0:10

Navajo County Deputy Sheriff Chuck

0:12

Ellison was sitting down to eat dinner

0:15

with his wife when the telephone rang.

0:18

The voice on the other end was hard to

0:20

read, both frantic and

0:22

oddly hesitant at the same time. Ellison

0:26

asked the caller to calm down and

0:28

start again by telling him who he was.

0:32

It was Kenny Peterson, came the speedy

0:34

reply, and they needed the police

0:37

right away. As

0:39

Peterson went on to explain, he

0:41

and his Forestry Service co workers had

0:44

been clearing a section of Arizona's

0:46

Apache Sitgreave's forest earlier

0:48

that night when something inexplicable

0:51

had occurred, and now one

0:54

of their crew was missing. But

0:57

when Ellison pushed for more details,

0:59

Peterson paused for a moment before

1:01

replying that perhaps it would be better

1:04

if they could explain it to him in person.

1:07

Ten minutes later, after apologizing

1:10

to his wife for having to leave so suddenly,

1:13

Ellison pulled into the parking lot

1:15

of Wilbur's Market shopping center in

1:18

Haber, a small junction

1:20

town about one hundred and fifty miles

1:22

northeast of Phoenix, Arizona,

1:24

where he'd agreed to meet Kenny.

1:27

It didn't take long for the deputy to

1:29

spot the man at His colleagues, Mike

1:32

Rodgers, John Goulette, Alan

1:34

Dallas, Dwayne Smith, and Steve

1:36

Pearce all gathered together

1:39

in an anxious huddle by the entrance, still

1:41

covered in dust and debris from the day's

1:44

shift. At least two

1:46

of the group was struggling to hold

1:48

back tears. In

1:51

no mood to mess around, Ellison

1:53

asked the men to explain exactly

1:55

what was going on. They

1:58

all looked sheepishly toward each each other, as

2:01

if they didn't quite know what they were going to say

2:03

to him, until finally

2:06

Mike began to speak. The

2:09

twenty eight year old Mike was an independent

2:11

contractor and the crew were his responsibility,

2:15

so too, ultimately was

2:17

the man who was missing. His

2:19

name was Travis Walton, who

2:22

also happened to be Mike's best friend.

2:25

Ordinarily, they would never have left him

2:28

behind up there in the forest, but

2:30

as Mike tried to explain to Ellison, these

2:33

were far from ordinary circumstances.

2:38

You're listening to unexplained and

2:40

I'm Richard McClain Smith,

2:49

like the rest of Mike Roger's crew. Twenty

2:52

two year old Travis Walton lived in

2:54

Snowflake, a farming town

2:56

located about thirty miles east of Haber

3:00

with a population of just over two and

3:02

a half thousand. It was founded

3:04

by Mormon settlers in eighteen seventy

3:06

eight and was comprised largely

3:08

of low rise houses and small local

3:11

stores, all overshadowed

3:13

by the huge red bricked Church

3:15

of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints

3:18

that dominated the town square. Delinquency

3:22

was not looked on lightly by the community,

3:25

nor was any one who deigned to be

3:27

a little different. Back

3:30

in nineteen seventy one, Travis,

3:32

who with his long hair was dismissed

3:34

by many as a feckless hippy, and

3:37

a friend were convicted of forging

3:39

payroll checks from a local company.

3:42

The pair were given two years privation

3:44

and forced to pay the money back. In

3:48

a town as small and god fearing as Snowflake,

3:51

such reputations were hard to shake.

3:54

Those who knew Travis, however, knew

3:56

a different story. Some of

3:59

his school teachers even considered

4:01

him one of the smartest pupils that they'd

4:03

ever taught. After

4:05

dropping out of Northern Arizona University

4:08

a few years previously, Travis

4:10

had been picking up work wherever he could

4:12

find it. When

4:15

Mike Rogers, a forestry contractor

4:17

with nine years experience, procured

4:20

another of his United States Forest

4:22

Service contracts, Travis

4:24

jumped at the opportunity to join the team.

