PASCAGOULA-THE CLOSEST ENCOUNTER: MY STORY

by Calvin Parker

  Still not knowing how long we were in there but it seemed to me to be close to an hour. I was really weak now and could barley stand up, so Charlie said “let’s sit down a little while.” So we found a place to sit, not really talking much about what happened. I think we were almost in shock. I do remember telling Charlie “Let us not dare tell anyone about this” and he agreed. I felt like this was personal and no one else needed to know. We sat there for just a little while and then started making our way back to the car. It had been said by some that we took some fish with us back to the car but we didn’t, we just took our fishing equipment. As we approached the car I noticed the windows on the passenger side of the car were shattered but still in place and not yet falling out. It didn’t look like any other of the car windows was damaged. When Charlie went to open the door the glass fell out. I guess the jarring of opening the door made it do so. But how had the car window been damaged? I couldn’t get the car to start. It was a new car and always started really well. Finally, after several attempts to start it, it started running but sounded really rough. I was thinking to myself, I’ve lost my car and job because I knew I wasn’t going to stay on the coast after this. I don’t know where Charlie got it but he came out with a bottle of Jim Beam whiskey. So he took a drink and said “Let’s go home.” On the way home he said we were going to have to tell someone. I told him hell no, we were not going to tell anyone. But instead of going home we drove around a little ended up down town. Charlie asked me to pull over. It was the Mississippi Press building and he said “Let me run in and see what time it is”. So I pulled over, not thinking and he runs in. He wasn’t in there but a minute or two when he came out and I asked him what time is it and he said “I don’t know, there’s no clock there”. When we left there I just turned left and went back toward Gautier, toward the apartment. I then saw a sign saying TIK which is a local hang out that serves beer and food, so I pulled the car over and went to the bar and ordered a beer. I started drinking the beer and was trying just to unwind. We sat there for just a few minuets when Charlie said we should go and that he was going to call and tell someone. I asked him not to tell anyone but he said I am going to call Keesler (Keesler Air Force Base) and tell them what has happened. Charlie said to me that if you don’t want to say anything I will just tell them that you passed out. Well I didn’t want to tell anyone so I let him make the call. We went outside and got in the car and drove to a store on the way back to the apartments. He got out of the car and went to the phone and said he had called Keesler Air Force Base and they told him that they didn’t handle UFO reports any more and that they used to and it was something called Project Blue Book, but it had now finished. They advised Charlie to call the local authorities, in this instance that was the Sheriff. Charlie said he was going to call the Sheriff’s Department but I told him that would be a mistake. One reason I thought it would be a mistake was because Charlie had a drink inside him by then and as a result they might not believe what he was saying. Charlie phoned them regardless. They told him to stay where we were and not leave and that they would be there in a few minutes. It took about 10 minutes for them to arrive. When they arrived they walked up to the car and took a good look inside and told me to step out of the car. They did a quick look over just to make sure everything was okay. They talked to Charlie and then told us to follow them to the Sheriff’s Office.

  I was thinking to myself, now what was going to happen, so they separated me and Charlie and questioned us separately, in different rooms. I thought back to what Charlie had advised, to just tell them you passed out and don’t know anything, so I did. Then they put us in a room together and left us alone. Little did I know then that they were recording us. Unbeknown to us they had a secret tape recorder running. We only found out about what has become known as ‘The Secret Tape’, a long time after. I was just ready to get the hell out of there and get some rest. I was tired from what had happened and from the long hot day at work. The Deputies came back into the room and went into a drawer and got something out and left. By now Fred Diamond, the Sheriff was there listening to the tape recording (we still did not know about this tape). Coming back in they said you do know that if this is a hoax then you’re going to spend a lot of time in jail. I told them jail would beat spending time on that river. Not caring what they thought or said I was just ready to go. After listening to the recording they put both of us back in the same room and questioned us again. They were a lot nicer then than before. Something had changed but we had no idea what. I asked them to please not tell anyone because I just knew the problems that would come if this all went public. I just knew. I don’t know why they didn’t go back out to where this happened and take a look around or have my car checked out and write a police report on it so I could at least clam for the damage on my insurance. But they didn’t so the Sheriff said we could go. I guess by now it was around 11:00pm or maybe a little later but I still didn’t ask for the time. That was the longest ride back to the apartment that I ever had. Neither Charlie nor I didn’t say a word to each other on the way back. I was wondering if he was going to tell his family or not, I knew I wasn’t going to tell mine. After getting home I went straight to bed, not that I slept any that night. That was the longest night I ever had. The next morning we were both up about 4:00am and I figured we would talk on the way to work so his family would not over hear us.

