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[Music]

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a wyoming elk hunter takes a ride in a

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ufo

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by charles lear back in the days before

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aliens took on the form of the

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standardized gray model

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they came in all shapes and sizes

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ufologists called them humanoids and

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there was a wave of them in france in

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1954.

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in 1955 they started popping up in the

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united states and worldwide

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many ufologists who were trying to

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convince the scientific community

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that the mystery was worth studying

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tended to reject humanoid reports

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some such as coral and jim lorenzen of

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the aerial phenomena research

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organization

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kept an open mind as long as the

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humanoids didn't talk

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if a witness reported they had had a

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conversation and were taken to another

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planet

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that case was tossed into the contact d

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pile

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however there was a case in the 70s that

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made the lorenzens and a lot of other

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researchers

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rethink their position on october 25th

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1974 rollins wyoming resident carl

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higdon

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decided to take the day off from his job

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as foreman for an oil drilling crew

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one of his key men was sick with the flu

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and he didn't think anything would be

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accomplished that day

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it was the peak of elk hunting season

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and he had just bought a seven

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millimeter remington magnum rifle

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so he probably didn't have to think for

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too long about how he would be spending

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the day

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he loaded up his company's two-wheel

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drive pickup truck

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and headed for mccarty canyon in carbon

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county

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according to him he came to a fork in

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the road leading into the canyon

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and saw some fellow hunters having

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battery trouble with their truck

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he stopped to give them a charge and

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they started talking higdon told them he

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was headed into the canyon

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and they told him that the hunting was

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better in a remote section of medicine

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bow national forest

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he changed his plans and headed east the

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area they told him about was in the

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northern section of the forest 40 miles

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south of rollins

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he got there around 4 pm and was

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surprised to see a friend there

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gary eaton eaton told higdon that he was

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headed to higher ground and joked that

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he might scare some elk down for him

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they separated and after walking deep

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into the forest

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higdon spotted a small herd of elk he

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took aim at a three-point bull and fired

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he was braced for the gun's

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characteristically strong kickback but

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there was none there was no sound of

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firing and he recalled

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that it was as if the entire world had

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gone silent he watched the bullet leave

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his gun

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in slow motion travel for approximately

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50 feet

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and then fall to the ground he noted

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that the air felt like it was charged

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with static electricity

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he went and picked up the bullet which

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was mangled and missing its lead

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as he put the bullet in his canteen

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pouch he heard a branch snap

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he turned and saw what looked like a man

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but he quickly realized it was unlike

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any man he'd ever seen or heard of the

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creature was about six feet tall and

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bowlegged

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it had straw-like hair that stood

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straight out with two strands in front

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that looked like antennas

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it had no ears that he could see or

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eyebrows its face was yellow and went

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straight into its neck with no chin

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and it had a lipless mouth with three

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big teeth in the upper and lower jaw

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it was dressed in what looked like a

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black diving suit with cross straps over

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the chest

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and a belt with a yellow six-pointed

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star its right arm ended in a point

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and its left arm ended bluntly with no

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sort of appendage

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the creature asked how you doing in

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spite of his fear higdon managed to

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respond and said

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pretty good the creature asked if he was

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hungry higdon said

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yeah a little and the creature sent a

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package of cellophane-like material

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containing four pills floating through

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the air towards him

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the creature told him to swallow one and

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that it would satisfy his hunger for

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four days

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higdon did so without thinking he

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normally didn't take pills not even

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aspirin

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the creature introduced itself as also

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one and higdon caught sight of a

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transparent rectangular object

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about five feet tall seven feet long and

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four and a half feet wide

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also one asked do you want to come along

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higdon said

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yeah i guess and in an instant he found

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himself inside

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strapped to a chair the inside seemed

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impossibly spacious

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and he saw five elk in there with them

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that appeared to be paralyzed

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another being appeared in the two

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creatures put a helmet on higdon's head

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that had wires sticking out in all

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directions soon he saw a sphere below

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they landed on what he assumed was their

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planet and also one told him

