Calvin came in about that time. We commented on the paper and were having breakfast together when a knock sounded on the door, it was Dr. Harder. He had come by to talk with us again before flying back to California. We had moved to the living room and were all having coffee. Later Dr. Harder put Calvin under hypnosis again, but he had to bring him out of it. It was frightening to me to watch when the terror came back to Calvin. ”Charlie, if anyone doesn’t believe you and Calvin, they are a damn fool and you may quote me on any news media in the country.” Dr. Harder was very sincere in making that statement. Here was a dedicated man, along with a lot more scientists, who will, I believe, in the near future, prove to everyone that other worlds and other beings do exist. Dr. Harder had an airplane to catch, so after handshakes and goodbyes, he was gone. Being Sunday I was hoping to get some rest before work the next day, but friends were already stopping by. No relaxing today.
MONDAY: I was truly hoping Monday morning that everything would be back to normal. To be able to put in a good day’s work at the shipyard without taking to news-people and answering telephones would settle my nerves a little. Calvin and me both were still shook up pretty bad. Upon reaching the shipyard and honestly trying to get back into the routine of our work, we found it impossible to do: too many telephone calls and too many visitors, not only distracting us, but the entire shipyard. We were told by management that we could take a few weeks off from work, to get away from it all. I wondered what we would do for an income in the next few weeks, but there wasn’t much choice, we would try to get away from it all for a while. What we didn’t know then was that we couldn’t get away. Too many people were concerned. The next few weeks were a nightmare: they came from all parts of the country.
Tommy Blann, deputy director of The International UFO Bureau of Okalahoma City, Oklahoma, along with his wife, came to my home and spent several hours with us discussing the ordeal. News-people were continuously at our door demanding a story. But Calvin and me weren’t the only ones catching hell. Murphy Givens, a reporter for the Mississippi Times, a local newspaper, commented:
“If you happen to make the mistake of asking the Sheriff’s office if they’ve had any UFO reports lately, you’re likely to get an incredulous look. About the same kind of look of the man who had just bought a Holstein cow and was told to enter her in a horse race. Many of the curiosity seekers, freelance writers, magazine reporters, etc., have literally kept the Sheriff’s office up a tree.”
Two women in their middle years, one of whom could barely talk, made the long trip here from Connecticut to ask Calvin and me some questions. One of the women was a good friend of Betty Hill, the widow of Barney Hill, the couple that reported they had been taken aboard a UFO thirteen years ago. “She (Betty Hill) had tears in her eyes when we left,” one of the women explained, adding that the Hill’s experience had ruined their lives and Mrs hill hoped that someway, somehow, the incident here would help prove their story. Since that meeting, I have received letters from Mrs. Hill and I am hoping in the future I might meet her and discuss the two happenings personally.
The Air Force was having its problems too. Judy Johnson of the Mississippi Press reported on October 18:
“We are out of the UFO business and have been since 1969. The Air Force has not, is not now and does not plan to be investigating the UFO reports.” That statement issued today by Col, James Howell of the Public Information Office at Keesler Air Force base in Biloxi, sums up the Air Force’s general attitude toward recent reports of sightings of unidentified objects. Officials at both Keesler and Elgin Air Force Base in Florida declined to speculate on whether Gulf Coast citizens were in any potential danger. “Whenever we receive reports of UFOs, we refer the people to their local law enforcement agencies, if they feel threatened,” Lt. Iris Galen of Elgin Public Information office said. “If they want a scientific investigation conducted, we refer them to their nearest university. The Air Force is simply out of the UFO business.”
These statements made me very angry. The billions of dollars our government is spending to reach out and explore other worlds and they even sent a probe into the universe with symbols to inform other beings about Earth - yet they discount UFO sightings. It doesn’t make sense to me, but I suppose, they have reasons for this. The entire Gulf Coast was in an uproar. In every newspaper I picked up, there was a story about Calvin and me and reports of other sightings. Ministers began speaking in the local churches about UFOs and their interpretations of what the Bible says about them. One preacher made a record from clippings he read in the newspaper and TV broadcasts. On the other side, he preached a sermon, saying they were demons. God help his soul and the souls he has lead to believe this. He even came to my home, wanting me to endorse this, which I declined. I could see the dollar signs in his eyes.
Many people were trying and some succeeding in making small fortunes on this ordeal Calvin and me went through. It made me sick to the stomach. I honestly believe when Jesus Christ comes back to this Earth some of these vultures will be there trying to make a buck. The days and nights seemed to get longer in the weeks following as I struggled to keep my mind together - nightmares when I did sleep. It was constantly on my mind. My family played a big part in keeping me from cracking up under the constant strain. Calvin had gone back to Jones County one weekend to visit his family. While there he had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for a while. He truly had to get away from it all. He remained in Jones County and refused to talk to any news media and didn’t return to Pascagoula for a long while and then just to visit.
