One of the largest UFO archives in the world has been hidden away in Arizona, USA for decades with many UFO researchers fearing that they may have been ‘lost’ forever.  Thousands of files were contained in the archive of one of the early pioneering UFO groups APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organisation). Numerous UFO researchers have tried to gain access to these files, myself included, but all to no avail.  Some have labelled this files as the ‘Holy Grail’ of civilian UFO files.

One of the best UFO archives from the USA apart from the NICAP and CUFOS files is the one put together by APRO. Of that there is no doubt. APRO was founded in 1952 by husband-and-wife Jim and Coral Lorenzen. The Lorenzon’s authored several books and added overseas material to their archive.

Jim and Coral Lorenzon

For years, the archive grew larger and larger and contained witness reports photographs, as well as original correspondence from ufologists around the world. The archives were located in Tucson, Arizona, where the Lorenzen’s lived for many years. After the Lorenzen’s passed away and with ufological politics playing a part (I’ll not bore you with the details) the APRO files ended up being looked after by Tina Choate and Brian Myers.

It was estimated that the  APRO archive contained 15,000 files plus boxes of other material but nobody knew for sure.

Since 2018 I have been working with my colleague Dr Irena Scott in the USA on the 1973 Pascagoula alien encounter involving Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, both of whom are now deceased. Literally just two days after their encounter on October 11th 1973 two scientists arrived in town to help investigate the claims made by Hickson and Parker. These were Dr James Harder and Dr J Allen Hynek. For those who wish to know the full story of this case you can find it all in our book ‘BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT – the Pascagoula Alien Encounter’.

Dr Harder had been sent to investigate this case by none other than APRO as he was one of their consultants. Dr Hynek was asked to assist journalist Ralph Blum who had been given the go ahead by NBC to travel to Pascagoula to see if he could obtain an interview with Parker and Hickson for a planned UFO documentary.

Down the years Dr Scott and I have searched for any and all information we could obtain on this case but we had uncovered very little data relating to Dr Harder and Dr Hynek and the ‘lost’ APRO files. That was all about to change when David Marler, the Executive Director of the National UFO Historical Records Center (www.nufohrc.org) issued a press release on November 28th, 2023 stating that he had now acquired the APRO files which had been donated by Byan Myers. David Marler’s press release detailed that these files were now in his possession and they were over a dozen filing cabinets full of files plus boxes of other items including audio tapes and film.

Bryan Myers (left) with David Marler with some of the APRO files behind them. Photo courtesy David Marler.

Surely now we might have access to these files and uncover what Dr Harder made of the case as he was sent down there by APRO. I know David Marler very well and David knew of our work on the Pascagoula case. In fact I had sent him a copy of our book ‘BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT’ as a donation to the archive.

It was much to my surprise and delight that I received a message from David Marler on Thursday December 28th (2023) asking the following:

“Do you have any of Harder’s regressive hypnosis tapes related to Pascagoula? I just found one in the APRO audio tapes. I’m listening to Calvin under hypnosis. Yes. I’m on with it now. But there are references to the event occurring just days before. Also, there is recorded discussion between Hynek and Fred Diamond.”

I replied immediately that I did not have this material and could I have a copy please. David, being the gent and genuine UFO researcher that he is digitized these audio cassettes for me and they are now with me and Dr Irena Scott.

David Marler with the tapes from the APRO files (courtesy David Marler)

A colleague has tried to boost the sound quality but some parts of them are simply degraded beyond repair.

There are five separate audio sequences. They are:

1.Dr James Harder hypnotic regression on 10-14-73 (October 14th, 1973) of Calvin Parker re Pascagoula MS UFO incident on 10-11-73.

2. Dr James Harder interviewed in wake of Pascagoula MS incident on10-11-73.

3. Pascagoula MS 10-11-73 incident interview with Hickson and Parker by Sheriff Fred Diamond.

4. Sheriff Fred Diamond Interviewed by Dr. J Allen Hynek re the Pascagoula Incident on 10-11-73.

5. Sheriff Fred Diamond plays secret recording of Calvin and Parker to Hynek re the Pascagoula Incident on 10-11-73.

In fact, recordings 4 and 5 are all one tape.

