Pascagoula: Charles Hickson questioned at the sheriff's office (October 11, 1973)

0:00 It was a bad age to go fishing right up here when it came in here. And they've been down stood, jabbin' in me. It's good it was with me over there. Went down, you know, down in the grain elevator on the river. We caught a few hard days down in here, a couple of croppers. That old captain said, "Son, I said, he ain't even quiet down here." I said, "Let's go up by that old shark. He's a ship guard, you know, I've caught a lot of, you know, I've caught a redfish in there and smack on top of it." Is that your son or not? No, no, he's just a friend. He's on the old count. Yes, well, that's what I'm really ready on. I've been in a home in a farm up there. And my father and my mother lives up there. I've been a farm in a home up there.

1:01 And, um, so we went over there, you know, we tried a little while. We're sitting there facing you. And I don't know how, I don't, I guess much seen the thing, the same time. It's a blue light. You know, like it's circling with me. Well, you couldn't along the town, you know. It was, it wasn't too close, you know. It seemed like it's pretty good. It wasn't no 23 miles away. It was pretty close. And a blue light, you just find, you look in the sky and see a blue light, you know. It would cause your attention to it. You couldn't tell us. It was just circling. It looked like the light was. And we were just, just a little while. And that's going about two, three foot above the bow. How close to eight miles? I must be 25, 30 yards. It wasn't, you know, it was away from us.

2:03 Just about 25, 30 yards. Yeah. You know, it's bitter. So we, we was on the, we was on the bow. Fishing off the pier. That's your favorite. But you know, I feel something like that. You know, you, you, you know, you say 25, 30 yards. You know, it might have been 30 or 40 yards. You know, you, you know. You see something like that. It scared you to death. And I couldn't believe it. I started to hear it with a real noise to it. It's a little bit of sound. Mmm. Just like that. That's all. One old backblast or anything. And, you know, you think you're dreaming about something like that, you know. And, um, I started to get the river, man. And Calvin just, he wasn't hysterical, you know. What's that Calvin last night? His partner. Calvin's father. Calvin's father's children. That's his father's name. So, we wrapped, wrapped that on the river.

3:08 And, that thing, they didn't have to run any of it. It was a little bit. Right on there. And all of a sudden, I didn't know. There wasn't a shot on his oval shape. At the end of it. I don't know what you call it or what it was. But it was open. It was laid up there. And three of them just flurried out there a little bit. There wasn't no ground. And then I said, I've got to be training them. You know. You got your right? You got them. No. They didn't have feet. They didn't actually have feet, did they? Didn't you say it was just fine? They looked like they nailed toes. You know. It was like skin. They nailed toes. But they had feet shake. You know. And they didn't even touch the ground. I said, I haven't been dreaming. A spirit of death. And me wasn't spinning real after.

4:08 And that's all I had. I couldn't. I don't know. I don't watch the spirit. Well you can't imagine. You just can't imagine. See, I haven't done what he was tearing on me. I haven't walked all up there. He just gone in. He just glided up there a little bit of that. And one of them made a little fuzzy noise. And two of them never made no noise. What kind of noise at this point? Mmm. Just a little buzz and letting noise. It sounded like a machine going in there. Yeah. That's what it was. I don't know. It might have been contacting the others. See, I don't know. By then I was the damn spirit. I didn't know anything. And two of them just running around by me and looking me off the ground. By your arms?

5:08 By my arms. With her pictures and pictures and things. Well, it didn't seem like this. I don't know. They've done something. They thought about it. And he got in here no force. No force. He didn't hurt me. How long was you? You got to do it, man. Of course, I don't really know. But he was almost. He was almost. His terrible past out on me then. And they glided me into that thing. Just, you know, while you just guide somebody or something. And I said, "Damn the spirit, I don't know what." You know, I do know that when I got in there. That thing. That I don't know. I don't know. He couldn't have been taking no kind of pictures. But I didn't see nothing. But they had me, you know. They just kind of had me there.

6:09 Then they just blew me back and got you floated in there. And then they kept me in that position a little while. And then rake her back up. You said they had some kind of hensile. I don't know what you did. Some kind of hensile. I don't know what it was. I've seen hensile that I've never seen. Nothing like that before in my life. Well, what did it look like that you described it? I couldn't really describe it. What, it looked like an X-ray machine or something? No, no. It wasn't like no X-ray machine. There was something that I just couldn't. There ain't no way to describe it. I didn't try to communicate with you. It looked like an I. You know, like a big I. You know, there's something. It had any attachments to it. I don't know. It only had some kind of attachments to it. I don't know what. But it was, it moved. It looked like a big I.

7:10 No, no, no line. It looked like some kind of big I. And then they left me. They left me. They left you inside the machine. Right. And the position they had me, I couldn't move. Yeah, I don't know how long they left me. And then they'd come back. You don't have any hiding? I don't have no watch. You know, I used to damn scared. How long did you say? 30 minutes? I'd say 20 or 30 minutes if they left me. And then when they come back, they laid me back, you know. You didn't try to talk to them after the morning going on? Yes, I did. But I get a buzz and sound like one of them, that's all. They didn't pay me no attention when I talked to them or nothing? I mean eyes. They had.