4:28

The job was to clear one thousand, two

4:31

hundred and seventy seven acres of thick

4:33

scrub brush from a section of the Apache

4:35

Si Grieves National Forest known

4:37

as Turkey Springs, which

4:40

was about ten miles into the pine

4:42

covered mountains just to the west

4:44

of Haber. That

4:47

Wednesday, November fifth, started

4:49

out just like any other day, as

4:52

one by one Rogers collected

4:54

each of his crew members in his battered

4:56

Crew Cab International from their

4:58

homes in Snowflake, then headed

5:01

off on their forty mile journey into the

5:03

mountains. With

5:11

it being November, there was always

5:13

a slight chill in the air first thing in the

5:15

morning, but it soon heated up

5:17

when the sun came out. Though

5:19

the work was arduous, cutting

5:22

back all new growth less than six

5:24

inches in diameter and gathering

5:26

it up into great slash piles, Travis

5:29

never tired of being up there on that mountain

5:32

ridge with the fresh air in

5:34

his lungs, wild horses

5:36

galloping through the trees all around them,

5:39

and that ancient forest stretching

5:41

out below, older

5:43

than the people whose name it took, older

5:46

even than God themselves. Hours

5:51

later, with darkness returning,

5:54

and so too that light chill in the air,

5:57

the men called it a day.

6:00

Gathering their tools, they slung

6:03

them into the back of Mike's truck before

6:05

piling in themselves, Travis

6:07

and Kenny up front with Mike, while

6:10

the others, all smokers, sat

6:12

in the back, gleefully lighting

6:14

up. Mike switched

6:16

on the engine, bathing the narrow

6:19

forest road ahead in the light of

6:21

the head lamps, and eased out

6:23

of the clearing. They'd

6:25

barely made it two hundred yards along the

6:28

rugged forest track when Alleyn

6:30

broke in from the back. Hey,

6:34

what is that, he said, pointing

6:36

toward a soft glowing light coming

6:38

from out of the trees to the right. Have

6:41

you guys never seen the moon? Mocked

6:44

Kenny, only

6:46

as the others were quick to point out the

6:48

moon was already sitting high in

6:51

the sky above on the other side

6:53

of the truck. The

6:55

soft white glow grew brighter

6:58

as they continued on, slowly edging

7:00

ever closer toward it,

7:03

now no more than a hundred yards

7:06

from its source. The light bled

7:08

out across the road before them,

7:10

but frustratingly, whatever it was

7:13

remained obscured by the trees until

7:15

eventually they reached a clearing and

7:18

they were finally able to see it, a

7:21

large disc like structure roughly

7:24

twenty feet wide and eight feet

7:26

high, hovering a good fifteen

7:28

feet above the ground. It

7:31

was so close they could even see

7:33

the detail on its surface, how

7:36

it was divided into a series of thin

7:38

panels with a thin, darker

7:40

band that seemed to circle all the way

7:42

around it, and how its

7:44

glow appeared to be coming from

7:46

inside. Before

7:49

Mike had even brought the truck to a stop,

7:52

the side door was opened and Travis

7:55

was gone, hurrying off toward it.

7:58

The others yelled for him to back, but

8:01

Travis just kept on going, edging

8:03

closer and closer toward it.

8:07

Then came a strange noise that

8:09

seemed to emanate from the craft, high

8:12

pitched at first, before steadily

8:15

shifting into something much lower,

8:17

like a vast turbine engine. When

8:21

suddenly a blinding blue light

8:23

shot out from the disk, holding

8:25

Travis in some kind of grip, with

8:28

his body now completely rigid. He

8:31

was slowly lifted a good foot into the

8:33

air and suspended there for a

8:35

moment before being flung hard

8:37

onto the ground, skidding shoulder

8:40

first into the stone and dirt, and

8:43

there he lay completely

8:45

still. That

8:48

was enough for Rogers, who, with four

8:50

kids of his own and the rest of

8:52

his crew to worry about, turned

8:54

the key and tore out of the clearing

8:56

as fast as the truck could go, And

9:00

then they were racing through the trees, bouncing

9:02

over the dirt track at speed as

9:05

Rogers did his best to keep the thing on the road,

9:07

with the rest of the crew screaming for him

9:09

to keep going faster and faster,

9:12

until it was just one bend too many,

9:15

With a huge pine tree looming up before

9:17

him, Rogers pulled hard on the wheel

9:20

and brought the truck slamming into a pile

9:22

of bulldoze dirt by the side of

9:24

the road. The

9:27

men looked frantically about for any

9:29

sign of the strange craft, but saw

9:31

nothing but the frigid dark and

9:34

the bright half moon above. And

9:36

for a moment there was silence,

9:40

and then all hell broke loose.