My livelihood was here being a shipbuilder and with a family to support, after a few weeks off, I went back to my position in the shipyard, but there still was no rest from the reporters, either in person or on the telephone. Then the question arose through the news media; would I consent to a polygraph test? I agreed. It was given in the presence of our local Sheriff and chief deputy. The machine said I was telling the truth. This only caused more reporters, more telephone calls and more letters.
No one will ever know, except Charles Hickson, the terrible strain I was under. But the many concerned people helped ease that strain with letters I received, for which I will always be grateful. There is still love and concern for fellow beings on this planet and always will be as long as we exist. That is the testimony of my old buddy Charles Hickson. You can tell that he had a better education than me and he sure can write better. That’s another reason why I didn’t want to re-write his account myself as I didn’t want to mess it up. I had a great deal of respect for Charlie as did everyone that knew him. He was a hard working honest man and was as tough as old boots. He served his country in the army during the Korean War and he was both my boss and my friend. And like me Charlie loved to fish. Charlie was always protective of me and I wish he was still here with us. I’m still in contact with some of Charlie’s family and we all miss him a great deal. God bless Charles Hickson.
****** CHAPTER FOUR
Ralph Blum’s Book I understand that our story has appeared in a number of books. This is an extract from Ralph Blum’s book. You can see again that when we first spoke to the Sheriff’s Department Charlie did most of the talking and when you read the transcript from the secret tape it is easy to see how scared I was. Here is the extract from the book:
By Sunday night the news people had left Pascagoula. Dr. Hynek was on his way back to Chicago, Dr. Harder to Berkeley. By then, the entire country knew what had happened to Charlie Hickson and Calvin Parker.
It was a strange moment to be in Pascagoula - like arriving on the scene right after a disaster. People compared it with the time Hurricane Camile struck the coast. Toughminded Sheriffs needed to talk about what had happened. Maybe a week later, when things had returned to normal, I wouldn't have been invited to the Sheriff's office to hear and record the taped interview made barely three hours after Calvin and Charlie saw the flashing blue light. It was the first time in any major UFO encounter that the witnesses' testimony wa
s recorded so swiftly and on tape.
I tried to imagine Charlie and Calvin's feelings as they told their story. I had seen their condition: two men on the borderline of collapse who had been through an experience for which nothing on earth could have prepared them.
The interview was conducted by Sheriff Fred Diamond and Captain Glen Ryder at approximately eleven o'clock Thursday evening. It began with Charlie's voice saying: Even though I'll be the laughing stock of the country, I'll tell what I seen and the experience I've had...
“What did you say your name was?”
“Charles Hickson. H-i-c-k-s-o-n. Even though they laugh me out of Jackson County, I'll do what I know is right. That's all I can do. And I don't expect anybody to believe it. It's just unbelievable.”
There was a weight in Charlie's voice. As though he was having to push the words up, heave them out.
We just have to know what happened. What happened to y'all from the very beginning.
“Well, this'll be the third time.”
“We just want to make sure. To hear your story. That's what convinced us”.” “OK. OK. Calvin and me, this boy - he works with me - we went down below the grain elevator along the river. We caught a few hardheads down there, a couple of croakers, not much. So I said to Calvin, son, let's go up by the old Schaupeter Shipyard. I've caught redfish in there and speckled trout-.”
“Is he your son?”
“No, no. He's just a friend. He's from Jones County. That's where I'm reared from. I've got a farm and a home up there. Well, so we went over there to try a little while. We set there fishing. I don't know how - I guess we must've seen the thing the same time. It's a blue light. It circled a bit-.”
“How high was it?”
“You couldn't hardly tell. It wasn't too close. But it wasn't now two-three miles away. It was pretty close.”
“And a blue light -you're surprised when you look in the sky and you see a blue light. It really calls your attention to it. Then in just a little while, it come right down above the bayou. You know, about two- three feet above the ground.”
“How close was it?”
“”Twenty-five, thirty yards. But it might have been thirty-five, forty yards. You see something like that, it scare you to death! And I couldn't believe it. I started to head for the river-.
“Was there a noise to it?”
“A little buzzin' sound-nnnnnnnn, nnnnnnnn-just like that, that's all. Wasn't any back blast or anything. And, you think you dreamin' about something like that, you know. And I started to hit the river, man. And Calvin just - he went hysterical.
“What's Calvin's last name?”
“It's Parker. Calvin Parker, Junior. He's got his father's name.”
Charlie paused a moment, then went on:
“So we was right on the river. It didn't hit the ground. It hovered. And all of a sudden
right in the end of it - this opening was laid up there and three of them just floated out of
the thing. They wasn't on no ground.”
“They didn't have feet?”
“No, they didn't have toes. But they had feet shape... It was more or less just a round like
thing on a leg - if you'd call it a leg... I was scared to death. And me with a spinnin' reel
out there-it's all I had. I couldn't - well, I was so scared - well, you can't imagine. Calvin
done went hysterical on me.-”
“Then what happened? They walk on up to you?”
“They just - no, they just glided up there to me. Then one of 'em made a little buzzing'
noise and two of 'em never made no noise.”
“What kind of noise?”
