The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 563: The Pascagoula UFO Incident | When Nightmares Come True

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

On a quiet October night in 1973, two friends were fishing in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Their lives changed forever when a strange craft appeared. Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker's terrifying experience became one of the most compelling UFO cases in history. What happened during those missing 20 minutes? Why did these men insist they were telling the truth for decades? But there's more to this story than just one night. There are many similar encounters and many possible explanations, both natural and supernatural.  Whether the story is true or not, one thing is for sure: It was a nightmare.

You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. It was a quiet night on October 11th, 1973 in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson were friends and co-workers at a local shipyard.

After a long day of work, they decided to unwind by doing a little fishing. They chatted about work, family, and life while casting their lines into the water. They didn't know that their lives were about to change forever. Calvin and Charles saw a large UFO, but that didn't scare them. What came out of it did.

They weren't little pale beings with big black eyes. These creatures were monsters. Charles and Calvin's fear increased as the monsters moved closer and closer. Suddenly, both men were completely paralyzed. They couldn't run. They couldn't move. They couldn't cry for help.

All they can do is wait and see what happened next. The monsters grabbed them, and Calvin and Charles, still unable to move, were taken aboard the craft. And that's when the nightmare began. Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker were co-workers at a shipbuilding company. After a tough day at work, they went to the Pascagoula River and found a quiet spot on a pier to do a little fishing. Yeah, hold on. Let me fix that for you.

They found a quiet spot on a pier to do a little murdering. Do you mind? Sorry, sorry. I lost a lot of good friends to the hook. The wounds are still raw. Go ahead. A blue light appeared in the sky, growing larger as it approached. It came from a disc-shaped craft about 40 feet long and 10 feet tall. It hovered above the water, making a strange buzzing sound. Three creatures floated out, also hovering above the ground. They were about five feet tall with pale, wrinkled skin. Their heads connected directly to their shoulders. Their faces were grotesque, with pointy protrusions instead of noses and ears.

Their large, round eyes seemed lifeless. Instead of hands, the beings had crab-like claws at the ends of their arms. Claws? Like the crab cat? Yes, they had claws like a crab cat. Fear the crab cat! The creatures

made an eerie buzzing sound as they drew closer. Charles and Calvin became paralyzed with fear. Then they realized became paralyzed with fear. Then they realized it wasn't fear that paralyzed them. The creatures had done something to them, and they were helpless. The beings grabbed Calvin and Charles with their claws,

lifting them off the ground. The men felt weightless. Calvin, overwhelmed by terror, fainted, and he was lucky. Charles felt numb and detached, as if his mind were separated from his body. The beings carrying Charles and Calvin started floating back to the craft. As they approached the ship, a section of the hull rippled like water. The metal vanished, creating an entrance.

Charles was paralyzed and could only move his eyes, which were now assaulted by blinding light. Charles' mind was racing. He couldn't move. He couldn't see. He was trapped. He could feel the creatures surrounding him. As cold claws pressed against his skin, he closed his eyes and prayed that this was all a dream. He prayed to wake up. His prayers went unanswered. This was no dream. It was a nightmare. But he was wide awake, and the nightmare was just getting started. Calvin woke up on a flat metallic surface inside the alien craft. He was in a round room filled with harsh white light, which seemed to come from the walls themselves. The air inside the craft felt thick.

It had a metallic scent like ozone after a lightning strike. He also smelled something sour like ammonia. As Calvin's eyes adjusted, he realized he wasn't alone. A female alien stood over him. She looked different from the others, more humanoid with large almond-shaped eyes and delicate features. She tried to reassure Calvin telepathically that he was safe. It didn't work. He felt dread as she started examining him, applying pressure to different parts of his body. The female alien stepped back and telepathically said,

I'm not going to hurt you. No, no, this is how I know she's about to hurt him. She pinched his cheek, slid her hand down his mouth, and held his jaw open. Yep. On her other hand, long, thin probes grew from the alien's middle fingers. Oh, no, not the finger probes.

