Travis Walton incident

In the Spring of 1972, the National Enquirer tabloid began advertising a $50,000 prize for proof of extraterrestrial visitors. By 1975, the prize had been raised to $100,000. Travis Walton and the Turkey Springs forestry job Travis Walton was born around 1953 to Mary Walton (later Mary Walton Kellott). On May 5, 1971, Travis Walton and associate Carl Rogers pleaded guilty to breaking into the offices of the Western Molding Company, stealing company checks, forging and then cashing them. The pair were placed on probation for two years, after which they were allowed to plead not guilty and "cleanse their records". In 1975, Travis, aged 22, was a member of a seven-person forestry crew led by Carl's older brother Michael H. Rogers, aged 28. The year prior, Rogers had won a bid for a federal contract to thin out small trees from an area known as Turkey Springs in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest when he underbid two other contractors. The Turkey Springs job called for the thinning of 1,277 acres by August 1975. The film aired two weeks before the Travis Walton UFO incident. Later researchers suggested that Rogers and Walton could have been inspired by the film to concoct their own alleged abduction story. Psychologists and skeptics argued in a 2009 review that, "after viewing this movie, any person with a little imagination could now become an instant celebrity" by claiming an abduction. They concluded that "one of those instant celebrities was Travis Walton." According to researcher Philip J. Klass's 1989 book, shortly before his disappearance, Travis told his mother not to worry if he were ever abducted by aliens because he would return safe and sound. == Incident==

On November 5, 1975, crew chief Michael H. Rogers reported Travis Walton missing to the Navajo County Sheriff. At 7:45 PM, a member of the logging crew called officer L. C. Ellison. Ellison, Sheriff Marlin Gillespie, and Deputy Kenneth Coplan drove to Heber to meet with the loggers. According to a 1983 account, Rogers and two crew members agreed to return to Turkey Springs with the three officers, while the three other crew members refused to return and instead drove home in Rogers's vehicle. Walton, his older brother Duane, and his mother were described by the sheriff at the time as "longtime students of UFOs". recorded a 65-minute interview with crew chief Mike Rogers and Travis's older brother Duane Walton. At no point during the interview did either express any fear or concern for Travis; rather, they expressed confidence that Travis would be returned. By November 10, stories of Walton's disappearance were being published throughout the US, UK, and Canada. On November 11, the press reported that Travis's mother felt any further searching for Travis would be useless. Walton had placed a collect call to his sister's home from a payphone in Heber, Arizona Walton reached his sister's husband, Grant Neff, who drove to pick up Duane and proceeded to Heber to pick up Travis; Neff later reported he initially thought the caller was intoxicated. As part of the collect call procedure, Travis told the operator his name; she recognized his name as that of the missing man and alerted Sheriff Gillespie, who dispatched a Deputy to the family ranch house. Deputy Glen Flake arrived at 2:00 AM, where he witnessed Duane Walton transferring fuel from one car to another after having forgotten to purchase gas before local stations closed. Flake did not reveal that they knew Travis had returned home, and Duane did not tell the deputy that Travis had been found. Seeking medical attention for Travis, Duane reached out to a UFO researcher he'd met days prior; the researcher referred them to "Dr." Lester Steward, a hypnotherapist. Duane took Travis to meet with Steward, but his first words were that Travis needed a medical examination with lab tests and was not ready for hypnotic regression. Steward noted that Travis seemed "very confused" and reminiscent of drug addicts he'd treated. Steward also noted that Travis had a small lesion on the inside crease of his right elbow, consistent with intravenous drug use. After meeting with Steward, the Waltons returned to Duane's home. There UFO researchers arranged a house call by two medical doctors who were also amateur UFO investigators. When they arrived at 3:00 PM, Duane forbade them to use their camera or tape recorder, nor would he allow them to ask Travis questions about his experience. The doctors noted the presence of the apparent puncture mark and estimated it to be 24 to 48 hours old. That day, stories of Travis's return had begun to spread. The press began calling Duane's home in an attempt to reach Travis. Duane finally informed law enforcement of Travis's return, calling Sheriff Gillespie, who insisted on seeing Travis immediately. The sheriff drove the four hours into Glendale and arrived at 11:00 PM. Duane and Travis demanded that Sheriff Gillespie not record the interview. After a local UFO group facilitated the connection, Duane and Travis moved into a suite at the Sheraton Inn in Scottsdale; the costs were covered by The National Enquirer in exchange for exclusive access to Walton and his story. On November 14, Travis skipped a polygraph interview with police. But that night, in the presence of Enquirer reporters, a doctor associated with a UFO group had a two-hour conversation with a hypnotized Travis about the incident. The following day, November 15, Travis was interviewed by Jack McCarthy, a free-lance polygraph examiner arranged by a UFO group and the Enquirer. McCarthy concluded that Travis was engaged in a "gross deception" and had even been intentionally holding his breath in an attempt to "beat the machine". On November 22, Travis appeared on Phoenix television station KOOL, where he was interviewed about the incident. Travis claimed that he had lost consciousness when struck by a beam of light, and that he awoke in a hospital-like room, being observed by three short, bald creatures. He says that he fought with them until a human wearing a helmet led Walton to another room, where he blacked out as three other humans put a clear plastic mask over his face. Walton has said that he remembers nothing else until he found himself walking along a highway five days later, with the flying saucer departing above him. == Publicity and popular culture==

