Now I know I had said I had passed out when I really didn’t, but the reason for this was that Charlie and I thought it was for the best because deep down in Charlie’s mind he thought he was protecting me. If everyone thinks back to 1973 there was a big age difference between us and it was Charlie and my father that used to hang out together and were good friends. Although I was brought up with his children and we were good friends, when it came to me it was like Charlie was taking care of one of his kids. So I just stuck with the story of me passing out as we thought it was the best way to protect me at the time. Thinking back Charlie probably did a lot of his interviews to keep everyone away from me, thinking again that this would satisfy the press and protect me at the same time. So when we left Keesler AFB we went back to the shipyard where we were working at the time to get our cars. It was really quiet on the way there, no one said much, but in my mind I was really relieved that this part was over. When I reached my car I took Charlie home but we said very little to each other on the way home, just small talk about not going fishing for a long time. I think in the back of Charlie’s mind he knew I wasn’t coming back to live with him again and that’s where it pretty much ended for us. After all that had happened there was now only one thing on my mind, home.
****** Charles Hickson circa 1973
Calvin Parker circa 1973 Charles Hickson (left) & Calvin Parker (right) in 1973
Sheriff Fred Diamond circa 1973 Charles Hickson on site circa 1973
Charles Hickson on site
Charles Hickson under hypnosis
Charles Hickson (right) speaking at a UFO convention Charles Hickson with an artists impression of our encounter Charles Hickson with his book UFO CONTACT AT PASCAGOULA Me (Calvin Parker) pointing at a press photographer
A young looking Calvin Parker
Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker being interviewed on TV
Charles Hickson & Calvin Parker
Dr. James Harder (left) and Dr. J.Allen Hynek (right)
Keesler Air Force Base (and below) Calvin Parker (left) Debbie Jordan (middle) Budd Hopkins (right) Tape of Budd Hopkins hypnosis regression session with Calvin Parker in 1993
Date on tape cassette 3/14/93
Ralph & Judy Blum’s book UFO as described by Charles Hickson while under hypnosis
UFO as sketched by Calvin Parker, top in 1975, bottom on October 11th, 1973 on the police log Artist impression of the encounter (artist unknown) Illustration of the UFO and one of the creatures (artist unknown) Artist impression of our close encounter (artist unknown) Calvin Parker’s first sketch of the creature made in April 1975 A complete sketch of the creature by artist Curtis Watkins. The height was just over five feet and the color was grey Jim Flint made this sketch within one week of the encounter
This model is based on a description of the creatures given by Charles Hickson
From ABOVE TOP SECRET COMICS by Wes Crum
Artist impression of the creatures head (artist unknown) The creature as depicted in Ralph & Judy Blum’s book
Another artists impression of the creature (artist unknown) Rendition of the encounter done in 2018 by Alberto Forgione Some of the books and magazines we have appeared in
FATE magazine – February 1974 features the Pascagoula encounter
DVD looking at UFO incidents from 1973 whuch features the Pascagoula encounter
OpenMinds covers the encounter
FLYING SAUCERS & UFOs Quarterly magazine features the Pascagoula encounter
The newsstand magazine XTimes in Italy carries the Pascagoula encounter on its front cover in 2018
I just want to give you an idea of the media interest in our story and will feature here a large number of newspaper cuttings
The Pascagoula encounter in popular culture
A model that was still on sale in 2018
A one-off model made in Brazil in 2018. Photo courtesy Thiago Ticcehtti
Charles Hickson’s 45 rpm vinyl record detailing our encounter
Model of the creature made in Japan Plastic model still available for purchase in 2018 Hand made wooden model of the creature available online in 2018
A set of models for sale online. The Pascagoula creature is among this set
This magazine has our story on its front cover. What follows is the story inside this comic book
Items from the MUFON case file. Some names have been redacted by MUFON as is their policy
Hand written letter detailing aspects of our encounter
Letter discussing someone from MUFON taking a trip to Pascagoula in an attempt to interview those involved
Letter from the MUFON Director
Hand written notes discussing our encounter and a drawing of the creature
A letter discussing ‘the secret tape’
A letter discussing the early polygraph test
I believe that the person answering these questions was Charles Hickson
A follow-up letter that had previously discussed ‘the secret tape’ Hand written letters covering various aspects of our encounter
