Travis Walton in Bordentown, NJ on 11/12/11

Twice a year for the past 25 years, Pat Marcattilio, affectionately known as “Dr. UFO” to his friends and ufological acquaintances, has put together a UFO Congress in South Jersey. This fall it was a three day event featuring several prominent figures in the paranormal world and celebrated the 50th Congress that Mr. Marcattilio has organized. Recently he has been ably aided in this endeavor by his daughter Karin.

Sadly I was unable to attend the entire event due to other commitments, but I have had a great abiding interest in Travis Walton and his amazing, well documented story of alien abduction, so I motored down the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 7 on Saturday night armed only with my trusty Canon and my burning curiosity. I was not disappointed.

For over two hours, Mr. Walton showed film clips, spoke earnestly of his experience and answered questions for the gathered assembly.  Although his experience happened thirty-six years ago it was plain to see that he became emotional while telling it. Being an experiencer I empathized with the abject fear he felt when faced with alien beings. Everyone with whom I spoke who saw the lecture was very moved by his sincerity. Even one person who is extremely skeptical about the subject of aliens was not only favorably impressed with Travis Walton, but also showed a new found fascination with the subject.

Briefly stated, Travis Walton was a member of a logging crew consisting of seven men on November 5, 1975 in Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona.  On their way out of the forest that evening they observed a glow in the sky they could not make out, so they drove closer expecting perhaps a hunters’ campfire gone out of control. As they got closer, they posited a crashed plane in a tree, but soon a saucer shaped aerial craft revealed itself. It appeared to be 20 feet off the ground hovering silently.

Walton described the craft: “I estimated the object to have an overall diameter of fifteen or twenty feet; it was eight or ten feet thick. The flattened disc had a shape like that of two gigantic pie-pans placed lip to lip, with a small round bowl turned upside down on the top. Barely visible at our angle of sight, the white dome peaked over the upper outline of the ship. We could see darker stripes of a dull silver sheen that divided the glowing areas into panel-like sections. The dim yellowish light given off by the surface had the luster of hot metal, fresh from a blast furnace.”

Curiosity overpowered prudent caution in the young Travis, then 22. He leapt from the truck and ran under the saucer to get a better look. Suddenly the craft began to hum with mixed mechanical pitches, Travis crouched down but was nonetheless hit with a blue green beam that knocked him senseless. In fear of their lives and because they believed Walton dead, the other six fled the scene but returned shortly to find no sign of Travis. He had disappeared.

The story of what happened to Travis Walton during his five day abduction should be read by you from his book, Fire in the Sky and not here in brief synopsis. There was a Hollywood movie of the same name which contains the basic elements of the story with some theatrical changes, so it can be interesting especially if you are aware of the inaccuracies in it.

One overarching fact should be mentioned, Walton and the logging crew took multiple lie detector tests and passed them with flying colors. It is therefore unimaginable that they all colluded in a lie. Anyone with a true interest in ufology would be remiss not to study this baffling case.