Report on Communion: An Independent Investigation of and Commentary on Whitley Strieber's Communion

In his popular UFO books, Communion and Transformation , Whitley Strieber noted his uncertainty whether the ``visitors'' who allegedly abducted him were extraterrestrials, fairies or something else. Conroy, a freelance journalist, argues that we should take seriously Strieber's claim that alien entities are catalysts to a higher consciousness. In this rambling, overwritten yet interesting study, he pokes around in Strieber's childhood to establish credibility, analyzes his horror fiction and assesses Strieber's UFO experiences in terms of the Jungian unconscious, fairy lore and other abduction cases in which symbolic imagery figured prominently. He also examines the mixed reception accorded to Communion both by the mainstream media and within the UFO community. In an epilogue, Conroy relates his own ``visitorlike'' experiences. Readers who lean toward a nuts-and-bolts explanation of UFOs as extraterrestrial craft will probably feel let down. Photos. (Aug.)