From the NICAP file. Letters from the USAF to UFO researcher Robert Todd
If nothing else these letters do confirm that we did travel to Keesler AFB to be tested for radiation which thankfully turned out to be negative
US Coast Guard confirm USO sighting to UFO researcher Robert Todd
US Coast Guard letter to UFO researcher Robert Todd concerning the USO sighting. This sighting is featured elsewhere in this book Hand written notes from the NICAP file and a print out of Charles Hickson’s polygraph test
I have previously passed a polygraph test the results of which were lost in hurricane Katrina. I am therefore more than willing to take another one should it be required From the CUFOS case file
The full transcript of our interview at Keesler AFB as mentioned in this letter is featured elsewhere in this book The close encounter location on the Pascagoula River in 2018
Bottom left there is someone with an umbrella fishing. This is the site of our encounter
This is the exact location today in 2018
As you can see the old pier is in bad shape now but i t ’s still there and it wasn ’t in much better shape back in 1973
The new bridge over the Pascagoula River. The fisherman with the umbrella is at the site of our encounter Me on site in 2013. I was carrying a bit more weight than I was happy with in those days
This is me in 2018. This park was not there in 1973. You can see the new bridge over the Pascagoula River behind me CHAPTER NINE
Aftermath I was finally headed home and couldn’t wait to get there, although FB Walker was, I thought a great company too work for, there was no place like home and I had made my mind up not to go back. I somehow felt like I wasn’t supposed to go. They had paid me what they owed me and an extra two weeks on top. So, I will send back the extra money they paid me. I called them to get the address where to send it back but they didn’t want it back so I just tore up the check they had given me. I thought that was the easiest thing to do.
This has been one of the worst times in my life and one of the scariest. Of that there is no doubt. I don’t let much bother me but this was something out of my control. That’s what bothered me the most, the fact that I had no control over what had happened. It was a long ride back to Laurel, Mississippi although it took less time to get there than it normally did.
Upon arrival in Laurel I went to my father’s house but he wasn’t home, so, after taking a shower and changing my clothes, I left to go and see my fiancé. Our original plans were to get married in November but now I didn’t know if this was going to happen or not, she was just sixteen years old and her mom and dad had to sign for her to get married. I am sure that now they would think I am a nut case of some sort. So when driving over there I was thinking how it doesn’t take but a few minutes to change your whole life and sometimes it’s not for the best. When I got to her house there was someone there from the Laurel Leader, a local newspaper, just sat there wait
ing for me to turn up. I still hadn’t given an interview to none of the press, Charlie had but not me. I remember just before I left the coast someone from the Mississippi Press came up to me and took my photograph so I put my finger in his face told him to get the hell away. It was that photograph of me that was plastered all over the place. I had on a white t-shirt and I was pointing my finger at the photographer. There was just no way to win, when the press get on a quest, they never give up. I was thinking to myself that I probably needed to give an interview so it would all be over and everyone would just forget about it and leave me alone. As long as Charlie is alive they won’t forget as he gives every interview whenever he can. I guess some people just like that kind of stuff. I asked the reporter to give me his card and I promised that I would call him in a few days. I wanted to give this interview because this was where I lived and I wanted everyone to know that I was okay. Finally I managed to see my fiancé Waynett. She was crying and I was thinking how nice it was to be home where it was safe. Then how good it was to hold Waynett, someone that I loved and trusted and I asked her how she had found out about what had happened to me and Charlie, she said my dad had told her and it was all over the news . My thoughts were how everyone had reacted when they heard about us, so I asked her what her family thought about it all. Her dad was working for the Ingles shipyard at the time, so he knew what was going on . Waynette told me that they weren’t saying much about it to her at all so she wasn’t sure what they made of it. Her dad said it must have been something serious because Dr. Hynek flew down and he had at one time worked on Project Blue Book for the USAF.
