The day the squirrel went berserk
In the First Self-Righteous Church
In that sleepy little town of Pascagoula
It was a fight for survival that broke out in revival
They were jumpin' pews and shouting, "Hallelujah!"*
(*From Ray Stevens' song, "The Great Mississippi Squirrel Revival," music and lyrics by Carlene Kalb)
The 11th day of October marked 42 years (1973) since something amazing is alleged to have occurred near a riverbank in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The great musical artist and comedian Ray Stevens once recorded a funny song about a squirrel on the loose in a Pascagoula church, but we doubt he ever envisioned a UFO abduction on the banks of the Pascagoula River.Reports of temporary abductions by UFO occupants have long been accepted with skepticism among some inhabitants of the cautious and deeply contemplative parts of the UFO research community, and various theories have popped up which continue to fail in explaining the overall force behind or implications of the phenomenon. The first time the American public was confronted with the serious side of the issue via mass media occurred when the late John G. Fuller produced his book, The Interrupted Journey, extensive portions of which were serialized in a newsstand magazine. Exploring in depth the alleged sixties UFO close encounter and physical examination of Barney and Betty Hill by presumed aliens, Fuller's book proved a sensation, and the man and woman on the street became profoundly intrigued by the possibility that we-are-not-alone right here on Earth (an early TV movie about the Hill case also appeared, and another is currently in production).
Of all the abduction reports I've read about over the years, a particularly absurd tale from Mississippi -- at first glance -- is THE one that leaves me wondering all the more. Now, usually I try to do a special blog on Halloween for reasons of which there are no reasons, but I think the alleged UFO abduction of (the late) Charles Hickson and his younger friend Calvin Parker in Pascagoula deserves the telling, over and over again.
We touched upon this incident in almost a dozen blog entries during past years (a Pascagoula Google search at the top of this page will collate them nicely for you, all on one page). However, new details emerged, thanks to an article by reporter Natalie Chambers in later years, and it seems quite possible that a car full of U.S. Navy personnel literally observed a strange-looking aircraft glide into the area of claimed abduction at the time it supposedly occurred. Chambers' fascinating piece no longer seems to appear on the Internet, where it resided for a few years, but I referenced it more completely than I had previously in a blog entry regarding the incident entitled, The Extraordinary Witness (see link at end).
Further, a newspaper interview with Calvin Parker of recent vintage currently remains on the Internet at: http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/10/calvin_bryant_tells_his_story.html
If true, the Pascagoula encounter's significance cannot be underestimated, and keep in mind that officials and other investigators who spoke with the men were impressed with their honesty, clarity and evident fear. Unfortunately, perhaps because Hickson and Parker's description of the robot-like entities which terrified them looked TOO otherworldly, some folks were all too willing to write this event off. But the surfacing of revelations about additional witnesses -- Navy personnel and their names, as documented by reporter Natalie Chambers -- adds an intriguing level of credibility.
So happy Halloween, and you, too, may agree that the disturbing report of Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker fares way better than a plain old Halloween ghost story. If you’ve not read our entry, The Extraordinary Witness, you can find it right here: http://robert-barrow.blogspot.com/2008/12/extraordinary-witness.html
