People

Budd Hopkins

Budd Hopkins was an American abstract painter and sculptor who became a prominent investigator of alleged alien abduction cases, best known for his 1987 book Intruders and his use of hypnosis with self-reported abductees including Whitley Strieber.

American · Intruders (1987) · Painter, sculptor, and UFO/alien abduction researcher

Budd Hopkins was an American artist, author and ufologist.¹ A well-known abstract painter whose work was collected by the Guggenheim and the Whitney,² he also worked as a sculptor;³ painting was his main career, and his investigation of Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) reports came later.⁴ His actual first name was Elliott,⁵ and he had lived in New York USA since the 1950s.⁶ He was married three times and had many affairs,⁷ and had one daughter, Grace (Budd Hopkins’s daughter).⁸ He died two months after his eightieth birthday;⁹ his daughter subsequently attempted to sell the town house he had lived in for fifty years, and ran into a dispute with a co-owner who did not want to sell.¹⁰

Hopkins had been investigating UFO reports for two decades¹¹ by the time he met the journalist Leslie Kean at a UFO conference and, later, again in New York to discuss one of his cases.¹² His focus was on people who reported encounters with extraterrestrial beings, whom he called “star people”.¹³ He said he had dealt with more than a hundred such cases and had come to understand a recurring pattern in how people responded to them,¹⁴ drawing on abductees from every borough of New York City¹⁵ and documenting cases within USA, New York, Manhattan.¹⁶ With John Mack, he presented circumstantial evidence for alien abduction in the form of landing-site traces, biopsy scars, alleged implants and abductee testimony.¹⁷ His central method was forensic hypnosis: in one case, a woman who consciously recalled refusing to get onto an examination table found under hypnosis that she had in fact been placed on it many times.¹⁸ He also catalogued physical marks reported by abductees, including two “scoop mark” scars on the calf of an abductee he called Kathy Davis, whose case became the central figure described in his 1987 book Intruders, for which she made a small ceramic sculpture of the being;¹⁹²⁰ a matching mark was later found on Davis’s mother,²¹ and the sculpture caused visible discomfort among other members of Hopkins’s support group when it was first shown to them.²² Psychological testing of the abductees he worked with found patterns of deficits comparable to those found in rape victims,²³ including lowered self-esteem, heightened fear of the outside world and diminished trust in their own bodies.²⁴ Hopkins said he had never conducted past-life hypnotic regression with abductees,²⁵ and that he had deliberately left descriptions of an alleged fetal “nursery” facility out of his book despite having collected similar accounts.²⁶ His profile also drew interest beyond formal research: the producers of the Tomorrowland attraction ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter used him as an expert on hypnotic regression,²⁷ and as part of the ride he showed children cards depicting aliens, some of whom reacted by screaming and hugging their parents in terror.²⁸

Hopkins’s best-documented collaboration was with the writer Whitley Strieber, who telephoned him after reading Science and the UFOs;²⁹ Hopkins listened to his account and invited him over immediately,³⁰ his apartment being a ten-minute walk from Strieber’s home.³¹ At their first meeting Hopkins told Strieber that he was not a therapist but could refer him to one,³² and Strieber initially hid the memories that would become the substance of Communion from his wife Anne Strieber and their son, seeking Hopkins’s help instead.³³ Hopkins first proposed hypnotising Strieber,³⁴ an idea Strieber initially resisted because Hopkins, as an artist, displayed no professional degrees.³⁵ Strieber recalled that Hopkins described Dr Donald Klein of the New York State Psychiatric Institute as having expressed interest in, and seeming open-minded about, the phenomenon;³⁶ Hopkins put Strieber in touch with Klein, who then hypnotised him,³⁷ and the resulting memories became more detailed than either man had expected.³⁸ Hopkins attended both resulting hypnosis sessions, covering the events of October 4 and the 1985 abduction experience December 26, recording them and, under the agreed rules, permitted to question Strieber only at the end of each.³⁹ During the March 1, 1986 hypnosis session (October 4 memories), Hopkins remarked that the beginning moments of such experiences are often the worst and that it gets easier afterwards.⁴⁰ He also hypnotised Anne Strieber, under which she recalled Whitley Strieber leaving their bed and going downstairs on the night of the October 4, 1985 experience,⁴¹ and a separate 1982 incident on LaGuardia Place in which she was thumped in the stomach;⁴² when Robert Naiman later conducted her second hypnosis session, he had not been informed of the results of the first.⁴³ Investigating a loud sound Strieber recalled from the night of the incident, Hopkins asked Annie Gottlieb what would produce a similar noise; she suggested that pushing a heavy door back against a wall would make a comparable bang,⁴⁴ and Hopkins noted that four different people had independently arrived at similar descriptions of the same explosion sound.⁴⁵ On 1986-04-13, eleven people gathered at Hopkins’s home for the 1986 colloquy at Budd Hopkins’ home April 13, selected because they lived in the New York area and could attend;⁴⁶ only Strieber and Hopkins used their real names.⁴⁷ Strieber later wrote that he confided a detail about a bodily function he had observed in the beings to Hopkins alone, and that Hopkins was disgusted and assumed he had been dreaming;⁴⁸ neither man wrote publicly about it.⁴⁹

