL I mean, you can do the next X-Men movie and preface the beginning with "based on real events" .

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[–] sized-2 9 years ago

Not sure stolen is the proper term since many abductees have reported that, and other things depicted in the film. A film about...alien abductions. The Exorcist didn't steal speaking in tongues, it's a reported possession phenomenon.

[–] movie_nazi 9 years ago

Not sure stolen is the proper term since many abductees have reported that, and other things depicted in the film. A film about...alien abductions. The Exorcist didn't steal speaking in tongues, it's a reported possession phenomenon.

Name me another allegedly true alien abduction story with the owl. The interwebs is at your finger tips.

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[–] sized-2 9 years ago

I was part of the staff of MSN's UFO Forum/Community in the late 90s and met weekly online with alien abductees. This is a common phenomenon that Whitley not only wrote about him having, but even says that it's common for the participants to have this.

https://books.google.com/books?id=B83jrzcOMmoC&pg=PA369&lpg=PA369&dq=owls+aliens+abduction&source=bl&ots=7oVdZzIdjE&sig=gTCBHxvOFRT1XCRbXAwcVwjeccU&hl=en&ei=FcRfSu2xDIKItge24tTfAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q=owls%20aliens%20abduction&f=false

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] movie_nazi 9 years ago

Interesting. I never heard of any cases reporting the owl phenomenon.

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[–] blubird-1 8 years ago

Its not always the Owl. Many other types of animals are reported to be seen, Owl is just one of them.

[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

Streiber didn't invent it though -- if he's to be believed, he was reporting real-life experiences, and similar motifs crop up in the writings of people like Budd Hopkins and John A. Keel.

It's not Streiber's literary intellectual property; it's really part of abduction lore, so it's fair enough to include.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] movie_nazi 9 years ago

I honestly haven't heard about it until someone on here pointed it out. I am not a UFO researcher or anything but it is a subject I follow quite avidly especially the abduction phenomenon. I personally believe Strieber is FOS. I think he may have encountered a writer's rut and decided to go with this. I have read Communion and it just plays out like a fictional novel. However I do believe the jury is still out on the phenomenon.

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[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

I agree with you on Streiber, m_n. Communion read to me like a very timely piece of fiction that carefully dropped all the hot buzzwords.

Like you, I'm intrigued by the abduction phenomenon, though I'm very undecided as to what's really the truth of it all. I'm also intrigued by the Jungian perspective on such things, and from what I've read, the false memory of owls and other woodland animals comes up reasonably often (unsurprisingly, because of the eyes and the perception of staring).

One book I remember reading which I found interesting on the subject of abductions was "Dark White", by journalist Jim Schnabel. (I had to look up the author's name on Amazon.) I recommend it, if you haven't already read it. It's not invested like Hopkins or Streiber.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] movie_nazi 9 years ago

One book I remember reading which I found interesting on the subject of abductions was "Dark White", by journalist Jim Schnabel. (I had to look up the author's name on Amazon.) I recommend it, if you haven't already read it. It's not invested like Hopkins or Streiber.

I appreciate the recommendation. I have also read John E. Mack's book Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens but the one I found especially interesting is the book by David Jacobs The Threat. I get the impression that he is honestly trying to get to the bottom of the phenomenon but I still remain unconvinced that it is indeed happening although I have yet to rule it out. He seems to be extra careful to not lead the experiencers in his hypnotic regression sessions going as far as to try to lead them away. Whether your find it convincing or not it is indeed an entertaining read for one interested in the abduction phenomenon.

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[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

Thanks for returning the favour! I'll definitely check it out.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] filterfan86-1 9 years ago

I was thinking the same thing. Whitley Strieber highlighted the false memory phenomenon in his book before this fail of a movie. ~ In his book he claimed to have seen an "owl" looking at him outside his window, another abductee said she remembers following a deer outside the field and dont have no memory on why she was bruised, and another claimed to have seen a bunch of rabbits sworm around his car. All of these were false memories of alien abductions. Yes this movie that claims to be "true" stole the idea from him.

[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

I was thinking the same thing.

I'm not sure what this refers to, since you go on to say the opposite.

I think the point is that although Streiber wrote about this, he's not the only one, and he didn't "invent" it (unless you're one of those who thinks that all this is made up by the authors). It's part of the folklore of abductions.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] filterfan86-1 9 years ago

How was I saying the opposite? I was agreeing with the op and gave my reason why this was stolen from Strieber's book. Strieber is not the only one who had false memories but he was the one who stated he saw an owl outside his window which was in fact a alien grey. Reason why I think they stole the ideas because they had to go with the owl meomery.Why did they have to go with the owl phenomenon? Other people describe other animals like a deer,rabbit,etc.They could have used a squirrel or something not an owl.Budd Hopkins even said this movie was complete garbage and it was. It basically made a mockery of the alien abduction phenonmenon and it's lore.

[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

Ahh, I see. When you replied to my psot, it made it sound like the "same thing" you were agreeing with was my comment, which is why it seemed you'd then said the opposite of what you appeared to be agreeing with. If you were referring to the OP, then that's what you should have replied to, or else used a quote.

It basically made a mockery of the alien abduction phenonmenon and it's lore.

I completely disagree.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] filterfan86-1 9 years ago

I dont know how to use the quote feature I have tried and failed :(

[–] 9 years ago

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