In the days following Walton's UFO claim, The National Enquirer awarded Walton and his co-workers a $5,000 prize for "best UFO case of the year" after they were said to have passed polygraph tests administered by the Enquirer and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO). Skeptics include the story as an example of a UFO hoax promoted by a credulous media circus with the resulting publicity exploited by Walton to make money. UFO researcher Philip J. Klass, who agreed that Walton's story was a hoax perpetrated for financial gain, identified many discrepancies in the accounts of Walton and his co-workers. After investigating the case, Klass reported that the polygraph tests were "poorly administered", that Walton used "polygraph countermeasures," such as holding his breath, and that Klass uncovered an earlier failed test administered by an examiner who concluded the case involved "gross deception". In 1978, Walton wrote the book The Walton Experience detailing his claims. In 1993, the book served as the inspiration for the 1993 film Fire in the Sky, starring Robert Patrick as Mike Rogers, D. B. Sweeney as Travis Walton, Craig Sheffer as Allan Dallis, Peter Berg as David Whitlock, and Georgia Emelin as Dana Rogers. Travis Walton made a cameo in the film. Paramount Pictures decided that Walton's account was "too fuzzy and too similar to other televised close encounters", so they ordered screenwriter Tracy Tormé to write a "flashier, more provocative" abduction story. On the opening day of Fire in the Sky – March 12, 1993 – Walton and Mike Rogers appeared on the CNN program Larry King Live, which also featured Philip J. Klass. Walton has occasionally appeared at UFO conventions or on television. He sponsors his own UFO conference in Arizona called the "Skyfire Summit". On January 19, 2021, Walton appeared on episode #1597 of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. On August 25, 2023, he appeared in the fifth episode of the third season of How To with John Wilson, titled "How to Watch Birds". ==Rogers-Walton dispute of 2021==

On March 19, 2021, Mike Rogers posted a statement to his Facebook page announcing "I, Michael H. Rogers, being of sound and rational mind, do hereby give notice that I am no longer to be considered a witness to Travis C. Walton's supposed abduction of November 5, 1975." He later clarified: "Travis tried to keep a new remake of the movie a secret from me. He has always had his big secrets that he has kept from me. It angered me. I tried over the last two weeks to reason with [him], but of no avail. I don’t believe Travis is an honest person, and therefore I want nothing to do with him." Rogers and Walton later reconciled and Rogers issued a statement retracting his confession. ==Modern views==

Waltons as UFO buffs and pranksters Mike Rogers and the Waltons were known for their interest in UFOs. One member of the crew recalled Mike Rogers and Travis Walton arguing about how UFOs can fly. Within four months of the incident, UFO author Raymond E. Fowler, himself a believer in UFOs and abductions, proposed that some members of the crew had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by others in the crew. Authors including Klass and Pflock argue that Travis Walton and Mike Rogers planned the incident. Contrast with alien abduction syndrome In the 1980s, reports of alien abductions became more widespread, promoted by authors Budd Hopkins, John E. Mack, and Whitley Strieber. Folklorist Thomas E. Bullard notes that stories of alien abductions exhibit a fairly consistent sequence and description of events. Scholars suggest that alien abduction syndrome is the result of sleep paralysis or false memory syndrome. Walton didn't report paralysis, recovered memories or other common elements of an "alien abduction" narrative, leading Fire in the Sky screenwriter Tracy Tormé to opine "I don't think the Travis case is an abduction case... it doesn't fit any of the other patterns as in the cases that were explored in [Budd Hopkin's book] Intruders... So many witnesses, gone for five days... So I think all those things break the mold and make this case unique." Philip J. Klass noted that "a 'UFO-Abduction Mold' did not yet exist in 1975". Starting in 2021, Sheaffer promoted the hypothesis that Rogers and the Waltons made use of a nearby fire lookout tower to achieve their hoax. Sheaffer suggests Travis walked towards the tower, which was brightly lit above the tree tops, until an accomplice in the tower illuminated him with the spotlight. Sheaffer proposes that when Rogers later drove the crew back to the supposed abduction site, they actually arrived at a different spot entirely—one closer to their Turkey Springs site. ==See also==