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they were 163 000 light

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miles from earth higdon saw a structure

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that reminded him of the space needle in

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seattle

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there were revolving multi-colored

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lights all around it

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that were so bright they burned his eyes

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he shouted at them to shut them off

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and one of the creatures told him your

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son burns us too

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he was taken inside the structure and a

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clear screen was put in front of him

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also one was behind the screen as if he

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was using it to examine him

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he then told higdon that they were going

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to take him back because he

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didn't suit their purpose he was

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suddenly back in the ship

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with no idea how he got there also one

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was admiring his rifle

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and handed it back wistfully saying he

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was not allowed to keep his primitive

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weapon

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he took back the pills telling higdon he

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would no longer need them and that was

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higdon's last memory before finding

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himself back on earth

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he saw his truck which was now about

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three miles away from where he had

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parked it higdon realized he was

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floating over the ground

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and also one said we'll see you the

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object left and higdon dropped onto a

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ledge

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slipped on a loose rock and fell about

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10 feet hurting his head and shoulder

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totally disoriented he struggled along a

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dirt road and then returned to the truck

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for shelter without realizing it was his

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he had no idea who he was or where he

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was at around 6

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30 pm he heard a voice over the cb radio

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it was a woman from the company office

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in riverton talking to someone else

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and he cut in and asked for help roy

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fleming was put on

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he asked higdon where he was and higdon

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told him that he saw a sign that said

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north boundary lincoln forest a search

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party was organized that consisted of

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carbon county sheriff charles augburn

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deputy sheriff ed tierney and some

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experienced hunters

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in several four-wheel drive vehicles

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they struggled on primitive muddy roads

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to get to higdon

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when they finally found the truck at

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around 11 30 pm

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they had no idea how he could have

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gotten there the truck was fender deep

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in mud and there were no tracks leading

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to it

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it had to be towed out higdon was taken

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to carbon county hospital in rollins

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and was examined by dr russ tonko higdon

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had amnesia

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and red constantly watering eyes he

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complained about the lights and they

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were turned off

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he was kept in the hospital until he

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eventually recovered his memories

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strangely the scars on his lungs from a

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bout of tuberculosis had disappeared

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his kidney stones were gone and his

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blood was especially nutrient rich

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once he was home higdon got a call from

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sue taylor a reporter at the rollins

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daily times

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he told her his story with a full

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awareness of how bizarre it sounded

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it was published in the october 29 1974

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edition of the paper

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rick kenyon a rollins public school art

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teacher

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interviewed higdon and made drawings

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based on his description of also one

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kenyan put him in touch with dr leo

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sprinkle a psychologist and a consultant

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for apro

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who would later work on the travis

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walton case sprinkle hypnotized higdon

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and more details came out

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including seeing other humans in the

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building he was taken into

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the important thing to note is that all

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of higdon's recollections above

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other than the examination and his

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falling off the ledge

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were conscious memories while in a

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non-hypnotic state

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higdon's wife marjorie had found the

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bullet and for reasons she was unsure of

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had a professional photographer take

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pictures of it it was later examined by

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an apro consultant dr walter walker

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it was turned inside out which would

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have taken tremendous force as a seven

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millimeter bullet can normally penetrate

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a telephone pole with ease

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higdon's story has been told worldwide

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and was featured in an episode of

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in search of the lorenzens thought

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enough of it to make it the front page

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story in the march 1975

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apro bulletin sprinkles submitted a

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report to the national investigations

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committee on aerial phenomena

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it was addressed to linda kiefer the

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editor of nycap's publication

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the ufo investigator kiefer chose not to

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print the story and nycap had a long

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history of rejecting such cases

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there is an editor's response in the

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november 1974

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edition addressing complaints that the

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ufo investigator

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does not print enough contact d cases

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and is not printing

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sensational reports she explained that

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researchers had struggled over the years

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to remove the image of little green men

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with antennae

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apparently it didn't matter that

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higdon's men were six feet tall and

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yellow

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special thanks to david marler for

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providing the center for ufo studies