hallq

I've read a fair amount about claims of alien abductions, and it's clear to me that there are this-worldly explanations of most of the claims in the form of false memories and hoaxes. The one exception is the Pascagoula case. I wouln't cite it as proof that aliens have visited earth; it makes no sense that aliens would come all this way just two briefly examine a couple guys. I instead cite it as an example of why skepticism about extraordinary stories can be justified even when an alternative explanation is lacking. Here’s an excerpt from UFO’s and Abductions, the 2000 book where I first heard of the case:After hearing this version, I was ready to accept that it was a hoax and they had made a lucky attempt guess that they’d be secretly listened to.

Then I found this website, which linked to several early news articles on the subject, as well as a transcript. About the same time, I found a Wikipedia article that agreed largely with the 2000 book’s description, but added newreportsat the first website, I couldn’t find the microphone claim in any of them. I had to wonder if the secret monitoring had never happened and only been invented later. But it would be one thing for the claim to be made up, another to blatantly fabricate a transcript.

The transcript was said to be from a book called Beyond Earth. I decided to order it as a used book from Amazon.com. I went straight for the transcript. There was no citation for it, so it looked like I’d be unable to trace the story back any further. Then I saw the context for the transcript. It was preceeded by an interview transcript, with this bit of narration inserted:So they were being recorded during an interview – was that done in secret? Recorded interviews generally aren’t. Then, I thought I had the answer: the tape recording wasn’t so secret.

But no, the secrecy claim was on pages 10-11 and 14. Or did the sheriff only think there were doing it in secret – guessing that they’d fail to realize that the recorder was still going? It’s not a totally idiotic move, Uri Geller once pulled something similar with a phone. Then again, reading the transcript, Hickson seems less traumatized than Parker, could it be that Parker hallucinated and Hickson decided to use it to get famous? Are there any readers familiar with the case who could help here?

drewjmore

Does the story make any reference to how the two men are related? I suspect the true 'motive' for the story is more mundane- a lie to cover an embarassing truth, perhaps.

Coragyps

Surely you're not suggesting any of the sort of "probing" those aliens are so fond of doing?