Blogger’s Note:
We are told, based on the scientific research of, well scientists such as Dr.
Elizabeth Loftus, that memories fade rapidly. The best testimony is that taken
within five days of the event. That taken within hours is certainly preferrable
to that taken months, years, or decades later. We are told that each time we
access a memory, it can by changed by the simple act of attempting to remember.
Dr. Ulric Neisser
tested this in 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger exploded. He provided his
first-year psychology students with a short questionnaire about the disaster
asking, for example, how they had learned of the event, where they were and
what they had been doing. He gave the same questionnaire to those same students
as they finished their college education four years later. He found that about
a quarter of them had memories that were at odds with what they had written on
the day or two after the event. About half had some confusion or mistakes in
their memory and about a quarter had accurate memories of the event.
The simple point here
is that in any investigation, it is best to interview the witness as soon as
possible. That as time passes memories can change with new information added
and older information lost. When investigating the Pascagoula abduction of
Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, any information gathered within hours or a
couple of days of the event is preferrable to that gathered decades later. If
there is a discrepancy, the best course is to accept the first information over
that gathered later.
I
say all this as preamble to the following press release, that reports on audio
files of the interviews conducted by Dr. James Harder and Dr. J. Allen Hynek
literally within hours of the reported abduction that have recently been found.
It provides a necessary history of APRO and the research conducted by that
organization. It also reports on the project headed by David Marler to archive
UFO related information in a central repository. Finally, it mentions the
recovery of taped interviews with Hickson and Parker that had resided in the
APRO files recently obtained by Marler’s project called National UFO Historical Records Center. This is, for UFO research, a truly
historic find.
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| The Pascagoula Tapes. |
Please note one other aspect of this. Unlike the situation in the
past, in which researchers often withheld information for their own use, here
is an example of sharing the information as soon as it was discovered. It is a
move toward a more scientific attitude in UFO research. One that we all should
take as a model.
NEWS RELEASE – HISTORIC AUDIO FILES OF THE 1973 PASCAGOULA
ENCOUNTER RECOVERED FROM THE ‘LOST’ APRO FILES (PLEASE SHARE).
For decades, the
civilian American UFO research group APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research
Organisation) was the go-to UFO group headed by married couple Jim and Coral
Lorenzen. Like most UFO groups it gradually faded away to be replaced by
something else. APRO was without a doubt a pioneering UFO group and for decades
after they closed down access to their archive of UFO files and related
material was impossible.
It was
therefore great news when David Marler, Executive Director of the National UFO
Historical Records Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico put out a press
release. It seems coincidental that in early November 2023 I had been
discussing the location of various files on social media when this great news
was released by David Marler, the Executive Director of NUFOHRC. It took
the UFO community completely by surprise. Here is the press release in full
dated November 28th 2023:
The Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) was one of the oldest and largest civilian UFO research organizations in the world. The research files of this organization have been transferred to the National UFO Historical Records Center (NUFOHRC) in Rio Rancho, NM.
Dave Marler and the Pascagoula Tapes.
Press
Release
11-28-23
Dr. J.
Allen Hynek, former Scientific Adviser to U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book,
cited APRO and NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena)
the best civilian UFO groups of their time. Both of these collections of UFO
archival records along with the files of the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) are
now housed at the headquarters of NUFOHRC.
APRO was
founded in 1952 by Jim and Coral Lorenzen, later based in Tucson, AZ. NICAP was
started in 1957 in Washington D.C. by Major Donald Keyhoe. CUFOS was founded in
1973 by Dr. J. Allen Hynek in Chicago, IL. All of these records are in the
process of being digitized for electronic storage, analyzation, transfer, and
ease of access.
The
collective files of APRO, NICAP, CUFOS, as well as Dr. J. Allen Hynek’s
original U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book files, constitutes the largest
civilian historical UFO case file collection in the United States, if not the
world.
An
appropriate site is being sought in the Albuquerque, NM area for a permanent
facility to house this massive collection of UFO research data.
The
facility will allow for public access to the UFO data as well as viewing of
historic photos and artifacts from the UFO research field. NUFOHRC plans to
cooperate with civilian, scientific, and governmental UFO research efforts.