I picked Waynett up at around 10:00am. We just drove around and went to see some friends and family. None of them asked me what had happened. The reason why they didn’t want to know upset me a little because the media said I wasn’t handling the abduction very well. They figured I would open up and talk later. I got to see my dad and he just asked me how I was. It was really strange because no one talked about our UFO encounter.
I told Waynett that I was not going back to the coast and that I was going to take off for a couple of days and that I was going to look for a job which made her very happy. I was starting to think that things were getting back to normal. Then we turned on the TV and Charlie was on Channel 7, he was then in Hattsburg, Mississippi, a little town about thirty miles from Laurel and Sandersville. This really pissed me off as Charlie had said that he didn’t want any publicity either. I was starting to wonder if he might be the one that broke the story to the media in the first place. I drove to Sandersville to look for Charlie but he had already left and was going back home to the coast.
Getting back to more important things, I figured that the publicity would wear off in a few days and everyone would forget about it. I took Waynett home at about 10.00pm that night, wished her good night and told her that I would see her in a couple days and that I was going to look for a job tomorrow. Still no one asked me anything about what had happened on October 11thon the Pascagoula River. Why no one did, I can’t say.
The next morning I got up at around 4:00am, got dressed and drove to what was called John's Restaurant & Bar. This was where everyone in the oil-field met up to go and come from work. (That was where a person could find a job in the oil-field industry) Laurel is a small town and everyone knows everyone else. My father and all his brothers worked in the oil-field industry, so everyone knew me and I knew to bring my work clothes and boots. I really was just that simple. I sat down and ordered breakfast but before I’d got to eat it someone hollared out that they needed a hand today. So I got up and left with them and that was my first day with Exarter Drilling. It was five in a crew and we had a one hour drive to work. I knew everyone in the car and no one ever said anything about what had happened and nor did I. That was just the way it was back then.
We worked seven days a week, eight hours a day and if someone wanted a day off you could work their shift. I tried to work over-time for at least five days a week because of the money and our pending marriage in a month’s time. When you are young and enjoy what you do it’s fun to make extra money. I was doing well working as it took my mind off the UFO encounter. Then one day WDAM Channel Seven showed up on the job wanting an interview. I don’t know how they found out where I was but someone had to have told them. I was busy working and they wouldn’t take no for an answer. My boss told me to get rid of them or he would get rid of me. So I asked them to leave but they just kept on trying to get an interview. Finally I talked them into leaving. I telephoned the TV station manager but he said they were just doing their job. I told him to leave me alone and back-off and that I knew they have a job to do but I didn’t ask for this to happen to me and I just wanted to be left alone to get on with my life. By this time in my life the pressure was building up and it was getting to a stage where it was more than I could stand. This is when I started thinking of the beings from the UFO as being demons of some kind. I didn’t really believe this, it was just the pressure building up, but someone later on in life reported this and ran with it. For the record, I do not think these being were demons.
But as they were not demons then they were possibly extraterrestrial. I knew it wasn’t a demonic experience but in my mind I thought if I said it was demonic then maybe I could scare these reporters and they would leave me alone. By now I figured out that I would just have to get used to the press hounding me and live with it for a while longer. Hoping that Sooner or later they would go away and leave me in peace. But then I got to thinking it’s because the USA or maybe the world has been invaded, which if true, then I don’t blame people for wanting to know what had happened. This made me decide that I would back off the press a little and start giving interviews every now and then. After all I would want to know about this had it happened to someone else. I had just rather them find out from someone else and not me, but apart from Charlie I was the only other one the press could look to for an interview. After getting off work that day we were informed that they were going to move the rig so we would be off work for a couple weeks .
