Mike Rogers, who was the leader of the logging crew that included Travis Walton, died on February 6, 2026. He became something of a controversial character in the tale, often accompanying Walton to various UFO conventions, appeared with him on several documentaries, and was a featured character in the movie about the abduction, Fire in the Sky. He eventually said that no one saw Walton abducted, but seemed to believe that was what happened.
He
was a gifted artist and many of the drawings and paintings of the Walton case
were the work of Rogers. He was also somewhat hot headed and sometimes saw
conspiracy where none existed. When I interviewed him for my X-Zone radio show
and podcast, there was a glitch in the taping which he believed was our attempt
to sensor some of the things he said. It was just a glitch which arose out of
the complications of creating a show with the host in Iowa, the guest in
Arizona and the producer in Canada. Sometimes the Internet did not cooperate
and sometimes mistakes were made.
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| Rogers's interpretation of the Walton aliens. Used with permission of Mike Rogers. |
During
that interview, Rogers said that the Phoenix Lights were not the important
sightings. He, among others in widely spread parts of Arizona and southern Nevada
had seen a large, triangular object that traveled across most of Arizona. He
provided a detailed description of that UFO, but the lights seen over Phoenix
dominated the news media reporting of the events that night.
As
we discussed the Walton abduction, I told him I thought it was a little chicken
that he and the others left Walton behind. True, they did return, but that was
after Walton disappeared. That is, of course, why no one saw Walton abducted,
but they did see him hit with that beam of light.
On
March 19, 2021, Mike Rogers in a Facebook post wrote, "I, Michael H.
Rogers, being of sound and rational mind, do hereby give notice that I am no
longer to be considered a witness to Travis C. Walton's supposed abduction of
November 5, 1975.”
That
set off a firestorm of controversy. After that, Rogers told me that he not only
hadn’t seen Walton abducted, but that he had been saying that for years. It was
only in 2021, that people noticed. Given that discussion, I wasn’t sure exactly
what Rogers was saying but note that it doesn’t bode well for the Walton tale.
To
make matters worse, a couple of days later, Rogers told movie producer Ryan
Gordon, " We were talking about creating a UFO hoax, okay? I don't know
how the UFO got there. But I remember... when I was driving the truck and he
jumped out; it was all deliberate. It was all a staged thing, okay? He ran up
there and there was something about the UFO not being real, although it looked
real.’”
Rogers
and Walton later reconciled and Rogers issued a statement retracting his
confession but the damage was done. And there was the important point that
Rogers said that no one saw the abduction and that, of course, included Rogers.
7 comments:
This is what Wikipedia says about Rogers’ “confession”:
«On March 19, 2021, Mike Rogers posted a statement to his Facebook page announcing "I, Michael H. Rogers, being of sound and rational mind, do hereby give notice that I am no longer to be considered a witness to Travis C. Walton's supposed abduction of November 5, 1975." He later clarified: "Travis tried to keep a new remake of the movie a secret from me. He has always had his big secrets that he has kept from me. It angered me. I tried over the last two weeks to reason with [him], but of no avail. I don’t believe Travis is an honest person, and therefore I want nothing to do with him." On April 30, Rogers placed a call to producer Ryan Gordon, who was working on a new film about the Walton incident. Gordon recorded the call without Rogers's knowledge, as permitted by Arizona law. Two months later, on July 4, Gordon publicly posted audio from the call which featured Rogers explaining: "We were talking in the woods one day... We were talking about creating a UFO hoax, okay? I don't know how the UFO got there. But I remember... when I was driving the truck and he jumped out, it was all deliberate. It was all a staged thing, okay? He ran up there and there was something about the UFO not being real, although it looked real."] Rogers and Walton later reconciled and Rogers issued a statement retracting his confession.»
I don’t know about you, Kevin, but to me it seems like Rogers claimed it was a hoax mainly to get back at Travis. Travis hadn’t involved him in the remake of the film, so Rogers lashed out and told the producer it was a hoax out of anger and resentment. I mean, let’s be honest, we’ve all been there at least once. You get into a major fight with someone and later, while venting to a third party, you exaggerate the truth or even make something up just to make the other person look bad. I’ve done it, you’ve probably done it too, and plenty of other people have as well. It’s a very human reaction.
