1973-The Pascagoula, Mississippi Alien Abductions

On the night of October 10, 1973, there was a UFO sighting by fifteen different witnesses who saw a strange, unknown object fly over a housing project in St. Tammany Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana. Two of the witnesses were policeman. This sighting would only be the beginning of what was to occur the next night on the nearby Pascagoula River. Two fishermen, nineteen-year-old Calvin Parker, and forty-two-year-old Charles Hickson were about to have an experience that would forever change their lives.

ufos.about.com...

Most Interesting bit:
"both of the witnesses took polygraph tests, and both passed without a problem. Harder and Hynek both believed that the two tormented men were telling the truth."

reply to post by Haydn_17


When I was a kid, this was THE UFO story in the media. It got huge media attention in a day when there wasn't near as much media as there is today. I'm not sure why it has sort of fallen off the table top in terms of UFO events, but as I remember it, both men were treated with respect as they recounted their tale, Hickson did most of the talking.

reply to post by fls13


I also remember my father worrying about this story scaring us kids. I was ten at the time, and the story was posted all over the place.

The thing about this case is that both men were secretly recorded and stuck to their stories when left alone. The youngest witness had a nervous breakdown and has not spoken about his encounter since. The entities they encountered are not the popular culture grays, and that is a plus also.

reply to post by kidflash2008


I remember the network news covering the story and Hickson and Parker actually appeared on the Dick Cavett Show. Must have been a Friday night because I was allowed to stay up and watch it.

For those of you who don't know, Dick Cavett hosted an 1130 PM talk show. Today it's Conan, Letterman and Kimmel and back then it was Merv Griffin on CBS, Cavett on ABC and, of course Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show. So that was huge. Like someone experiencing a UFO incident today and doing Conan or Letterman, only bigger because there was no cable back then.

Hickson and Parker weren't the first guests but they eventually came out and told their tale. Cavett did a real nice interview and one of the earlier guests was the famous writer Norman Mailer. You have to remember this is a different time when every famous person didn't write a book, people who wrote books became famous.

Anyway, at one point Cavett asked Mailer what he thought of all this and Mailer's response was essentially I'm just listening to this. The guy was literally at a loss for words and if you know much about Mailer, that just didn't happen.

This incident is a great favorite of mine. The description of the critter by Hickson sounds like a man trying awkwardly to apply words to something that somehow defies description....

"They didn't have clothes. But they had feet shape... it was more or less a round like thing on a leg, if you'd call it a leg... Ghostlike and pale with wrinkled skin, and conical projections where nose and ears would normally be... Calvin done went hysterical on me."

Link

The events following the incident add plausibility to their accounts. It's one of the few cases that leave me in no doubt that the guys saw something and weren't hoaxing...they believed they'd seen something.

When Sheriff Diamond locked them in a room that was secretly wired to record people, the account becomes even more believable...

Deputy Sheriff Captain Ryder stated: "after I heard the tape, I believed them. If they lied, they should become Hollywood actors, because they then are stunning comedians." On the tape, Hickson was crying "Oh my God what has happened to me? I never saw anything like that in my entire life ... I am going insane... Why does this happen to me? I was in the war and I have never been so frightened!"

We'll never know what actually happened, but something very unusual scared the hell out the guys.

Complete transcript of interview with Hickson: NICAP

That's always been a very interesting case.

UFO casebook also has a quite neat, concise summary:

www.ufocasebook.com...

It would be interesting to see a couple of the ATS "hard men" jump into this thread, with a view to pointing out any potential inconsistencies or areas of doubt regarding this incident. It would make for interesting discussion.

I believe I have read about such potential issues about this case, but I cannot recall the detail of what I read.

I might have a look around for a previous thread.

[edit on 20-6-2009 by Sam60]

reply to post by Sam60


A case like this is pretty simple. Hickson and Parker were either lying or they were telling the truth. Certainly, the other UFO sightings in the area at the time add credibility to their claims. Personally, I just don't know but the case brings me a sense of nostalgia which makes it a favorite of mine too.

This is the very first UFO story I can recall reading about... it was the first time I ever considered that aliens and UFOs might be real, and it scared the crap out of me. Read about it in a book some time around '74... I was about 10 years old.