The Truth Behind Alien Abductions?

The stories usually begin the same way: driving on a deserted road or resting in bed, when suddenly there is a bright flash of light or a blinding pain. Many people describe being probed or impregnated in strange experiments carried out by shadowy creatures.

What they are describing is alien abduction.

Those who believe they've been taken by extraterrestrials are often treated as kooks. But in her new book, ""Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens," Harvard psychologist Susan Clancy explores how the mind creates elaborate stories to explain sometimes ordinary events.

Doctor Clancy came into the studio recently to talk about her new book.