The 1975 Travis Walton Alien Abduction Case

Mike Rogers, a logger from Snowflake, Arizona, received a contract from the United States Forest Service (USFS) to thin out scrub brush from more than 1200 acres in a portion of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near the town of Turkey Springs, Arizona. He hired six men from Snowflake to assist him—Allen Dallis, John Goulette, Ken Peterson, Steve Pierce, Dwayne Smith, and Travis Walton.

The job was big, and the men were behind schedule, so they were working 12-hour shifts. Shortly after 6:00pm on the evening of November 5, 1975, the seven men began their 31-mile drive to Snowflake. They saw a silver disc—which they estimated to be 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall and 20 feet (6.1 meters) in diameter—hovering over a clearing.

Mike Rogers stopped his truck so he and his crew could get a better look at the disc, which was shining very brightly. Much to everyone's surprise, 22-year-old Travis Walton jumped out of the truck and began running toward the object. The six men who remained in the truck shouted for Walton to stop, but he kept running toward the disc. When Walton was almost beneath the disc, loud machinery type of noises began emanating from it. Then, the disc began wobbling from side-to-side.Walton finally realized there might be a problem, and he began to slowly move away from the object.

Travis Walton didn't move away from the disc quickly enough. A beam of blue-green light emanated from the disc and appeared to strike Walton. The six men reported that Walton rose a foot in the air—with his arms and legs extended stiffly—and then, still above the ground, he shot back approximately 10 feet (3 meters). Walton then fell to the ground, striking his right shoulder, and collapsing in a heap.

Rather than drive toward Travis Walton in order to help him, Mike Rogers drove away as fast as he could. (He later said he thought the silver disc was going to shine the blue-green light on the truck next.) After driving a quarter-mile, Rogers' truck skidded off the road. While stopped, the crew convinced Rogers to turn around and go back for Walton—who happened to be dating Rogers' sister.

When the six men arrived at the site, both the brightly-shining silver disc and Travis Walton were gone. The men spent a short amount of time—a half-hour—searching for Walton. Then, they left.

Members of the Sheriff's Department and volunteers searched for Travis Walton on the evening of November 5, 1975. By the following afternoon, the search included law enforcement personnel in helicopters, on horseback, and in jeeps, as well as family members and local volunteers.

The news of Travis Walton's purported abduction by aliens spread. November 8th saw the arrival of news media, UFO investigators, and tourists.

On November 10, 1975, an Arizona Department of Public Safety employee administered polygraph exams to Mike Rogers and his logging crew. The men were asked if they had harmed Travis Walton and if they knew where Walton or Walton's body was. The polygraph examiner, Cy Gibson, concluded that none of the men had harmed Walton and that they didn't know where he was. Gibson also concluded that the men had seen an object which they believed was a UFO—an Unidentified Flying Object.

On November 10, 1975, shortly before Midnight, Grant Neff, Travis Walton's brother-in-law received a telephone call from Walton. Travis said that he was calling from a gas station in a nearby town, that he was hurt, and he needed help

Grant Neff and Duane Walton, one of Travis's brothers, drove to the town of Heber and picked up Travis Walton. Travis was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when he disappeared. He had not shaved, and he was noticeably thinner. He appeared frightened and nervous and kept mumbling about beings with very large eyes. Travis was very surprised to learn that he had been missing for five days—he thought he had been gone a few hours.

No one on Earth knows.