➡ In this story, a young boy named Marty is taken on a mysterious journey by his grandfather, Samuel. They encounter a large, glowing object that lands in front of them, from which two people emerge. Marty is led inside the object, which is much larger on the inside, and experiences various wonders, including a translator helmet and an engine that runs on water and Earth’s magnetic field. The story ends with a warning from his grandfather to keep their adventure a secret.
➡ This text discusses the concept of ‘screen memory’, a term coined by Sigmund Freud, which refers to a memory that covers up a traumatic event too distressing to remember. It uses an example from a movie, ‘Mysterious Skin’, where a traumatic event is replaced by a memory of an alien abduction. The text emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between a screen memory and a real encounter, and highlights the tragedy of such experiences being dismissed or misunderstood by others. It concludes by stressing the need for art and dreams as coping mechanisms for life’s hardships.

Hello. This is Scream Analysis, and today I’m going to be reading you a true story and one that I think is undoubtedly one of the scariest that I’ve read so far, namely because the truth behind it is the most terrifying. So stick with me through the story and we will get to my psychological analysis at the end. On April 9, 1955, Marty, who was then five years old, was approached by his grandfather Samuel during bedtime, and his grandfather asked, Do you scare easily? No, Marty replied. His grandfather said, Are you a strong man and not afraid of new things? If I am with you and take care of you? Yes, Marty said.

His grandfather said, I want you to go with me on a walk Saturday, and you will see great things, but you are to tell no one. You can never tell your mom or dad or brothers or sisters, because it could hurt grandpa and grandma, and they might have to move far away. Marty told his grandfather I would never tell. His grandfather Samuel hugged him and asked, Do you promise? Yes, said Marty. Marty’s grandfather Samuel often shared special stories with Marty that were for him and nobody else. And many of these stories Marty says he didn’t understand, other than that they were about great wonders and people from far off places.

And although Marty had many siblings, he shared a special bond with his grandfather and would never reveal his secrets. So Samuel called for Marty’s grandmother, and he turned to her and told her, I’m going to show the boy tomorrow so he understands what I’ve been telling him. Tell his mom we will be okay, but we might be late getting home at this point. Marty’s grandmother began crying, and Marty felt bad for her and asked, What’s wrong, grandma? And she said nothing, and he said, Don’t cry, mama. It’s okay. And she said, I’m crying because tomorrow you will know who you are.

This is a good thing. Tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day for you. Stay close to grandpa. Listen to him and just do what he says. Do not be afraid. Some things you might see. It’s okay to always trust grandpa. At this point, she hugged Marty and told him to go to bed, and she warned Samuel that only Marty was to go and that none of his other siblings could go or know anything. This, of course, Marty’s grandfather, Samuel agreed, according to Marty, and I quote that night was hard to sleep as what lay ahead for me the next day kept me awake most of the night.

So the next morning arrived, and after breakfast, Marty’s grandfather approached him and said, Are you ready to go for that walk, Marty? Marty was excited as he and his grandfather left the rural Colorado farmhouse and walked down a dirt road. Eventually, they left the farmhouse behind them and were surrounded by fields. And suddenly Marty was shocked to see a quote, very large oval shaped object dropped down from the sky. It glowed orange, then turned bright white as it began to get low. A tripod landing gear descended, and the object landed on the road in front of them.

And it was close enough that he could feel the heat emanating from the craft. And as this craft settled on the dirt road, the wind blew fiercely, kicking up a cloud of dust. Marty’s grandfather, Samuel, picked him up and said, They’re here, son. Please don’t be afraid. They’re my friends and yours. Trust grandpa. As Marty says, I wasn’t scared at all. I don’t know why, but I wasn’t. So this craft, according to Marty, was humming loudly. His grandfather set Marty down and said, Be kind and respectful. Stand where you are and don’t move until I tell you.

At this point, a door opened on the side of the object and two people walked out and moved toward them. Now, at this point, Marty began to feel some fear. His grandfather approached these men and began to speak a strange language unknown to Marty. They touched hands and shoulders. And after a few minutes, the two men and his grandfather approached Marty and Marty said, What were you saying? His grandfather said, It is the old talk from where Grandma and I came from. And he pointed to one of the figures, a man with a blue shirt and white pants, and said, This person is a friend of Grandma’s.

I want you to touch his hand and say hello to Ostino. Go with him and I’ll meet you inside in a few minutes. You will be okay. No matter what, don’t speak until they tell you. Do you understand, Marty? Marty said yes. And Ostino, this man, held out his hand, which Marty took. And together, they walked to the right side of the object where Marty could see a large doorway. And they went inside. And inside, Marty was surprised to see that this object was huge, much bigger on the inside than the outside. And it was filled with numerous people engaged in all kinds of activity.

Ostino led him up a ramp into a room that reminded Marty of a doctor’s office. There were tables and lights and metallic walls. Another person picked Marty up and put him on one of the tables. He then placed this, quote, crown-looking thing with two bent prongs on the top. And then he put this thing on Marty’s head. And Marty felt a brief flash of pain and then was surprised to hear the man speaking. Do you understand what I am saying to you? The man said yes, Marty replied. The man asked, would you like to see a great wonder? Your friends would like you to.

