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Travis Walton incident

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Travis Walton at The 2019 International UFO Congress in Phoenix, Arizona.
Travis Walton at The 2019 International UFO Congress in Phoenix, Arizona

The Travis Walton UFO incident is an alleged alien abduction of American forestry worker Travis Walton by a UFO on November 5, 1975, while he was working in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests near Snowflake, Arizona. For five days, scent dogs and helicopters could not find Travis. Walton suddenly reappeared along a road in Heber, Arizona on November 11, 1975. The Walton case received mainstream publicity and remains one of the best-known alien abduction stories in the world. Travis Walton published a book about his purported alien abduction in 1978 titled The Walton Experience, which was adapted into the 1993 Paramount Pictures film titled Fire in the Sky.[1]

Abduction claims

According to Travis Walton and six witnesses, on November 5, 1975 he was working with a logging crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Snowflake, Arizona.[2] While riding in a truck with six of his coworkers, they encountered a saucer-shaped object glowing through the trees and hovering above the ground in close proximity. Walton left the truck and approached the object for a closer look. The six witnesses claim to have seen a blue beam of light suddenly appear from beneath the craft to strike Walton and knock him unconscious. All six witnesses remained in the truck and drove away frightened. After a few minutes, Travis' co-workers returned to the site hoping to find Walton. They could not find him. Travis claims that he awoke in a hospital-like room, being observed by three short, bald creatures with large eyes. He describes to have fought with them until a human-like entity wearing a helmet led him to another room, where he blacked out as three other human-like beings put a clear plastic mask over his face. Walton has said he remembers nothing else from his time in the craft. Five days later, he found himself laying face down along a highway as he watched the flying saucer departing above him.[3]

Ufologists

In the days following Walton's UFO claim, The National Enquirer awarded Walton and his co-workers a $5,000 prize for "best UFO case of the year" after they allegedly passed polygraph tests administered by the Enquirer and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).[3][4] Walton, his older brother, and his mother were described by the Navajo County, Arizona sheriff as "longtime students of UFOs".[5] Some UFOlogists believe Walton was abducted by aliens. UFOlogist Jim Ledwith said, “For five days, the authorities thought he’d been murdered by his co-workers, and then he was returned. All of the co-workers who were there, who saw the spacecraft, they all took polygraph tests, and they all passed, except for one, and that one was inconclusive.”[6]

Skeptical reception

UFO debunker Philip J. Klass considered Walton's story to be a hoax perpetrated for financial gain. After investigating the case, Klass surmised that the polygraph tests were "poorly administered" and that Walton used "polygraph countermeasures," such as holding his breath.[7][8][9][3][10]

Science and skepticism writer Michael Shermer criticized Walton's claims, saying, "I think the polygraph is not a reliable determiner of truth. I think Travis Walton was not abducted by aliens. In both cases, the power of deception and self-deception is all we need to understand what really happened in 1975 and after."[4] Cognitive psychologist Susan Clancy argues that alien abduction reports began only after stories of extraterrestrials appeared in films and on TV, and that Walton was likely influenced by the NBC television movie The UFO Incident, which aired two weeks before his own claimed abduction and dramatized the alien abduction claims of Barney and Betty Hill. Clancy noted the rise in alien abduction claims following the movie and cites Klass's conclusions that "after viewing this movie, any person with a little imagination could now become an instant celebrity", claiming that "one of those instant celebrities was Travis Walton."[11]

Media and publicity

In 1978, Walton wrote the book The Walton Experience detailing his claims, which became the basis for the 1993 film Fire in the Sky. Paramount Pictures decided Walton’s account was "too fuzzy and too similar to other televised close encounters", so they ordered screenwriter Tracy Tormé to write a "flashier, more provocative" abduction story.[12] Since 1975, Walton has been featured in several documentaries and has made appearances at UFO conventions all over the world.

Travis Walton is regarded as the World's most famous 'alien abductee' and claims 16 lie detector tests prove his story is true.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Speigel, Lee (23 April 2015). "UFO-Alien Abduction Still Haunts Travis Walton". Huffpost. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Travis Walton Abduction - 1975". MUFON. Retrieved 2020-10-26.
  3. ^ a b c Paul Kurtz (10 September 2013). The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. pp. 441–. ISBN 978-1-61614-828-7.
  4. ^ a b Shermer, Michael. "Travis Walton's Alien Abduction". eSkeptic. The Skeptics Society. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Sheriff Skeptical of Story: Saucer Traveler Hiding After Returning To Earth". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press, Nov 13, 1975. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  6. ^ Templeton, David. "Sonoma UFO forum is out of this world". sonomanews.com. Sonoma Index-Tribune. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  7. ^ Sheaffer, Robert. (1981). The UFO Verdict: Examining the Evidence. Prometheus Books. p. 20. ISBN 978-0879751463 "APRO and The National Enquirer had arranged an earlier secret polygraph test for Travis with John J. McCarthy, the most experienced polygraph examiner in the state of Arizona. McCarthy found Travis to be attempting "gross deception," and pronounced the abduction story a hoax."
  8. ^ Baker, Robert Allen. (1992). Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within. Prometheus Books. p. 319. ISBN 978-1-57392-094-0 "With regard to the Travis Walton affair, this was one of the more tawdry examples of "true-believer" chicanery, sensationalizing on the part of the media, and greedy men who tried to pull off a hoax that failed."
  9. ^ Hutchinson, Mike; Hoggart, Simon. (2000). Bizarre Beliefs. Richard Cohen Books. p. 39. ISBN 978-1860660214 "To put it bluntly, there is nothing in the Travis Walton story to suggest anything more than a hoax."
  10. ^ Nickell, Joe. (1992). Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics, & Other Mysteries. Prometheus Books. p. 202. ISBN 0-87975-729-9 "A more rigorous investigation by Philip J. Klass (1989) discovered that the case was a hoax, that the lie detector test was flawed, and the abduction a "put- up job" to make money."
  11. ^ Susan A. Clancy (1 July 2009). Abducted: How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens. Harvard University Press. pp. 99–. ISBN 978-0-674-02957-6.
  12. ^ Murphy, Ryan. "Reworking 'Fire in the Sky' – Paramount Pictures hires writer Tracy Tormé to add excitement to Travis Walton's alien account". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  13. ^ "World's most famous 'alien abductee' Travis Walton slams sceptics - claiming 16 lie detector tests prove his story is TRUE". The Sun. 2017-09-20. Retrieved 2020-10-26.

External links

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