>"My problem is that it just has never happened to the people that I've really hung with in my life."

Lucky you!
Or "unlucky you", depending on your point of view.

I've had people tell me they WISH it would happen to them, and I tell them "No, you really don't know what you're saying. You wouldn't want to be me."

I often wonder what shape the other three witnesses are in. I'm sure there's one in the looney bin. The very next morning, he took out his magnum 44, went into his barn and shot some kittens, then shot our neighbours' St. Bernard out on our front steps. Dead. The townspeople short of tarred and feathered him and rode him out of town (it was a very small town). On top of this he was an ambulance driver and paramedic, so he should have been able to handle it, but he couldn't.

Encountering the unknown is not easy. I certainly didn't go looking for it, and it blew my security away (everything I had known). On top of that, I had to endure the ridicule of those so close minded that they refused to listen or believe what I had to say.
It worried my mother who didn't want me talking about it for years, and who would burn my letters. She was afraid for me. She didn't want me talking about it, thinking the government was listening in our conversations.

There were times when I had difficulty figuring out what world was real, the one I was controlled in; or the world that existed. It brought me into a world full of scientists, biologists, doctors and engineers who had open minds. There's a network of us and it gets bigger every year. (This happened back in 1975, and the waters were pretty cold back then.)

To that degree, it is a blessing in my life, for I know some fantastic people with fantastic minds. They're not in denial, and they hunt for the truth. And they respect me. Unlike a few of the rude participants on this board who'd be eating their words right now if they experienced half the stuff I have.