UFO FYI: UFOs One Year at a Time: 1974

1974-Abduction at Medicine Bow National Park

(B J Booth- UFO Casebook and About Dot Com) This very interesting case took place in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming. On October 25, 1974, one Carl Higdon was elk hunting in the northern section of the park. As he shot his rifle at an elk nearby, a most bizarre thing happened. The bullet traveled in slow motion, as if he had entered another dimension. It fell some 50 feet away, dropping into the snow covered landscape. He was able to recover the bullet. He felt a strange sensation over his body. To his utter shock and amazement, he saw a humanoid entity standing nearby.

The humanoid was quite tall, at over six feet in height. He was clad in a black jump suit with a wide belt. The belt was decorated with a six-pointed star and emblem of yellow. With straight hair standing out from his head, he had no eyebrows. He stood bow-legged, with long arms ending with rod-like appendages instead of hands. The humanoid spoke to Higdon, asking him if he was hungry. The entity threw some pills to him, telling him if he took one, he would not have to eat for 4 days. Higdon normally did not take any type of pills, yet he swallowed one of the offerings immediately. It was surmised that the entity was smart enough to realize that Higdon may have been hungry, or else he would not have been hunting elk.

A Distant Planet: He then saw two more alien beings, and five elk that Higdon had been hunting earlier in the day. The elk showed no signs of life-they appeared to be frozen in their tracks. Higdon was told that the aliens had traveled the distance of 163,000 light years, arriving in a flash. Soon, the alien

pointed toward Higdon, and the next thing he knew, he was enclosed within a transparent apparatus, with a helmet on. Also present were two more humanoids, and the five elk he was previously stalking. The elk were in a frozen state. He was told that the aliens were traveling to their home planet, located some 163,000 light years away. In a flash, they arrived at the distant location.

Suddenly, all of them, including Higdon were at the alien planet. The planet looked very modernistic, with buildings that Higdon said looked like the Seattle Space Needle. The planet's sun was of great intensity, which hurt his eyes. The next thing the hunter knew, he was back in Medicine Bow Park.

Pickup Truck Relocated: Over two hours had passed since Higdon had first seen the alien. When he arrived back at his original location, he felt cold and disoriented. At first, he could not locate his pick-up truck, finally finding it three miles from its original location. It was stuck in the mud. He called for help on his CB radio. Soon, the local sheriff arrived, and could easily see that Higdon was in a state of hysteria, and was exhausted. He was shouting, "They took my elk!" He was taken for medical care to a local hospital. His blood work showed he had a highly elevated level of vitamins, probably from the pill he had taken. The most fascinating aspect of his tests was that tuberculosis scars on his lungs were now gone! Further investigation into the

details surrounding the bizarre encounter revealed that Higdon's wife, along with two other people, had seen a red-green-white flashing light moving in the area of the sighting.

The case was investigated by Dr. Leo Sprinkle, Professor of Psychology, University of Wyoming. Also included were Rick Kenyon, and Robert Nantkes, MUFON field investigators, and Frank Bourke, National Star Investigator.

The Real Thing? The case of Carl Higdon seems more like a script from a bad science fiction movie, and there is not really enough evidence to confirm such an incredible story. It is interesting, but belongs in the folklore category more than anywhere else.

Langenburg, Saskatchewan, Canada, September 1, 1974

Farmer Edwin Fuhr, 36, was harvesting his grape crop at about 11:00 a.m., when he noticed a metallic-appearing dome-shaped object about 50 feet away in a grassy area. Stopping to investigate, he left his swather and walked to within 15 feet of the object. Noting that the object was spinning and swirling the grass beneath it, he became frightened and backed away.

Climbing back on the swather, he looked around and saw four more domes arranged in a rough semi-circle, all identical and all spinning, hovering about a foot above the ground. Suddenly one object took off, quickly followed by the other four, ascending in a step formation. At about 200 feet they stopped, each emitting a puff of gray vapor from exhaust-like extensions at the base. The vapor extended about six feet, followed by a downward gust of wind which flattened the rape in the immediate area.

The objects then formed a straight line, hovered for a minute or two, then abruptly ascended into the low cloud cover and disappeared. Later Fuhr learned that cattle in a nearby field had bellowed and broken through a fence about the time of the sighting. Going to inspect the landing area, he found five rings of depressed grass swirled in a clockwise fashion. There was no evidence of heat or burning. Some additional circles were found in the area later that month. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Ron Morier, quoted by Canadian Press, said: "Something was there and I doubt it was a hoax. There's no indication anything had been wheeled in or out and Mr. Fuhr seemed genuinely scared."

(MUFON UFO Symposium Proceedings, Seguin, Texas, 1975, pp. 113-129; International UFO Reporter, Mar.-Apr. 1992, pp. 4-11, with sketches and tables; Flying Saucer Review, 20(3), 1974, pp. 32-33, with photo and sketches; Jerome Clark, UFO Encyclopedia, Detroit, Omnigraphics, Inc., 1998, 2nd Edition, Vol. 2, pp. 571-572.)