AN ABDUCTION REVELATION

Hay (The Comeback Kid, 2011) revises his first memoir in light of new extraterrestrial details.

A life story that includes deployment with the Navy, two marriages and the staggering cultural changes of the latter half of the 20th century—that all seems exciting enough to merit a book. Indeed, Hay wrote that memoir, but he’s decided there’s more yet to tell. Here, he reveals the “intriguing and mysterious phenomenon buried within [his] subconscious.” On advice from his ex-wife, he adopted an ascetic lifestyle that removed blocks from his memory. What those blocks had hidden from memory was a string of alien abductions, beginning in his adolescence. With knowledge of his whole history, he realized how deeply these experiences shaped his body, his mind and his identity. The abductors had left him with “increased IQ, improved hand-eye coordination, eyesight, and a few other enhancements.” 978-1452559575 These heightened skills played a role in Hay’s Navy career and in his subsequent secret work with NASA to “develop an effective communication device” to facilitate contact between the abductors and humanity. This secret job led Hay to a series of realizations about the abductors, himself and the world. The end of the story comes with an unexpected twist that nothing had foreshadowed, making it as jarring as it is surprising. The prose isn’t especially sparkling, but Hay carries the story with a conversational style and passion. While it may be difficult for readers to believe tales of time travel, cloning and secret government conspiracies, it’s easy to believe that Hay is convinced, and his conviction makes for an oddly compelling book.

An amusing sci-fi/memoir curiosity.