Baker report, 1968 congressional hearings

himself as particularly religious but is faithful in his Mass attendance. He does not expect to ever have a vision, mostly
because he believes himself to be too mediocre a Christian. Twice after his mother's death he thought he heard her calling
to him in the night and is still not sure that she didn't. He has no opinions about UFO's; although it interests him to read
about them, he knows no one who has ever seen one.
In part because of the nature of his description of the light in the sky (and his associated feelings), the examiner was alerted
to his description of the belly dancer's chartreuse nipple coverlets, which apparently have significant meaning for him.
Attempts to subtly pursue possible connection here reveal the following: The subject's recent anxiousness had begun at
about the tine he learned he was to be promoted, ever since which he had felt lonelier than ever before and once again very
desperate about the loss of his mother. He comments that he thinks his mother would have been very pleased and proud of
his success at work, that it would have given her something about which to hold up her head again. It also would have
meant (were she still alive) that he could provide nicer living quarters for them both. Now that she is dead, however, such
improvements are unimportant; he feels they would be wasted on himself alone.
Along with this loneliness, he acknowledges feeling empty. He says he can't get excited about anything (not even the belly
dancer) although he feels extremely tense and has tried more often lately to get some relief via masturbation. He has been
thinking about his mother so much he acknowledges that her image gets confused with that of the belly dancer, even when
he tries to concentrate just on the latter's nipple covers.
B. Mental Status Examination
General Behavior and Appearance: The subject presents himself as a well-groomed man of medium build. His dark brown
hair is moderately long with side burns and a small neatly trimmed mustache. He is dressed in a white shirt, tie, and
conservative dark blue suit; his shoes are polished. He sat with head down and steadily smokes throughout the interview.
He expresses himself generally well without excessive gestures. He was initially ill at ease and mildly defensive with the
interviewer but became more comfortable as the session progressed. He was cooperative and he gave the impression of
wishing to be highly candid.
Stream of Talk: There is no evidence of blocking or unusual difficulty in choosing words. His vocabulary was moderately
well-developed. The subject speaks in a slightly monotonous manner but his speech is halting at only two points (when he
spoke about feeling guilty about his mother and about masturbating). He uses no neologisms, rhymes, or puns. There was
no evidence of flight of ideas or clang [sic] associations. There is no stuttering, dysarthria, or mispronunciation; he is able
to repeat four tongue twisters without difficulty.
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Mood: The patient appears to be moderately depressed) his posture is slightly slumped, his expression often dejected, and
he sighs frequently. His general affect borders on being flat but is not otherwise inappropriate. He fails to show any
enthusiasm about anything, claims he has no special interests or hobbies. He seems basically apathetic about both his
present and future life. Although constricted but not highly controlled, his anxiety is poorly masked when he talks about
conflictual material and certain feelings.
Thought Content: Subject is generally guarded about what and how much he says. When put under some stress by the
examiner (during a period when he was less defensive), his associations became briefly mildly loose. His usual
preoccupations center around certain guilt feelings, a yearning for his dead mother, and (more recently) the desire for
whiskey. Although obviously depressed, he denies suicidal preoccupation. He does tend to ruminate about any teasing
from women, but there is no evidence of any kind of paranoid ideation. The content of his day-dreams and masturbatory
fantasies are described in the anamnesis (see previous section). The impression that his gaze was somehow holding the odd
light in place in the sky is the only evidence suggesting that he has ever felt he had any special powers. Prior to seeing that
light, he apparently never experienced a deja vu, or any illusory or definite hallucinatory phenomenon (see anamnesis
regarding hearing dead mother's voice).
Rituals, obsessional thoughts per se are denied, except for his recent, uncontrollable preoccupation at night with his dead
mother. He acknowledges a definite fear of flying (to the point that he has never set foot in an airplane) and is also afraid of
heights.