Abduction in Pascagoula

We often stumble upon strange things while researching for our patrons here at the Library Commission. This week I stumbled upon something that is strange, but it is also something that we Mississippians can take pride in (if you’re the type of Mississippian who can appreciate a good alien story). According to the The UFO Encyclopedia, the second most famous alien abduction case in history took place in Pascagoula, MS!

Charles Hickson, 42, and Calvin Parker, 19, were out for a bit of night fishing off of the dock of an abandoned shipyard on October 11, 1973. The two were quietly waiting on the fish to bite when they heard a loud zipping sound at approximately 9 p.m. The sound was coming from what the two described as a domed, football-shaped object. Three figures floated out of the object and headed for the fishermen. Hickson and Parker described the creatures as being a little over five feet tall and had ears that resembled carrots, slits for a mouths, no visible eyes, hands that resembled a mitten attached to unusually long arms, and feet like an elephant’s. The creatures were also very wrinkly and grey (Clark). Here is a sketch of the creatures based on Hickson and Parker's descriptions:

Hickson says that two of the aliens approached him. He found himself paralyzed as soon as one took his arm. The two creatures floated Hickson up into their aircraft. Meanwhile, Parker had fainted from fear. One creature picked him up and floated up to the craft with him. Hickson says that once inside the craft, his body was levitated at different angles while a football shaped eye inspected him. Once the floating eye had thoroughly inspected Hickson the two beings took him back down to the dock where they had taken him from. Parker isn’t entirely sure what all took place while he was in the craft. He remembers hearing a whistling noise and a click and seeing the bright interior of the craft. He was then floated outside and left standing (but unable to move) on the dock. The entire episode lasted only about 20 minutes (Clark).

The two eventually calmed themselves (Hickson had a spot of whiskey to help calm himself) and contacted the Keesler Air Force base in Biloxi. The Air Force base urged them to contact their local sherrif’s department and from there the rest is history. Once the story got out, the town was swarmed with media for weeks afterwards.

Hickson eventually collaborated with a man named William Mendez on a book that tells the entire story. The book is called UFO Contact at Pascagoula and we have it in our collection here at the Mississippi Library Commission (it’s already been moved to the top of my “to read” list).

Clark, Jerome. 1998. The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon From the Beginning, Vol. 2. Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc. p.714-716