The Pascagoula (Mississippi) Abduction (Hickson & Parker; 1973)

[EnolaGaia]

Next ... At the very beginning of the video Calvin points to the inlet / embayment adjacent to where he's standing and says he doesn't remember that water being there (i.e., on the side of the scene opposite the bridge to the north). He says the terrain on that side of the actual incident scene was filled in (i.e., solid ground).

Now look at the 1973 / 1974 photo of the scene published by the Mississippi Press Register in their booklet:

Notice the inlet / embayment at the extreme left of the photo. This is the very same embayment Calvin alludes to in the video as something he doesn't remember. This embayment's shore profile (to the extent it survives) is the same between this photo and current aerial imagery. The concrete(?) blocks lining the embayment's northern shore (barely visible at the extreme left margin of the 1973 / 1974 photo) can still be discerned in today's aerial imagery. The dirt road and water tank(?) in this old photo have been obliterated by subsequent landfill and construction of the current Signet facility.

Calvin doesn't remember there being water immediately south of the incident scene because he's not standing at the incident scene. The 1973 / 1974 photo correctly illustrates the filled-in area south of the embayment and extending out into the river (with at least 3 piers / docks) as the area in which the incident occurred. It was in this area where the 1970s-era photos of the alleged pier scene were taken.

The Signet construction has covered over and extended the 1973 shoreline.

Here's an illustration of all these points ...

 

[BS3]

Next ... At the very beginning of the video Calvin points to the inlet / embayment adjacent to where he's standing and says he doesn't remember that water being there (i.e., on the side of the scene opposite the bridge to the north). He says the terrain on that side of the actual incident scene was filled in (i.e., solid ground).

Now look at the 1973 / 1974 photo of the scene published by the Mississippi Press Register in their booklet:

View attachment 57258​

Notice the inlet / embayment at the extreme left of the photo. This is the very same embayment Calvin alludes to in the video as something he doesn't remember. This embayment's shore profile (to the extent it survives) is the same between this photo and current aerial imagery. The concrete(?) blocks lining the embayment's northern shore (barely visible at the extreme left margin of the 1973 / 1974 photo) can still be discerned in today's aerial imagery. The dirt road and water tank(?) in this old photo have been obliterated by subsequent landfill and construction of the current Signet facility.

Calvin doesn't remember there being water immediately south of the incident scene because he's not standing at the incident scene. The 1973 / 1974 photo correctly illustrates the filled-in area south of the embayment and extending out into the river (with at least 3 piers / docks) as the area in which the incident occurred. It was in this area where the 1970s-era photos of the alleged pier scene were taken.

The Signet construction has covered over and extended the 1973 shoreline.

Here's an illustration of all these points ...

View attachment 57259​

Could one reason for Calvin's confusion over the exact spot relate to the fact the 'new' High Rise road bridge (which is post 1973 I think) is on a slightly different alignment to the old one? Or are they in fact in exactly the same place? I did have the thought that the modern bridge might be slightly further north (note this picture apparently showing both together). If this was the case, standing 'just south' of the bridge in the present day would mean standing further north than standing 'just south' of the bridge in 1973.

Another point this raises is that in 1973, that bridge really did afford a very clear view of the abduction site.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Could one reason for Calvin's confusion over the exact spot relate to the fact the 'new' High Rise road bridge (which is post 1973 I think) is on a slightly different alignment to the old one? Or are they in fact in exactly the same place? ...

I would say "No", because the replacement of the 1973 bridge with the current high-rise bridge (first opened to traffic in 2002; dedicated 2003) doesn't change the essential elements of the landscape I cited.

The new bridge was built immediately beside the old one, on the old bridge's north side. Here's a 2001 photo (looking westbound on the old 4-lane bridge) illustrating the location of the new bridge directly adjacent to it:

SOURCE: http://www.southeastroads.com/us-090wa_ms.html​

 

[EnolaGaia]

To further illustrate why I don't think the bridge replacement matters, here's a 2003 aerial view showing the overall scene with annotations for the key orientational elements:

SOURCE: https://omeka.stmarytx.edu/omeka-s/s/ost/item/144882​

The embayment Calvin didn't recognize was there all along. The 180-degree road bend at which Calvin stood in the video was there all along.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Now, about the press coverage during the first days and week following the incident ...
The Mississippi Press Register did in fact run a front page story about the incident on 12 October (the following day). ...
I've not (yet) been able to locate a copy of the 12 October headline story in any form. ...

