The Pascagoula Encounter
Two men fishing off a pier at night said a glowing craft landed beside them, and they were taken on board.
What was reported
On the evening of 11 October 1973, Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker were fishing from a pier on the Pascagoula River when, they said, a glowing, egg-shaped craft appeared near them. They said three figures with wrinkled grey skin and claw-like hands floated out and carried them aboard, where they were examined.
They went to the sheriff's office that night. Officers left the two men alone in a room with a hidden tape recorder, and on the tape they sound frightened and confused, which convinced many people they believed what they were saying.
Explanations offered
Sceptics suggest a hoax, or that the men shared a frightening hallucination. Others point to inconsistencies in later retellings. Hickson passed a lie-detector test, and Parker repeated the account in a book decades later.
- When
- 11 October 1973
- Where
- Pascagoula River, Mississippi, USA
- Witnesses
- Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker
- Status
- Disputed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.