After getting home from work I was told that Charlie had been calling me, so I called him back. He wanted to know if I would go on the Michael Douglas talk show with him, he said everyone was asking about me. I told him I would do the interview but that I had no idea who Michal Douglas was, but maybe this would satisfy everyone and then leave me alone. Charlie called the TV show and got me a plane ticket to Chicago. I met Charlie at the airport in Jackson, Mississippi. We said our ‘hello’s’ and talked casually about everything but the UFO encounter. It was about four hours on the plane and we still didn’t talk about the abduction. The plane landed and when we got there, there was someone holding a sign with our names on. We followed this guy out to the limousine and he took us to the Palmar House Motel, informing us that he would be down stairs in the lobby in the morning at 9:00 am to collect us. We were informed that an account was set up for us to and that we simply had to inform the motel who we were and the TV company would take care of the bill. Charlie finally broke the silence and asked me if I was hungry. I told him I wasn’t but that I would go down to the restaurant with him and he ordered a steak. While waiting for Charlie’s steak to arrive I asked him why he wanted all this publicity but he never told me why. He ate his dinner and we went back to our room and he turned on the TV. I went to bed as I was really tired. Surprisingly I slept really well that night, never had I slept on a mattress that comfortable in my life before. We woke up around 3:00am in the morning, took our showers, went down to eat breakfast where I ordered biscuit and gravy but they said we don’t have it, so I reordered a BLT, they said we don’t have that either. So I ordered some cheese grits but they said “what’s that”. It was at this point that I knew then they didn’t have any real food (smiles). I asked them just bring me some coffee and when they did it was too weak to drink. Charlie just laughed at me. He then asked me not to say anything I didn’t want to during the interview and I told him I wouldn’t. We met
the driver in the lobby and he escorted us to the limousine. He drove us across the road, got out, opened the door and said we’re here. I was thinking, why didn’t we just walk across the street, but we were there. I took a deep breath and thought to myself that once we do this it will be all over. In we went and we were taken to the makeup room, I told them they weren’t putting that stuff on me, but I was told that they had to or your face would shine on the camera .
I told them I wasn’t going around looking like a drag queen. Anyway, they put makeup on Charlie and took us to what they called the green room. The only problem I noticed with this was that the room was blue? I was thinking that these people are nuts, but I went along with it. We were sitting in the green room and they called us to go on to the set. Michael Douglas introduced us and Charlie started to tell them what happened and really both our stories then he asked me a few questions. I remember getting really weak to my stomach I don’t even watch TV much less want to be on it. I don’t remember what he asked me but I tried to answer them the best I could. After the show was over I walked across the road to the motel and Charlie rode in the limousine but I beat him there by about twenty minutes. Our plane was leaving in about two hours so we packed our clothes and Charlie called the driver to take us back to the airport. When we got there Charlie said you are going to have to start getting out more. I just looked at him and said your lipstick is kinda smeared. He laughed at this. As we flew home Charlie asked how I was handling things. I told him I was finding it difficult as the media simply would not leave me alone. After getting back home I ploughed the garden in order to plant our winter vegetables. I thought about the trip and figured that I was lucky to be born in the South. There was no place like home. This is where I felt safe.
****** CHAPTER TEN
Breakdown Here it is getting close to me getting married. The wedding was going to take place on November 9th, 1973, just one month after the abduction. I am back living in Laurel, Mississippi now I’m back home. I must admit that I am having a hard time coping with everything that is happening. I used to have a private life but now everyone knows my business. Everyone knows and I don’t like anyone sticking their noise in my business. But here lately my business seems to be everyone’s. Before the UFO encounter I was left alone to mine my own business, but that has all changed now.
PASCAGOULA-THE CLOSEST ENCOUNTER: MY STORY Page 9