9:44

We've got to go back, yelled Kenny. No

9:46

way, said Steve, as tears

9:48

streamed down his face. We've

9:51

got to get out of here, Kenny's

9:54

right, said Mike, wiping his eyes

9:56

with the back of his hand. Only

9:59

then had it dawned on him that, without

10:02

even thinking, he'd abandoned his best

10:04

friend alone out there with that thing, whatever

10:07

it was. We're

10:09

going back, he said. Finally, you

10:11

can either come with me or you can wait

10:14

for me here. With

10:16

no one willing to take their chances in the forest

10:19

alone, they headed back to look

10:21

for Travis, but by the time

10:23

they got to where they'd last seen him,

10:25

he was gone. And

10:28

that, as he finished explaining

10:30

to an utterly perplexed Deputy Ellison,

10:33

was when they decided to call the police.

10:42

After hearing the men's story, Deputy

10:44

Ellison reluctantly relayed it back

10:47

to Sheriff Marlin Gillespie at

10:49

the Navajo County Sheriff's office in Holbrook,

10:52

another forty mile drive north of Haber.

10:55

Though Ellison was quick to clarify that

10:58

he didn't believe any of it, he had

11:00

little doubt the men had experienced

11:02

something traumatic. Less

11:05

than an hour later, Sheriff Gillespie

11:08

arrived with Deputy Kenneth Coplin

11:10

in tow and Mike's crew repeated

11:12

their extraordinary story for the second

11:15

time that night, but

11:17

Mike was getting impatient. They

11:19

needed to get back up there and search

11:21

for Travis. Kenny

11:24

and Allan were keen to join, but by

11:26

then Ball, John, Dwayne, and

11:28

Steve, who at seventeen was the

11:30

youngest of the group, wanted to do was

11:33

go home. Taking

11:35

Mike's truck, they headed back to his house

11:38

to let his wife know what had happened, while

11:40

the remaining three joined the sheriff

11:43

and his two deputies and headed

11:45

back toward Turkey Springs. It

11:49

took a while to find the exact spot again,

11:52

but soon the men were out in

11:54

the cold air, flashlights in

11:56

hand as they scoured the ground for

11:58

any sign of Travis. But

12:01

the men found nothing. No

12:03

scarred or broken trees other

12:06

than the ones the team had cut down, no

12:08

scuff marks in the dirt, no

12:11

sign of Travis's bootmarkings. Neither

12:14

did they find any pieces of clothing or

12:17

any blood for that matter. It

12:19

was almost as if no one had ever been there

12:22

at all. All

12:25

that was clear was that Travis

12:27

was gone. Sheriff

12:30

Gillespie ey'd Mike and his men

12:32

with suspicion Clearly

12:35

Travis hadn't been abducted by a UFO,

12:38

so what then exactly had taken

12:40

place and if he was still

12:42

alive out here as the men claimed

12:44

he might be. It was an awfully

12:47

cold night to only be wearing plaid

12:49

and denim.

12:51

Ellison notified more deputies

12:54

and members of a local volunteer organization

12:57

to join in the search, but

12:59

by midnight there was still no sign

13:01

of the missing man. Growing

13:05

increasingly desperate, rogers

13:07

suggested it was time they notified

13:09

Travis's mother. At

13:17

fifty seven years old, Mary

13:19

Kellett had raised Travis and his

13:22

five siblings on her own after

13:25

making a living running a boarding house in Phoenix.