She didn't, uh, you know, flip them over, did she? No. She shoved her middle fingers down Calvin's throat and up towards his nasal cavity. Calvin felt sharp pain and tried to scream, but couldn't. He was choking. Again, he heard her say, don't be afraid. Then she extracted something from his nose. Meanwhile, Charles was in another room going through a similar ordeal. Three of the

original beings surrounded him. They used their claws to examine his body. Their movements seemed unnatural and robotic. These beings also communicated telepathically, but they weren't trying to reassure Charles. They were probing his mind, dissecting his thoughts and memories. He tried to resist, but he was powerless. Then a metal object about the size of a football floated over him. He felt it scanning him. It moved up and down his body, then around his head.

While Charles and Calvin were undergoing their procedures, they saw other beings moving around, performing tasks. A few beings were still and silent, observing them intensely. There were consoles around the rooms. Each had blinking lights and projected holographic symbols in the air. The symbols reminded them of hieroglyphics.

They moved and changed shape as the aliens did their work. Charles and Calvin also felt that the craft was more than just a machine. It felt alive and sentient and aware of them. They could feel it observing them and probing their minds. The craft emitted a strange rhythmic buzzing sound that was so disorienting they had to resist the urge to vomit. Oh, that's how I feel when I listen to K-pop. It was becoming too much. The symbols floating in the air, the sounds, the lights, the smells.

The entire experience was a twisted nightmare. The human mind was not designed to comprehend any of this. Calvin, still being examined by the female alien, felt himself passing out again. As his consciousness began to fade, images flashed through his mind. Hundreds, maybe thousands of human faces, all with the same look of terror and confusion. Then it hit him. Calvin and Charles weren't special, and this situation wasn't unique. This living nightmare was more common than anyone thought. The last image that flashed through Calvin's mind was the female alien's eyes.

She was trying to tell him something, something important. But before Calvin could understand, everything went dark. Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson awoke on the riverbank, disoriented and terrified. The craft was gone. They thought hours had passed, but it had only been 20 minutes. Once they regained their composure, they decided to report the incident. First, they called the Air Force, who were dismissive. They said they should go to the police.

The Air Force doesn't handle UFOs. Yeah, in other words, go to the police station so we can get down there and secretly investigate. Probably. At the station, they explained everything to the sheriff and the other officers. Though they were skeptical of the story, they sensed genuine fear in their voices. So the officers decided to test them. Calvin and Charles were left alone in a room, unaware that their conversation was being taped.

The officers were sure they'd say something to discredit their story. Instead, what they heard only helped confirm it. The recording captured Calvin and Charles discussing the incident, terrified. There was no sign of the seat. The recording, now known as the secret tape, became a key piece of evidence supporting the men's claims. Calvin and Charles clearly believed every word of their story. Many people were convinced that something extraordinary happened on the Pascagoula River that night. Meanwhile, other witnesses reported strange lights in the sky. Official records show over 50 separate calls to the police that evening.

Many of them saw a large oval craft with blue lights on it, just as Calvin and Charles had described. The news spread quickly. The media, UFO believers, and skeptics descended on the small town like a hurricane, with Calvin and Charles at the center of it all. This publicity also brought scrutiny, but both men passed lie detector tests several times. Never take a lie detector test. That's probably good advice.

The incident affected the men differently. Charles continued speaking publicly about the encounter. Calvin struggled with PTSD and wanted to stay out of the public eye. However, the Pascagoula UFO incident had an unexpected but profound impact. It brought attention to the fact that alien abductions were much more common than anyone could possibly have imagined. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest.

While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen.

Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. The Pascagoula incident is a fascinating and terrifying story, but it's far from unique. Over the years, many people have come forward with accounts of extraterrestrial encounters and alien abductions. You've probably heard of a few of them. One of the most famous cases occurred in 1961, when Betty and Barney Hill claimed to have been abducted in New Hampshire. The Hills described small beings with gray skin and large round eyes who examined them aboard a spaceship.