At my request David Marler took a couple of photos of the original tapes including one of himself holding them. These photos and all of these audio files remain copyright David Marler/NUFOHRC.

The Pascagoula tapes from the APRO Files (courtesy David Marler)

As far as I am concerned the discovery of the audio files is part of ufological history and are of course historically significant so far as the Pascagoula case goes. They provide a unique snapshot of the discussions and interviews that took place in the days just following the Parker-Hickson abduction.

Amazingly there is even the aborted attempt to put Calvin Parker under hypnosis by Dr Harder on October 14th, 1973.

I have now transcribed all of these audio files and to publish them all in full will happen at some time in the future but what I wanted to do is to give you an idea of what is on some of these recordings. Before I go any further I would like to thank David Marler for first of all sending us the recordings but also for allowing us to publish them.

The first recording is Calvin Parker under hypnosis with Dr James Harder on October 14th, 1973. The ‘doctor’ in the following transcript is of course Dr James Harder:

Calvin Parker in 1973

Calvin: “Well…..I…..was…..scared. I don’t know…scared.”

Doctor: “Of course.”

Calvin: “Three of them came.”

Doctor: “Three of them got you?”

Calvin: "No, no, it was two of them.”

Doctor: “Did you get a good picture of what they looked like?”

Calvin: “Hands….hands….They had crab hands their faces were justa’…like ghosts.”

Doctor: (inaudible)

Calvin: “No, no, like (a) ghost.”

Doctor: “Like a ghost?”

Calvin: “Yeah.”

Doctor: “You see what their eyes are like?”

Calvin: “No, no.”

Doctor: “See if they had a mouth?”

Calvin: “No, didn’t notice.”

Doctor: “You see if they had any ears?”

Calvin: “No, didn’t notice.”

Doctor: “A nose?”

Calvin: “I didn’t notice.”

Doctor: “You didn’t notice.”

Calvin: “No, no.”

Doctor: “There are two of them, they gotten hold of Charlie?”

Calvin: “Yeah.”

Doctor: “What are (they) doing to Charlie?”

Calvin: “They are taking him…the ship.”

Doctor: “Is he horizontal or vertical...standing?”

Calvin: “He’s standing…yes standing…he’s floating.”

Doctor: “Is his feet on the ground?”

Calvin: “Yes.”

Doctor: “Are they ahead of him or behind?”

Calvin: “Beside him.”

Doctor: “What happens when they get inside the ship, did you see that?”

Calvin: “They go in, Another one come back to get me. I’m right behind. don’t know.” (inaudible).

Calvin: “I don’t know…on the ship…put me out...floating there.”

Doctor: “Floating…out of the ship?”

Calvin: “Yes sir.”

Doctor: “You feel yourself floating out of the ship?”

Calvin: “Oh well…floating out.” (inaudible)..I’m froze. (indistinct)

Doctor: (inaudible)

Calvin: “Noise….”

Doctor: “What is the noise?”

Calvin: “The noise, is a steady hum.”

Doctor: “A steady hum?”

Calvin: “Ship (is) gone.”

Doctor: “It’s gone?”

Calvin: “It’s gone.”

Calvin: “I don’t know…My God, my  God son….ship is gone.”

Doctor: (Inaudible)

Calvin: “It disappeared…they keep coming into my mind. The creatures. ”

Doctor: “What’s coming back?”

Calvin: “The creatures coming back in my mind. Their hands…”

Doctor: “What happened?”

Calvin: “They keep coming back in my…..”

Doctor: “What color where they?”

Calvin: “Pale…”

Doctor: “How many claws (did) you see?”

Calvin: “No, like crabs.”

Doctor: “How many (did) you see, two or three?"