Later, when Travis and Rogers reconciled, Rogers walked back what he had previously said to Gordon during the phone call. So to me, the whole thing feels less like a genuine confession and more like a statement made in anger and spite.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m completely open to changing my mind about the story and admitting that Travis might have made the whole thing up. But this episode doesn’t strike me as convincing evidence of that.
Mike Rogers' daughter took his confession on his death bed - he confessed (for the second time) to hoaxing the TW sighting with Travis, confirming his role at the fire tower (the UFO) - he was to stop at a certain viewing point for Travis to get out, then generate panic in the truck and drive away fast after the zapping, to leave the impression Travis was abducted. Given the various changes and contradictions in their stories over the years in response to skeptical pushback, this version fits the actual facts.
Mike also confessed to the first part of the Phoenix Lights (V-shape) in which he was so interested for the past 20 years. If we read his "speculation" as confession - a lightweight wire-and-plastic construction lifted by helium, with DEFINITELY!! exactly 7 lights no matter what people reported, released near Prescott that traveled with the wind speed and direction to Casa Grand - we might solve that part of the sighting. He agrees the second part was flares.
Like so many others, the Walton case has become such a muddle that I have no idea how to form a reasonable opinion of it anymore. One thing that does bug me about the hoax claims, is that I've been on construction crews very much like the outfit that made up the logging party that day, and I have a very hard time imagining any of them being involved in a hoax of that magnitude and *not* having it fall apart immediately, amid much acrimony. It was a typically motley crew, with some of them not really knowing, liking, or trusting one another. If it was a hoax, it is truly remarkable that it has held up as well as it has for 50 years or so.
"Confessions" like the one given by Mike Rogers don't carry much weight on their own, though pseudoskeptics are quick to grab on to whatever makes the story look bad, even if it doesn't make any sense.
There is a lot of important information left out of this "obituary" of Mike Rogers. 1. Travis Walton married Mike Rogers' sister Dora, making Mike and Travis brothers-in-law. 2. Travis Walton and Dora have been separated for many years. 3. So Travis' and Mike's relationship is not just about an important alien encounter case, but also about family estrangement.
We need to remember that the witnesses to Travis Walton's encounter are human beings to whom many things could and did happen to over the course of the 50+ years since this event occurred. But something did occur that night ... something notable in the annals of alien encounters no matter where you stand on its veracity.
Query: For that matter, was Travis Walton abducted ... or was he simply taken away for medical treatment? Can it not be argued that the alien's saved Travis' life?
Charlie Wiser: Where is this so-called "deathbed confession" allegedly given by Mr. Rogers to his daughter? Was it transcribed? Who were the witnesses, and what were their motives? Do you have any evidence to support this claim?
His daughter published a summary of it on Quora - she says it was recorded. She's deleted the post now but a screenshot is on my Twitter. She's currently deciding how best to release the information.
I followed this saga as it unfolded on Facebook. Much of the public back-and-forth between Mike Rogers and Travis Walton has since been deleted, but my impression at the time was that Rogers was threatening to publicly challenge the story unless he was included in a new documentary project. At the same time, he repeatedly talked about wanting to sit down with Walton, reconcile, and repair their relationship.
Rogers appeared to be struggling with the reality that Walton was once again receiving significant attention. Walton was being featured in documentaries, appearing on major platforms like Joe Rogan, and experiencing a renewed wave of public interest, while Rogers had largely faded from the spotlight. There was a noticeable sense of frustration and nostalgia in many of Rogers' posts. Even while questioning aspects of the case, he frequently shared old photographs of himself and Walton traveling the country in the 1980s, speaking at conferences and telling their story together.
I have always been somewhat skeptical of the Walton case. There are elements that have never completely sat right with me. However, during this dispute, it seemed clear that Rogers was sending mixed messages. At various times he suggested the incident might have been a hoax, while at other times he stated that Walton's reaction during the event appeared genuine and that the encounter itself looked real. He often seemed to waver between those positions.
As the conflict escalated, it became increasingly personal. Rogers posted photos of Walton's home and criticized him, even going so far as to describe him as a hoarder. By that point, the disagreement appeared to be driven less by the facts of the 1975 incident and more by longstanding personal grievances between the two men.
Looking back, the entire episode struck me as a deeply personal falling out between old friends and business partners rather than a serious reexamination of the case itself. Even at the height of the dispute, Rogers never seemed to fully reject the possibility that something unusual had happened. Instead, the conflict appeared rooted in feelings of exclusion, resentment, and a desire to be recognized as part of a story that had once defined both of their lives.
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