Hopkins’s public lecture in Sydney in October 1992 helped legitimise and popularise the reality of abductions and shifted UFO Research New South Wales’s previously negative attitude toward the subject, according to the Australian researcher Bill Chalker.⁵⁰ During the same visit, at the Budd Hopkins 1992-10 Sydney lecture, he presented red-tinted photographs of a playground in suburban Brisbane taken that year, part of the 1992 suburban Brisbane playground abduction photos,⁵¹ which he said might show evidence of the invisibility techniques used by alien abductors.⁵² He also passed on the contact details of Australian abductees to a new support group formed by Peter Khoury, though Chalker noted that none of those witnesses had experiences involving physical evidence such as hair samples.⁵³ Khoury later said Hopkins chose to sit at his table at a UFO conference rather than the seat arranged by organisers,⁵⁴ and that Hopkins described marks like the one on Khoury’s shin as “scoop marks”, believed to be caused by alien beings taking samples of hair, skin, blood and bone.⁵⁵ Chalker also said that the account of an abductee he knew as Lucy or Sally, as portrayed by the journalist Jim Schnabel, did not match the person Hopkins had described to him,⁵⁶ and that Hopkins had told him he believed the case had frightened Schnabel into turning on it and debunking it.⁵⁷ According to the same source, an abductee named Sally (Budd Hopkins abductee) had been in contact with Hopkins since 1987, when she was trying to understand a peculiar “missing time” experience.⁵⁸

Hopkins’s friendship with Leslie Kean continued into his final illness and, in an unusual coda, beyond his death. Toward the end of his life, before entering hospice with two types of cancer, Kean gave Hopkins books about evidence suggesting death may not be the end, including Tom Shroder’s Old Souls;⁵⁹ Kean said Hopkins told her he did not want to read them because he did not believe in any sort of afterlife.⁶⁰ In preparing for a reading with the medium Laura Lynne Jackson, Kean focused on two people close to her who had recently died: Hopkins and her brother, Leslie Kean’s brother Garry.⁶¹ During the Leslie Kean’s reading with Laura Lynne Jackson, Kean said Jackson’s first message from the male spirit was “You were right”, which Kean took to refer to Hopkins’s earlier disbelief in an afterlife, an interpretation Jackson confirmed;⁶² Kean said Jackson also conveyed that the spirit had died of cancer and that Kean had been with him when he died,⁶³ and that he had one child, a daughter.⁶⁴ In both that reading and a later, separate one, Hopkins appeared first and dominated the session, described as assertive and clear, while Kean’s brother was withdrawn and appeared only at the end;⁶⁵ Kean said both men gave at least one very personal detail, among many factual ones, that Jackson could not have known.⁶⁶ In the second reading, with the medium Sandra O’Hara, Hopkins again dominated, prompting O’Hara to laugh and say, “Today was his show…He was saying, ‘I’m here! I have the floor! I’m talking!’"⁶⁷ Kean reported that O’Hara’s reading included further details she matched to known facts about Hopkins: O’Hara said the male spirit had died of cancer,⁶⁸ described him as an artist holding a paintbrush,⁶⁹ referenced the song “Amazing Grace”,⁷⁰ and said a property dispute had arisen after his death.⁷¹ Kean noted that Hopkins and her brother had both died within recent years of the readings.⁷²

References (72)