Calvin: “Two.”

Doctor: “Was one larger than the other?”

Calvin: “No.”

It wasn’t long after this that the hypnosis session was brought to an end.  I think it’s fare to say that you can read the tension and fear in Calvin Parker’s voice and although he was talking quietly on the tape you could hear the fear in his voice especially when he said the creatures looked like a ghost. I know there are those that do not consider regressive hypnosis as a useful investigative tool and those that do. All I am doing here is providing this information so that you can reach your own conclusions. This recording was the only hypnosis tape out of the five recordings.

The next recording is Dr James Harder being interviewed in the wake of the Pascagoula case. There is no date on this recording and again I have simply chosen a few parts of the transcript as to publish it all is just not practical at the moment. Dr James Harder (JH) :

Dr James Harder

JH (00.40: I believe everyone who talked to those two men are convinced that they had a real experience, that it was not an hallucination, nor were they drunk. And that as bizarre and as impossible as the story seemed to be that it has to be believed that particularly I had both of the men under hypnosis. And of course, hypnosis is no royal road to the true because a person can indeed continue telling a lie under hypnosis if he's determined to. But it's almost impossible for them to have faked the intense emotional and terror like involvement they had under hypnosis, as they are regressed back through the experience (01.29). 

(01.34) JH: Well, they seem to have been well, I don't say it seem they definitely were abducted by three things they described as objects that floated out of a larger object. Now the three things they termed objects, other people call them spacemen. I think there's some question about whether they actually were sentient beings. They may have been robots, but they had appendages that had had pincers at the end of them in which they used to grasp the two men by the shoulder and floated them as the two men described it back on board this spacecraft (02.10) .

11.25)  Doctor Hynek has described it as a UFO report as an incredible tale told by a credible witness, and I think that describes it fairly well (11.34).

(12.56) JH: While they did not use the term creatures themselves, that was a newspaper report. They used the word that there were three objects that floated out of this larger object, and these three objects had appendages that looked like arms and they had pincers at the end of the arms. Now that they could be interpreted as creatures, is not so certain. It could have been three smaller machines, or robots, perhaps of that sort (13.25).

The first part of the tape does not have the questions being put to Dr Harder on it, only his reply. However, the second half of the tape does have the questions but there is no name associated with anyone asking them (Q) and (JH):

(27.34) Q: Did they? Did they have any idea how long they were aboard the craft and in terms of time when they were released.

JH: They didn't have a very good idea, but it wasn't hours and it was not a very long period of time. But they didn't. They couldn't say when it was five, ten twenty of thirty minutes. Something on that order 27.52).

Dr Harder clearly supports Parker and Hickson plus the use of hypnosis. There is discussion here of what the ‘creatures’ might have been including the idea of them being ‘robots’. Dr Harder also confirms that the whole encounter took no longer than thirty minutes.

The next recording is Charles Hickson being interviewed by Sheriff Fred Diamond and his Deputy Glenn Ryder at the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department literally just a few hours after the encounter took place. A truly historic recording from which I have taken the following (FD/GR is Fred Diamond and Glenn Ryder, CH is Charles Hickson):

Charles Hickson in 1973

(00.00) CH: “Even though I'll be the laughing stock of the country, I'll tell what I seen, and the experience I've had...”

FD/GR: “What did you say your name was?”

CH: “Charles Hickson. H-i-c-k-s-o-n. Even though they laugh me out of Jackson County, I'll do what I know is right. That's all I can do. And I don't expect anybody to believe it. It's just unbelievable. (00.46)”

There was a weight in Charlie's voice. As though he was having to push the words up, heave them out.

(00.47) FD/GR: “We just have to know what happened. What happened to y'all from the very beginning (01.01).”

(04.00) FD/GR: “Was there a noise to it?”

