Fantasy role-playing games (FRPGs) are an adult version of childhood play, and they can be profitably compared with ufology and its hoaxes. This is not meant to demean ufology, but to illuminate it. The similarities are sufficient to command attention, but the differences between them are also important. Both FRPGs and UFO hoaxes have liminal aspects.
Large-scale, organized, adult fantasy role playing emerged in 1974 with the commercial publication of Dungeons & Dragons (D & D), the best known of the genre. It was invented by E. Gary Gygax and David L. Arneson, quickly became popular, and spawned hundreds of variants. The book Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games (1991) by Lawrence Schick describes an amazing number of them.16 Gary Alan Fine prepared an excellent, readable sociological study of FRPGs in his book Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing Games as Social Worlds (1983).
In a FRPG, players assume roles of characters, such as monsters, wizards, and other mythical creatures. Players use magical powers and instruments. Generally 4 to 12 people take part, one being the game master who establishes situations and terrain, interprets rules, and settles disputes. Dice determine a character’s talents and abilities and outcomes of battles, spells, etc. A game can be temporarily halted, picked up again, and may extend over a period of days or even weeks. It becomes a shared fantasy, wherein the players voluntarily suspend normal, rational considerations. In most cases there are no winners or losers, in contrast with more traditional games like Monopoly.
A sizeable industry now supports the FRPG subculture. There are glossy magazines, gaming shops in many cities, and conventions that draw thousands of people. Even in its early days it did well, and Fine reports that: “By August 1978, only four years after the publication of Dungeons and Dragons, TSR Hobbies had a full-time staff of eighteen employees, and by September 1979 was grossing over two million dollars annually.” This can be contrasted to MUFON, the largest UFO organization in the U.S., which has approximately 3500 members. In the last few years, its annual convention has attracted 300-1000 people. Although it has been in existence for 30 years, MUFON is still headquartered in the home of Walt Andrus, its founder and International Director. Its total expenditures for 1992 were $172,048. Thus the FRPG industry is far more structured, organized, and financially viable than that devoted to investigating UFO phenomena.
FRPGs have some liminal aspects, despite the organized commercial structure supporting them, and in the context of the topics covered in this book, they are worth considering. Two liminal components of FRPGs are the blurring of fantasy and reality and the invocation of magical beings. These are also seen in science fiction and fantasy, but role playing takes them a step further. The games give more direct contact with supernatural ideas than does literature alone. Live people are involved; they participate in a drama; props may be used, and some physical action is required. Unlike reading, FRPGs engage more than just the mind and imagination; there is interaction with the physical world, albeit limited. As such, FRP gaming is a more blurred, interstitial area than fantasy literature or science fiction film.
FRPGs have other liminal and anti-structural features. The players are frequently high school or college age (i.e., those who are often in periods of transition) and usually unmarried. Within the subculture there is a rapid evolution of rules, and many groups invent their own versions. There is no central authority that everyone acknowledges as legitimate. The rules are not nearly as rigid as say chess or bridge. In fact FRPG rules do not cover all contingencies, and game masters have wide discretionary power. They can void the published rules to keep things running smoothly. Rules can be even further transgressed, and
Fine tells us that “cheating in fantasy role-playing games is extremely common—almost everyone cheats and this dishonesty is implicitly condoned in most situation [s].” Cheating is frequent despite there being no winners or losers in the game. The winner-loser binary opposition is eliminated, and that reduces the structure compared with other games. The goal is more diffuse than a typical contest. Players’ statuses are thus more equal, and Victor Turner’s concept of communitas applies to FRPGs. Players’ outside roles and positions are discarded, and a new “world” established. Fine tells us that “As a new gamer I was struck by how little I learned about the private lives of others—even others to whom I felt close. One didn’t talk about occupations, marital status, residence, or ethnic heritage.”
Another liminal feature of FRPGs is the use of the creative imagination. Some New Age guided-imagery exercises instruct students to meet magical beings and ask them for help with real-world problems; in FRPGs entities are also invoked. The Aquarian Guide to the New
Age (1990) by Eileen Campbell and J. H. Brennan commented on
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FRPGs’ striking similarity to New Age techniques in this regard. It is probably no accident that FRPGs became popular during the same period that saw the growth of the New Age movement.
In the early years of FRPGs, some of the media trumpeted the dangers, and a few commentators suggested that players may not always be able to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Fantasy role playing taps archetypal images that hold considerable psychological power. Those images and ideas can become immensely attractive, even somewhat addictive, to people playing the game. Even so, the problems seem to have been overblown, but in 1994, twenty years after first publication of D & D, Kurt Lancaster authored a paper in the Journal of Popular Culture entitled “Do Role-Playing Games Promote Crime, Satanism and Suicide among Players as Critics Claim?” He concluded that the games did not, but the question still gets asked. There is a perception that the games pose risk. In any event, players do become engrossed, and Fine discussed the problem of over involvement. Players can identify with their game characters, and sometimes they prefer not to separate themselves from those roles. A gamer may become depressed for several days after the death of a fantasy character, but this might not be much different than a sports fan whose team loses an important game.