Budd Hopkins was an American artist, author and ufologist.
“[note: Budd Hopkins - American artist, author, and ufologist]”
The UFO Cover-Up Leads to One Secret Society — and One Final Event line 308
A well-known abstract artist whose work was collected by the Guggenheim and the Whitney.
“Anne and I are interested in art and Hopkins is a well-known abstract artist, collected by the Guggenheim and the Whitney.”
Communion ch9:44619-44733
Budd Hopkins was also a sculptor.
“(Budd was also a sculptor.)”
Surviving Death ch24:6463-6479
Painting was his main career, with his UFO investigation work coming later.
“(Budd was an established painter whose work was in the collections of major museums. This was his main career—the UFO work came later.)”
Surviving Death ch24:4722-4849
His actual first name was Elliott.
“This was Budd’s actual first name, also spelled with two t’s.”
Surviving Death ch24:5563-5622
Had lived in New York since the 1950s.
“(He had lived in New York since the 1950s.)”
Surviving Death ch24:5854-5889
Was married three times and had many affairs.
“(He was married three times and had many affairs.)”
Surviving Death ch24:6569-6609
His daughter was named Grace.
“(His daughter’s name is Grace.)”
Surviving Death ch24:6942-6965
Died two months after his eightieth birthday.
“(Budd died two months after his eightieth birthday.)”
Surviving Death ch24:5774-5815
His daughter tried to sell the town house he had lived in for fifty years and had problems with the co-owner.
“(His daughter was trying to sell the town house he had lived in for fifty years and was having serious problems with the co-owner who didn’t want to sell.)”
Surviving Death ch24:5980-6128
Had been a UFO investigator for two decades by the time he met Leslie Kean.
“He had been a UFO investigator for two decades, and I had been reporting on UFOs for about four years.”
Surviving Death ch24:5017-5113
Leslie Kean first met Budd Hopkins at a UFO conference, then again in New York to discuss one of his cases.
“I first met Budd at a UFO conference and then in New York to discuss a case of his that interested me.”
Surviving Death ch24:4914-5013
His investigative focus was on people claiming encounters with extraterrestrial beings, referred to as "star people".
“(Budd’s focus was on people who claimed to have had encounters with extraterrestrial beings—“star people”—and the work connected us.)”
Surviving Death ch24:5164-5292
Had dealt with more than a hundred cases and understood the pattern of response.
“Budd Hopkins has developed great sensitivity to the problems people face after they encounter the visitors. He has dealt with more than a hundred cases, and knows the pattern of response.”
Communion ch14:53524-53702
Worked with abductees from all boroughs of New York City.
“I have people from all the boroughs of New York City.”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:09:00.0-00:09:03.0
Documented alien abduction cases occurring within Manhattan.
“I have within Manhattan itself some abductions.”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:07:09.0-00:07:11.9
With John Mack, provided circumstantial evidence for alien abduction: landing-site traces, biopsy scars, alleged implants and testimony.
“those people who believe in the UFO scenario tend to accept the investigations of authors such as B. Hopkins195 or J. Mack196, who have provided circumstantial evidence for the abduction of humans in terms of: (a) landing-site traces, (b) prominent “biopsy” scars, (c) alleged “implants” ... and (d) testimonies”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch22:579-935
A Toronto-area abductee who consciously recalled refusing an examination table found under hypnosis she had been placed on it many times.
“she took one look at the table and this implication of helplessness and so forth and said no way am I getting on that table and the next thing she knew she was walking back up the road to the house...the part she didn't remember is that she ended up on the table many times”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:03:37.8-00:03:55.0
Kathy Davis has two "scoop mark" scars on her calf.
“these are two scars on the calf the front of the calf of Kathy Davis. These are what we call the scoop marks. They're a little round. They're smaller than your little fingernail and they're distinct depressions as if a little almost like ice cream scoop tool was used to remove layers of cells. They were done at two different times.”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:14:41.3-00:15:00.4
Kathy Davis made a small ceramic sculpture of the being who is the central figure described in Intruders.
“this is a little sculpture by Kathy Davis, the central figure in Intruders. She made it of ceramic afterwards”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:05:09.4-00:05:18.9
A matching scoop mark was later found on Kathy Davis's mother.
