It’s been nearly 52 years since Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker claimed they were abducted by aliens while fishing along the Pascagoula River in Mississippi, and yet another docuseries has been released on the alleged extraterrestrial encounter.
Pascagoula 73, a four-part series now available on Amazon and YouTube, was produced by Danny Weir and written by Weir alongside longtime UFO researcher Philip Mantle. Mantle published two of Parker’s books before his death and has done extensive research on arguably the best documented case of its kind.
The docuseries is based on Mantle’s book, Pascagoula Uncovered – Witnesses, Files, & Audiotapes, and brings first-hand eyewitness accounts back into the fold, according to a press release. One of the eyewitnesses, Maria Blair, said after her and her husband spotted Hickson and Parker’s abduction, she had extraterrestrial experiences of her own. She never spoke about them until sitting down with Mantle.
Previously unheard recordings from the night of and aftermath of Hickson and Parker’s experience on Oct. 11, 1973, are included in the docuseries. It looks back at the encounter through Hickson’s eyes while emphasizing discussions Parker had with Mantle about how the beings kept contact with him for decades.
“A gripping tale of extraterrestrial encounters, fear, and resilience that changed their lives forever,” a description of Pascagoula 73 reads. “Discover the astonishing 1973 Pascagoula UFO abduction through the eyes of Charles Hickson, an ordinary man thrust into the extraordinary. Taken alongside his friend, he faced terrifying extraterrestrial beings. We chronicle his life after the encounter.
“An 18-year-old Calvin Parker found himself thrust into an unimaginable ordeal. Unlike his older companion Charles Hickson, Calvin was a young man just beginning his adult life when he was suddenly faced with extraterrestrial beings.”
What was the Pascagoula Abduction?
Parker and Hickson, then 42, had just gotten off work on Oct. 11, 1973, when they decided to go fishing at an abandoned shipyard on the west bank of the Pascagoula River. At about 9 p.m., they claimed to have seen a long, football-shaped craft with three aliens or robots levitating in front of them. Suddenly, both felt paralyzed, and the creatures were said to have grabbed them with possibly mitten-shaped or crab-like claws. Some of the creatures were described as having bullet-shaped heads, carrot-like noses and ears, and slits for mouths. Once inside the craft, both men were allegedly examined by a large, robotic eye before being returned to the riverbank.
The two men decided to report what happened to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Amid initial skepticism from deputies, a secret recording device was hidden in the room with Hickson and Parker. Both maintained their story even when alone, which along with passing polygraphs, led police to believe something did happen that night. Media then came in droves to the then-sleepy fishing town to cover Hickson and Parker’s story, which over a half century later, is still pointed to by UFO junkies as proof that extraterrestrials exist.
What was the impact of the Pascagoula Abduction?
The Pascagoula Abduction immediately had an impact with newspapers, radio stations, and TV channels across the globe wanting a piece of Hickson and Parker’s tale. While Parker was hesitant to share and moved into life as a recluse, Hickson wanted people to know what happened to him and his fishing partner that night. With the influx of media, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department didn’t have enough people on staff to answer all the calls they were receiving. After Hickson did interviews with publications such as Rolling Stone and the Los Angeles Times while going on different national talk shows, the Pascagoula Abduction found its way into pop culture. Movies were made, music was written about it, and soon enough, the event was being talked about in almost every country.
In terms of what impact the Pascagoula Abduction had on UFO believers, the passing of lie detectors by Hickson and Parker allowed them to point to the instance as credible proof that humans have been taken aboard by aliens, The Pascagoula Abduction has also helped erase the negative stigma surrounding belief in aliens as former government officials – including Pentagon intelligence officer David Grusch – have since come forward in asserting the U.S. has knowledge of extraterrestrial life and could even be in possession of alien spacecraft.
What can be learned from the new docuseries?
While a lot of information is already available on the Pascagoula Abduction through articles, interviews, and books, Pascagoula 73 provides never-discussed insight into what happened, according to the press release.
During a Netflix series called Files of the Unexplained, released in 2024, Parker’s son Eddie hints at his father being contacted by the aliens in the years following. The latest from Weir and Mantle explores a section of Mantle’s book in which Parker discusses the reunions further.
“The book finishes with a final word by Calvin Parker himself who passed away in August 2023. Parker asked the author not to publish this until after he died,” the press release notes. “The whole book is almost like a look back through time to see what happened that night in Pascagoula and how the events unfolded thereafter. And in a stunning revelation, Calvin Parker recounts a previously unknown encounter from 1992 which is published here for the first time.”
Pascagoula 73 also swings the spotlight to another person, who may not be known by the masses. Maria Blair was one of the people claiming to see Parker and Hickson abducted. For the first time, she discloses to Mantle that she also has experience extraterrestrial encounters since the fateful night.
“Maria and her late husband, Jerry, were on the opposite side of the Pascagoula River the night of the Hickson/Parker abduction. The Blairs went on the record to state that they too had an encounter,” the release continued. “A full interview with Maria Blair is published here for the first time.”
The new docuseries on the Pascagoula Abduction can be watched on Amazon and YouTube.