D & D participants play with otherworld ideas and supernatural entities, but within a structured setting. There are boundaries: the time and place are set, the players are known, and the Dungeon Master settles disputes. The liminality is contained.
Ufology is more unstructured; there are fewer rules about what is and is not possible, and the powers of the otherworld figures are almost unbounded. UFO phenomena can happen without warning, at any time or any place. The ETs can be anywhere, and some ufologists believe that ETs tag certain people and track them for their entire lives. There is no escape. Paranoia is rampant, with a fear of the ETs or the government, or of ETs and government working together. Abduction accounts involving both ETs and government personnel are not uncommon.
Both ufology and D & D allow direct, immediate involvement with powerful otherworld beings and mythological motifs. Both endeavors have been known to engross the participants. Most “players” are able to successfully detach themselves from involvement, but occasionally the “game” becomes obsessive and interferes with real-world pursuits. The problems are far more severe with UFO phenomena than with FRPGs.
Lessons From the Linda Napolitano Case
Ufology does not have the same protective mechanisms as FRPGs; it is not clearly separated from the real world. The Napolitano case is essentially an unbounded version of Dungeons & Dragons. The victims interpreted the hoaxers’ handiwork as due to beings with virtually unlimited magical powers. They believed that ETs could pass through walls, make themselves invisible, and even control world events. The magical beings included not only the ET aliens, but also the pantheon of agents of an unreachable, evil government conspiracy determined to prevent humankind’s knowledge of the ETs. Thus the interactions of Hopkins, et al., with the hoaxers conform with those between humans and gods. Humans question and provoke the gods only at the greatest peril. The proper approach is to appease, mollify and supplicate them. It should be no surprise that the simplest reality tests of the Napolitano story were not made
. Hopkins’ failure to search for witnesses actually makes sense in this context.
Intermediaries were crucial in the hoax, and readers should recall that mythological tricksters often serve as intermediaries. Dan and Richard were the primary intermediaries between the evil government conspirators and the rest of the world. Like trickster deities, their reality status was ambiguous. Linda was the main link between Hopkins and the two agents. She was the medium through whom they communicated.
In fantasy role playing, the players accept the rules, and when there is a question, the game master settles it. In the Linda case the terrain was not so set; nevertheless, Hopkins and his supporters felt that neither the basic evidence nor the foundational assumptions were to be questioned. Our challenges disrupted the situation, and Hopkins, along with the leaders of MUFON and the Hynek Center, pleaded and even ordered (Hopkins’ term) us to cease investigation, despite the massive publicity given the case. It was preposterous for them to think that they possessed any authority to give such orders. Their mindset was worrisome, and it signalled some detachment from everyday reality. They seemed to perceive themselves to be in the position of a Dungeon Master who decrees the rules and regulations in a closed, artificial society, cut off from the outside world.
Observers might now see Hopkins and his supporters as deserving only scorn and derision. That would not be completely fair. Hopkins should be given credit for daring to study matters shunned by orthodox science. His efforts, writings, and life provide abundant material for analysis. Further, Hopkins has a true interest in aiding UFO abductees, and he has spent enormous time and effort in that. Unlike professional therapists who profit from the afflictions of others, Hopkins assists abductees without charge. He is exceptionally dedicated, and his good intentions probably made him more vulnerable than he otherwise would have been.
Almost all leaders of U.S. ufology remain oblivious to the phenomena’s nature. But this has nothing to do with their IQ, education, or professional achievements in other areas. Actually, high accomplishment in established fields may make them more vulnerable, as they may assume that the rational methods effective in those areas will yield results on the UFO problem. When they pursue the UFO topic, they enter an unbounded, liminal domain, unaware of its dangers. The problem is compounded by the wish to see ufology gain respectability (i.e., rise in status). In order to further that cause, most investigators embrace a rationalized interpretation of the phenomena (nuts and bolts craft with flesh and blood aliens). As a result, the blindness is exacerbated, and those people become especially susceptible to hoaxes.
Benefits of Fraud and Hoaxing
Much of this chapter has been devoted to one case, but a few remarks on more general issues are in order. Because hoaxes, trickery,
and deception play such major roles in the paranormal, they must have positive aspects. We must develop a sympathy for frauds if we are to understand them. It behooves us to recognize their benefits, to view them in a more positive light. Prejudice can blind us to their contributions, and hoaxers should not necessarily be denounced, reviled, and made pariahs.
Deceits can serve a variety of purposes, some quite unsuspected, even by those who expose them. The beneficiaries are not always obvious, and it is not always the skeptics who are the most cunning. The potential benefits are multiple, and I will outline a few of them.
Outrageously blatant fraud can serve as a warning that not everything is as it seems. For example, unconscious deception by a spiritualist medium can attract the attention of family and friends. It can be symptomatic, a plea for help to reintegrate dissociated aspects of the personality.22 When a hoax becomes obvious, it alerts some people (typically outsiders rather than victims) that the reported phenomena are not altogether real. Astute observers can refrain from investing time, effort, money, and emotional commitment in gullible investigators pursuing chimeras. Investigators can lose their grip on consensual reality, be embarrassed, and suffer damage to their reputations, but others are duly warned.
