Thanks to the Robertson panel and the Condon report, by the 1970’s UFOs were no longer considered a story worthy to be covered by ‘serious’ newspapers, and thus were relegated to the supermarket tabloids. That suddenly changed in 1975, when the mysterious disappearance of a young logger by the name of Travis Walton, drew the attention of media outlets from all across the globe.
Their co-workers were suspected of murdering him, and accused of trying to cover the crime with a fantasy tale involving flying saucers and death rays. Then the case did a complete 180° when Travis reappeared, suffering the effects of physical and mental shock. His amazing account of interacting with non-human entities became one of the most famous UFO cases of all time, and was brought to the silver screen with a motion picture under the same title as the book he wrote —Fire in the Sky.
Unfortunately, Travis’ story suffered a lot of distortions under the Hollywood treatment, and many elements of his abduction were completely omitted –for instance, the fact that along with the short, big-headed aliens we’ve come to know as “the Grays,” Travis also came into contact with beings that looked completely human. The film’s producers were convinced no-one would bother to watch a movie about aliens if they weren’t portrayed as terrifying monsters; after all, if they zapped him and abducted him against this will, that means their intentions are evil… right?
Well, Travis himself is not so sure about that. His opinion about the events have shifted over the years, and now he’s convinced his abduction was his own fault after his reckless decision of coming too close to the UFO’s ‘energy field’.
“An accident happened and they didn’t want to leave me behind.”
Seeking to set the record straight, Filmmaker and MUFON state section director Jennifer Stein created a new documentary, in which he managed to gather the personal testimony of Travis and his old co-workers, along with several high-profile researchers like Richard Dolan, discussing the importance of this fascinating case. The film was premiered at the International UFO Congress last February, where it won 2 awards —Best UFO Film of the Year and People’s Choice Award— and it will be screened in several other venues in the United States, and also in Canada and Australia.
This year will also mark the 40th anniversary of Travis’ experience, which will be suitably commemorated at the Skyfire summit on November 5th, near the same location where the event happened in 1975. Prior to that He will also be a speaker at the Paradigm symposium in Minneapolis, where I myself will be thrilled to finally meet him in person.
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