The Walton Experience

The Walton Experience (Berkley, 1978) is Travis Walton's account of his disappearance from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona on 5 November 1975. His six crewmates said a beam from a glowing object knocked him down and they fled; he reappeared five days later saying he had woken aboard a craft among small beings and a human-looking figure. The book follows the search, the police suspicion that the crew had killed him, and the polygraph tests.

The case remains contested. Five of the six crewmen passed a polygraph in 1975, while Walton failed an earlier test by examiner John McCarthy, who reported "gross deception"; sceptics such as Philip Klass argued the crew had a motive to break their forestry contract. The book became the basis for the 1993 film Fire in the Sky.

Sources: Open Library · Walton incident record