[I am copying this message to Leah Haley and her SO, Marc Davenport. Any
response from them will be forwarded to the list unless they request it
remain private. In that case, the fact that they responded will be noted to
the list, but the content of their message will not be distributed.]

Leah Haley is an alien abductee who has written a book about her
experiences, _Lost Was the Key_. In addition to this book, she has witten a
children's book called _Ceto's New Friends_. I'll summarize the story for
those not familiar with it:

The children's book describes the adventures of two (human) children, Annie
and Seth. One day while playing outside, Annie and Seth encounter a classic
Grey alien named Ceto. "Ceto cannot talk with his mouth. He talks with his
eyes."

Ceto makes friends with the children and coaxes them into his spaceship.

Once on his spaceship, Ceto "taught them how to talk with their eyes" and
let them play with the spaceship controls.

When Annie and Seth started to get tired, Ceto took them back to Earth and
gave them "a purple rock."

The story ends with the Ceto flying away, but with the promise that he "will
come back soon to visit his new friends on Earth."

Now, what's wrong with this children's story?

We can ignore issues related to the reality (or lack thereof) of alien
abductions. _Ceto's New Friends_ has greater problems than that.

The fundamental problem with this story is that it encourages children to go
away with strangers. In an era where we are hyper-sensitive to children's
encounters with strangers and to the hazards thereof, _Ceto's New Friends_
sends a significant counter-message. Rather than be wary of strangers,
_Ceto's..._ sends the message that strangers will teach children all sorts
of neat things (in addition to talking with their eyes, Ceto teaches Annie
and Seth how to float and fly on their own) and will give them gifts.
According to the story, these are good things.

Who among us would willingly tell our children to go away with strangers,
that strangers met on the street will teach them great secrets and give them
cool gifts, that cooperating with strangers is a Good Thing?

I don't know any parent who would willingly do such a thing, yet Leah
Haley's children's book sends exactly this message.

Regardless of the reality of alien abductions, this book is flawed and could
actually put children at risk. Children reading this book could get the
wrong message that strangers are OK to talk to and to accept gifts from.
This is hardly the message we want to send our children.

Comments?
--
Anson Kennedy, anson@mj12.com, 
MJ-12: It's not just a job, it's World Domination!