Bingo ...

I've finally located the 12 October Mississippi Press Register front page article - the elusive Holy Grail of Pascagoula press coverage.
But ...
I'm gonna make you step through a multi-part reveal because ...
The path to finding it is every bit as weird as anything else about the Pascagoula case.

It all started with yet another deep dive into cyberspace looking for materials relating to the incident ...​

 

[EnolaGaia]

Not News: Southern Mississippi is deep Bible Belt territory.

News: A local Baptist minister was sufficiently impressed by the cosmic implications of the Hickson / Parker encounter story to be inspired to create a sermon about aliens and religion. He presented the sermon on Sunday, 14 October - the same day Hickson and Parker underwent hypnosis with APRO's Harder.

Weird News Bonus: The minister recorded the sermon on a 33 1/3 vinyl record album which was subsequently marketed through Christian channels.

From the Special Collections at the University of Southern Mississippi Libraries ...

Sermon about Pascagoula Alien Abduction

On October 11, 1973, two Pascagoula fishermen claimed to have been abducted by aliens. ...

The public interest in the case created excitement and fear in many people. Rev. Bill Riddick, founder and pastor at the Ocean Springs Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, MS, claimed to have received information about the abduction that had not been distributed to the community. In his sermon on October 14, 1973, he used this information and the coverage of the case to address his thoughts on the role of aliens in religion. This sermon was recorded and distributed on LP records. Special Collections has a copy of the album with the cover that provides information about the abduction and Rev. Riddick. ...

SALVAGED FROM THE WAYBACK MACHINE:
https://web.archive.org/web/2014050...exhibitions/item_of_the_month/march-2014.html
(University of Southern Mississippi / Libraries / Special Collections)

 

[EnolaGaia]

Here are the details on the Reverend Riddick's album ...

FRONT COVER​

Rev. Bill Riddick – Visitors From Outer Space - What Saith The Lord?
Label: Artist's Records – 731154
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Non-Music
Style: Religious, Sermon
Tracklist
A Sermon
B Sermon
Companies, etc.
Pressed By – Artist's Recording Co. – 731154
Manufactured By – Artist's Recording Co.

SOURCE: https://www.discogs.com/release/686...Visitors-From-Outer-Space-What-Saith-The-Lord

 

[EnolaGaia]

The university libraries article about this album included a small image of the album's back side:

... which caught my eye because it included a picture of something with a familiar title - the title of the elusive 12 October Mississippi Press Register front page article.

Unfortunately, this image was too low-resolution and small to permit magnification and retrieval of the news article's text.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Further bank-shotting myself through the infosphere, I discovered that the closed (but still accessible) Waxidermy blog (created by Waxidermy Records in Sacramento) contained among its hundreds of surrealistic / sarcastic / sardonic reviews of obscure vinyl records an entire section dedicated to rare gospel and Christian recordings. Among these I located the following review for Reverend Riddick's Visitors From Outer Space: What Saith The Lord? ...

Visitors From Outer Space – What Saith The Lord?​

Posted by noz on January 9, 2006

On October 9, 1973 the entirely heterosexual fishing expedition of Charles Hickson & Calvin Parker was unexpectedly interrupted by a flying egg shaped craft. Three used condom looking creatures forced hickson on to their ship, examined his body, and then returned him to the wharf, unharmed. “If this is true we should throw away the bible completely!” you might say. Well Rev. Bill Riddick begs to differ.

In this sermon, delivered in a full on Jeff Foxworthian drawl, he asks the hard question “What would Jesus Do If He Were Kidnapped and Probed by Aliens?” (which in turn sparked a WWJDIHWKAPBA? bumper sticker and keychain craze which you may remember). Rev. Riddick went through extensive research for this sermon, including a visit to the landing spot and meeting with “UFO Researcher” Steven Putnam. He also read the bible. A lot.

