In 2017, a strange documentary called Love and Saucers first debuted. Directed by Brad Abrahams, a frequent QAnon Anonymous podcast guest and co-host of the Spectral Voyager podcast, the film explores the bizarre claims of Hoboken, New Jersey, resident David Huggins. Huggins, who was 72 at the time of filming, claims to have experienced repeated, lifelong sexual encounters with creatures best described as extraterrestrial. Using his skills as a painter, Huggins has recreated many of these experiences on canvas.
“He’s never been sure these are space aliens and he just calls them ‘The Beings,'” though, Abrahams says of Huggins. “They could be interdimensional, they could be whatever, time travelers, but he never was insistent that these were extraterrestrials from other planets … He’s open to it, but never was sure about that.”
The most bizarre thing about Love and Saucers, and the man at its center, is the normalcy in which this strangeness exists. You’d think a man who claims to have slept with countless female beings (and fathered children with them) could only be imagined as a crank, but that’s not how Abrahams saw him:
“I made a point to talk to all of his neighbors on his street, because they all lived there for decades and every single one is like, ‘David is a nice, normal guy.’ That’s across the board. He’s like the grandpa of the street; he keeps to himself. But none of them knew about his experiences because he didn’t really talk to people about it, except his co-workers. And they were like, ‘Okay, that’s cool, he’s an astronaut.'”
It’s this sense of genuineness and innocence that makes Huggins endearing in Love and Saucers. “His paintings — while they do have a naive quality to them, there’s something as a filmmaker that seems very cinematographic or photographic about them,” says Abrahams. “He’ll make a series of five paintings that I would have shot like a movie. It feels like something he’s seen and experienced in some way, rather than imagined.”
Abrahams is clear he doesn’t necessarily believe Huggins’ experiences actually occurred, but he does think that Huggins believes they happened:
“What is so interesting is the consistency of his recollections of this all. Over decades, like, that’s usually something that I don’t see in the UFO — especially the abduction world — is every time you hear the story, it’s like a little bit different, and with David, who doesn’t have a great memory, especially now, all the details are always exactly the same.”
Unlike the majority of people who claim to have had sexual encounters with apparent extraterrestrials, Huggins doesn’t express fear, revulsion, or anger about the encounters in Love and Saucers. (Many tales of “alien” copulation suggest a less consensual process.) Huggins speaks of his lover Crescent with fondness. “He would say that he loved her and she loved him, in her own way,” says Abrahams.
And even though he was in love, that doesn’t mean Huggins wanted to tell the world, Abrahams says:
“What differentiates him from people of today is he never liked going on podcasts; he didn’t like getting interviewed. He didn’t want to be on video. He wasn’t there to grow a following because he never used a computer, and doesn’t know how to use a computer … He had zero interest in growing a following for any kind of self-satisfaction. He only agreed to do the film with me because he thought, ‘Okay, I guess now is the right time to tell my story, and it will be told in a professional and even-handed way.'”
Revealing his experiences through his paintings wasn’t something Huggins ever intended to make money off of, and when he was able to do so, he wasn’t even sure what to charge. Abrahams explains:
“He has, at this point [made some money], years and years after the doc was released, because it did become popular and so then everyone was like, ‘Oh, I want a Huggins painting.’ Sadly, he’s never really sold art before, and didn’t know what to charge and wasn’t looking to make a bunch of money … I’d be like, ‘David, stop! Your paintings are worth thousands of dollars.’ But he just wanted cigarette money.”
When Huggins revealed his experiences to his wife, they ended up divorcing. They still reside together, though, which adds another unusual element to the tale. As unhappy as she was with his revelations, they remain friends.
The real love story in Love and Saucers isn’t about Huggins’ encounters; it’s ultimately about a sweet, elderly man whose family, community, and friends remain by his side, not despite or because of his claims, but because he’s such a loveable person.
You can order high-quality prints of Huggins’ artwork here (Huggins receives compensation for each sale).
Every February, to help celebrate Darwin Day, the Science section of AIPT cranks up the critical thinking for SKEPTICISM MONTH! Skepticism is an approach to evaluating claims that emphasizes evidence and applies the tools of science. All month we’ll be highlighting skepticism in pop culture, and skepticism *OF* pop culture.
AIPT Science is co-presented by AIPT and the New York City Skeptics.
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