On Oct. 11, 1973, two Mississippi men made headlines around the world when they claimed that they were abducted from the banks of the Pascagoula River by space aliens.
Five days later, three people in Evergreen – including two police officers – reported seeing a UFO over downtown Evergreen.
The 1973 sighting in Mississippi made headlines again recently when Charles E. Hickson Sr., the eldest of the two men who claimed to have been abducted, died on Fri., Sept. 9, at the age of 80.
Hickson, then age 42, and Calvin Parker, a 19-year-old co-worker at the now-defunct Walker Shipyard in Pascagoula, went fishing after work and claimed to have encountered a domed, cigar-shaped aircraft that was about 35 feet across and about nine feet high.
The men reported that the aliens floated toward them with a glowing egg-shaped object with blue lights at its front, and that the aliens levitated them into a spacecraft. Both men reported feeling paralyzed, and Parker fainted from fright.
Once inside, the aliens examined the two men with a football-shaped mechanical device that scanned their bodies.
After about 20 minutes, the aliens levitated the two men back to the west bank of the river, and the two men reported the incident to the local sheriff’s department at around 10:30 p.m.
The two men passed a polygraph examination about the incident, which received massive, international media attention. To date, it is one of the most famous alien abduction cases ever reported.
In the Oct. 25, 1973 edition of The Courant, Publisher and Editor Bob Bozeman made a rare mention of UFOs in his weekly editorial column, “The Colyum.”
“I’m not going into the UFO bit this week as it has been thoroughly covered on radio, TV and in the daily newspapers,” Bozeman wrote. “I’m sure all of you know that three persons saw a UFO over City Hall last Wednesday night. Two were policemen who tried to focus spotlights on the object but were unable to do so.
“Frankly, I don’t know what they saw, but I still believe there is a logical explanation for UFOs, and it doesn’t involve creatures and spaceships from another planet.”
All of this raises a number of questions, in my mind, about the incident in Evergreen.
Who were the two police officers that witnessed the UFO in Evergreen? Who was the third witness? What made them notice the object? What were they doing when they noticed the object? What time of night did the event occur? What did the UFO look like? Did it make any sounds? How long was it visible? Did it just disappear or fly away? In which direction did it appear to travel? What was the weather like that night? Where were the witnesses standing when they saw the UFO?
In the end, I’m interested in hearing more about the incident in Evergreen, especially since we’re approaching the 38th anniversary of the event. If any of you in the reading audience remember the event and can provide more details, I’d like to hear from you. You can reach me by phone at 578-1492, by mail at The Evergreen Courant, P.O. Box 440, Evergreen, AL 36401 or by e-mail at courantsports@earthlink.net.
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