David M. Jacobs

{{Short description|American historian and ufologist}}{{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox academic | name = David M. Jacobs | image = Dr. David M. Jacob.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|08|10}} | birth_place =  | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | thesis_title = The controversy over unidentified flying objects in America: 1896 - 1973 | thesis_year = 1973 | thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/openview/643278c85ed6558ffe4b0f0d674708b2/1?cbl=18750 | education = UCLA<br>University of Wisconsin–Madison | discipline = American history<br>Ufology | workplaces = Temple University | website = {{URL|https://www.davidmichaeljacobs.com/}} (revised version)<br>[https://web.archive.org/web/20221108132729/https://www.ufoabduction.com/ (archived version)] | footnotes = }}

'''David Michael Jacobs''' (born August 10, 1942) is an American historian and retired Associate Professor of History at Temple University specializing in 20th-century American history. Jacobs is a prominent figure in ufology and the study of the alien abduction phenomenon, including the use of hypnosis on subjects claiming to be abductees. Jacobs has authored several books on the subject.

==Career== Jacobs studied at University of California, Los Angeles<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hinds |first=Michael Decourcy |date=1992-10-28 |title=Taking U.F.O.'s for Credit, and for Real |website=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/28/news/campus-journal-taking-ufo-s-for-credit-and-for-real.html |access-date=2024-11-23 |archive-date=2018-01-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116080405/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/28/news/campus-journal-taking-ufo-s-for-credit-and-for-real.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1973,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ginsberg |first=Maggie |title=Aliens among Us |website=On Wisconsin |date=2021 |url=https://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/aliens-among-us/ |language=en-US}}</ref> in the field of intellectual history. He wrote his dissertation on the controversy over unidentified flying objects in America.<ref name="ICAR">{{cite web |url=http://www.ufoabduction.com/biography.htm |title=Biography: David M. Jacobs |website=International Center for Abduction Research (ICAR) |publisher=David M. Jacobs |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |access-date=2009-11-14 |archive-date=2017-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124025207/http://www.ufoabduction.com/biography.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> A revised edition of his dissertation was published as ''The UFO Controversy in America'' by Indiana University Press in 1975.<ref name="Jacobs1975">Jacobs 1975</ref>

As a faculty member of the Department of History at Temple University, Jacobs specialized in history of 20th-century American popular culture.<ref name="Bio">{{cite web |url=http://www.temple.edu/history/jacobs/index.html |title=The Department of History at Temple University: David M. Jacobs |website=Temple University |publisher=Temple University |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |access-date=2009-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323022059/http://www.temple.edu/history/jacobs/index.html |archive-date=2010-03-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He stated that his current research interests "involve a delineation of the role of anomalous experiences in personal and cultural life."<ref name="Bio" /> For over 25 years<ref name="ICAR" /> Jacobs taught a course on "UFOs in American Society."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.temple.edu/bulletin/archive/webarchive/bulletin2010/ugradbulletin/ucd/ucd_americanstudies.html |title=American Studies (AMER ST): Undergraduate Course Descriptions 2010-2011 |work=Temple University Undergraduate Bulletin |publisher=Temple University |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |access-date=2009-11-14}} AMER ST 2063: UFOs in American Society. (Formerly: AMER ST 0116.)</ref>

===Ufology=== Jacobs has a high profile in the field of ufology. He has lectured widely, been interviewed, and participated in numerous television and radio shows on the subject of alien abductions.<ref>{{cite podcast |url=http://www.jerrypippin.com/UFO_Files_david_jacobs.htm |title=Dr. David Jacobs |website=The Jerry Pippin Show |publisher=Jerry Pippin Productions |location=Secaucus, New Jerseeu; Muskogee, Oklahoma |host=Pippin, Jerry |format=WMA |access-date=2008-09-10}} April 12, 2005, [http://www.jerrypippin.com/audio/David%20Jacobs%20Interview%20(04-12-05).wma interview]; June 2003 interview: [http://www.jerrypippin.com/audio/UFO%20Files%20-%20Jacobs%20Interview-%20segment%20one.wma Part 1], [http://www.jerrypippin.com/audio/UFO%20Files%20-%20Jacobs%20Interview-%20segment%20two.wma Part 2].</ref>