13:28

By nineteen seventy five, she divided

13:30

her time between her home in Snowflake

13:33

and a cabin in Bare Springs, a

13:35

stretch of woodland a good ten miles

13:38

to the southeast of Haber. It

13:41

was funny, she thought, as she watched

13:43

Deputy Copland's car pulling up

13:45

outside the cabin. Just

13:48

earlier in the day, she'd been overcome

13:50

with the strange conviction that something

13:53

terrible had happened to her son, Travis,

13:56

when Mike stepped out of the vehicle whom

13:59

she knew well a good friend of Travis's.

14:02

Her worst fears were confirmed. Once

14:06

inside, Coplin watched as

14:08

a clearly distraught Rogers explained

14:11

to Mary about what they'd seen that evening

14:14

and how Travis had disappeared. It

14:17

was odd, thought Copland, how calm

14:20

Mary seemed to be in the face of such

14:22

unusual and disturbing news, almost

14:25

as if it wasn't news to her at all. About

14:29

an hour later, Coplin made his

14:32

goodbyes and headed back to Sheriff

14:34

Gillespie to report his findings. In

14:37

the meantime, Rogers drove Mary

14:40

in her car to her daughter Alison's

14:42

home in Taylor, a town just

14:44

south of Snowflake. Alison,

14:47

who lived with her husband Grant Nef,

14:50

was especially close to Travis and

14:52

was understandably devastated to hear the

14:54

news. Skeptical of

14:56

the story, however, she demanded

14:58

to hear again from Mike exactly

15:01

what had happened, but he could only

15:03

tell her what he knew. A

15:06

few hours later, unable to

15:08

wait any longer, Mary called

15:10

her son Dwayne at his home in Phoenix

15:13

to give him the worrying news. Though

15:16

Dwayne was Mary's second oldest son,

15:19

she'd always considered him the most mature,

15:22

and it was often to him that she first

15:24

turned in times of stress. Minutes

15:27

later, Dwayne jumped into his

15:29

car and started out on the two

15:31

hundred mile journey to Snowflake to

15:34

meet up with the others. Are

15:39

you always taking care of your family?

15:41

Do you often take care of others and not yourself?

15:44

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15:46

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15:49

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16:48

At eight am the morning after

16:50

Travis's disappearance, a number

16:52

of search teams assembled in Turkey Springs

16:55

to assist the Navajo County and Silver

16:57

Creek Sheriff's officers in their continued

17:00

search for the missing man. Among

17:03

them were a group of US Forest Service

17:06

personnel drafted in for

17:08

their knowledge of the local area. Mike

17:11

Rodgers, Kenny Peterson, and Alan

17:14

Dallas were back too to help with the

17:16

search. That

17:18

morning, the thirty or so search

17:20

team, starting from the point that

17:22

Travis was last seen, began the

17:25

laborious task of scouring the forest

17:27

for any sign of him, a search

17:29

that would eventually encompass a region

17:31

of roughly a mile squared. As

17:34

the forestry workers scoured the area for

17:37

any sign of unusually broken trees

17:39

or foot markings, it was hard

17:41

to ignore just how dry the whole area

17:44

was, with some of the dead brush

17:46

piles being almost a year old and

17:49

the floor carpeted in dry

17:51

pine needles. Though

17:53

no one gave it much credence if

17:55

some kind of craft had indeed lifted

17:57

off from around there, the whole place

18:00

would have gone up in flames elsewhere,

18:04

Sheriff Gillespie and Deputy Ellison

18:07

were looking for something a little different,

18:11

Trying to square the obvious distress

18:13

shown by Mike and his crew the previous

18:15

night with the ridiculous cock

18:17

and bull story they had given them. Gillespie

18:20

and Ellison had got to thinking could

18:23

it be whether it was premeditated

18:26

or the result of a tragic accident That

18:29

the men knew only too well where Travis

18:31

was, after all, because they

18:34

had buried his body. As

18:37

the two police kept one eye on

18:39

the men for any sign of suspicious

18:41

activity, their other was

18:43

kept firmly on the ground, looking

18:45

for any sign of recently disturbed earth

18:48

or fresh piles of dirt and

18:51

of course blood. Later

18:55

that afternoon, Mary and Dwayne

18:57

also joined the search, with May

19:00

seeming once again far too calm

19:02

for Deputy Copland's liking. By

19:06

the afternoon, however, the search

19:08

teams were yet to find anything. With

19:12

little else to go on, Sheriff Gillespie

19:14

suggested contacting the nearest firewatch

19:17

tower. Perhaps they had seen

19:19

something that night. At

19:21

the very least, it would end all the

19:23

ridiculous talk about UFOs.

