Mack's work and his career survived an attempt by the Harvard Medical School to revoke his tenure. The committee formed to revoke his tenure couldn't find one case wherein he had reached an incorrect conclusion, had misled a patient, or had performed his duties in an unprofessional manner.
This was the first time in Harvard's history that a tenured professor was subjected to such an investigation.
Here's what Mack concluded about the abductions (in a 1996 interview with PBS):
"There are aspects of this which I believe we are justified in taking quite literally. That is, UFOs are, in fact, observed, filmed on camera at the same time that people are having their abduction experiences....It's both literally, physically happening to a degree; and it's also some kind of psychological, spiritual experience occurring and originating perhaps in another dimension."
”and it's also some kind of psychological, spiritual experience occurring and originating perhaps in another dimension."
First of all, I’m not much for appeals to authority (which that is), and that goes double for anyone from Harvard.
Second, “some kind of psychological, spiritual [not to mention entirely subjective] experience” isn’t science. Just because people believe something isn’t proof of anything. The Son of Sam believed the barking dog next door was telling him things, but that doesn’t mean his neighbor had a telepathic English-speaking dog, it meant that David Berkowitz was a raving, homicidal lunatic.
And finally, appealing to the authority of a psychiatrist (from Harvard, no less) about the reality of alleged alien abductions is like appealing to the authority of a plumber when seeking enlightenment about the human cardiovascular system.
Here’s a question for you: why is it that all of these “abduction” “victims” are always unaccomplished nobodies, and usually very eccentric/borderline mentally ill.