  Maybe we were a bit naïve to think that no one would get to know about what had happened but that’s what we thought on that way to work the morning after. The Sheriff had assured us that they would not say a word, so as long as we kept our mouth’s shut we should be okay. Little did we know how wrong we could be?

  ******

  CHAPTER THREE

  Charles Hickson’s story Although this is my book it I only right and proper that I detail Charlie’s story. After all, Charlie is part of my story and I am part of his. My only regret is that Charlie isn’t here today as I think he would have been pleased to see me tell my part of the story. I had thought of writing up Charlie’s story myself, but seeing as he was a much better writer than me I asked for permission to use his account as featured in the book he co-wrote with William Mendez ‘UFO CONTACT AT PASCAGOULA’. Permission from the book’s publisher was obtained and I reproduce Charlie’s account here in full.

  THURSDAY: October 11, 1973. Early autumn evenings on the Mississippi Gulf Coast give us some of the most pleasant weather on this Earth; it seems even more so if one has time to enjoy a favourite sport or hobby. Thursday, October 11, was no exception. The cool gulf wind had begun to move on from the south-east. Everything seemed so peaceful as Calvin and me settled down for a quiet evening of fishing after a long day in the shipyard.

  Sitting there in a relaxed position reminded me of my childhood days in Jones County in the South-western part of Mississippi. After walking with my Dad on a well beaten path through the woods for one and a half miles to Tallahala Lake and relaxing there for an evening of fishing, forgetting the one and a half miles to be walked afterwards, the crickets would begin their familiar sound and horn owls would call to one another. There on that lake I was being taught the fine art of fishing and often the patience one must have to become a good fisherman.

  But this particular evening my patience was being worn thin; I had used every trick to persuade the Redfish and Speckled Trout to bite, but to no avail. We then tried a couple more spots up on the river with no luck. I mentioned to Calvin that we would try one more place, an old abandoned shipyard where on many occasions in the past I had caught fish. He readily agreed. On the way we talked about going Bream fishing on a favourite bayou the following Saturday.

  My oldest son Eddie, (now a Marine stationed on Okinawa) and Calvin are about the same age and had grown up together in Jones County. Eddie, Calvin, myself and Calvin’s father had spent many pleasant hours fishing together when they were young boys. Calvin had mentioned to me earlier that in all the years he and Eddie were growing up together they had never had
one single fight; they had always got along good together. Not only was I fishing with a friend, but a very good friend of my Marine. I had no way of knowing, but before that night was over, I would see more terror on that young man’s face that I had seen in the five major battles I went through in Korea.

  After reaching the old shipyard area I tried all my skill and talent I had learned over the years, but a few trash fish is all that would take the bait and by that time it had become dark. “Charlie, you think we should give up? When you don’t catch fish they are just not biting and you know, I’m pretty good myself.”

  “Let’s try a little longer Calvin,” I replied. I had just gotten a bite and was reeling in. Just as I suspected, he had gotten my bait. The bait was behind us and as I turned to get some I almost froze with fear.

  A zipping sound was all I heard and about sixty or seventy feet away some type of craft was approaching the ground. Calvin had turned by this time and was facing the craft. He glanced my way, desperately searching my face for an explanation. I didn’t have one.

  I could hardly believe my eyes. What could it be? I couldn’t imagine where it could have come from. No engine noise, just a pulsating blue light, or was the light revolving? The craft hovered there about one and a half to two feet from the ground; how could that be? How was it being controlled? It can’t be any known aircraft, no noise, not touching the ground, no wings? Was there anyone aboard? All these questions were racing through my mind. The last question would be answered soon.

  Hovering there, about thirty feet long, eight or ten feet high, shaped like a football, more blunt at one end with a small dome-like structure on top. Something up toward the top, at one end resembled two windows - fascinating, it seemed to hold me spellbound. “Maybe it will just leave; we can run for the car and get the hell out of here,” I thought to myself. But I was also still wondering what was inside. At this point I was frightened, but curious.

  I don’t believe anyone could have been prepared for what happened next. An opening appeared in the end that was toward us; the blue light had gone out. Looking through the opening the inside seemed to glow. My flesh crawls now when I think about the three beings that appeared through the opening. By the expression on Calvin’s face I knew I wasn’t seeing this alone. I couldn’t control myself; I shook from fear as Calvin screamed.

  “Damn it, what do they want? What are they going to do?” I cried. As if to answer my question, they glided out of the opening staying about the same height off the ground as the craft and came for us. If they had a more human likeness it would not have shocked me so. The head seemed to come directly to the shoulders, no neck and something resembling a nose came out to a point about two inches long. On each side of the head, about where ears would be, was something similar to the nose. Directly under the nose was a slit resembling a mouth. The arms were something like human arms, but long in proportion to the body; the hands resembled a mitten, there was a thumb attached. The legs remained together and the feet looked something like elephant’s feet. The entire body was wrinkled and had a greyish colour. There could have been eyes, but the area above the nose was so wrinkled that I couldn’t tell.