David Jacobs has written five books on the topic of UFOs and alleged alien abductions. In recent years, Jacobs has publicly argued that the evidence from his research, which sometimes includes utilizing hypnotic regression with alleged alien abductees along with traditional interview techniques, purports that alien-human hybrids were engaged in a covert program of infiltration into human society with possibly the final goal of taking over Earth.<ref name=skepenc>{{cite encyclopedia |title=The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: [2 volumes] |editor1-last=Shermer |editor1-first=Michael |editor-link=Michael Shermer |editor2-last=Linse |editor2-first=Pat |encyclopedia=The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience |year=2002 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, California |pages=7–8 |isbn=1-57607-653-9 |oclc=192175688 |lccn=2002009653}}</ref><ref name="International UFO Congress">{{cite web |url=http://www.ufocongressstore.com/Budd-Hopkins-and-Dr-David-Jacobs-Presents-Transgenic-Beings-DVD_p_621.html |title=Budd Hopkins and Dr. David Jacobs Presents 'Transgenic Beings' DVD |year=2006 |publisher=International UFO Congress |access-date=2012-04-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203150221/http://www.ufocongressstore.com/Budd-Hopkins-and-Dr-David-Jacobs-Presents-Transgenic-Beings-DVD_p_621.html |archivedate=2012-02-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite podcast |url=http://www.theparacast.com/podcast/september-24-2006-dr-david-m-jacobs-and-dr-nick-begich/ |title=September 24, 2006 — Dr. David M. Jacobs and Dr. Nick Begich |website=The Paracast |host=Steinberg, Gene; Biedny, David |date=September 24, 2006 |format=MP3 |access-date=2009-11-13 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ufocongressstore.com/Dr-David-Jacobs-Presents-Abductees-Hidden-Lives-DVD-Presentation_p_647.html |title=Dr. David Jacobs Presents Abductees' Hidden Lives DVD Presentation |year=2007 |publisher=International UFO Congress |access-date=2009-11-13 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518051440/http://www.ufocongressstore.com/Dr-David-Jacobs-Presents-Abductees-Hidden-Lives-DVD-Presentation_p_647.html |archivedate=2012-05-18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ParaNexus/2008/10/17/Alien-Abduction-Agenda-with-David-M-Jacobs-PhD.mp3 |title=Alien Abduction Agenda with David M. Jacobs, Ph.D. |date=October 16, 2008 |access-date=2009-11-13 |publisher=ParaNexus Universe |format=MP3}}</ref><ref>{{cite interview |last=Jacobs |first=David M. |interviewer=George Noory |title=Abductions & Hybrids |url=http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2008/10/26 |work=Coast to Coast AM |date=October 26, 2008 |access-date=2009-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/IslandGhostRadioIslandGhostRadio-Dr.DavidJacobs-09-20-09 |title=Island Ghost Radio — Dr. David Jacobs — 09-20-09 |access-date=2009-11-13 |publisher=Island Ghost Radio}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2009/10oct/RIR-091011.php |title=Dr. David M. Jacobs — Abductions & The Human Alien Hybrid Program |date=11 October 2009 |access-date=2009-11-13 |publisher=Red Ice Radio}}</ref> He asserts that some of his research subjects are teaching these hybrids how to blend into human society so that they cannot be differentiated from humans, and that this is occurring worldwide.<ref name="International UFO Congress" />

==Criticism== Jacobs' hypotheses have been criticized as unsupportably dire by those who take a more positive view of the alien abduction experience such as John E. Mack; Jacobs labels these critics as "positivists" in his writings.<ref name=skepenc /> Details of alien abductions reported by Jacobs and so-called "positivist" researchers may not differ to any great extent; criticism of Jacobs by such peers therefore focuses on Jacobs' interpretations, ''e.g.'', where Jacobs sees "infiltration" (a negative), others may see "integration" (a positive). Where differences in reports are more substantial (extending beyond the interpretive to actual distinctions between the alleged events reported by those who Jacobs interviews versus those interviewed by others), Jacobs has explained that elements not matching his own perspective are what he terms "confabulations."<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Cherniack, David (Director) |year=2010 |title=UFOs: The Secret History |medium=DVD video |publisher=UFO TV |oclc=689131537}} Addendum 1: Abductions.</ref>

