Travis Walton

[Ron Collins]

So, I am not sure what to think of the Travis Walton story as he tells it on his site. How does this compare with other credible stories?

 

[Siani]

I'm also undecided re: Travis Walton. It could be a bona fide abduction, complete with witnesses, or it could just be an elaborate hoax. Did anyone other than Walton and his work colleagues report anything anomalous in the area at the time? If so, did they report it before knowing about the alleged abduction? Something like that would lend some credence to the whole story for me. Otherwise, I remain interested in the story, but also, somewhat sceptical or cautious.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

I'm also undecided re: Travis Walton. It could be a bona fide abduction, complete with witnesses, or it could just be an elaborate hoax. Did anyone other than Walton and his work colleagues report anything anomalous in the area at the time? If so, did they report it before knowing about the alleged abduction? Something like that would lend some credence to the whole story for me. Otherwise, I remain interested in the story, but also, somewhat sceptical or cautious.

Some outsiders have been reported to have come forward. I heard this from Travis' mouth though and haven't confirmed it to my satisfaction.

I recall some interesting tree anomalies being reported in the area of his "abduction".

The Travis case is better than most cases. Only a few possible dents in it.

 

[TerraX]

Having read the story of Travis Walton in various books I was quite surprised to see a somewhat different account in the movie 'Fire In The Sky'. I guess that's Hollywood for you but nonetheless Walton could have taken steps. Anyone know why there's such a difference?
In my book the Walton case is one of the best out there. Many witnesses who claim the same thing, who took lie detector tests. Think 4 passed, 1 failed (second test he passed if my memory serves me right).

 

[Aaron LeClair]

Having read the story of Travis Walton in various books I was quite surprised to see a somewhat different account in the movie 'Fire In The Sky'. I guess that's Hollywood for you but nonetheless Walton could have taken steps. Anyone know why there's such a difference?
In my book the Walton case is one of the best out there. Many witnesses who claim the same thing, who took lie detector tests. Think 4 passed, 1 failed (second test he passed if my memory serves me right).

5 past initially I think, though Travis failed the first time due to getting angry. One person's was inconclusive. Some say due to shock, others say the test got interrupted or canceled due to other legal matters.

Travis says the reason for the difference was due to the director (i think it was the director at least) saying everyone is sick of greys. He wanted something different. Travis wasn't pleased with the movie.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=travis+walton&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Flatwoods]

The Travis Walton story is one of my favorite abduction cases, because it's so hard to explain away. That being said, I've come up with my own hypothesis:

Travis Walton and his friends witnessed a hovering disk of plasma that was caused by a localized electrostatic discharge. This sometimes happens when rainwater percolates downward through crystal formations within the bedrock. Anyway, unfortunate Travis walked into the plasma field and received a massive electrocution, which knocked him unconscious and terrified is associates. The electroshock may have induced hallucinations as well. After a few days, Travis awoke confused, scared, and barely able to recollect what had happened aside from a few, assorted hallucinations. His unconscious mind fabricated the rest.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

The Travis Walton story is one of my favorite abduction cases, because it's so hard to explain away. That being said, I've come up with my own hypothesis:

Travis Walton and his friends witnessed a hovering disk of plasma that was caused by a localized electrostatic discharge. This sometimes happens when rainwater percolates downward through crystal formations within the bedrock. Anyway, unfortunate Travis walked into the plasma field and received a massive electrocution, which knocked him unconscious and terrified is associates. The electroshock may have induced hallucinations as well. After a few days, Travis awoke confused, scared, and barely able to recollect what had happened aside from a few, assorted hallucinations. His unconscious mind fabricated the rest.

My "hypothesis" is he and others are lying, or he got fukin abducted by some things that we might as well call alien. I have a little less evidence for that than you and your plasma frisbee thingy though.

 

[Flatwoods]

I should say that my hypothesis is really just an idea; I've got no scientific data to back it up. To prove any of it, I would need to find a way to generate such a plasma field in the woods(maybe with a giant electrical coil or something), then convince a slightly buzzed lumberjack to walk over and touch it on a dare. I'll put in a request to Mythbusters.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

I should say that my hypothesis is really just an idea; I've got no scientific data to back it up. To prove any of it, I would need to find a way to generate such a plasma field in the woods(maybe with a giant electrical coil or something), then convince a slightly buzzed lumberjack to walk over and touch it on a dare. I'll put in a request to Mythbusters.

