Case · C-033

Pascagoula: Hickson and Parker recount an abduction on the river

Name: Pascagoula: Hickson and Parker recount an abduction on the river
Start: 1973-10-11
Location: Pascagoula, Mississippi (pier on the west bank of the Pascagoula River)

Pascagoula, Mississippi (pier on the west bank of the Pascagoula River) · United States · Oct 11, 1973

In flight Civilian witnesses

Disputed explanation

What happened: Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, who were fishing from a pier on the river, went that same evening to the sheriff's office saying they had seen an oval object with blue lights and had been taken aboard and examined by three creatures. Officers secretly recorded the two, left alone in a room, without detecting contradictions, and Keesler Air Force Base examined them, ruling out radiation exposure; a polygraph administered by a local examiner concluded that Hickson believed what he was telling. Hynek and the ufologist James Harder also questioned them under hypnosis; since 2019 there has been a historical marker at the site.
Proposed explanation: Philip Klass, noting inconsistencies in the account and Hickson's refusal to undergo a second polygraph with an experienced examiner, concluded it was a hoax; Joe Nickell (2012) considers a hypnagogic experience on Hickson's part more probable, perhaps after drinking, shared through suggestion by Parker. The sheriff's department officer who took the report, initially suspicious, was instead convinced of their sincerity.
Official investigation: Jackson County Sheriff's Office; Keesler Air Force Base (medical examination)

Sources

On this site

People 1

J. Allen Hynek

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