“this is the leg of her mother talk about the generations this is a close-up in another light of the mark on her mother's leg the scoop mark here two generations of the same family”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:15:18.2-00:15:31.6
Abductees in the support group reacted with visible discomfort when first shown the sculpture.
“when the first couple of abductees walked in, everybody sort of jumped looking at it, didn't like looking at it.”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:05:27.6-00:05:33.3
Psychological testing found patterns of deficits similar to those in rape victims.
“the patterns that we've gotten psychologically are very similar according to psychologists of the sorts of deficits that turn up in tests done with rape victims”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:09:30.3-00:09:38.2
Abductees showed lowered self-esteem, fear of the outer world and lack of trust in their own bodies.
“a sense of lowered self-esteem, a sense of great fear about the outer world, and a sense of not trusting their own bodies, their own physicality.”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:09:40.0-00:09:47.0
Has never conducted past-life hypnosis regression with abductees.
“I've never gotten involved in doing past life hypnosis. I take my mysteries one at a time.”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:10:01.3-00:10:10.6
Deliberately left descriptions of the alleged nursery out of his book.
“one of the details I kept out of my book are descriptions of the nursery where these little babies are developed which are very similar and I have a number of cases”
What The Aliens Look Like: Disturbing Research by Budd Hopkins on ET Abductions (1988) 00:12:43.6-00:12:51.1
The producers of Alien Encounters from Tomorrowland used him as an expert on hypnotic regression.
“The producers used “experts” like artist Budd Hopkins, who used hypnotic regression to access memories of abductions, and included footage of military bases, thus lending the project an air of credibility.”
American Cosmic ch4:49677-49870
As part of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter ride, he showed children cards causing some to scream and hug their parents.
“as Budd Hopkins shows children cards featuring aliens, they scream and hug their parents in terror.”
American Cosmic ch4:52210-52302
Whitley Strieber telephoned Budd Hopkins after reading Science and the UFOs.
“I'm going to call this guy and find out what he knows”
Whitley Strieber Reveals What 40 Years of Encounters Taught Him | Reality Check Rewind 00:04:41.8-00:04:43.5
Hopkins listened to Strieber's story and invited him over immediately.
“I called Budd Hopkins. He answered the phone and listened to my story for a few minutes... Could I come over — like right now?”
Communion ch9:45093-45182
Hopkins's apartment was a ten-minute walk from Strieber's home.
“It turned out that his place in the city was a ten minute walk from mine.”
Communion ch9:45308-45376
Told Strieber during their first meeting he was not a therapist but could refer him to one.
“The moment our interview began, Hopkins explained that he was not a therapist but he could put me in touch with one if I wanted that.”
Communion ch9:45565-45693
Strieber initially hid his memories from his wife and son and sought Hopkins's help instead.
“my initial impulse was to hide everything, and when I could not do that I sought professional help through Budd Hopkins. I told Anne nothing and our son less than nothing.”
Communion ch13:939-1102
Budd Hopkins first proposed to hypnotise Whitley Strieber.
“When Budd Hopkins first proposed to hypnotize me”
The Fourth Mind ch20:21391-21437
Strieber refused because Hopkins was an artist with no professional degrees displayed.
“He wanted to hypnotize me. And I thought, I see art on the walls. He's an artist. I do not see any professional degrees. So I said no to that.”
Whitley Strieber Reveals What 40 Years of Encounters Taught Him | Reality Check Rewind 00:04:44.7-00:04:53.2
Hopkins recalled that Dr Donald Klein of the New York State Psychiatric Institute seemed open-minded about the phenomenon.
“Hopkins remembered that Dr. Donald Klein of the New York State Psychiatric Institute had expressed interest in the phenomenon and appeared to be open-minded about it.”
Communion ch10:1559-1722
Budd Hopkins put Whitley Strieber in touch with Donald Klein, who then hypnotised him.
“he proceeds to get me in touch with probably one of the world's leading forensic hypnotists at that time, Dr. Donald Klein, who proceeds to hypnotize me”
Whitley Strieber Reveals What 40 Years of Encounters Taught Him | Reality Check Rewind 00:04:53.8-00:05:04.1
Strieber's memories became more detailed under Klein's hypnosis, surprising both men.
“When the alien abduction memories I had presented with only became more detailed under hypnosis, we were both quite surprised”
The Fourth Mind ch20:21980-22096
Hopkins was present at both the October 4 and December 26 sessions, recording them, permitted to question only at the end.