The Travis Walton abduction in 1975 involved multiple witnesses. Walton disappeared after he and his logging crew saw a UFO in the Sitgreaves National Forest. His co-workers saw him get struck by a beam of light from the craft, which then disappeared along with Travis. He was missing for five days, leading to an extensive manhunt. When Travis reappeared, he said he was aboard a craft with small, large-eyed creatures. Travis actually escaped his examination room and wandered around the craft. Then he encountered taller beings that were more human-like. In 1985, Whitley Schreber was abducted from his cabin in upstate New York.

He described his abductors as short with large eyes and heads. Schreber wrote the book Communion about his experience. He gave vivid details about the painful procedures he endured. During one examination, a needle was inserted into his brain. What? Well, I don't think it's important to detail every little... Yeah, you just don't want to say it. No, I just...

Anal probe. Anal probe. I heard you. Anyway, Communion became a bestseller and renewed public interest in alien abductions. It was even made into a movie. Yeah, but not a very good one. True, Communion wasn't a great movie, but it stars Christopher Walken and he's fun to watch in anything.

Yeah, that movie needed fewer anal probes and more cowbell. Agreed. The Allagash Abductions in 1976 involved four men on a camping trip in Maine. They were taken aboard a craft and examined by beings with large heads, long necks, and slim bodies. Like Pascagoula, this event had multiple witnesses. These cases share similar details. Paralysis, levitation, telepathic communication, and invasive procedures. Most abductions are single incidents. The victims are left traumatized, but thankfully it never happens again. But in some cases, the abduction is only the beginning.

Charles Hickson's Pascagoula incident was just the beginning. He had several more alien encounters in the following years. In January 1974, a female entity visited his home. He described her as tall and beautiful, with pale skin and large almond-shaped eyes. Oh, he called the service? No, she came on her own. To do what? To deliver a message of peace and cosmic unity. Yeah, we should have called a different service. Charles continued having encounters through the early 1980s. They ranged from brief UFO sightings to physical contact with many different races of aliens. Most aliens expressed concern about Earth's environment and pollution. How do you say, how dare you, an alien? They also worried about nuclear weapons.

Some mentioned free energy. One group claimed humans were placed on Earth as an experiment. Another showed Charles' visions of their home world and advanced technology. In 1983, Charles said he received an alien implant to track him and monitor his health. These encounters made Charles well-known in the UFO community. As his stories grew more elaborate, they became controversial. Some dismissed his claims as attention-seeking. Others believed aliens were especially interested in Charles.

One thing bothers me about his stories. When challenged in interviews, he often said, Oh, I answer that in my book. There's always a book, isn't there? There's always a book. The Pascagoula UFO incident is a believable alien abduction story. Two unwavering witnesses, a secret recording supporting their claim, other witnesses seeing the craft. It's considered one of the most compelling UFO cases in history.

But is it true? Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker's accounts are detailed and consistent. However, there's no physical evidence. Let's explore a possible psychological explanation. Hypnagogic hallucinations are vivid experiences that occur between wakefulness and sleep, and they feel completely real. These can include seeing strange figures, hearing voices, or feeling a presence.

The paralysis reported by Charles and Calvin resembles sleep paralysis. As your brain goes to sleep, it shuts down your motor functions so you don't act out your dreams we're almost always unconscious when this happens but if you're awake and experiencing sleep paralysis it can be terrifying i'm a lucid dreamer and one of the most difficult aspects of learning to lucid dream is overcoming the fear of sleep paralysis.

And you often hear buzzing sounds during this state. I've heard it. Charles also reported buzzing sounds. Many alien abduction accounts align with hypnagogic experiences, like seeing dark humanoid figures called shadow people or the hat man. These entities lurk at the edge of perception, similar to aliens in abduction cases. Another phenomenon is the hag, or old hag syndrome. This is when you see a person, often looking like an old witch.

