Travis Walton alien abduction

[BlakeTyner]

Since the main section of the Party Cabin seems a little dead, I thought it might be interesting to have a discussion about the Travis Walton case. For those of you that don't know, Walton was a contractor in Arizona who was supposedly abducted by aliens in November 1975. Walton and several of his co-workers witnessed a UFO in the forest after a day of thinning timber. Walton exited the work truck and was struck by a bolt of energy from the craft. His co-workers, witnessing this, took off in the truck, leaving Walton laying on the ground.

After coming to their senses, they returned to find both Walton and the craft gone. They reported this to the authorities, who began searching the woods for Walton. About a week later, Walton returned.

This has been called the most significant abduction case in history, because of the number of witnesses, and the fact that they were all able to pass polygraph examinations.

Walton wrote a book, The Walton Experience, which was later used as a rough basis for the film "Fire in the Sky." The film took a lot of liberties with the story, particularly with Walton's experience inside the craft. The film doesn't match at all what Walton described. However, the film's tone was pretty effective, and it did focus quite a bit on his friends, family, and co-workers while he was missing.

I didn't put this in the book section, because the story itself is widely known. I have the book, and if you've read it you can comment on it. But the thread as a whole is more about Walton's experience, which is kind of a "weird, wacky tale" perfect for the Party Cabin.

Let's discuss!

~Blake

[Jigsaw]

I have to read the book sometime, but the case is fascinating, and I personally believe that he was abducted and that alien abductions are real.

While the film is inaccurate to what Walton stated, the alien sequence in the film is hands down one of the scariest movie scenes ever.

[Brett H.]

Ya know... Ever since I was a kid, UFO shit has fuckin' terrified me. Horror movies do nothing, a dumb flying saucer movie of course wouldn't, but shows like Unsolved Mysteries used to freak me out. There were even crop circles near my Grandma's farm at one time. The weirdest thing about it is I'm pretty fascinated by it all. I watch the UFO specials on TV every time I see 'em on. But, lately they deal with sightings more than abductions, which is what freaked me out the most. I would never EVER watch this movie. EVER.

However, times change and I am not really scared of the UFO stuff anymore, although it does leave me a little uneasy sometimes. So, I think it's high time I gave this movie a chance. Although I probably won't be afraid at all now that I know a lot of the film is fabricated, but I still will probably get a chill or two.

[BlakeTyner]

I'm with you, OBR. Ever since I was a kid watching Unsolved Mysteries I've been pretty terrified of the whole abduction thing, even as I question whether or not I even believe in aliens! I just remember watching that show and loving it whenever "The Unexplained" was the topic of a segment. Those were so cool. I remember one where these people were driving a pickup truck, and when the looked in the mirror, there were gray aliens back there.

Another great Unsolved Mysteries segment was the one about the Queen Mary. They were telling about the ghosts seen around the pool, and had re-created the footprints of a little girl appearing. Muy spooky! Robert Stack just had that voice, man.

As for the Walton case, I'm split. On the one hand, Walton's book goes out of its way to try and convince you, but a lot of the debunkers have attacked elements of the story. I think it's one of those things that I'm comfortable saying "I believe it" just because. It's a good story in any case.

When that show Sightings was out, I bought their book about alien abduction, and there was a great story about a group of guys out on a camping trip in God's country. They built a big fire at their campsite, then all went out on this lake to fish. They saw a UFO and one of them flashed their flashlight at it. Next thing they know, they're in the boat and the fire they'd built had gone dead - hours had passed. Under hypnosis, they remembered the events of the abduction. As someone who camps as much as possible, that story wigged me out quite a bit.

~Blake

[Toejam]

The inaccurate the alien ship sequence was my favorite part of the film.
They made the best part up (unless you believe that the whole thing was made up.)
I don't believe he was abducted but I believe these men experienced something strange and that they believe.

weird shit happens

[Alex DeLarge]

I'm with you, OBR. Ever since I was a kid watching Unsolved Mysteries I've been pretty terrified of the whole abduction thing, even as I question whether or not I even believe in aliens! I just remember watching that show and loving it whenever "The Unexplained" was the topic of a segment. Those were so cool. I remember one where these people were driving a pickup truck, and when the looked in the mirror, there were gray aliens back there.

Another great Unsolved Mysteries segment was the one about the Queen Mary. They were telling about the ghosts seen around the pool, and had re-created the footprints of a little girl appearing. Muy spooky! Robert Stack just had that voice, man.

His voice used to creep me out too when I was little until I saw "Transformers: The Movie" and realized he was the brave and heroic Ultra Magnus...:p