Hoaxes give an opportunity to assess competence of investigators and the progress of a paranormal discipline. Frauds will continue to be perpetrated in all branches of the paranormal; individuals will continue to be duped. What is important though, is how such cases are handled. If experts in a field generally treat the reports skeptically, they demonstrate that their discipline has achieved some level of maturity. When leaders uncritically embrace claims, and open criticism is suppressed, the field does not deserve to be called scientific. Thus beneficiaries of a hoax may be the outside observers far removed from it, and hoaxers can inadvertently provide a public service.
Hoaxes can be perpetrated with the intention of being exposed. For instance, a successful psychic may be inundated with unwanted media attention which results in people calling and demanding readings, contact with deceased relatives, help locating a missing family member, or for healing. The attention can be distressing and even overwhelming. To reduce public interest, a psychic may discredit himself by committing some trick sure to be caught. Likewise, families enduring poltergeist activity can face similar problems. These families can be overrun by media intruding into their lives. A publicized instance of fraud can dissolve the interest, allowing them more private time to work out interpersonal problems, which are often important components of poltergeist outbreaks.
Paranormal abilities can bring other unwanted complications; for instance, some people see psychic power as a threat. Additionally, a psychic may develop a bit of paranoia and worry that others may fear his abilities. Paranoia can afflict both a psychic and possible enemies, and a publicized exposure of fraud may relieve the worries of both. It can be safer to be perceived as a practical joker or a fraud, than as a witch.
Similar ambiguity can benefit groups. A coven using magic may be seen as dangerous, but if it cultivates a reputation for being fraudulent, or insignificant, it can proceed with less interruption from outsiders. Psychic treasure hunters and mineral prospectors might wish to be seen as inconsequential or even nutty so as not to attract the interest of possible competitors. An intelligence agency with a psychic spying program might encourage publicity of frauds in order to discredit the very idea of psychic spies and convince people that nothing of substance is worth investigating. Such operations need not be aimed at enemies; they could be directed at congressional committees and news media that might take it too seriously and give the program unwanted attention.
Fraud can be used for exactly the opposite purpose too, that is, to seek the publicity that comes with an exposure. The apropos maxim is: any publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell your name right. Denouncing a psychic as fraudulent can attract new clients, contrary to debunkers’ expectations. But this benefits both the debunker and the psychic; the skeptic can feel superior, and the psychic can gain business. Both win. In fact, I have a mentalist acquaintance who asked James Randi to expose him, in order to generate publicity. Some people have speculated that James Randi was Uri Geller’s publicity manager (this was before Geller’s lawsuits against Randi). Randi’s efforts undoubtedly helped keep Geller’s name before the public.
As seen above, the purposes and consequences of hoaxes are innumerable and multifaceted. From an outsider’s viewpoint, the motives may be indeterminate. Even denunciation and exposure may be the desired outcome. Anyone who thinks that hoaxers’ motives can be rationally inferred is simply naive.
Summary
The purpose of this chapter was two-fold: first, to present a case study showing the complexities of hoaxing, and second, to give further
insight into UFO phenomena. The next Part of this book develops theoretical issues. In order to help prepare the reader, my concluding remarks here will address some of them, including marginality, rationalization, participation, and ambiguity. With the examples from this chapter, the abstract formulations to come should be more easily comprehended.
UFOs are liminal and anti-structural; they are found betwixt and between the heave
ns and the earth (a binary opposition). They have properties in common with angels, spirits, fairies, and demons. These are all interstitial, and when one enters this realm, one must tread cautiously because other binary oppositions can become blurred. The imagination-reality opposition is especially vulnerable.
Hoaxes are liminal productions. They lower the statuses of the victims, and loss of status is one of the defining characteristics of liminal conditions. Marginality is another trickster quality, and hoaxes help marginalize not only the victims but the whole field of ufology.
Hoaxes assist the rationalization and disenchantment of the world. They help consign the paranormal to the realm of fraud and gullibility, so that the phenomena receive little serious study. With the taint they induce, hoaxes protect the paranormal from close examination.
Anti-structure is a trickster quality, and it manifests in ufology’s inability to effectively institutionalize its research. The failure is not a shortcoming of the leaders in the field, but rather it is a direct consequence of the phenomena studied.
In hoaxes, victims and investigators are often active participants. Hoaxers may shape their plots to fulfill the expectations of the dupes, and the dupes’ responses thereby help determine a hoax’s progress and direction. Thus an investigator’s beliefs and expectations can influence the events generated by the hoaxer. This in effect constitutes a blurring of observer and observed, and it causes problems for objective inquiry because the investigator unwittingly participates in the phenomena. The topic of participation will be discussed in the next Part. It involves a blurring of subject and object, of self and other.
Ambiguity is a salient aspect of hoaxes. The actions and products of hoaxers can be interpreted in several ways. They can mean different things to different people. They show the difficulty in establishing an objective perspective from which to understand the events. Motives and purposes may be impossible to determine, and ambiguous, uncertain situations may never be resolved. Ambiguity is a trickster characteristic, and it is a central issue in post-structuralist literary theory, as will be discussed in the next Part.
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