19:27

Sadly, however, the guards stationed

19:30

at the tower only a few miles to

19:32

the west, had gone off duty

19:34

at five PM.

19:37

The search continued the next day,

19:39

this time with the help of search dogs

19:41

from Arizona State Prison, but

19:44

still no evidence of Travis's

19:46

whereabouts or any sign that

19:49

any unidentified flying object

19:51

had been in the vicinity was found.

20:00

On Saturday morning, Gillespie

20:02

was back in his office in Holbrook when

20:05

a kafuffle was heard in the reception

20:08

running through. He was startled to

20:10

find Dwayne and Mike Roger's demanding

20:12

to know why no one was up on the

20:15

ridge looking for Travis. The

20:17

pair had gone out to join the third day of

20:19

the search, only to find nobody

20:22

there. Having

20:24

begun to suspect that some kind of hoax

20:26

was being played out, Gillespie

20:29

was somewhat taken aback by the evident

20:31

concern and passion in Dwaine and Mike's

20:33

demand. Within an

20:35

hour, the search was reinstated,

20:38

with horses, jeeps, and a

20:40

rescue helicopter brought in for good

20:43

measure, having

20:45

flown in helicopters during his time

20:47

in the military. That afternoon,

20:49

Dwane joined the helicopter crew in

20:51

the air, peering down at the gaps

20:54

in between the trees for any sign

20:56

of his brother. He

20:58

couldn't decide whether to be worried or relieved

21:01

when by the end of the day they'd

21:04

once again failed to find anything. Back

21:08

in Snowflake, a Volkswagen

21:11

van pulled into the town square to

21:13

join the throng of news vans and other

21:15

unfamiliar vehicles that had been

21:17

steadily descending on the town. By

21:21

then, news of Travis's disappearance

21:23

and the unusual explanation behind it

21:26

had spread far and wide, with

21:28

many journalists and UFO enthusiasts

21:31

keen to investigate the wild story for

21:33

themselves. One

21:35

such enthusiast was Fred Sylvanus

21:38

from Phoenix, who for the past

21:40

twenty years had conducted field

21:42

research for the Arizona Regional

21:45

UFO Project. That

21:47

afternoon, Fred was put in

21:49

touch with Mike and Dwain, who

21:52

agreed to join him in his van for an interview.

21:56

Mike began with an account of the craft

21:58

they'd seen, how pretty it had been,

22:01

like a fancy new car, he said, and

22:03

how he'd been almost mesmerized by

22:05

just how beautiful a thing it was to

22:07

look at. Then

22:09

Dwain chimed in with something unexpected.

22:14

He had also seen one almost

22:16

identical to what might described in

22:19

Broad Daylight twelve years before.

22:22

Not only that he and Travis

22:25

had discussed UFOs at great length

22:27

and what they would do if they ever got

22:29

close to one, which

22:31

was what asked Fred, they

22:34

would try to establish contact with it.

22:36

Of course, came Dwaine's reply.

22:40

It was an alarming admission to Sylvanus,

22:43

since he was previously under the impression

22:45

that none of the men involved had any

22:47

prior interest in UFOs. In

22:50

his experienced opinion, evidence

22:53

of such interest was often a red

22:55

flag where stories of apparent sightings

22:57

and abductions were concerned. And

23:00

then came another troubling revelation,

23:04

this time from Mike. As

23:07

it turned out he and his crew

23:09

were wildly behind schedule on their

23:11

contract. Having already

23:14

received one extension, the crew

23:16

were struggling to meet their second deadline,

23:19

as Mike let slip to Sylvanus,

23:22

perhaps with all that had been going on, the

23:24

Forestry Service might be willing to offer

23:26

them a second extension. There

23:30

was just one final question, said Sylvanus,

23:33

before wrapping up. Where

23:36

did the pair think that Travis was now? Wherever

23:40

he is, said Dwayne. It is not

23:42

on this earth. Many

23:50

in the town had been uttering it among themselves,

23:53

but it was Snowflake Town Marshall

23:56

Sandford Flake who said it the loudest

23:58

that all this talk of UFOs

24:00

and Travis Walton being abducted was

24:03

complete rubbish.

