Into The Unknown: The Pascagoula Abductions

By Bill Knell

Meeting Charlie Hickson several times over the years was a pleasure and an honor. The first time I saw him was on television. Charlie made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the 1970s. To my knowledge, Hickson was the only Abductee ever invited on Carson’s Tonight Show. It was obvious that Johnny Carson was impressed with Hickson’s sincerity and that has always been Charlie’s best defense again skeptics and detractors.

Charlie’s introduction to the unexplained began on October 11, 1973. Fishing off a small pier along the Pascagoula River in Mississippi with a coworker named Calvin Parker; he heard a strange sound and eventually saw a football-shaped craft with blue lights headed towards him. The object they saw was approximately one hundred feet wide and hovered about fourteen inches off the ground. After a door of some sort opened, three robotic-looking creatures levitated towards Charlie and Calvin, seized them and brought them inside the craft.

While on board, Charlie described a mechanical eye that seemed to scan him. Calvin remembers little about his experience and was terribly traumatized by the whole event. The two were levitated back outside the ship after what may have been less than an hour. Both men were terrified by what happened and concerned that it might be something that should be reported to the military.

Charlie called Keesler Air Force Base. After a brief phone conversation, he was told that the U.S. Air Force stopped investigating UFOs some time ago and that they should contact local authorities. Charlie and Calvin proceeded to report their experience to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. The law enforcement officers interviewed the two, left them alone in a room and then activated a device to record any conversation they might have while waiting for the officers to return.

The recording made during the time that Charlie and Calvin were alone in the room was compelling and supported their claim that something very unusual happened. Sheriff Diamond was particularly impressed by the fact that they kept reliving the event and expressing shock at what happened to them. It was doubtful that either of the men thought they were being recorded, so what came through on that tape were their honest feelings and recollections of the bizarre experience.

Hickson and Parker returned to work the next morning at a local shipyard. Coworkers said that Calvin seemed upset and preoccupied with something. Hickson and Parker had an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office that nothing would be reported to the news services, but someone leaked the information. Sheriff Diamond called Hickson later that morning to tell him that his office was swarming with reporters. After Hickson’s foreman heard him talking to the Sheriff, he asked what happened. Charlie told him the story and repeated it to Johnny Walker, the shipyard owner.

Walker placed Hickson in contact with his brother-in-law that practiced law and represented the shipyard. During the visit to the lawyer, Hickson expressed concerns about being exposed to some type of radiation. The lawyer and a private detective took them to a local hospital, but that facility lacked the means necessary to properly check them for radiation. Instead, they were brought to Keesler Air Force Base.

As with other cases like the famous Cash-Landrum incident, the health of those exposed to Alien technologies was not the chief concern of the military. They were examined by doctors, but offered no explanations or treatment. Hickson and Parker spent most of their time there being debriefed by a military intelligence officer. That debriefing was also observed by all the important brass on the base.

The aftermath of the incident became almost as strange and bizarre as the experience itself. Although they never wanted any publicity, Hickson and Parker were instant celebrities. Noted UFO researchers arrived to investigate their experience and everyone that had a radio or television show wanted them as guests. Hounded by the news media, Charlie and Calvin eventually went to stay with family members that lived outside the Pascagoula area. Calvin had what was later described as a nervous breakdown and never was able to handle what happened as well as Charlie. Both men had continuing experiences, but did everything possible to keep these events private.

I first met Charlie Hickson in the 1980s at a UFO Conference. He spoke about his experience and I didn’t meet a single person at that event that doubted his sincerity. The two openly-acknowledged skeptics that showed up for the conference where noticeably absent from that particular Speaker session. However, Dr James Harder was present and paid tribute to Hickson’s courage and honesty when he gave his own presentation later that day. Harder is famous for his Contactee research work with the Ariel Phenomenon Research Organization (APRO) and was one of the first researchers to interview Hickson and Parker. The late Dr J Allen Hynek also investigated the Pascagoula encounter and gave credence to Hickson’s account of what happened.

It was a thrill for me to sit down with Charlie Hickson on several occasions and privately discuss his experience. I was also able to videotape an in-depth interview with him that is featured on my DVD release, Into The Unknown: The Pascagoula Alien Abductions. The DVD also includes a presentation by Hickson, a documentary about the case and interviews with many of those involved.

Charlie has always impressed me as being one of the most honest people I have ever met. His sincerity and ability to relate his experience without faltering or changing any details speaks volumes about this case and Hickson’s credibility. Like most people who have had real brushes with the unexplained, time has been a friend to Charlie Hickson and helped to verify the amazing experiences he has had and the messages he’s received from those who first contacted him all those years ago.

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