Travis Walton disappearance
A seven-man logging crew led by Mike Rogers was driving out of the forest after sunset when they saw a glowing disc over a clearing. Travis Walton got out and walked toward it, and the crew said a beam of light knocked him to the ground. They drove off in panic. When they came back he was gone. Police searched for five days. Walton then called his sister from a phone booth in Heber, saying he had been taken aboard. His story became the 1993 film Fire in the Sky.
Explanation
The crew passed some polygraph tests and Walton failed one. Philip Klass and Michael Shermer argued it was a hoax, with a motive: the crew was behind on a Forest Service contract, and an "act of God" could excuse the penalty. Walton maintains it happened.
What was seen
Shape: Glowing disc hovering over a clearing
Witnesses: 7 (the logging crew)
Duration: 5 days missing
Browse
- United States
- 1970s
- Disputed
- Close encounters
- Many independent witnesses
- Lights and fireballs
- Discs and saucers