Riddick compares the sighting to a bunch of biblical miracles, but I stopped listening after he got to Revelations 9:2. I’m pretty sure the gist of his argument is that Moses would totally let aliens probe him psychically with a pulsating blue light and/or floating eye.

SOURCE: http://waxidermy.com/blog/visitors-from-outer-space-what-saith-the-lord/

 

[EnolaGaia]

... And semi-obscurely included with the review I noticed a small graphic that was hot-linked. Clicking on the link produced a scanned image from the album's back side. After tweaking the scanned image into reasonable legibility ...

I present to you the 12 October Mississippi Press Register front page 3-column article believed to be the first / original news story published about the Hickson / Parker encounter ...

 

[maximus otter]

maximus otter

 

[BS3]

To further illustrate why I don't think the bridge replacement matters, here's a 2003 aerial view showing the overall scene with annotations for the key orientational elements:

View attachment 57263
SOURCE: https://omeka.stmarytx.edu/omeka-s/s/ost/item/144882​

The embayment Calvin didn't recognize was there all along. The 180-degree road bend at which Calvin stood in the video was there all along.

Looking at this view of the site, I'm again wondering how an aerial craft could have landed there early in the evening - not even late at night - without many more witnesses.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Still, to be fair ... I'd love to know whether Harder and Hynek made notes documenting more than what was cited in the APRO article, and I'd really love to see any such additional documentation they generated in the interview / hypnosis sessions.

Well how about this new finding as a classic example of precisely the issue here.

Once nore, in a moment of Fortean wonderment, I only jcame across the following, before reading your post.

It was a further inadvertent discovery, whilst searching for something unrelated.

Certain new to myself and by the sound of, not alone in this respect:

A Look Back: Charles Hickson talks of his abduction by a UFO in Pascagoula
BILLY WATKINS | Mississippi Clarion Ledger

(...)

Hickson became friends with Allen Hynek, an astronomer at Northwestern University and one of the world's leading UFO investigators at the time. Hynek is now deceased.

"He convinced me to undergo hypnosis," Hickson says. "I wasn't sure about it at first, but I did it several times."

His story was basically the same during each session.

"But under deep hypnosis once, I discovered something that still gives me chills," Hickson says. "There were people on that spaceship— living beings in another compartment. They never came in there where we were. And I'm telling you, they looked almost like us".

"Only thing I can figure is that they couldn't live in our atmosphere, so they let the robots come out there and carry us inside."
(End)


One component of a superb and further illuminative article.

https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/...kson-tells-his-abduction-ufo-miss/1006116002/

 

[maximus otter]

... And semi-obscurely included with the review I noticed a small graphic that was hot-linked. Clicking on the link produced a scanned image from the album's back side. After tweaking the scanned image into reasonable legibility ...

I present to you the 12 October Mississippi Press Register front page 3-column article believed to be the first / original news story published about the Hickson / Parker encounter ...

View attachment 57277​

EnolaGaia's post mentions "Larry Booth, operator of a Standard service station on Hwy.90 at the intersection of Market St." as another witness. Booth told police he saw a UFO "...about 8 p.m. headed east toward Mobile."

There is today a service station at that junction, a Chevron at the southeast corner of the crossroads. If we proceed on the likely assumption that it was the Standard, but has simply been taken over by Chevron, Booth was almost exactly one mile, almost exactly due east, of the scene of the abduction:

maximus otter

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Simply for reference, a newly discovered and relatively sharp image quality photograph (which naturally must pre-date this publication), courtesy of the following article:

'The Commercial Appeal' (Memphis, Tennessee)
24 October, 1974

UFO Adventure Hovers Over Life of Mississippian

By WILLIAM THOMAS

Charles Hickson was pretty disgusted when he found out that he had been written up in a comic book.

"It's humiliating to have your name appear in something like this," he said, flipping angrily through the cartooned pages of the UFO Flying Saucer magazine. The cover shows three creatures from outer space attacking two Earthlings. Presumably, one of the Earthlings is Charles Hickson.