24:06

Some put this down to an ongoing grudge

24:08

with Travis due to a disagreement

24:10

from a previous year, but either

24:12

way, Flake was determined to put

24:14

an end to the nonsense. Having

24:17

deduced that Travis had orchestrated the

24:19

whole thing in collaboration with his brother

24:22

Dwayne, using some kind of balloon

24:24

to fool his colleagues, Flake

24:27

became convinced that he was merely

24:29

hiding out at his mother's cabin in

24:31

bear Lake. In

24:33

the days since Travis's disappearance, Marshall

24:36

Flake made a number of unannounced visits

24:38

to Mary Kellett's cabin, hoping

24:41

to catch the family out,

24:43

one time, even bringing a documentary

24:45

crew with him from the United Kingdom,

24:49

but Mary could only tell him what she

24:51

had told everyone else, that she

24:53

had no idea where her son was. Such

24:57

rumors were becoming a struggle for the rest

24:59

of Mike's crew, who who couldn't

25:01

step outside their homes without being

25:03

harassed by reporters or neighbors

25:05

telling them to give up the hoax and tell

25:08

the truth about what happened. On

25:11

Monday morning, with Travis

25:13

now having been missing for five days,

25:16

Mike Rodgers, Kenny Peterson,

25:19

John Goulette, Steve Pierce,

25:21

Alan Dallas, and Dwayne Smith

25:24

received an ominous request to assemble

25:26

at Sheriff Gillespie's office in Holbrook.

25:30

The men arrived on the assumption that they

25:32

would be giving another statement about the events

25:34

of the previous Wednesday. What

25:37

they found was something a little

25:39

different. Greeting

25:41

them alongside Gillespie was

25:44

Arizona Department of Public Safety

25:46

employee Si Gilson.

25:49

Gilson also happened to be an

25:51

expert in polygraph testing, and

25:54

he was there to give them a lie detect

25:56

a test. Steve

25:58

Pierce went white at the sheer mention

26:01

of the device. It was just

26:03

as his mother had been telling him.

26:05

It didn't matter if he had anything to do with

26:07

Travis's disappearance. This

26:10

was how the law really worked. They

26:13

were going to try and pin something on him,

26:15

and one way or another, if

26:17

Steve wasn't careful, he would not

26:19

be leaving that station anytime

26:22

soon. Alan

26:24

Dallas also grew suddenly nervous,

26:27

a reaction not lost on Sheriff Gillespie,

26:32

as the Sheriff then explained to them,

26:34

since they had no evidence to back up any

26:36

of their claims, he'd been forced

26:39

to take drastic action. If

26:41

they couldn't find Travis, at the very

26:43

least, he could dismiss their ridiculous

26:45

story, and if they were telling

26:47

the truth, none of them had anything

26:50

to worry about anyway.

26:53

Having been observing the men closely since

26:55

they arrived, Gilson was quick

26:58

to pick out Steve, the younger and

27:00

clearly most anxious of the group, as

27:02

a possible weak link. If

27:05

they had indeed concocted the whole thing

27:07

up together, it was Steve, he

27:09

reasoned, that was most likely to

27:11

break Alone

27:19

in the interview room, Gilson took

27:21

a moment to calibrate the equipment, then

27:23

asked for Steve to be sent in. After

27:27

nervously taking a seat, Gilson

27:29

proceeded to connect Steve to the machine,

27:32

pulling the wires tightly across his

27:34

chest, before asking him

27:36

to sit up and try his best to

27:38

relax, And then,

27:41

after switching on the machine, Gilson

27:44

began, did

27:47

you cause Travis any serious

27:49

physical harm? Last Wednesday? Afternoon,

27:52

asked Gilson, as the graft paper

27:54

spoiled out endlessly under the needles.