“I wish to add that Budd Hopkins was present at both of these sessions, recording them. He was allowed to ask questions, but only at the end of each session, and it was understood that his questions would be few.”
Communion ch10:10156-10363
During the March 1, 1986 session, remarked that the beginning moments are often the worst and it gets easier afterward.
“Budd Hopkins responded. "It's often like this. Beginning moments are the worst. And after that, it gets easier."”
Communion ch10:17679-17783
Under Hopkins's hypnosis, Anne Strieber recalled Whitley Strieber leaving their bed on the night of October 4, 1985.
“"Whitley kept going. Kept leaving."”
Communion ch13:21326-21351
Anne Strieber recalled a 1982 LaGuardia Place incident of being thumped in the stomach.
“"Like a sharp jab in the stomach, right here. ... And it was like four fingers, not just one finger. It was — *oof!* ... Woke me right up."”
Communion ch13:33146-33309
Robert Naiman, conducting Anne Strieber's second session, had not been informed of the results of the first.
“was hypnotized by Dr. Naiman, who still had not been informed of the results of my sessions.”
Communion ch13:37534-37617
Hopkins asked Annie Gottlieb what would produce a similar bang; she suggested a heavy door pushed against a wall.
“When I asked Annie Gottlieb what she would have to do to make the sound — I said, 'Suppose you were given resources to make the sound. She said, 'If you had a big, heavy door and you pushed it back against the wall, *bang*, like that —'”
Communion ch10:33225-33454
Hopkins noted that four different people independently described the same explosion sound.
“We've got four different people to come up with a description of the sound.”
Communion ch10:34010-34079
Eleven people met at Hopkins's home on April 13, 1986, selected because they lived in the New York area.
“On the night of April 13, 1986, eleven of us met at the home of Budd Hopkins. We were selected simply on the basis of the fact that we live in the New York area and could come.”
Communion ch14:59262-59433
Only Strieber and Hopkins used their real names at the colloquy.
“Needless to say, none of these people would allow his or her name to be used. The only real names in the colloquy are thus my own and that of Budd Hopkins.”
Communion ch14:60163-60310
Strieber told only Hopkins about a bodily function he observed in the beings; Hopkins was disgusted and thought he was dreaming.
“The only person I told about it was Budd Hopkins. He was disgusted and thought I must have been dreaming, so I put it aside.”
The Fourth Mind ch11:6975-7093
Neither man wrote publicly about the observation.
“To my knowledge, neither of us ever wrote about it.”
The Fourth Mind ch11:7100-7148
Hopkins's October 1992 Sydney lecture helped legitimise and popularise abductions and shifted UFO Research New South Wales's attitude.
“It took the visit of American alien abduction researcher Budd Hopkins in October 1992 to shake the conservatism of the UFO group. Hopkins's public lecture and its impact helped legitimize or popularize the reality of abductions and the UFO group's negative attitude toward the subject began to change.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch10:4927-5221
Presented red-tinted photos of a suburban Brisbane playground taken in 1992.
“Budd Hopkins has presented some curious, red-tinted photos of a playground area in suburban Brisbane in Australia during 1992 that may have some significance in a family’s abduction account.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch18:17016-17198
Cited the Brisbane photos as possible evidence of invisibility techniques used by abductors.
“Hopkins cites the photos as displaying possible evidence of the invisibility techniques employed by alien abductors.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch18:17207-17313
Passed on Australian abductee contacts to Peter Khoury's new support group; none had physical evidence such as hair samples.
“Hopkins did pass on some Australian abductee contact details to Peter's new support group, but none of these witnesses had experiences that featured physical evidence such as hair samples.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch14:2583-2763
At a UFO conference, Hopkins chose to sit at Khoury's table rather than the arranged seat.
“Bud actually during the, the, to sign his autograph for his books and so on, he came and sat at my table and the people who held the conference came and said, no, no, no, no, you've got to sit over there. And he's like, no, no, I'm comfortable with Peter.”
UFO Witness Reveals CHILLING Daytime Alien Encounter - Peter Khoury - DEBRIEFED ep. 58 01:49:11.6-01:49:24.8
Hopkins described marks like the one on Khoury's shin as scoop marks caused by alien sampling of hair, skin, blood and bone.
