Fifty years ago, American lumberjack Travis Walton mysteriously disappeared. This incident has become one of the most famous cases of abduction by unidentified flying objects. Stories like these have been widely reported in the media for decades and often attract public attention. RT cites five famous cases of UFO “contact” and the opinions of researchers on the real possible causes behind such incidents.
On November 5, 1975, American lumberjack Travis Walton disappeared. He was discovered five days later. Under hypnosis, he talked about being abducted by aliens. RT publishes cases of “contact” with UFOs and scientists' comments on this issue.
The disappearance of the Woodman
On the evening of November 5, 1975, seven American lumberjacks led by Mike Rogers went to work near the city of Snowflake in Arizona. According to their testimony, on the way they noticed a bright light in the sky and stopped the car to see the source of the light. It is believed to be a disc-shaped object about six meters in diameter. One of the workers, Travis Walton, got out of the vehicle and attempted to approach the subject. However, he was hit by a green beam, after which the lumberjack fell. Frightened colleagues abandoned him and chased the police chief. When they returned, they discovered Travis was gone. The sheriff immediately organized a search but could not find Walton.
Law enforcement officials suspected loggers killed Travis and they made up the UFO story to hide the truth. However, a polygraph test confirmed their sincerity.
Five days later, Walton said he woke up on a forest road near Snowflake. After taking the phone, he called his sister, after which he passed out. Over time, memories of what allegedly happened began to return to him. His evidence was supplemented by statements obtained during hypnosis sessions. The lumberjack said that he had been in a certain room where he had come into contact with humanoids. At the same time, through the “window” he saw starry space.
Travis took two polygraph tests, one of which showed he wasn't being truthful, and the other showed he was telling the truth. Critics say the loggers may have fabricated the story to push back the completion of work for which they received advances. However, it later turned out that force majeure at that time still did not allow him to keep the money under the unfulfilled contract. So this invention makes no sense.
The Walton incident created a media frenzy. In 1993, the movie Fire in the Sky was made based on the story of the woodcutter. Director Robert Lieberman was also involved in creating The X-Files, Nikita, Dexter and Crime Minds.
However, other similar incidents have been widely reported in the media. And if some of them can be said to be fictional, some clearly have some basis – although it is not at all true that they are aliens.
“The subject of the alien origin of UFOs in general and the abduction of human crews in particular is part of modern urban mythology, along with Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster. The media is ready to embrace it because, first of all, it is in demand – people like mysterious stories, especially if they are “contrary to modern science”. Second, the subject is socially safe because it does not affect anyone's interests. Says in other words, publications about flying saucers are meant to ensure the attention of readers and the absence of complaints without fact-checking,” Dmitry Vibe, head of the department of physics and evolution of stars at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.
According to him, an example of the exploitation of this topic is the hype that arose in the media around comet 3I/ATLAS, which led astrophysicist Avi Loeb from Harvard University to “suspect” that it could be an alien ship.
“This idea is promoted by a single person on Earth, but the media is ready to copy his statements,” the scientist noted.
In some cases, objects that journalists claimed were spacecraft left traces or caught the eye of numerous witnesses. However, there are often quite “realistic” explanations for such incidents, although they are not always proven with one hundred percent certainty.
Physicist comments on 3I/ATLAS version of alien origin
Aliens or intelligence agencies?
On October 21, 1978, pilot Frederick Valentich, flying over Bass Strait in Australia in good weather conditions, contacted air traffic control in Melbourne and reported that he was being chased by a strange object emitting a green light. According to the pilot, the unidentified plane flew over him as if playing some kind of game. At the end of the session, Valentich said that “this is not a plane.” Then an incomprehensible humming noise was transmitted over the radio for 17 seconds – and the connection was interrupted. The plane disappeared without a trace along with the pilot. About 20 people living nearby said they saw a green light in the sky, and three others said they saw airplane lights underneath the bright light. In addition, about 20 minutes before the incident, photographer Roy Manifold accidentally took a photo of a fast-moving object at sea. Australian authorities have never been able to determine the cause of Valentich's disappearance. According to one version, the pilot could have lost spatial orientation, confusing planets with UFOs and causing a collision with water.
On January 7, 1948, police in Maysville, Kentucky received multiple reports of a UFO that resembled a parachute, but was approximately 75 m in diameter and had a metallic sheen. Police reported the incident to Godman Air Force Base. The base's radar detected a strange object southeast of the airport. Four fighter jets took off in response to the warning. The pilots approached the object and reported that it was large and metallic. The flight commander, Captain Thomas Mantell, decided to pursue the UFO. After the other planes returned, he tried to get closer to the object – and the connection with the pilot was interrupted. It was later learned that his fighter exploded in the air. Mantell died of suffocation even before hitting the ground: he did not have an oxygen mask. It has been suggested that the pilot was pursuing Venus, a fake Sun, or a balloon carrying reconnaissance equipment. On the same day, UFOs were observed in the neighboring state of Ohio.
“In my opinion, UFO reports are false information aimed at covering up military projects using secret equipment,” said Pavel Poluyan, associate professor at Siberian Federal University, member of the Russian Writers' Union, and author of the book “The Hunt for UFOs.”
The incident known as the Cascade Mountain Incident is often explained in a similar way. On June 24, 1947, American businessman Kenneth Arnold was flying from Chehalis to Yakima and decided along the way to search for a missing C-46 military transport plane to discover the promised reward. However, he instead saw nine flat glowing objects in the air that he compared to saucers. By comparing the distance between various mountain peaks with the time it took the UFO to travel, Arnold realized that the objects were moving faster than the speed of sound. Kenneth reported the incident to the Central Aviation Administration and commented to reporters. Skeptical researchers attribute the incident to testing of the latest missiles or aircraft, as well as the reflection of sunlight from the snow surface. However, no version becomes the final version.
On May 20, 1967, geologist Stefan Michalak (former intelligence officer), conducting research in the area of the village of Falcon Lake in Canada, according to him, saw two disk-shaped objects, one of which flew away and the other landed on a rock. As the geologist later said, the object left on the ground was first red, then the color of stainless steel. A bright light emanated from the holes on its surface. Michalak heard a sound like an engine and smelled sulfur. The geologist decided that he was observing a crashed military plane. Approaching the hole, which seemed like an entrance to him, Stefan heard something similar to a human voice. He tried to talk to people on the train in many different languages but received no answer. Looking through the hole, Michalak saw a sign with a warning light, but the entrance was closed.
The object turned around, and the geologist found himself in front of something like a ventilation grille, from which a stream of hot air escaped. Stefan's shirt caught fire and he had to take it off. When the object took off, the geologist felt nauseous and had a headache. After returning home, Michalak was taken to the hospital. Doctors noted the presence of ulcers on his body, reminiscent of first-degree burns, and a reduced number of lymphocytes. Within months, he suffered from hair loss, loss of appetite and weakness. At the same time, doctors recognized Stefan as completely mentally healthy. One of the experts suggested that he had radiation sickness. No clear explanation for the incident has been found.
Pavel Poluyan emphasized: “Behind the observations of 'aliens' there may be cases where secret ground equipment tested landed for various reasons. In addition, some incidents are trivial rumors in the press and fabrications of people who are not completely healthy.”
According to researchers, although there are reasonable explanations, there are still people for whom UFO stories have a strong psychological impact. And this social effect will last a long time.