27:58

No, said Steve, quickly, looking

28:00

anxiously towards the fragile arms

28:02

of the machine as they flickered lightly

28:04

across the page. Gilson

28:07

nodded to himself, then jotted

28:09

something down in his notebook. I'm

28:12

not lying, said Steve with quiet determination,

28:17

Ignoring him. Gilson continued,

28:21

do you know if Travis Walton was physically

28:23

injured by some other member of your work

28:25

crew last Wednesday? No,

28:28

said Steve emphatically. And

28:31

then do you know if Travis Walton's

28:33

body is buried or hidden somewhere

28:36

in the Turkey Springs area? No,

28:39

came Steve's emphatic reply. Again.

28:43

Then, finally, did

28:45

you tell the truth about actually seeing

28:47

a UFO last Wednesday

28:50

when Travis Walton disappeared? Steve

28:54

looked Gilson in the eye, and

28:56

then, after only a moment's

28:58

pause, yes,

29:00

he said. One

29:04

after the other, Mike's crew came

29:06

and gave their answers to the same set of questions,

29:09

taking about twenty minutes at a time as

29:12

they went over and over it again, all

29:15

giving the exact same answers as Steve

29:18

and not once deviating from their story.

29:22

No, they didn't harm Travis, nor

29:24

know of any one who did. And

29:26

yes they did see a UFO that

29:29

night. At

29:31

ten p m. That evening, the men

29:33

were sent home, after which

29:36

Gilson presented Gillespie with the

29:38

results. The sheriff

29:40

could only gorb in amazement. According

29:44

to Gilson, not one of the

29:46

men, with the exception of Allan

29:48

Dallas, whose results were deemed void,

29:51

could be determined to have lied about

29:53

their experience, or,

29:56

as Gilson understood it, going

29:58

by the results, the chances

30:00

that all five had cheated the test was

30:03

something in the region of one in

30:05

seventy eight thousand. As

30:08

Gillespie reported to the press soon after,

30:11

there's no doubt they're telling the truth right

30:14

down the line. I feel sure that

30:16

all six of them saw a UFO.

30:25

It was close to midnight on Monday when

30:27

the phone rang in Allison and Grant Neff's

30:30

home in Taylor. Having

30:32

just gone to bed, Grant roused

30:35

himself awake and stumbled to the

30:37

receiver nef

30:40

residence. Who's this, he muttered

30:42

wearily. Then

30:44

a scared and faint voice crackled

30:47

up from the other end of the line. It's

30:51

Travis. I'm in a phone

30:53

booth at the Heber gas station. I

30:55

need help. Please come

30:58

and get me. Grant

31:01

stood for a moment, trying to think. It

31:04

certainly didn't sound like Travis,

31:06

and since the family had been fielding crank

31:08

calls ever since his disappearance, it

31:11

seems reasonable to assume that this was

31:13

just another one. Don't

31:16

call here again, Grant said, But

31:19

just as he was about to hang up, the

31:22

voice came back, more desperate

31:24

this time. Wait,

31:26

Grant, it's me Please,

31:30

I'm hurt and I need your help. Please

31:34

come and get me. You've

31:41

been listening to Part one, Unexplains,

31:44

Season four, episode twenty. The

31:46

Homecoming. Part two

31:48

will be released next Friday, December

31:51

sixth Unexplained.

31:54

The book and audiobook, featuring

31:56

ten stories that have never before been covered

31:58

on the show, is now available to buy

32:01

worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon,

32:03

Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among

32:06

other bookstores. All elements

32:08

of Unexplained, including the show's music,

32:10

are produced by me Richard McClain smith.

32:13

Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you

32:15

listen to podcasts, and feel free

32:17

to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

32:19

regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps

32:22

you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

32:25

You can reach us online at Unexplained

32:27

podcast dot com, or Twitter

32:29

at Unexplained Pod and Facebook

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