Never in
U.S. history has such a vast quantity of UFO records (numbering in the tens of
thousands) been centralized in one location.
As a
501(c) (3) non-profit organization, a tax-deductible donation may be made to
NUFOHRC to fund a free-standing public archive building which will make these
files and other historical materials more readily accessible for UFO
researchers, academics, scientists, and U.S. government organizations.
Donations can be made online or via mail.
For more
information, contact Executive Director David Marler at: dbmarler@outlook.com
National UFO Historical Records Center
P.O. Box 15541
Rio Rancho, NM 87174
In short
David Marler and NUFOHC were now in possession of what I called the Holy
Grail of civilian UFO research files. I have known David Marler for a number of
years and I was happy to donate my own humble collection of UFO files and
related material to NUFOHRC in 2023. David knows what projects and topics I am
working on but it was going to take a good amount of time to go through the
APRO files but I was confident that these long ‘lost’ files were now safe and
could bear fruit.
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| The Pascagoula Tapes |
Since 2018
I have been working with Calvin Parker on his encounter on the Pascagoula
River, Mississippi on October 11th 1973. I worked with Calvin
Parker right up until he died in August 2023. I spoke with him on the phone
shortly before he died and told him that I’d continue to be the torch bearer
for his and Charles Hickson’s encounter and the search would go on for more
material.
Thankfully,
I was joined in this research by my friend and colleague Dr Irena Scott from
Ohio, USA. Over the last five years we have had amazing support from UFO groups
and individuals around the world who have supplied us with all they have on the
Pascagoula encounter. There are too many to mention but working with these
amazing colleagues we have uncovered: documents and photos of the minor
injuries on Parker & Hickson, the full transcript of their interview at
Keesler AFB, the full unredacted US Coast Guard documents on the USO sighting
in the Pascagoula River and the list goes on and on. This is a great example of
how UFO researchers can work together. Nothing has come from the false claims
of those stating that they ran a MoD UFO project or a secret DoD UFO study. The
same applies to so-called ‘whistle-blowers’. They have put nothing on the
table. In fact the whole ‘disclosure lobby’ has ignored the subject of alien
abductions.
Dr Irena
Scott and I have also obtained firsthand eyewitness testimony from UFO
witnesses that first spoke up in 1973 and others who we have either located
ourselves or have stepped out of the shadows in these last five years. In
fact they are still coming forward with several new witnesses being interviewed
in the last few months. Some of these witnesses were in the direct vicinity of
where Parker & Hickson had their encounter. Mr Charles Anderson was driving
across the bridge that goes over the Pascagoula River when he saw the ‘blue
UFO’ down below him. Mr Louis Lee was working on the opposite side of the river
that night as a crane driver in the shipyard. As soon as he got in
his cab he could see this ‘darn thing’ out over the river. And most fascinating
of all are Mr and Mrs Blair. They were on the opposite side of the river that
night and saw the Parker/Hickson encounter and they had their own alien
abduction experience as well.
HISTORIC
AUDIOFILES OF THE 1973 PASCAGOULA ENCOUNTER RECOVERED FROM THE ‘LOST’ APRO
FILES
It was
much to my surprise and delight that I received a message from David Marler on
Thursday December 28th (2023) asking the following:
“Do you
have any of Harder’s regressive hypnosis tapes related to Pascagoula? I just
found one in the APRO audio tapes. I’m listening to Calvin under
hypnosis. Yes. I’m not with it now. But there are references to the event
occurring just days before. Also, there is recorded discussion between Hynek
and Fred Diamond.”
I replied
immediately that I did not have this material and could I have a copy please.
David, being the gent and genuine UFO researcher that he is, digitized these
audio cassettes for me and they are now with me and Dr Irena Scott.
A
colleague is already on standby to try and boost the sound quality of these
files and they will be sent to him shortly.
There are
five separate audio sequences. They are:
1. Dr
James Harder hypnotic regression on 10-14-73 (October 14th, 1973) of
Calvin Parker re Pascagoula MS UFO incident on 10-11-73.
2. Dr
James Harder interviewed in wake of Pascagoula MS incident on10-11-73.
3.