Carl Sagan, Susan Clancy, Martin Gardner and George have criticized the methods used by Jacobs and other abduction researchers. Sagan asserted that sightings and experiences could be attributed to mistaken identity and faulty memory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sagan |first=Carl |authorlink=Carl Sagan |title=The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark |edition=1st |year=1995 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0-394-53512-X |oclc=779687822 |lccn=95034076}}</ref> Clancy has highlighted problems associated with abduction research, such as faulty memory retrieval when hypnotists "lead" the patient, and a failure to consider sleep paralysis as an explanation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clancy |first=Susan |authorlink=Susan Clancy |title=Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens |url=https://archive.org/details/abducted00susa |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0-674-01879-6 |oclc=60550656 |lccn=2005050245}}</ref> Gardner explains: "Although Jacobs has had no training in psychology, psychiatry, or hypnotherapy, he uses hypnotism to induce his patients (now more than seven hundred) to develop strong memories of horrendous abductions even though many patients had no such memories until hypnotized (Though many abductees have claimed to remember bits and pieces of the abduction experience without the implementation of hypnotherapy). Jacobs is convinced that five million Americans have been kidnapped at least once by aliens. One female patient, who worked in retail sales, had, according to Jacobs, one hundred abductions in one year, an average of one every three days!"<ref>{{cite book |last=Gardner |first=Martin |authorlink=Martin Gardner |date=2000 |title=Did Adam and Eve Have Navels? |location=New York, NY |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co. |page=226}}</ref>

Jacobs has argued that Clancy's methodology was flawed,<ref name="ClancyRev">{{cite journal |last=Jacobs |first=David M. |date=Summer 2006 |title=Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens |journal=Journal of Scientific Exploration |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=303–312 |publisher=Society for Scientific Exploration |type=Book review |access-date=2013-10-03 |url=http://www.ufoabduction.com/clancyreview.htm |archive-date=2020-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916143433/http://ufoabduction.com/clancyreview.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> stating that in numerous cases people report they were abducted when fully awake and conscious, and that therefore sleep paralysis is not a tenable hypothesis.<ref name="ClancyRev" /> Moreover, he has stated that her book was factually incorrect.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://podcastufo.com/podcast/27-david-m-jacobs-ph-d/ |title=David M. Jacobs, Ph.D. |date=November 17, 2012 |access-date=2014-09-01 |publisher=Interviewed by Martin Willis of Podcast UFO (Show 27) |format=Podcast, MP3 |quote=[audio at 16:30, with transcript found on site] ... Harvard University Press published this book, raw, without any serious person looking at it, and it came out — it was horrible, just horrible, and not horrible because she's a skeptic. That's just fine. It was horrible because, as I said, it was just incorrect. Her facts were wrong, things like that. |archive-date=2017-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907075351/http://podcastufo.com/podcast/27-david-m-jacobs-ph-d/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Written works== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=David Michael |others=Foreword by J. Allen Hynek |title=The UFO Controversy in America |year=1975 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington, Indiana |isbn=0-253-19006-1 |oclc=1120938 |lccn=74011886 |ref=Jacobs 1975 |url=https://archive.org/details/ufocontroversyin00jaco }} * {{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=David M. |others=Foreword by John E. Mack |title=Secret Life: Firsthand Accounts of UFO Abductions |year=1992 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-671-74857-2 |oclc=25130658 |lccn=91045662 |ref=Jacobs 1992 |url=https://archive.org/details/secretlifefirsth00jaco }} * {{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=David M. |title=The Threat. The Secret Alien Agenda: What the Aliens Really Want ... And How They Plan to Get It |year=1998 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-81484-6 |oclc=37315300 |lccn=97027040 |author-mask=2 |ref=Jacobs 1998 |url=https://archive.org/details/threat00jaco }} * {{cite book |editor-last=Jacobs |editor-first=David M. |title='UFOs and Abductions: Challenging the Borders of Knowledge |year=2000 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=0-7006-1032-4 |oclc=43615835 |lccn=00028970 |ref=Jacobs 2000 |url=https://archive.org/details/ufosabductions00davi }} * {{cite book |last=Jacobs |first=David M. |title=Walking Among Us: The Alien Plan to Control Humanity |year=2015 |publisher=Disinformation Books |location=San Francisco, California |isbn=978-1-9388-7514-4|ref=Jacobs 2015}} {{Refend}}

=== Translation === {{Refbegin}} * ''Secret Life: Firsthand Accounts of UFO Abductions'' (1992) was translated into French under the title ''Les kidnappeurs d'un autre monde'', présenté par Jimmy Guieu (literally: Kidnappers From Another World), 1995, Paris, Presses de la Cité. {{ISBN|978-2258038721}}. {{Refend}}

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== * [http://www.ufoabduction.com/ www.ufoabduction.com], Jacobs' International Center for Abduction Research (ICAR) Web site * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100323022059/http://www.temple.edu/history/jacobs/index.html David M. Jacobs] Jacobs' faculty page at Temple University Department of History * [https://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/features/aliens-among-us/ https://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/features/aliens-among-us/], a University view point on David M. Jacobs Career and Character.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, David M}} Category:American UFO writers Category:Ufologists Category:Temple University faculty Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:Ig Nobel laureates Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:American historians