Tough to bust. Mythbusters are cool though.

Prob is, the witnesses saw a craft. Not just lights. And Travis was gone for days. He coulda been hidin out at his mommas, but who knows.

 

[fitzbew88]

I should say that my hypothesis is really just an idea; I've got no scientific data to back it up. To prove any of it, I would need to find a way to generate such a plasma field in the woods(maybe with a giant electrical coil or something), then convince a slightly buzzed lumberjack to walk over and touch it on a dare. I'll put in a request to Mythbusters.

Don't worry yet about "proving" that the Walton event was a natural phenomena.

Instead, try to determine if your theory has "legs".

- Is there a sound reason to believe that "...hovering disk of plasma ...caused by a localized electrostatic discharge..[due to] rainwater percolat[ing] downward through crystal formations within the bedrock..." really do occur in nature? Or is this phenomena also just theoretical?

And if such plasmas really do occurr, could one be big enough to account for the witness descriptions?

And could the plasma stay extant long enough to account for the sighting?

Does the geology in the area support the theory?

- Is "electroshock" [electrocution] known to ever induce temporary amnesia? And keep Walton in a state that he could still find water but otherwise be oblivious for days? He definitely left the site of the event, and "escaped" folks that were searching for him in the area.

- Walton spent some time in medical care after the event. Should an entry point for such a discharge been visible? As far as I can remember, he was evaluated as merely slightly dehydrated.

I think it is wise to consider possible natural phenomena as a cause of this event. Although I don't think we could ever prove "electroshock" at this late date, we could possibly rule it out. That would be helpful.

We just have to be careful to make sure our "normal" explanation does not get more bizarre than our "paranormal" explanation (unknown intelligence).

 

[Flatwoods]

- Is there a sound reason to believe that "...hovering disk of plasma ...caused by a localized electrostatic discharge..[due to] rainwater percolat[ing] downward through crystal formations within the bedrock..." really do occur in nature? Or is this phenomena also just theoretical?

Well, it took a little bit of backtracking on the internet, but the answer to your question is yes! There is some similar research going on with regard to the famous "Brown Mountain Lights", some of which is being done by a guy named Joshua Warren and the L.E.M.U.R. project. Here's a couple of links for more info.

[FONT=&quot]http://shadowboxent.brinkster.net/brownplasma.html[/FONT]

http://www.joshuapwarren.com/


So as far as my theory having "legs", here are pair of feet, at the least.

 

[fitzbew88]

Well, it took a little bit of backtracking on the internet, but the answer to your question is yes! There is some similar research going on with regard to the famous "Brown Mountain Lights", some of which is being done by a guy named Joshua Warren and the L.E.M.U.R. project. Here's a couple of links for more info.

[FONT=&quot]http://shadowboxent.brinkster.net/brownplasma.html[/FONT]

So as far as my theory having "legs", here are pair of feet, at the least.

Thanks.

The presented article proposes a hypothesis that naturally occurring plasmas explain the Brown Mountain Lights. The author claims to have created plasmas in the lab. The author predicts atmospheric conditions that would create such plasmas that appear to be consistent with his team's own observations of the Brown Mountain Lights.

It's really good stuff, and I enjoyed reading it. I presume it's time for professional atmospheric physicists to take up the gauntlet as far as the Brown Mountain Lights are concerned.

The author describes the Brown Mountain Lights as:

"...spheres of illumination, of various colors, that float throughout the trees, sometimes dividing into smaller lights, and usually wink out after 6-10 seconds (at the most 60 seconds), or float into the sky and disappear. They are usually seen from overlooks at least 2.5 miles away, but some claim to have seen them from only ten feet away, and consistently describe them as being slightly larger than a basketball, glowing so bright as to appear opaque, and hovering around three feet above the ground. At such a close range, eyewitnesses say the lights move away from them when approached, but often follow them when the viewer moves away, displaying a clear interaction between the viewer and the sphere. One man claimed he touched a light and received a strong, electrical shock. However, the light did not dissipate, but simply moved away."