CH: “A little buzzin' sound-nnnnnnnn, nnnnnnnn-just like that, that's all. Wasn't any back blast or anything. And you think you dreamin' about something like that, you know. And I started to hit the river, man. And Calvin just…he went hysterical. (04.21)”

04.32) CH: “So we was right on the river. It didn't hit the ground. It hovered. And all of a sudden-right in the end of it-this opening was laid up there, and three of them just floated out of the thing. They wasn't on no ground.(04.59)”

(05.53) FD/GR: “Then what happened? They walk on up to you?”

CH: “They just-no, they just glided up there to me. Then one of 'em made a little buzzin' noise, and two of 'em never made no noise.”

FD/GR: “What kind of noise?”

CH: “Just ZZZZZZ zzzZzZZZ.(06.08)”

(07.00) CH: “He just passed out on me. And they glided me into that thing. You know, how you just guide somebody. All of us moved like we were floatin' through air. When I got in there, they had me, you know, they just kind of had me there. There were no seats, no chair, they just moved me around. I couldn't resist them, I just floated-felt no sensation, no pain. They kept me in that position a little while, then they'd raise me back up.”

FD/GR: “You said they had some kind of instrument on you, didn't you?”

CH: “Some kind of instrument I don't know what it was. I didn't see anything that I could call an instrument that I've ever seen before.”

FD/GR: “What did it look like? Could you describe it?”

CH: “I just couldn't describe it.”

FD/GR: “Was it like an X-ray machine?”

CH: “No, it wasn't like no X-ray machine. There ain't no way to describe it. It looked like an eye. Like a big eye. It had some kind of an attachment to it. It moved. It looked like a big eye. And it went all over my body. Up and down. And then they left me.”

FD/GR: “They left you inside the machine?”

CH: “Left me right by myself. And the position they had me in-I couldn't move. Just my eyes could move. And I don't know how long they left me. I don't even know if I stayed conscious, but I think I did. And then they came back(09.05).”

Here we have Charles Hickson telling the story despite him knowing that he might well become a complete laughingstock. This statement was made to the Sheriff and his Deputies and was before any hypnosis took place. There is no other abduction case like this so far as I’m concerned and this is truly historic and vastly important recording.

The final two recordings are Sheriff Fred Diamond (FD) being interviewed by Dr J.Allen Hynek (JAH). There is also a third person on the recording with an English accent but we do not know his name (EM). After the interview Sheriff Fred Diamond plays Dr Hynek the so-called ‘secret tape’.

Sheriff Fred Diamond

(03.15) EM: Just, just for a bit of general colour material. What is the area like where these men were sitting and what the area like where they saw the?

FD: It's on the banks of the, the Pascagoula River. What we call the East River.

JAH: Let's go up and. Take a look at.

FD: Yeah, yeah. Alright this. It's an old steel fishing wharf that doesn’t extend I'd say maybe 7-8 feet out from the bank. And about 20 feet from that right behind you is an open place. There's no grass or anything growing.

EM: Just bare earth kinda like clay.

ED: That’s right, just bare clay. And from all indications from what they tell us, to cease to. They haven't been back, they said they're not going back to the area. But this craft came down within 20 or 30 feet behind them they said (04.07).

(06.03) JAH: What do? Did they use the word objects rather than men?.

FD: Well, that's what they told us. They, they just three objects they didn't want, which you could put people on, you know.

JAH: : Well, that opens the interesting point is. Because I've just might have been robots.

FD: Right. He said after they, they touched him. He said they didn't feel any sensation about him whatsoever, said they never harmed him, said they never felt anything other than they were just plum, weightless, that they did just that back into the spaceship on the craft. And that's when the young boy, Calvin, I believe it is, that's when he passed completely out. And of course the, the older man he said it seemed like everything was in a daze. He said it looked kinda of like a ghost like. He said the inside of the craft was about 8 foot. Inside of it, he said the, he couldn't tell what it was any lights in it or not, but said it to him, it looked like it was well. So it was pretty bright in there, but he couldn’t see any light bulbs or anything.