The main story inside the comic book Is titled "Mississippi Mystery." "The worst thing about it is the way the story is done," Hickson said. "It's not anything like what really happened."

The story which Hickson refers to is based on a report a year ago that he and another Mississippi Earthman, Calvin Parker, were taken aboard a UFO, examined by some kind of eye like device, and then thrust back into a world that wasn't nearly ready for them.
(End of extract)

The full article can be seen here:

www.jceaston.com/1974_10_24_Commercial_Appeal.pdf

 

[Comfortably Numb]

On the entire subject of news articles and 'official statements', there seems to be a mixture and we have, for example, the ibrief interview for Biloxi TV station, WLOX-TV, whilst at the same time their legal representative (retained by the shipyard owners as their legal advisor and instructed to provide assistance for Hickson and Parker as employees), is confirming the two men have no comments to make at this time...

Something like that and resultant of customarily resolute research by @EnolaGaia , there was quite evidently information being given out by the two witnesses, contrarywise...

(Is that the correct spelling?.... duly checks and...)

"'Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.”

Think I'm just going to post that as a reply to anything case related, from now on.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Looking at this view of the site, I'm again wondering how an aerial craft could have landed there early in the evening - not even late at night - without many more witnesses.

Philip Mantle, who now has a publishing association with Calvin Parker, alerted myself to this, during recent case discussions on my Facebook 'UFO Research List':

"You might be interested in this new piece by Kevin Randle on his blog":

http://kevinrandle.blogspot.com/2022/07/pascagoula-perspective.html?m=1

Have to say, from our photographs, whilst the location might be isolated, it seems clearly visible from across the river?

 

[BS3]

under deep hypnosis once, I discovered something that still gives me chills," Hickson says. "There were people on that spaceship— living beings in another compartment. They never came in there where we were. And I'm telling you, they looked almost like us".

I wonder if he'd seen the Woody Allen film 'Sleeper' that year

 

[Comfortably Numb]

News: A local Baptist minister was sufficiently impressed by the cosmic implications of the Hickson / Parker encounter story to be inspired to create a sermon...

I have some background material about this tangent - merely filed at the time and never looked at in any detail.

This is a fascinating find you highlight and much more in-depth.

Shall go have a look and see what I actually kept a note of... this is part of same.

 

[BS3]

Something that looked like a giant eye, you say?

(Also 'Sleeper', 1973).

 

[BS3]

Come on now, though. Surely you're not suggesting that aspects of the case are reminiscent of slapstick science fiction comedy 'Sleeper'? I mean how about the craft....oh.

Yes, Allen is being abducted into it here.

 

[BS3]

Actually, the real joke is that 'Sleeper' wasn't released until that December, so Hickson couldn't have seen it - though he could have done so prior to some later hypnosis sessions, maybe. Maybe the entities saw a preview copy?

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Hickson, who was a Korean war veteran, at one point, in an evident allusion, remarks that he never thought he would have to 'go through hell' again.

The above, was a reply to @Paul_Exeter.

@Paul_Exeter , if I might further illustrate the context here and its resonance on our case.

From the aforemenoted, Clarion Ledger article, 'Look Back: Charles Hickson talks of his abduction by a UFO in Pascagoula':

"I jumped to my feet, looked over at Calvin, and he looked plumb strange. Then a door opened and this brilliant light came out of it. I couldn't figure what in the world was happening. I've known fear. I fought 20 months in hand-to-hand combat in Korea. The only thing I'm scared of is a snake. I'll run from a snake. But this wasn't normal".

Whilst it's incumbent upon us to search for a rational explanation, we must never lose sight of respect here and that Charles Hickson's testimonials might genuinely be a trustworthy account of something we simply can't explain.

Every assertion otherwise and if actually having zero substantive evidence whatsoever, could quite reasonably be categorised as, the proverbial 'clutching for straws'.

 

[Comfortably Numb]

Why am I having flashbacks to our epic discussion on the Kelly-Hopkinsvile case, where all kinds of explanations kept bouncing back at us.

 

[Ronnie Jersey]

Sometimes the Truth is stranger than fiction.

