The Peak of the Great UFO Flap of 1973, Part II of III
By Raymond A. Keller, Ph.D., a.k.a. “Cosmic Ray,” the author of the international awards-winning Venus Rising Series, published by Headline Books and available on Amazon.com, while supplies last.
Venus Rising: A Concise History of the Second Planet
Final Countdown: Rockets to Venus
Lady Columba Venus Revelations
Flying Saucers and the Venus Legacy
Abducted Fishermen
Location: Pascagoula, Mississippi
Date: 11 October 1973
Two Mississippi men, fishing off the end of a pier in Pascagoula, Mississippi, claim they were abducted by extraterrestrials. It was around 7 p.m. when Charles Hickson, 42, and his fishing buddy, Calvin Parker, 19, noticed a flashing blue light as it suddenly came up from behind them. As they turned around and stood up with their eyes fixated on the intense blue, strobing brilliance, they could make out the contours of what seemed to be a cigar-shaped object directly over the entrance to the pier. The two fishermen estimated that the UFO was about 20 feet long. As the object began to slowly descend to about two feet above the ground, Hickson and Parker froze in place as the craft was blocking their only way off the pier and back to shore.
A door in the side of the object opened up and three humanoid entities, each estimated to be about five feet in height, just “floated out” of the UFO, according to Hickson’s testimony. The UFO occupants each had two eyes and a pointed, nose-like protuberance directly centered below their eyes. There was also a horizontal, lipless slit below the seeming nose. In addition to these facial features, the alien beings also had two spearpoint-like, eight-inch protuberances that stuck out, with one on each side of their heads. These were situated on the head approximately where a human being’s ears would be. What was particularly noteworthy of these creatures, noted Hickson, was that, “They had wrinkled, silvery metallic skin…. Like elephant skin, a little,” adding that, “Their hands were like crab claws.” Unfortunately, neither Hickson nor Parker could remember anything about the feet.
Two of the aliens floated over to Hickson, the larger of the two men, with each one grabbing a separate arm of the fisherman, and guiding him thereby into the spaceship. The other creature went after Parker. It took him by his right arm and floated him into the ship as well. Once inside, the only thing that Parker remembered was being approached by several creatures. As soon as one of them touched him, he passed out and cannot recall anything that happened after that.
Many UFO investigators believe Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker’s 1973 UFO abduction case is one of the most authentic on record. Artwork source: Sunday Post (Dundee, Scotland)
Didn’t Ask for Medical Insurance Cards
The only account of what happened after the two fishermen were floated into the ship is that of Hickson. According to Hickson, once inside the UFO, his and Parker’s then-unconscious body were placed on the deck of the craft. With the creatures standing overhead, a football-shaped, eye-like metal device floated over to Hickson, positioning itself just a few feet away from his head, whence it moved slowly down his body to his toes, apparently scanning it. After completing the top scan, Hickson was turned over and the medical scanning process was repeated, with the football scanning device returning to the head position for the re-initiation of the scan from his backside. Hickson estimated that he and Parker were onboard the craft for approximately 20 minutes. He calculated this based on the fact that the scanning device went up and down his body four times before he was released and that each round with the device lasted about five minutes. He was not aware of what was going on with Parker during the time he was being scanned until he was reunited with his friend when they were returned to the pier by the aliens.
Aliens’ Departure
Hickson told reporters, “I was so scared, I don’t remember whether or not I spoke to them (the creatures) or not. I do know that two of them remained silent. The one transporting Parker, however, seemed to make noises that sounded like soft muttering. I looked closely, but did not see its ‘lips’ (the slat) move.” When asked if he could recall the muttering sound of the alien, Hickson said, “I think I can remember it, but I won’t swear to it.”
Hickson watched as the aliens returned to their spacecraft. The door shut behind them and then their ship zoomed off the pier with a high acceleration, disappearing into the night sky in about five seconds. All the while, Parker remained unconscious. Hickson remained with him until he came out of it on his own. Then the two fishermen made their way to a local police station to file their report.
“Have you guys been drinking?” was the first question posed to them by the police sergeant on duty that night.
“No, I have not,” replied Hickson, adding, “My friend Parker is very religious and does not drink at all. But I am sure going to have one when I get out of here!”
Both gentlemen were taken to a local hospital as Parker was in and out of shock for several days. On the day following the incident, Hickson was hypnotized by Dr. James Harder, a psychologist from the University of California at Berkeley, who flew into Pascagoula at the behest of Dr. J. Allen Hynek of Northwestern University in Chicago, and the Air Force Technical Consultant on UFO Reports. Under hypnosis, Hickson was regressed to the previous day and became so terrified from reliving the experience that Harder had to bring him out of the trance, fearing that Hickson might suffer a heart attack.
Two weeks later Hickson underwent a polygraph test and passed it. Together with the fact that other Pascagoula residents, unknown to Hickson, had reported sundry aerial phenomena to the local newspaper and police at around the same time as their abduction, led the polygraph examiner and many in ufology circles to classify this abduction case as one of the more authentic on record. Dr. Hynek later revealed his belief in the sincerity of Hickson’s testimony, after he was no longer working as a consultant for the Air Force Technical Intelligence Center’s Project Bluebook operation.
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(Editor’s comment: Be sure and catch Part III of this series of the Great UFO Flap of 1973, where “Cosmic Ray” relates further UFO encounters from this critical period for ufology, along with astute commentary. - Lon)
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