  Two of them took hold of my arms, one on each side. Instantly I felt pain in my left arm, but just as quick it was gone, I became helpless; I could not move and had no sensation of feelings. One of them took hold of Calvin; I saw him go limp and found out later he had fainted. As they were taking me aboard the craft I remembered reading on different occasions in the past where people had disappeared or vanished. “Will this happen to us? Will anyone ever know what happened if they take us away? Will this be my last day on earth?” All these things were racing through my mind.

  Inside the light was almost blinding, but for some strange reason I couldn’t close my eyes. “Damn it to hell, why don’t they just kill me,” I kept thinking. “They will dredge the river with no bodies they will assume we have drowned and washed out to sea. God help us- where is Calvin, what have they done with him?” Then I saw it; something that resembled a big eye seemed to come out directly from the wall. I tried to close my eyes, but couldn’t. For one instant I thought I felt pain in my left arm again. “What the hell have they done to me? I can’t move.”

  The “eye” came closer and stopped about six inches from my face. The end focussed on me was different colour or type of material than the rest of it. I tried again to close my eyes, but some force kept them open. The eye lingered there for a while then started to move down my body and returned to move over my entire body. No pain, no sensation. I remember trying to wiggle my toes, no way! “Why in hell don’t they just stop me from breathing and let my life end here?”

  The eye had finished and moved back into the wall. The things had released me and had to be somewhere behind me because I didn’t see then move in front of me. I tried to move again; some force was still there. “Please don’t take me away!” I know I was saying this, but I couldn’t hear my voice. “Calvin, where is Calvin?” But I still couldn’t hear my voice. I was alone for what seemed eternity, but couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. My mind wondered back to a crossroad north of the 38thParallel in North Korea. The enemy had thrown up a roadblock to cut us off from our main unit, but by being calm and keeping our heads we learned the North Koreans a lesson that day, one that many of them didn’t live to remember. “Keep calm, Charlie,” I kept telling myself. “Don’t panic, your time will come, they can’t keep you this way forever.” Then I saw them again. They took hold of me the same as before. The opening appeared again and we glided toward it, “Maybe this isn’t my day to die.” We glided through the opening and moved toward the place they had taken me from. My feet were touching the ground. When they released me I fell when my legs gave away.

  “My God, what have they done to him?” Calvin was standing there with his arms outstretched, almost in shock. There was more terror on Calvin’s face than I have ever seen on anyone’s. I started to crawl toward him, but rose to my feet before I reached him. Just before I reached him I heard the zipping sound again and as I looked around I saw the blue flashing lights and almost instantly the craft was gone. I can recall something raced across my mind. “We are peaceful, we meant you no harm.”

  “My God, they had been from another world!” I couldn’t believe it; I had physical contact with something beyond our Earth-hopefully, without any physical harm. But, oh God, I didn’t know at that time how much it would affect me mentally in the days and nights to come. As I reached Calvin I shook him. “No, no, please don’t!” he cried. I shook him real hard again; he relaxed and fell to the ground, screaming. It took a few minutes for me to make him realize who I was. Many times I had seen men in shock in Korea. Calvin was on his way, but I think I pulled him out of it.

  “Charlie, what are we going to do? What are they? What are they going to do to us?” I assured him they had gone. My flesh began to crawl again. I shook; I couldn’t control it for a few minutes. I remembered a night a long time ago, 1952, on the central (area) in North Korea north of the 38thParallel. My company had been called upon to help stop an attack where the North Koreans and Chinese had broken the lines of the First Capital Division of the South Korean Army. “Charlie, what’s it like up there?” a replacement recently from the States asked me. I tried to explain to him, but combat is something you have to experience yourself to understand. I saw him scream and cry that night after we helped stop the attack and moved bodies from the battlefield.

  “Charlie, were you scared?” he asked me. “Hell yes, I was scared, no man in his right mind can say he wasn’t scared.” But that was normal fear; the enemy was there to kill or be killed.

  Tonight was different. Something that had to us from another world, the unknown that is not supposed to exist; there was more than normal fear, there was almost panic, fear I had never known. “Would they come back? What did they do to me?” questions that couldn’t be answered. I had to think of Calvin too and console him. “Charlie, it seemed as
if I died and came back to life. Are you sure we are okay?” I assured him again that everything was alright, but not believing it myself. “Calvin we have got to forget this and not tell anyone.”