Burnt State
Paranormal Adept
Walton has been thoroughly debated on the forum in the past and in those discussions Randall got me to be a little more critical of his character, Walton's that is, and I've found myself tipping up and down on the scales of believability for this case. But that's the UFO narrative for me: on one hand an exceptional story with some odd corroborations, or none at all, but is there ever any definitive proof? Not really. Isn't it always the way that exceptional stories like Pascagoula, Michalak, The Hills, Andreasson, Cahill, Ruwa and Westall do not move past witness story mode? All of them are outlier cases. Nothing gets stranger than encountering the Alien Other. And that's the deal with cases Ufologists only whisper about after the bar's closed and the hotel room bar fridge gets opened, those heady CE4 cases, abductions and humanoids, up close, wild and interactive.
UFO's On the Storied Scales
So there are some things about the case that still bothers me:
1) If it was hoaxed how'd it get hoaxed? The best scenario i've heard is that Walton, brother & a third party have made the detailed plans: a balloon well timed to be let up in the air, lighting effects and large audio speakers for the turbine sounds or an actual machine - but would it be a generator, making a sound that all these guys would recognize? Doubt it. Not too sure about the whole lightning strike or how that was pulled off. And then Travis as trained athlete hits the springboard and just leaps into the air and splats on the ground ten feet away - talk about a man dedicated to the task of the hoax!
2) Is it even feasible that they were all in on it? There's certainly not enough money to share amongst the crew so somebody would've spilled the beans long ago for some minor fame or a quick buck. I wish I could remember which crew member it was I heard on that Canadian Paranormal Podcast from the Igloo that was going on about having been abducted himself by various species - it was a pretty ridiculous conversation. There's no real calculation or planning in that afterthought. But the officer that met the crew in the parking lot was thoroughly convinced by the tears for fears and general freaked outness by these guys about what they saw. So were they brilliant actors then?
3) Context of the witness stuff. Ok he already admitted to the whole bad cheque, bad decisions of greedy youth thing which kind of speaks to his credibility there, as would someone who gets caught doing that sort of petty crime have the capacity to plot out this masterful hoax? (see point 1) Now it could actually be a family plan, something generational passed on from a supposedly UFO obsessed father, or so the Internet says, down to his sons who have spent years planning this out. But remember what @nameless said about not trusting the F@€£ing Internet?! So none of that stuff could mean anything at all, but still...
4) Why not get hypnotized again? If you were missing five days and you only had recall for an hour or so tell me you're not going to find out what else went down while onboard in outerspace? Sometimes his answers to some questions leave me a little uncertain. And what was up with his whole 'I lost 5-10 lbs and gained it back in an hour' thing? And taking their scale to the doctor, was there a specifc point they wanted to prove?
5) Why'd his mom not freak out more about his abduction instead of her whole relaxed, 'that's just what aliens do' sort of casual response? Does this speak to the general family obsession around UFO's (see point 3) and why Travis ran out of the truck to go investigate in the first place? After all, who else runs pell mell towards the alien craft as opposed to away from it? You've gotta descend from a family of lovers of UFO lore to have that kind of get up and go. Didn't mom also pass a lie detector test, fwiw?
6) This is the first of two cases that introduce the little grey, bald alien to the masses, the other case something Walton would not have known about (see J. Clark's Extraordinary Encounters entry for Walton Abduction). Travis' case is kind of a startling case with witnesses, intense features, high drama and a start and finish to an abduction unlike any other abduction narrative. That tends to lend it more credibility than not. In fact I'm more inclined to dismiss all those other cases mentioned above as having nothing to do with aliens before I dismiss Walton. Funny how this case can make you change your mind now and then.
UFO's On the Storied Scales
So there are some things about the case that still bothers me:
1) If it was hoaxed how'd it get hoaxed? The best scenario i've heard is that Walton, brother & a third party have made the detailed plans: a balloon well timed to be let up in the air, lighting effects and large audio speakers for the turbine sounds or an actual machine - but would it be a generator, making a sound that all these guys would recognize? Doubt it. Not too sure about the whole lightning strike or how that was pulled off. And then Travis as trained athlete hits the springboard and just leaps into the air and splats on the ground ten feet away - talk about a man dedicated to the task of the hoax!
2) Is it even feasible that they were all in on it? There's certainly not enough money to share amongst the crew so somebody would've spilled the beans long ago for some minor fame or a quick buck. I wish I could remember which crew member it was I heard on that Canadian Paranormal Podcast from the Igloo that was going on about having been abducted himself by various species - it was a pretty ridiculous conversation. There's no real calculation or planning in that afterthought. But the officer that met the crew in the parking lot was thoroughly convinced by the tears for fears and general freaked outness by these guys about what they saw. So were they brilliant actors then?
3) Context of the witness stuff. Ok he already admitted to the whole bad cheque, bad decisions of greedy youth thing which kind of speaks to his credibility there, as would someone who gets caught doing that sort of petty crime have the capacity to plot out this masterful hoax? (see point 1) Now it could actually be a family plan, something generational passed on from a supposedly UFO obsessed father, or so the Internet says, down to his sons who have spent years planning this out. But remember what @nameless said about not trusting the F@€£ing Internet?! So none of that stuff could mean anything at all, but still...
4) Why not get hypnotized again? If you were missing five days and you only had recall for an hour or so tell me you're not going to find out what else went down while onboard in outerspace? Sometimes his answers to some questions leave me a little uncertain. And what was up with his whole 'I lost 5-10 lbs and gained it back in an hour' thing? And taking their scale to the doctor, was there a specifc point they wanted to prove?
5) Why'd his mom not freak out more about his abduction instead of her whole relaxed, 'that's just what aliens do' sort of casual response? Does this speak to the general family obsession around UFO's (see point 3) and why Travis ran out of the truck to go investigate in the first place? After all, who else runs pell mell towards the alien craft as opposed to away from it? You've gotta descend from a family of lovers of UFO lore to have that kind of get up and go. Didn't mom also pass a lie detector test, fwiw?
6) This is the first of two cases that introduce the little grey, bald alien to the masses, the other case something Walton would not have known about (see J. Clark's Extraordinary Encounters entry for Walton Abduction). Travis' case is kind of a startling case with witnesses, intense features, high drama and a start and finish to an abduction unlike any other abduction narrative. That tends to lend it more credibility than not. In fact I'm more inclined to dismiss all those other cases mentioned above as having nothing to do with aliens before I dismiss Walton. Funny how this case can make you change your mind now and then.
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