Pascagoula incident
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The Pascagoula incident was an alleged UFO close encounter reported by Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker who claimed they were taken aboard a UFO and examined before being released by aliens while fishing near Pascagoula, Mississippi.<ref name="Oct12Local">Template:Cite web</ref> <ref name="Nickell 2012" /><ref name="Kurtz 2013" /> The primary claimant, Charles Hickson, would go on to UFO celebrity, alleging on-going contact with the beings and appearing on national television.
Incident
The Pascagoula incident took place amid the 1973 UFO flap -- a spate of UFO reports in the US South, particularly Louisiana and Mississippi.<ref>Peebles p. 199-203</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:External media Around 8 PM on October 11, service station operator Larry Booth called the sheriff to report seeing a strange craft with a blinking colored light pass overhead.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Around 11 PM, 45-year-old Charles Hickson and his 17-year-old relative Calvin Parker arrived at the Jackson County, Mississippi sheriff's office to report a strange encounter.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> According to Hickson, the pair had been fishing off a pier on the west bank of the Pascagoula River when they heard a whirring/whizzing sound, saw two flashing blue lights, and observed an oval shaped object Template:Convert across and Template:Convert high.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Hickson explained that the young Parker fainted and remained unconscious during the examination.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Hickson claimed three "creatures" with "pincers" took them aboard the object and subjected them to an examination, before returning them to the wharf.<ref name="Oct12Local"/><ref name="Amy 2013" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Brockell 2019" />
According to the pair, they initially decided not to report the incident but instead went to the Mississippi Press office to share their story.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> On learning no newsmen were present, the pair continued on to the sheriff's office to make a report.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Captain Glenn Ryder later told press that he was initially skeptical and suspected a prank but soon came to believe the men were sincere.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Ryder smelled alcohol on Hickson's breath, but Hickson explained he had only drunk whiskey after being released.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Ryder told press that the men were not drunk.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> Officers left Hickson and Parker alone in a room, secretly recording the conversation between the two hoping to catch them in a lie, but their stories remained consistent with their original testimony.<ref name="Oct12Local"/><ref name="Brockell 2019" />
On October 12, 1973, the Mississippi Press of Pascagoula reported on the two men who claimed to have been taken onboard a UFO by strange creatures the previous night.<ref name="Oct12Local"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Publicity and later activities
The two men scheduled a press conference for the 11:15 AM on October 12, but it was cancelled.<ref name="Oct12Local"/> That same day, the Associated Press and United Press International wire services picked up the story, which was covered in papers nationwide.<ref name="Oct12AP">Template:Cite web</ref> The two men were examined at Keesler Air Force Base, cleared of radiation exposure, and released. Locals called for federal officials to investigate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ufologist James Harder and debunker-turned-promoter J. Allen Hynek traveled to Mississippi and interviewed the two men, separately, under hypnosis. They told press the accounts were likely based in fact.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
By October 17, press documented subsequent UFO reports in the wake of nationwide attention.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 19, an article under the pair's name appeared in the local paper; that piece argued the creatures were robotic and friendly.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-mississippi-press-hickson-parker/177115743/</ref> An artist conception of a 'creature' was published in Biloxi on October 20.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The pair agreed to tell their story to the local rotary club.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was reported the pair were set to take lie detector tests.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By October 24, press compared the case to the Betty and Barney Hill case.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Local press reported the two men had not been seen at their workplace, prompting speculation they were being paid to tell their story.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> October 27 press confirmed an upcoming polygraph.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By October 30, a Los Angeles radio station was advertising an exclusive interview with the two men. <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On October 31, press reported that a local polygraph examiner had concluded Hickson "told the truth as to what he believed", cautioning "we do not say a space ship landed or that creatures emerged from it." The use of the polygraph as a lie detector was discredited by the 1980s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Through an attorney, Parker declined to take a polygraph unless requested by Hickson. The attorney said Parker had recently been hospitalized.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hickson appeared on the November 2 episode of The Dick Cavett Show.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 8, local press reported that a fisherman and his 14 year old son claimed to have seen an illuminated object underwater in the same river.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 29, Hickson appeared at a taping of the Mike Douglas show; the episode aired in syndication in late December.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>https://www.newspapers.com/article/news-record/177123588/</ref> Hickson also appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
In January, Hickson was arrested for public drunkenness after being found wandering along a highway.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April, Hickson traveled to Detroit to address a UFO group.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That month, Hickson told press that he was in on-going contact with the beings, having had three different encounters. Hickson teased that the being would soon provide a message along with proof of their existence which he would relay to Washington.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later in April, Hickson met with "ancient astronauts" proponent Eric Von Daniken.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:External media Following the incident, Hickson gave interviews and lectures, appeared on television (including an episode of the game show To Tell The Truth),<ref>To Tell the Truth, episode taped November 20, 1973</ref> in 1974 claimed additional encounters with aliens. In October 1974, Hickson was described as a "UFO celebrity" who would be featured in an upcoming NBC documentary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> “We did everything we knew to try to break their stories," Jackson County sheriff's Capt. Glen Ryder told The Washington Post in 1975. "If they were lying to me, they should be in Hollywood."<ref name="Brockell 2019" /> In 1983, Hickson authored a self-published book UFO Contact at Pascagoula.<ref name="Nickell 2012" />
Parker later attended UFO conventions, and in 1993 started a company called "UFO Investigations" to produce television stories about UFOs.<ref name="Amy 2013" /><ref name="Kurtz 2013" />
Legacy
In September 2011, Hickson died of a heart attack at the age of 80.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2018, Parker released his book, entitled Pascagoula: The Closest Encounter, My Story, which is "the first full account of the event given by Parker along with how it affected his life".<ref name="Broom 2021">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Broom 2023" /> On June 22, 2019, a historical marker was unveiled at the site of the alleged abduction, funded by the historical society and with placement approved by the city. Parker attended the unveiling, as did Hickson's son and family. Parker stated, "It is emotional for me. I can't really describe it because I would break out in tears if I do. I wish when I died I could be buried right here underneath this plaque, that would explain it the best. It is quite an honor."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Brockell 2019" /> Parker died from kidney cancer in August 2023 at the age of 68.<ref name="Broom 2023" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2024, Netflix's Files of the Unexplained covered the incident.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The City of Pascagoula hosts a festival every year in October to mark the anniversary of the incident.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Skepticism
Aviation journalist and UFO skeptic Philip J. Klass found "discrepancies" in Hickson's story, noted that Hickson refused to take a polygraph exam conducted by an experienced examiner, and concluded that the case was a hoax.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Picknett 2001">Template:Cite book</ref> Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell wrote that Hickson's behavior was "questionable" and that Hickson later altered or embellished his claims. Nickell speculated that Hickson may have fantasized the alien encounter during a hypnagogic "waking dream state", and suggested that Parker's corroboration of the tale was likely due to suggestibility because he initially told police he had "passed out at the beginning of the incident and failed to regain consciousness until it was over",<ref name="Nickell 2012" /><ref name="Kurtz 2013" /> a claim supported by Hickson during his To Tell the Truth appearance.
See also
References
External links
- Information about the Pascagoula Abduction and Calvin Parker's book.
- "All They Meant To Do Was Go Fishing" (NICAP transcript of an interview with Hickson and Parker)
- Nickell, Joe. "The Pascagoula Abduction: A Case of Hypnagogia?" in Ballester-Olmos, V.J., and Heiden, Richard W. (Eds.), The Reliability of UFO Witness Testimony. UPIAR, Turin, Italy (2023), pp. 137–140. Template:ISBN.