“What I got to learn later on, it's a scoop mark. It's what they, Bud Hopkins refers to them as scoop marks. A sample... they reckon the reason they do it there because they can get hair, skin, blood, bone.”
UFO Witness Reveals CHILLING Daytime Alien Encounter - Peter Khoury - DEBRIEFED ep. 58 01:29:05.1-01:29:17.3
Chalker considered the Lucy/Sally portrait by Jim Schnabel did not match the individual Hopkins described.
“The picture Schnabel paints of “Lucy” (aka “Sally”) does not sit well with the individual Budd Hopkins described to me.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch23:20857-20973
Hopkins told Chalker he felt the case had frightened Schnabel into debunking it.
“Hopkins told me that he felt the subject frightened Schnabel at times, with the end result being that Schnabel turned on it, debunking the whole subject.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch23:20977-21122
Sally had been in contact with Hopkins since 1987 over a "missing time" experience.
“Sally had been in contact with Budd Hopkins since 1987, when she was trying to understand a peculiar “missing time” experience.”
Hair of the Alien: DNA and Other Forensic Evidence for Alien Abductions ch15:24009-24125
Before hospice with two types of cancer, Kean gave Hopkins books about evidence death may not be the end, including Old Souls.
“I carefully selected a few books that I thought might appeal to him, one of them being *Old Souls* by *Washington Post* journalist Tom Shroder, who traveled with Ian Stevenson and watched him work.”
Surviving Death ch23:13438-13630
Hopkins told Kean he did not want to read the books because he did not believe in any afterlife.
“when I next saw him, he told me that he didn’t want to read them because he didn’t believe in any sort of afterlife. This one life was it.”
Surviving Death ch23:13887-14022
Preparing for the reading, Kean focused on Hopkins and her brother Garry, both recently deceased.
“In preparing for the reading with Laura, I focused on two people close to me who had recently died—my dear friend Budd Hopkins, an accomplished abstract expressionist painter and UFO researcher, and my brother, Lloyd Garrison Kean.”
Surviving Death ch23:10173-10399
Jackson's first message, "You were right", which Kean took to refer to Hopkins's disbelief in an afterlife.
“When Laura said he burst in and the first thing he said was “You were right,” I immediately knew this was what he meant. And then Laura confirmed it.”
Surviving Death ch23:14280-14426
Jackson conveyed the spirit died of cancer and that Kean was with him when he died.
“that he died from cancer and that I was with him when he died”
Surviving Death ch23:14605-14662
Jackson conveyed the spirit had one child, a daughter.
“that he had one child, a daughter; that his third marriage was one of his biggest regrets”
Surviving Death ch23:14668-14750
In both readings Hopkins appeared first and dominated, while Kean's brother was withdrawn and appeared only at the end.
“In both cases, the mediums said Budd was assertive and clear, but my brother was withdrawn and harder to read, as if the same two distinct personalities were present in each reading. Both times, Budd appeared first, and did all he could to hog the stage.”
Surviving Death ch24:10042-10290
Both Hopkins and Kean's brother gave at least one very personal detail Jackson could not have known.
“What was most important was that both had provided at least one very personal detail, among many, many factual details, that Laura couldn’t possibly have known.”
Surviving Death ch23:20712-20866
O'Hara laughed at Hopkins's dominating behaviour: "Today was his show..."
“Echoing Laura, Sandra laughed at his dominating behavior, and said it was quite unusual. “Today was his show,” she said. “He was saying, ‘I’m here! I have the floor! I’m talking!’ ””
Surviving Death ch24:10297-10467
O'Hara said the male spirit had died of cancer.
“He died of cancer. (Budd died of complications due to two types of cancer.)”
Surviving Death ch24:4235-4303
O'Hara described the spirit as an artist holding a paintbrush.
“He was an artist—“I see paintings and paintbrush in his hand.” (Budd was an established painter whose work was in the collections of major museums. This was his main career—the UFO work came later.)”
Surviving Death ch24:4657-4849
O'Hara referenced the song "Amazing Grace".
“Referring to a name, the song “Amazing Grace” is significant. (His daughter’s name is Grace.)”
Surviving Death ch24:6878-6965
O'Hara said there was a property problem after the spirit's death that he was unhappy about.
“There was a problem with property after he died and he’s unhappy with that. (His daughter was trying to sell the town house he had lived in for fifty years and was having serious problems with the co-owner who didn’t want to sell.)”
Surviving Death ch24:5902-6128
Hopkins and Garry Kean both died within recent years of the readings.
“who both died within recent years”
Surviving Death ch32:271-299

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