I had an encounter once but not abduction. At least, if it did happen, I wasn't aware of it.

One summer evening, while at my maternal grandparents home in northern Wisconsin, I was awakened suddenly.

Their house, a single floor dwelling, was not large. There were only two small bedrooms. My brother and I had to share the hide-a-bed/sofa that was in a small addition located at the front of the house. It was kind of an enclosed porch with an exterior glass door and large windows on all three sides that looked out across the front yard. The sunroom served as a dining room for all of the special gatherings that took place at my grandparents home and too, as was the case that evening, as an extra bedroom.

I don't know what it was that awoke me from a sound sleep that night. I only remember the sound of what must have been the engine of the craft and the brightness of the light that shined through the slats of the roll down shades that covered the windows of the room. The sound was not like anything I had ever heard before or since. It wasn't very loud but constant, as the sound of the fans on computer are now, kind of a steady humming or whirring. The light was very bright and stayed, as if hovering, in one place, at the front of the house, almost directly over the front porch where we slept, for several minutes.

My first feeling was panic. I felt froze with fear. I remember thinking that I could hide under my blankets and maybe it would just go away. I tried to do so, but of course it did not. The sound was still there and so was the intense bright white light. After a few moments I felt foolish to think I could evade what was happening that way.

My next thought was that I had to get out of there. I quickly jumped from beneath the blankets and crouched beside the bed in my pajamas. The vinyl floor felt cold to my bare feet. I looked about the room at the bright light that streaked through the shades from above. It was coming from above the house and so was the sound. I couldn't imagine what it must have been. I knew only that it frightened me. I wondered if there might be room beneath the bed to hide or where I could go within the house to escape. It wasn't long afterward, as I crouched shivering with fear beside the bed trying to take in all of what was going on around me, that the sound and the light started to fade. It seemed to move toward the back of the house.

As quickly as I could muster the courage, I raced to the bathroom at that back of the house to look out the window. It over looked the field that lay behind the house and barn. There it was, moving slowly but steadily away, flying just above the treetops. It was dark and I couldn't make out a shape clearly but it's size looked to be about half the size of my grandparents small home. It was dark in color and therefore difficult to see against the night sky.

Knowing how utterly ridiculous it might sound to my siblings to even bring up such a fantastic story, I was hesitant to do so but nevertheless did try to breach the subject the next day. As I suspected it might, my story brought on an immediate response of teasing and laughter from my brothers and sisters who had all slept through the previous evening's remarkable event. Not willing to endure the taunts, I stopped insisting on the validity of my story and spoke no more of it. I don't know why, but it never occurred to me to awaken my brother who was sleeping beside me in bed.

Who they may have wanted, or what the purpose for their visit was, is still a mystery to me. I've never seen or had another encounter since. It wasn't until last year that I even thought about it again and I told my mother about it. She stated that she too saw it through the bedroom window that looked out behind the house. I was surprised to hear her say that. I had no idea, until then, that anyone else had actually seen what I had witnessed.

Take that all of you teasing nonbelievers.