Pascagoula MS 10-11-73 incident interview with Hickson and Parker by Sheriff
Fred Diamond.
4. Sheriff
Fred Diamond Interviewed by Dr. J Allen Hynek re the Pascagoula Incident on
10-11-73.
5. Sheriff
Fred Diamond plays secret recording of Calvin and Parker to Hynek re the
Pascagoula Incident on 10-11-73.
At my
request David Marler took a couple of photos of the original tapes including
one of himself holding them. These photos and all of these audio files remain
copyright David Marler/NUFOHRC.
It goes
without saying that they are a huge find and are a significant part of the
history of the 1973 Pascagoula alien abduction account and to the wider study
of such experiences. I cannot thank David Marler enough for his
cooperation with this and for proving up with copies of this truly fascinating
material. David is still going through the APRO files and who knows what
else might turn up. As yet we have not decided how to make this new information
available in public. We will take it one step at a time with the first step
being the enhancement of the sound quality of these audio files.
REQUEST
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Dr Scott
and I know that there are others out there that have more information on this
case. With the greatest of respect all we ask is that whatever you might have,
no matter how insignificant you might think it is, to please share it with us.
We are looking for anything: newspaper cuttings, photos, correspondence,
ephemera and so on.
OTHER
WITNESSES
Over the
last five years we have literally interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses to the UFO
events back in 1973. Most of these witnesses were perfectly willing to allow us
to use their real names. There were a few that were not happy with this so we
simply used a false name instead. No problem. We are confident that there are
still other witnesses out there that have yet to go on the record. What we
would like to ask is for you to contact us and allow Dr Scott and I to document
your sighting. We can do this in complete confidence if so required.
CONTACT
If you
would like to contact us regarding any of the above I can be contacted on face
via private message or directly on email:
12 comments:
Splendid find and your posting Kevin, important in a number of ways.
The Pascagoula episode -- despite Calvin's late reportage of a "woman" interloper among the kidnappers -- seems to have been a real event -- the nature of which is open to speculation.
RR
Splendid find and your posting Kevin, important in a number of ways.
The Pascagoula episode -- despite Calvin's late reportage of a "woman" interloper among the kidnappers -- seems to have been a real event -- the nature of which is open to speculation.
RR
David Marler has supplied us with copies of this historic find. Two of the five recordings have already been transcribed. Work on enhancing the audio quality of the other three is underway. I will keep you posted of any new developments.
A "Splendid Find" For what? What does these interviews prove? Where's the evidence my friends? Or do we accept wagging tongues with no evidence?
Sky70 -
It's splendid find because it allows us to listen to the first interviews conducted with the two men. It provides insight into their mind set at the time and not what they were saying months, years and decades later. It provides us with the information gathered by two scientists who were on the scene quickly.
The evidence is the testimony here...
And the other evidence is the identification of witnesses who were in the area and who witnessed part of the abduction. And before you begin to spout off about witnesses who appeared in the years after the event, or fall back on Philip Klass suggestion that no one saw parts of the abduction, I'll point to the Air Force investigation the NEXT day that named two witness and one of those led to two others.
So, we have corroborative testimony, we have the ORIGINAL statements by the two men and various law enforcement officers. What this proves is that case is stronger today than it was before the tapes were located and no, it does not prove they were abducted by alien creatures, but this latest tends to prove that they weren't lying.
Under your logic, we can throw out all testimony because the argument can be reduced to "wagging tongues."
And, once again, I will point out that testimony is evidence... not necessarily the best evidence, but it is evidence, like it or not.
Evidence is testimony? Most professionals of the mind would not accept this talk-said at all, esp. after 50 years having gone by. Memory fades after a few years and in this case some 50 YEARS later or so, the gullible still believes it! What's the use of this OLD UFO case? Please explain, HOW does it, this case, advance Ufology?
Great work, Kevin! Looks like David Marler did some great work too! The new database in New Mexico has already proved itself to be valuable. Hopefully, someday we can all know the truth about whatever happened on the Pascagoula River in 1973. Some time ago, I remember I heard mean idiots on morning radio who mocked Hickson and Parker, and it made me sad. Shame on those who mock innocent victims! Nick Redfern said what happened on the Pascagoula River in 1973 was a secret experiment with aerosol LSD, the same thing he said about what happened in a forest near Air Force Bases in England in 1980. Kevin, what is your opinion about that theory? Makes no sense to me.
