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An Interview with Dr. Melvin C. Redfern, Ph.D: Psychologist, Psychic and UFO Experiencer







By: Brent Raynes




Dr. Melvin C. Redfern, Ph.D., a retired psychologist living with his wife in Chucky, Tennessee, shares with us his views on the place of psychotherapy and hypnosis in ufology and also one of his own personal UFO contact experiences. He is the author of UFO Witnesses and Experiencers published by Lulu.com. His email address is: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..



Brent Raynes: Mel, please share with our readers why and how you became so deeply interested in UFOs, and in particular the UFO abduction phenomenon, of which you've written a book. And yes, please share with us some information about the book too!

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I originally had unusual healing experiences when I was a psychologist in a hospital. A fellow with rheumatoid arthritis responded to a simple guided imagery and his hands were totally healed instantly. I listed scores of healings in my book.

I associated being a channel for healing with unusual ET experiences. I attended a conference at Collin County Law Enforcement Academy, in Texas, taking a course called Basic Investigative Hypnosis. A detective asked for me to help him resolve guilt for killing a man ten years earlier. I used a guided imagery of Jack and the Beanstalk. I suggested that he become Jack and that he would climb the beanstalk to clouds and then go through huge wooden doors to a castle grounds. Then I suggested that he go through a garden and notice that on a bench sat the man that he killed. I further suggested that he resolve his guilt by sharing his guilt. Then I suggested that two angels come to take the man into the Light.

He reversed the trip back to the bottom of the beanstalk and became aware that he was back in his motel room. I asked how the visit went with the man. He was disappointed that the fellow wasn't there. I shared a guess that he was already in the Light. Then the detective tearfully stated that he saw the angels who passed through him and that he was healed from all the guilt. I went back to my motel and a couple of hundred construction workers were in my hallway. They appeared intoxicated and were rough housing. They left me alone. Then a strange thing happened. I felt like I was losing my hearing and by the time I reached my room I thought I was viewing a silent movie. I changed for bed and sat up against my headboard as I reviewed the previous events with the detective. Then five white orbs appeared at the end of my bed. They were giggling. I couldn't help but laugh. Then they quickly disappeared and a similar sized orb appeared to the right and it was red. I noticed that it blinked off and on as I asked many questions. I figured out a code that blinking off meant no and blinking on meant yes. I fell asleep. In the morning I went downstairs to a lunch room for breakfast. I sat with another psychologist. He said, "Did you see all the excitement on your floor?” I said, "No." He said that two hundred guys were arrested by the police and that several helicopters were shining lights through the windows. I don't think that I was even in the motel. I think that when I lost my hearing that I was being transported to another dimension.

I won't bore you with details of other stories. The point I am making is that I began to trust my messages to help others. It has lasted until today. I attended a MUFON lecture later where the speaker showed pictures of abductions. Guess what? In one slide a little girl was staring up at the ceiling at five white orbs!! I felt that I was being given confirmation that my experiences were real. I sense that these events are related to the compassion that I have for folks.

Brent Raynes: Back when Intruders by Budd Hopkins and Communion by Whitley Strieber were released thousands of people suddenly came out of the woodwork claiming that these particular close encounter experiences (or events certainly closely resembling them) had happened to them too. Therapeutic type encounter groups sprang up across the country. They were popular for a few years, but seem to have pretty much faded away in recent times. One abduction researcher actually suggested to me that the examinations aspect was pretty much phased out and complete and that the so-called "aliens" were more involved now in communicating information to their human contacts, about environmental issues, greater truths and apparently that sort of stuff.

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I used to go looking for opportunities to speak to interested people. That generally never worked out. Instead, I always find the right persons when I trust the universe. I believe that most people who have had ET experiences are afraid to talk about them. However, one on one they are very open.

Brent Raynes: Have you noticed a similar shift in things, to what they abduction researcher had mentioned, and what is your own take on it?

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I definitely believe that my concern and respect for the earth, kindness to others, and trusting in the goodness of the universe are shifts I have experienced.

Brent Raynes: Time and again psychic phenomena of various kinds (i.e., telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, etc.) seem significantly elevated with UFO contact percipients, and especially so in conjunction with their UFO experiences, much to the chagrin of many of the hard-line "nuts and bolts" ufologists. I remember how in some encounter groups the leaders would reportedly not allow talk of any experiences of a psychic nature, even though the experiencers felt that those experiences were related.

Dr. Melvin Redfern: That is tragic, in my opinion. When I share one on one with others we don't talk about intellectual, left brained ideas. Instead, we talk about spiritual, joyful experiences. If you were blind and now can see would you intellectualize the event or shout from the rooftops that you were blind and now can see?

Brent Raynes: How do you address the criticisms of certain skeptical parties who claim that abduction/alien memories are likely the result of a combination of sleep disorders, sleep paralysis, lucid dreaming, and things of that nature?

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I am not interested in arguing with anyone. I know what I've seen and experienced. If the aforementioned skeptics could only have their own experiences with ETs then they would likely focus on the joy of these encounters. I once heard an alcoholic state, "When the house is burning down, you don't worry about how the fire started. You put the fire out!!” I'd add. "Then let the Fire Marshall determine the cause." My point is that we can build walls or bridges.

Brent Raynes: What are your thoughts on the use of hypnosis to recover memories that may have become repressed due to traumatic UFO encounter events? There's been a lot of concern and controversy over the use of hypnosis in this particular area because of the concern that it could often distort the memory reconstruction process more than it could help to clarify it.

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I have much training in psychology and hypnosis. It may surprise you that I have only used regressive hypnosis a few times. The most rewarding experiences are what I said earlier when folks share one on one. It's interesting that in Investigative Hypnosis that detectives videotape the interviews to avoid being accused of planting false memories.

Brent Raynes: Do you feel that the "nuts and bolts" extraterrestrial hypothesis is the best or only theory that adequately addresses these reports of alien encounters and abductions?

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I think when this life is over and we are in the Light that we will likely find that spirituality, psychology, hypnosis, religions, love and kindness are all one. If we could stop dying of terminal uniqueness and be part of the universe then we could have heaven on earth. I've had those moments.

Brent Raynes: How about alternative theories of intelligent beings existing in another reality (dimension?) that may even be earth-based? This was certainly a favored theory of New York journalist John Keel, author of The Mothman Prophecies, who called such beings "ultraterrestrials ."

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I have no problem with such beliefs as long as there is no fear nor encouragement to be dependent to originators of such beliefs. I wouldn't want anyone to be just like me. People are better off finding their own unique ways.

Brent Raynes: If someone finds themselves confronting challenging memories that suggest that they may have had one or more of these alien type encounter events, what course of action would you recommend that they take?

Dr. Melvin Redfern: I would encourage them to read about other peoples experiences, and talk to folks who are experiencers . MUFON has a group of certified counselors who would be a big help. I hate to say that troubled folks should become patients in Mental Health Clinics. First of all, they would rule out serious forms of mental illness, medicate you, and still never validate your experiences. Folks like the MUFON therapists would be good at helping to differentiate mental illnesses from experiencers


Friday, March 29, 2024