You feel pressure on your body as she climbs on top of you. Some feel pain or even sexual violation while paralyzed. This resembles experiences described by alleged abductees, including Charles and Calvin. I've had an old hag experience. I talk about it in our Shadow People episode. Link below to the episode where the human gets so scared he wets the bed. Well, I didn't wet the bed, but I'm being completely honest when I say

this was the scariest experience I ever had in my life. I don't believe in Shadow People or ghosts, but this felt absolutely 100% real. I never want to go through it again. It's possible that Charles was having a hypnagogic hallucination. The other details were his mind just filling in the blanks. At the time, UFO stories were very popular. So what about Calvin Parker? How can two people have the same hypnagogic experience?

Well, they can't. When Charles and Calvin went to the police, Calvin actually said he was asleep during the whole incident. It was only later that the memories came back. Plus, it was Calvin's first day on the job. He was only 19. Charles was 43, his superior at work, and an authority figure. Now, I'm not saying Calvin lied, but human memory is unreliable. If you hear the same story over and over, your brain can create actual memories of that

story, whether you experienced it or not. Calvin was actually hospitalized for a few weeks after the incident due to stress, and a few more times in the following years. And by the way, the men were doing a little bit of drinking before the incident and a lot of drinking after.

And Charles' story changed over the years. He added more details and, of course, he released a book. Now, Calvin stayed out of the spotlight for about 20 years, but then he started speaking publicly. And then he released a book. There's always a book. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms.

Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Now, we do have about 50 reports of strange objects in the sky with blue lights, but most of those reports came after the media coverage, but not all of them. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of this story, but there are also plenty of details that remain unexplained. I doubt Charles had all those additional encounters, but I believe he thought the first one was real. Both men were psychologically

traumatized. Now, maybe it was imagination, but it doesn't matter. The trauma was real. Both men were psychologically traumatized. Now, maybe it was imagination, but it doesn't matter. The trauma is real. I have experienced the terror that can occur in that sliver of time between wakefulness and sleep. I was traumatized that night. Maybe it was just imagination. It doesn't matter. The trauma is real. There are many people who believe they were abducted, assaulted, and violated by some otherworldly presence. Maybe it was aliens, an evil spirit, a demon, or a shadow person, and they suffered for years because of it. And if you're one of those people, I know you've been dismissed. I know people don't believe you. But even if it was just your imagination, it doesn't matter.

The trauma is real. But now you know that in that fraction of a second, your mind can conjure a nightmare that can torture you for life. And maybe knowing that this phenomenon exists can give you just a little bit of space to start healing. It will take a little patience and a lot of courage, but I promise you, you have the strength to finally find peace. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. My name is AJ. There's Hecklefish. Nanu Nanu from, uh, it's the mork thing nanu mork for mork.

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Those are the plugs, and that's going to do it. Until next time, be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated. I played Polybius in Area 51 A secret code inside the Bible said I would I love my UFOs and paranormal fun As well as music, so I'm singing like I should But then another conspiracy theory

Becomes the truth, my friends And it never ends No, it never ends I feel the crab cat and I got stuck inside Mel's home With MKUltra being only too aware Did Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing alone On a film set or were the shadow people there The Roswell aliens just fought the smiling man On a film set, were the shadow people there?

The Roswell aliens just fought the smiling man I'm told, and his name was Code And I can't believe I'm dancing with the fishes Heckle fish on Thursday nights, Wednesday Jays too And the were-bots have been beat all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wildfires have been beat all through the night The Mothman sightings and the solar storm still come To have got the secret city underground

Mysterious number stations, planet Serpo too Project Stargate, and what the Dark Watchers found We're in a simulation, don't you worry though The Black Knight said a lot, it told me so I can't believe I'm dancing with the fish Headful fish on Thursday nights with AJ2 And the wild boars are making me all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wild boars are making me all through the night Headful fish on Thursday nights when they chase you And the wild boars have to beat all through the night

All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wild boars have to beat all through the night Gertie loves to dance, Gertie loves to dance, Gertie loves to dance, Gertie loves to dance, Gertie loves to dance, Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance on the dance floor, because she is a camel, and camels love to dance When the feeling is right On wasting time Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance