Abductee Story: Calvin Parker

Calvin Parker was an American man whose life was forever changed by an event he claimed occurred on the evening of October 11, 1973. At the time, he was a 19-year-old shipyard worker in Pascagoula, Mississippi. That night, while fishing with his co-worker and friend Charles Hickson on the banks of the Pascagoula River, Parker allegedly had one of the most widely publicized and perplexing UFO abduction experiences in American history.

According to Parker and Hickson, a strange, oval-shaped craft descended silently and hovered above them, emitting a blue light. From it emerged three strange beings—about five feet tall, greyish in color, with carrot-like protrusions for ears and claw-like hands. The beings floated just above the ground and appeared emotionless. Both men claimed they were paralyzed with fear. Parker said he passed out when one of the creatures grabbed him, while Hickson remained conscious and described being taken aboard the craft.

Inside the craft, Parker described being subjected to a physical examination by a small, floating, eye-like device. He said he was terrified and unsure if he would survive. The experience lasted about 20 minutes before the men were returned to the riverbank, stunned and shaken.

The two men went directly to the sheriff’s department to report what had happened. The sheriff, skeptical at first, left the two alone in a room with a hidden recorder. Rather than catching them in a hoax, the tape revealed both men nervously discussing what they had just experienced, seemingly traumatized. This hidden recording became a pivotal piece of evidence for those who believed their story.

The story exploded in the media, drawing national attention. UFO researchers, skeptics, and government officials all took interest. While some dismissed it as a hoax or hallucination, others pointed to the consistency of the accounts and the men's visible distress as evidence of something extraordinary.

For Parker, the aftermath was difficult. Unlike Hickson, who embraced the public spotlight, Parker shunned attention. He suffered from anxiety, nightmares, and distrust of people. For decades, he avoided interviews, rarely spoke of the encounter, and tried to live a quiet life. He eventually married and worked various jobs along the Gulf Coast, carrying the emotional weight of what he experienced in silence.

In 2018, after decades of silence, Parker finally wrote a book titled Pascagoula – The Closest Encounter, detailing his version of the event. In it, he explained how he had felt compelled to share his story before he died, both as a form of catharsis and as a contribution to the growing body of UFO testimony worldwide. The book was met with renewed interest, especially as the United States government began to declassify information about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).

Parker’s account deepened in a follow-up book where he claimed to have experienced further contact over the years, some of it more spiritual or visionary in nature. He also believed that the entities involved were not necessarily evil but may have been conducting research or fulfilling some unknown purpose.

Throughout his later years, Calvin Parker was clear that he wasn’t trying to convince anyone of what happened to him. He simply wanted to tell the truth as he knew it. His calm and humble demeanor in interviews helped many to see him as a reluctant witness, not a fame-seeker.

Calvin Parker died in August 2023 at the age of 68, just shy of the 50th anniversary of the Pascagoula abduction. His death was met with an outpouring of tributes from the UFO community and beyond, recognizing the courage it took for someone so private to share such an extraordinary and life-altering story. To believers, his account remains one of the most credible alien abduction stories ever recorded. To skeptics, it remains a mystery—an event unexplained, but not easily dismissed.