By Vicky Verma 

Whitley Strieber, born in Texas, United States, is a famous author known for his thought-provoking horror fiction. Strieber wrote a novel called The Wolfen, which later became a popular film in 1980. However, it was his book Communion that garnered significant attention, particularly from the UFO community. His book changed this dynamic almost instantly, attracting widespread interest beyond the usual UFOlogy circles.

Strieber’s writings have been adapted into various movies and TV shows, contributing to his global acclaim as a best-selling author. However, his popularity soared after the publication of “Communion” in 1987, a non-fiction novel detailing his encounter with non-human intelligent beings. The book became a major success, reaching the No. 1 spot on The New York Times’ non-fiction bestseller list.

In 1989, a film adaptation of “Communion” was released, featuring actors Christopher Walken and Lindsay Crouse. The author’s real encounter with aliens happened on December 26, 1985, when he was sleeping alone in his cabin in the woods, upstate New York. That night, Strieber was awakened by an unusual noise. When he opened his eyes, he saw a small alien creature approaching his bed.

“Throughout the world, there is a certain type of face, a being that’s seen again and again and again. With a long, thin face and big black eyes, sometimes the head seems quite big, as in the Betty Andreas case. In others, like in my case, they seem smaller, and the beings are taller. But that basic configuration, that basic sort of non-human configuration, seems to be repeated again and again and again in experiences all over the world,” Strieber said.

Whitley Strieber

The next thing Strieber remembered was finding himself sitting in the surrounding woods with fragmented memories of what had transpired. To uncover the truth and regain his memories, he decided to undergo regressive hypnosis administered by Dr. Donald F. Klein. He recalled he had been abducted and physically assaulted by someone whom he designated as “Visitors” to keep the possibility of extraterrestrials’ involvement low.

Under hypnosis, Strieber recalled being “floated” out of his bedroom and taken aboard a UFO. During this experience, he encountered four different types of alien beings: a small robot-like being, a short and stocky type, a slender one, and a weak-looking being. Whatever he had recalled in the hypnosis became the story of his best-selling novel. Since that night, he was full of curiosity about the unknown visitors.

Strieber described that one of the beings had captivating black slanted eyes, while the last being had black button eyes. He further said that he underwent medical experiments conducted by those extraterrestrial beings. The experiments included a needle being inserted into his brain and an object being inserted into his rectum. Additionally, the beings extracted a blood sample from him by making an incision in his finger, indicating a series of invasive procedures.

As a result of the bizarre incidents described, Dr. Klein diagnosed Strieber with “temporal lobe epilepsy,” a condition known to cause hallucinations. However, Strieber did not accept this diagnosis and continued to claim that his abduction was a real experience. In fact, he went on to establish a foundation to provide support for other individuals who claimed to have been abducted by aliens, forming a support group for alien abductees.

Cover page of Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber, showing the face of an alien that resembles the famous Grey aliens

In 1998, Strieber had another strange encounter at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto. He was awakened at 2:30 in the morning by a knock at the door, expecting room service, but instead found a mysterious man. Stieber told the Huffington Post: “I got up to open the door, thinking it was the room service waiter. It was not. It was a man I described as about 5 and a half feet tall, older-looking, like someone in his 70s. He wore dark-colored clothing, a turtleneck, and charcoal slacks.”

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