 

[BS3]

The above, was a reply to @Paul_Exeter.

@Paul_Exeter , if I might further illustrate the context here and its resonance on our case.

From the aforemenoted, Clarion Ledger article, 'Look Back: Charles Hickson talks of his abduction by a UFO in Pascagoula':

"I jumped to my feet, looked over at Calvin, and he looked plumb strange. Then a door opened and this brilliant light came out of it. I couldn't figure what in the world was happening. I've known fear. I fought 20 months in hand-to-hand combat in Korea. The only thing I'm scared of is a snake. I'll run from a snake. But this wasn't normal".

Whilst it's incumbent upon us to search for a rational explanation, we must never lose sight of respect here and that Charles Hickson's testimonials might genuinely be a trustworthy account of something we simply can't explain.

Every assertion otherwise and if actually having zero substantive evidence whatsoever, could quite reasonably be categorised as, the proverbial 'clutching for straws'.

But here's the problem with ufology: we still have zero substantive evidence for anomalous crafts and entities.

As 'real' Forteans we have to consider all the data - rather than simply assuming the men were lying, a la Klass. But, being even handed, we can't assume that anything has primacy - even the evidence of someone's senses. There are a heap of observations by sober, trustworthy witnesses that have have turned out just to have been a highly unusual combination of mundane things, rather than a singular unusual thing. And in this case, as with others, I'm not sure about the evidence of the senses either.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Simply for reference, a newly discovered and relatively sharp image quality photograph (which naturally must pre-date this publication), courtesy of the following article: ...

Thanks! I've been collecting photos and info regarding where exactly Hickson and Parker would later claim they were located when the incident occurred. My earlier comments concerning Parker's recent misstatement / misidentification of the pier site represented only a single example among many issues that arise when reviewing the site location evidence.

All I have the time to say at this point is that there are demonstrable differences between location claims made by Hickson versus Parker, and there are similar questions arising with respect to Hickson's own claims.

 

[EnolaGaia]

EnolaGaia's post mentions "Larry Booth, operator of a Standard service station on Hwy.90 at the intersection of Market St." as another witness. Booth told police he saw a UFO "...about 8 p.m. headed east toward Mobile." ...

About that ... I've been getting increasingly curious about the other alleged witnesses - especially those cited at or around the time of the incident on 11 October.

It's certainly the case that a number of witnesses surfaced years - even decades - later. It's also the case that some of these witnesses seem to have been describing sightings more reasonably associated with the UFO reports in the area preceding the 11 October incident and / or with the UFO / USO reports that surfaced in the weeks following.

The bit that surprises me is that (first) there's little or no mention of the witnesses who were identified at the time, and (second) there's no substantive evidence (I've found) that anyone interviewed these additional contemporary witnesses and documented their sightings in any detail.

 

[BS3]

About that ... I've been getting increasingly curious about the other alleged witnesses - especially those cited at or around the time of the incident on 11 October.

It's certainly the case that a number of witnesses surfaced years - even decades - later. It's also the case that some of these witnesses seem to have been describing sightings more reasonably associated with the UFO reports in the area preceding the 11 October incident and / or with the UFO / USO reports that surfaced in the weeks following.

The bit that surprises me is that (first) there's little or no mention of the witnesses who were identified at the time, and (second) there's no substantive evidence (I've found) that anyone interviewed these additional contemporary witnesses and documented their sightings in any detail.

I noted that the article reproduced on the record sleeve talked about sightings in the Pinecrest area. This seems to be a suburb south-east of the sighting area.

 

[EnolaGaia]

... Have to say, from our photographs, whilst the location might be isolated, it seems clearly visible from across the river?

Indeed it was (clearly visible from across the river). This area (with the bridge(s)) is perhaps the narrowest point along that stretch of the river.

If you look at the aerial photo of the new / old bridges I posted above, you can see a street on the east (right-hand) side that runs straight to the shoreline directly opposite the "embayment." According to historical documents I saw during my searching there was once a ferry service that crossed the river between those two points prior to the introduction of the "old" 1950s-era drawbridge.