Now in my opinion (not trying to irritate you) this doesn't give your theory "legs" or "feet" or even "toes"! Even if we assume that their hypothesis is correct, we must somehow reconcile the plasma theory with Walton's description of the "phenomenon":

"Less than thirty yards away, the metallic craft hung motionless, fifteen feet above a tangled pile of logging slash.
The craft was stationary, hovering well below the treetops near the crest of the ridge. The hard, mechanical precision of the luminous vehicle was in sharp contrast to the primitive ruggedness of the dark surroundings. Its edges were clearly defined. The golden machine was starkly outlined against the deepening blue of the clear evening sky.

The soft yellow haze from the craft dimly illuminated the immediate area with an eerie glow. Under the weird light, the encircling forest took on bizarre hues that were very different from its natural colors. The trees, the brush, and the grass all reflected subtle, peculiar new shades.
I estimated the object to have an overall diameter of fifteen or twenty feet; it was eight or ten feet thick. The flattened disc had a shape like that of two gigantic pie-pans placed lip to lip, with a small round bowl turned upside down on the top. Barely visible at our angle of sight, the white dome peaked over the upper outline of the ship. We could see darker stripes of a dull silver sheen that divided the glowing areas into panel-like sections. The dim yellowish light given off by the surface had the luster of hot metal, fresh from a blast furnace.

There were no visible antennae or protrusions of any kind. Nothing that resembled a hatch, ports, or window-like structures could be seen. There was no motion and no sound from the craft. It almost appeared to be dead in the air."

This narrative would seem to rule out short-duration basketball-sized plasmas.

Now, we can discount the narrative as something exaggerated to sell books or such. But that puts us in the awkward position of ignoring a first-hand account because it doesn't fit our theory.

This would be a good project, that might be helpful: try and find the earliest possible description available of the phenomenon that the logging crew gave after they reported Walton missing. They must've described it to the media. This might enable us to rule out plasma.

 

[urkotic]

For some reason I've always found it tough to get past the Jeff Wells article on Travis Walton.

 

[fitzbew88]

For some reason I've always found it tough to get past the Jeff Wells article on Travis Walton.

This strikes me as a thinly veiled indictment of the UFO community at the time [probably justified ]. Robert Sheaffer's job on the referenced web site is to debunk such claims --- there is no pretense of objectivity.

But even accepting the bias, I don't see anything I would call a "smoking gun". Financial troubles? History of UFO activity/interest? Odd behavior? Watching Interrupted Journey? All of this is very interesting, but it's not very useful.

If it was a hoax, the truth will come out eventually. Somebody on the logging crew probably(?) knows where Walton was during the period he was missing.

 

[tommyb98201]

I would like to believe travis's story,but I dont. Its just a gut feeling i have. I may be wrong (again) but thats the way it goes.It shure is a cool story though!!

 

[Bixyboo]

If the Travis Walton case was true, then that was a horrific abduction case, wasn't it? I saw the movie and while I know it was I'm sure sensationalized and exagerrated, if it was even CLOSE to what happened, it gives me the willies!

Bixyboo

 

[TerraX]

From what I gathered, the movie 'Fire In The Sky' bares poor resemblance to the actual accounts of Travis Walton. There are some similarities but the experiences inside the ship differ greatly from what Travis Walton actually claims. He blames the difference on the movie director who excercised a bit of 'artistic expression'. Maybe a wise lesson if you sell your paranormal story to Hollywood.

 

[fitzbew88]

If the Travis Walton case was true, then that was a horrific abduction case, wasn't it? I saw the movie and while I know it was I'm sure sensationalized and exagerrated, if it was even CLOSE to what happened, it gives me the willies!

I did read the book many years ago, and the onboard sequence was much different in the book than the movie. (As Terrax related.)

If I recall correctly, the book sequence of events was much more of a contactee-type experience.

The book is probably still out there somewhere.

 

[Aaron LeClair]

 

[Aaron LeClair]

The following report on the final polygraph examination of Travis Walton was actually sponsored by a skeptic, Jerry Black. The test was performed with the latest state of the art equipment, by Cy Gilson, the most highly respected polygraph expert.

http://www.cohenufo.org/Gilson_Wltn%20Ltr%20to%20Black.htm