See your grandpa’s home. At this point, Marty felt a soft movement and asked Austin if they were moving. And Ostino said that yes. In fact, they had been moving for some time. And would Marty like to take a look around the ship with him? Marty said yes. And as they walked around, Marty asked where his grandfather was. Ostino replied, he is with his friends and will be with us soon. It was a short time later that Marty’s grandfather appeared. His grandfather told Ostino to go ahead and show Marty the craft, but only the safe areas.

So Ostino began to give Marty a tour of this craft. And Marty was absolutely surprised by the sheer size of this craft, which he estimates was as big as a football field on the inside and was filled with human-looking people. The craft, he estimated, was 40 feet high, 120 feet long, with two whitish pink decks. So Ostino asked Marty, are you hungry or thirsty? And Marty replied, could I have something to drink? And as Marty says, he, Ostino, went over to this wall, put his hand on this thing, and water filled this container. I drank it, and let me tell you, it was great.

I could not believe how good it tasted. He showed me if I pinched the glass in this spot, watch what would happen. I did, and the glass turned cold. Marty says this liquid appeared to be water, but tasted better. And Marty asked Ostino, holding this glass, can I keep it? Ostino replied, no, it has to stay here. And next, Ostino showed him the engine room, which made a low humming noise. And he told Marty that their engines ran on water, and with the aid of Earth’s magnetic field. And he said that one day, the people on Earth would learn how to use water in the magnetic fields of Earth to power their vehicles.

And he explained that their own engines allowed them to go as fast or slow as they wanted, and that they could slip into and out of time at will. So even at that age, Marty was very impressed, and he told Ostino he wanted to become a pilot when he grew up. And then he asked Ostino, where do you come from? Ostino replied, we come from between my time and yours. We come from a place here on Earth, but beneath your time, in a different phase. We are with you all the time. You will learn more as you get older.

You were the first in a long time to come and know these things. We are a good people, and one day you will understand. But not now. Let’s go to your grandfather. At this point, they walked through the crowded hallways until they found Marty’s grandfather, who scooped Marty up into his arms. At this point, his grandfather pulled his helmet from his head and returned it to Ostino. Marty speculates that this was a translator helmet that allowed him to communicate with these ETs. At that point, there was a soft thump, and suddenly Marty found himself being carried outside the craft by his grandfather.

This ship was not still parked on the dirt road next to them. At this point, Marty tried to talk with his grandfather about the flying object and the strange men. But the ship took off, and his grandfather said, be quiet, say nothing, and one day I will talk about it. But if you say anything now, the sheriff will take you away, and you will not see your family again. And I will go to jail, and your mom and dad too, so you can only talk to me about it. If you need to talk, you are to say, Papa, will you read me a book? If you have common sense, you know exactly what happened.

This is not a UFO story. This is what Sigmund Freud called a screen memory, which is a memory that is placed over a traumatic memory that is too terrible to be remembered by the individual. Now, this is not a knock on the fellow who shared this story. I found this from a channel by a fellow named Preston Dennett. You know, I don’t expect everyone to be able to recognize a screen memory, especially if they’ve experienced something like that and have screened it over themselves. Of course, this is an unconscious process. This is not something people are aware of.

There is an amazing movie by Greg Araki called Mysterious Skin, which deals exactly with this subject. It’s about a baseball coach to two boys, and one of them remembers and becomes a prostitute. The other cannot remember it, but remembers being abducted by aliens. That is the screen memory that his psyche had chosen, and he follows this memory. I won’t spoil it further, but that’s the subject of the film. For the past week or so, I’ve shared scary stories with you, and some of them I do think are real that a person did have an experience with an entity, with an archetypal manifestation.

But I also think that it’s extraordinarily important that we make a distinction between a screen memory and a visionary encounter. They are two entirely separate things, and the terror, the horror of this story, to me is very immense. That it goes unseen, it goes unrecognized. Obviously, what really gives it away is the language of the grandfather. Even in very strange alien cases, it’s most often the aliens say, tell everyone, tell everybody that you can. So usually when it’s a real alien, they want you to share, they want you to become some kind of a cult leader.

When it’s a screen memory like that, it’s tell no one, this is just between us, this is a secret. It’s terrible, it’s very terrible. The story goes on a little tiny bit about other encounters that he can’t remember, and that his grandfather maintained never tell anyone, never tell anyone. And I think he said 50 years later, he did tell his family, and they thought he was crazy, they said that he was lying. This is also, of course, the case with traumatic events, you know, you’re crazy, you’re making it up. Very tragic, a very terrible story. Thank you for listening, and I hope that you have some care for this person, that it’s not a laughable thing.

The tragedies of our lives sometimes are too much to bear, and we need art, we need dreams, lest we perish from the truth. Screams matter, muhahahaha. [tr:trw].