May I ask about this part of the above post? Quote: "Nothing has come from the false claims of those stating that they ran a MoD UFO project or a secret DoD UFO study. The same applies to so-called ‘whistle-blowers’. They have put nothing on the table. In fact the whole ‘disclosure lobby’ has ignored the subject of alien abductions."
Did you mean Nick Pope who claims he ran a UFO project at the UK's MoD? Was the secret DoD UFO study AATIP or AAWSAP? In that case, did you mean Elizondo or Lacatski? Does not matter anyway since nothing has come from the false claims. Wonder who the unnamed so-called whistle-blowers could be. After what happened during the previous year, David Grusch comes to mind since he technically went through the process of filing formal complaints as laws require. Retelling rumors is gossip, not heroic whistle blowing. I agree, the same applies as nothing has come from the claims whether they be from selected veterans who testified to Congress and were interviewed in news media or from earlier when we were told incredible stories of alleged secret space programs. While most of the disclosure lobby has in fact ignored the subject of alien abductions, weeks or months ago while listening to Richard Hoagland's podcast I distinctly remember I heard disclosure lobbyist and activist Steven Basset talk about how governments will eventually be asked uncomfortable questions about alleged abduction phenomena. Different factions in the disclosure lobby all have their own reasons to ignore abduction stories.
Feel like I found this post too late, but I guess I can comment here anyway. I ought to check this blog earlier in the week, not just on weekends. Thanks, Kevin! Keep up the good work!
>Dr James Harder hypnotic regression
Kevin's book Abduction Enigma warns us of Harder's leading questions.
@ Sky70 ..."What's the use of this OLD UFO case? Please explain, HOW does it, this case, advance Ufology?"
The continuous revisiting of previous cases is crucial, if for nothing more than to compare witness statements from the time of the event to later testimony.
You can say that Alan Godfrey's story has not changed one jot. Travis Walton has been consistent with his version of events for decades (though, admittedly, his brother-in-law's testimony can change on a daily basis depending on the current state of the relationship between his sister and Walton)
On the other hand you have Embellisher-in Chief Penistone (Rendlesham) whose ridiculous expansion over the years has done nothing but damage an otherwise strong case.
Raking over the coals of older cases can bring to light many things that can benefit both sides of the argument.
In any case...at what point would you consider a UFO case to be too old to re-examine?
Factor in the stretching out of time caused by delay in disclosure of evidence that is then forced out by FOIA's. Decades can pass before that case is independently looked at by UFOlogists.
An example would be David Fravor's encounter which is now a 20 year old case, though the wider public were only aware of it in recent years.
It's very difficult if not impossible for anyone to avoid asking leading questions. I asked Calvin Parker if the hypnosis was of any use to him, he replied "No, because I already remember it all."
We have had several high profile criminal cases here in the UK where 'celebrities' were found guilty of multiple sexual offences and they are now in prison as a result. Most if not all of the testimony against these men was victims verbal testimony and all of it was historical in nature. I'd like to ask Sky70 when does witnesses testimony become unusable. Is it an hour after any such events happened, a day, a week, a year, ten years, twenty years ? The recently uncovered audio files provide an historical snapshot of what was happening at the time and added to all of the other information we have amassed makes the Pascagoula case the best documented of them all. It does not prove they were abducted by aliens but strongly supports, in my humble opinion, that something extraordinary that night on the Pascagoula River, exactly what, I have no idea.
Sky70 -
You should be able to figure out how this case is different and advances our understanding. It is multiple witness, there were others who saw the UFO in the area where Hickson and Parker were abducted, and there is documentation for that based on the Air Force investigation the very next day. These additional witnesses were named in that document. Since that time additional information has been found and many of the skeptical arguments have collapsed under scrutiny. The data suggest an incredible encounter of some nature. There is no explanation for the sighting other than hoax... or the latest, a suggestion of hypnagogic hallucination fails because it requires the witness to be asleep.
Old cases provide a foundation on which to build and to reject them because they are old misses the point.
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