“Just ZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZ.”
“It sounded like a machine?”
“Yeah, like that. It might have been contactin' the others. See, I don't know. By then I
was so damn scared I didn't know anything. And two of 'em just floated around behind
me and lifted me off the ground.”
“By your arms?”
“By my arms. With their pincher things. They must of done something. I just raised off
the ground.”
“They didn't use no force though?”
“No force. They didn't hurt me. I didn't feel nothin'”.
“How was your buddy doin' then?”
“He just passed out on me. And they glided me into that thing. You know, how you just
guide somebody. All of us moved like we were floatin' through air. When I got in there,
they had me, you know, they just kind of had me there. There were no seats, no chair,
they just moved me around. I couldn't resist them, I just floated - felt no sensation, no
pain. They kept me in that position a little while, then they'd raise me back up.”
“You said they had some kind of instrument on you, didn't you?”
“Some kind of instrument I don't know what it was. I didn't see anything that I could call an instrument that I've ever seen before”.
“What did it look like? Could you describe it?”
“I just couldn't describe it.”
“Was it like an X-ray machine?”
“No it wasn't like no X-ray machine. There ain't no way to describe it. It looked like an eye. Like a big eye. It had some kind of an attachment to it. It moved. It looked like a big eye. And it went all over my body. Up and down. And then they left me.” “They left you inside the machine?”
“Left me right by myself. And the position they had me in - I couldn't move. Just my eyes could move. And I don't know how long they left me. I don't even know if I stayed conscious but I think I did. And then they came back.”
“How long did they leave you?”
“I don't know. I never wear no watch.”
“How long would you say?”
“I'd say twenty to thirty minutes. Then, when they came back, they laid me back over again.”
“You didn't try to talk to 'em, ask 'em what was going on?”
“Yes--I did! But I'd get a buzzin' sound out of one of 'em. That's all. They didn't pay me no attention, my talkin' or anything.”
“How many eyes did they have?”
“There could have been eyes but I didn't see any. But there was something that came straight out more or less where a nose would be on a human being's face.” “They have any hair?”
“I don't know. I just swear I don't know. That's blank in my mind.”
“You looked at 'em didn't you? Did they breathe?”
“I swear I don't know”.
“How tall were they?”
“They were about five feet tall”.
“They didn't have no kind of clothes on or nothing?”
“Not so's I noticed!
“And you can't tell me what color they was?”
“Man, you scared as I was -.”
“Was they white-looking? Pale? Blue? Green?”
“Best I remember, they looked pale like to me-”
“Wrinkled skin?”
“It might have been. It looked kind of like a skin fit. They might've had something on, they might not've. I don't know.”
“You say below the nose there was an opening?”
“Like a slit-and I never saw that openin' move. And they had something on each side of the head that resembled ears, but didn't look like ears that we know. And the head-I didn't see any neck. It looked like it just sit there on a body.”
“Was this right after dark?”
“It wasn't too long after dark.”
“Well, why you waiting' till this time of night to call us?”
“Well, Mr. Fred, when I got out of there, I knowed nobody wouldn't believe me. I went by the Mississippi Press, beat on the door. This colored guy was sittin' at the desk. I said I wanted to see a reporter. He said there won't be no reporter till morning. I thought about it again. If I call the sheriff's department they won't believe me. If I call the police department they won't believe me -”
“Well, how'd you know unless you tried?”
“Well, I apologize for that. That's my thinking.”
“How much did you have to drink?”
“I hadn't drank anything, but in the forty-five minutes to an hour before I called you all, I did drink! I had to settle my nerves. I just about went crazy. And I gotta get back and let my wife know. She's probably hysterical now.”
“Your wife's all right. You remember leaving?”
“Leavin' where?”
“The ship. When they put you out.”
“The only thing I remember is that kid, Calvin, just standing there. I've never seen that sort of fear on a man's face as I saw on Calvin's. It took me a while to get him back to his senses and the first thing I told him was, Son, ain't nobody gonna believe this. Let's just keep this whole thing to ourselves. Well, the more I thought about it, the more I thought I had to let some officials know.”
“What they do after they let you go?”
“There was a buzzing' sound and it was gone.”
“Can you describe the vehicle?”
“Yes, I can. It was about eight feet tall. It wasn't round. It was oblong, sort of oblong and the opening it had was at one end of it. The only lights I seen on the outside was that blue light.”
“Inside, what lights they have?”
“I didn't see no bulbs or anything. It just glowed light. But it was real bright.” Charlie told how he's tried to call Keesler Air Force Base and how they told him to call
the sheriff. There were a few more questions and the interview was over. Sheriff Diamond asked Charlie to come back in the morning to make a complete
statement. Charlie said he didn't want any publicity and he didn't want to get his family
upset. Then Diamond and Captain Ryder went out and left the two men alone in the room
with the tape recorder still running.
Charlie's voice was shaky as he said to Calvin: "I can't take much more of that" And
PASCAGOULA-THE CLOSEST ENCOUNTER: MY STORY Page 5