JAH: The expression, who said ghost-like?

FD: This, the older gentleman Mr. Charles Hickson. He was the one that, that didn't pass out completely. Hickson also stated that the, they laid him down in the. Well, first, he said it wasn't in a chair of anything in there. There was just a blank room. Said it was light in there, but he couldn't see any lights in the ceiling  or on the walls. He couldn't see any kind of instruments. They also said they had a kind of a, a light grey skin. We asked him about the clothing, of course we. (indistinct).

JAH: No, no clothes, but (08.25).

After this interview Sheriff Fred Diamond plays Dr Hynek the so-called ‘secret tape’. This tape was made in the Sheriff’s department. Parker and Hickson were left alone in a room with a desk next to them. In that desk a tape was running. It was hoped that Parker and Hickson would be recorded secretly saying how they had fooled law enforcement etc. However, when the Deputy retrieved the tape with Parker and Hickson not knowing about it and played it back, there was no sign of any hoaxing, quite the opposite in fact. The secret tape:

Dr J Allen Hynek

(00.00)  Charlie's voice was shaky as he said to Calvin: "I can't take much more of that" And Calvin sounded frantic.

CALVIN: “I got to get home and get to bed or get some nerve pills or see the doctor or something. I can't stand it. I'm about to go half crazy.”

CHARLIE: “I tell you, when we through, I'll get you something to settle you down so you can get some damn sleep.”

CALVIN: “I can't sleep yet like it is. I'm just damn near crazy.(00.42)”

(00.55) His voice rising, Calvin said, "My damn arms, my arms, I remember they just froze up and I couldn't move. Just like I stepped on a damn rattlesnake.(01.02)"

(01.26) CALVIN: “I don't want to keep sittin' here. I want to see a doctor”

CHARLIE: “They better wake up and start believin'... they better start believin'.(01.30)”

(01.59) CALVIN: “I paralyzed right then. I couldn't move.”

CHARLIE: “They won't believe it. They gonna believe it one of these days. Might be too late. I knew all along they was people from other worlds up there. I knew all along. I never thought it would happen to me(02.19).”

It is plain to see the traumatic state that Calvin Parker was in and just a few weeks later he would be admitted to hospital with a breakdown. Charles Hickson is adamant that the authorities better start believing. Once again, this is  another very significant piece of evidence. Both men are secretly taped in the hope that they would be caught hoaxing but nothing could be further from the truth. Calvin is crawling up the walls and is almost begging to see a doctor.

It goes without saying that these recordings are a huge find and are a significant part of the history of the 1973 Pascagoula alien abduction account and to the wider study of such experiences.  We knew of the ‘secret tape’ before but the rest of these recordings were previously unknown to us.  I cannot thank David Marler enough for his cooperation with this and for proving up with copies of this truly fascinating material.  Since the acquisition of the APRO files back in November 2023 David Marler has had a look through the paper files and sadly there is no file on the Pascagoula case.

We had hoped that Dr Harder would have provided APRO with a written case report and maybe make a copy for Dr Hynek as well. If he did we haven’t found it, yet.

REQUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dr Scott and I know that there are others out there that have more information on this case. With the greatest of respect all we ask is that whatever you might have, no matter how insignificant you might think it is, to please share it with us. We are looking for anything: newspaper cuttings, photos, correspondence, ephemera and so on.

OTHER WITNESSES:

Over the last five years we have literally interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses to the UFO events back in 1973. Most of these witnesses were perfectly willing to allow us to use their real names. There were a few that were not happy with this so we simply used a false name instead. No problem. We are confident that there are still other witnesses out there that have yet to go on the record. What we would like to ask is for you to contact us and allow Dr Scott and I to document your sighting. We can do this in complete confidence if so required.

CONTACT:

If you would like to contact us regarding any of the above I can be contacted on face via private message or directly on email:

https://www.facebook.com/philip.mantle.9

Email: [email protected]

Out now on Amazon.