8:10 They had two eyes, that's all I've seen. They had two eyes? I don't know. And their hair? I just swear I don't know. I, I, it's just, that's why in the last you look at them. Did it breathe? I don't know in there. I swear I know. They didn't have no kind of clothes on or nothing? No, they, they didn't have no clothes. And you can't tell me what color they were? Man, you'd be scared if I was. They're white looking? Pale? Blue? Yes, they looked pale like me. Now the best I remember. But you'd sit down scared though and something happened like that. And you said it looked kind of like wrinkled skin. No, I didn't know. No clothes? Well it could have been. There was no clothes but they looked kind of pale like me.

9:10 It looked like, more like a skin fit. What it was. It might have had something on it right or not. I don't know. You said up below the nose they had open it in? It looked like they had open it right below their nose. I mean that's. Well that's right after dark was that. It wasn't too long at the dark. I ain't got no watch. And I don't know what, you know what, I don't know exactly what time and all it was. But why, why are you waiting until this time and that's the call? Well Mr. Friend. When they had a weed and I got out there. We had this call across my mouth. That's what I know, I know. But I knew. Nobody wouldn't believe me. You weren't believe me. I went by the Mississippi Press. I went by the Mississippi Press and beat on that door. This kind of guy was sitting in the desk and two kind of girls around here. And he said, why don't you go?

10:13 I said, well I'd like to see a reporter or somebody, you know, that he can get news to, you know, maybe to the sheriff's department or something like that. Anyway. I said, there ain't no reporter here. He said, he won't be here in the morning. Well, I thought about it again. I said, if I call the sheriff's department, they won't blame me. If I call the police department, they won't blame me. I don't try to call Keesler. I said, no. Are you trying? Well, I mean, you know, I apologize for that. That's my own fact, you know. That's hard to believe something like that, sir. How much you had to drive to sleep? Well, I didn't drink anything. I talked to you while I was supposed to. I hadn't drank anything. I got out of there in the 45 minutes, an hour. And I thought about calling y'all. I did drink, man. I had to settle my nerves. I just went like, went crazy. Some of them, I hadn't, I hadn't drank anything.

11:13 But I got hit my nerves, so. I swear to God, I have. And I got to get back and let my wife know that, she's probably hysterical now. My wife's already. Well, there ain't nothing. It's like a, uh, you didn't know. Do you remember leaving? Leaving, uh, well, sure. Let me put you out. The only thing I can remember is that, uh, that, that, that, that, that, that, the, the cabin, that kid, he was hysterical. I guess you, he, he just went nitty, I guess. And I got him half back to his senses. And, the first thing I told him, I said, Sully, ain't nobody going to believe this.

12:13 And he comes just hollering and screaming, you know, just hysterical. I got him bombed down again. And I said, ain't nobody going to believe it. Let's just, let's just try to keep it to ourselves. Well, when I worked the car then. Now, the more I thought about it, the more I thought I had to listen. It's the officials know about it. That's what I go about in Michigan Press. Let me ask you this, what happened after that? Try and go, let's let you go. You can look back around. Let's see. There's a buzzing sound. Everything was gone, just like it. Just a buzzing sound. Would you describe the vehicle? Border of the picture. Yes, I can describe the vehicle. It was, it wasn't my own. It was hard, hard long. You know, you know what?

13:14 It's probably hard long. And the dog in the head was at the one end of it. And there's something you can't believe in that. What kind of light is it? The only lights I seen on the outside was that blue light coming down. And the inside I never seen no light. Everything just lit up. Did it light the ground up as it was coming in? I didn't see it at the end. I didn't see it. I didn't see no light. My bed was a blue light. But there was a blue light. No, no. It's just a blue, blue light. It wasn't always there. I know, I know nobody ain't going to believe it. I know that. You tried to get the press. You tried to get in on with it. Yes, sir. I tried to... All right. When did you call Keesler? Before you called me?

14:14 Yes, sir. Right before you called me. They wouldn't talk to you. No. See, all they'll tell you is call the sheriff's department. So that's when I called the sheriff's department. You, you, you, you called, you know, you don't tweet or about anything. And I found, you know, out. And they'll, they'll refer you to the sheriff's department. And, well, I thought about that. I said, no. I thought about that about 20 or 30 minutes. That's when I called y'all. I said, well, I'll just tell them what I know. We don't believe it, okay. And we do... What did you call Keesler from? That little youngster over there? Yes, sir. What did you call Keesler, you know? To some lady. I don't know. He wasn't a man. It was a lady. What did you do? Call the operator and ask any... What did you call me from the old youngster over there? Yes, sir.

15:29 What I've been through with. That's all. All right. Now, when you run back to the car, what did you call me from the old youngster over there? Pardon me? What did you have to call me from the old youngster over there? Oh, I had about three good shots of liquor. But I had to settle my nerves down. I'll just tell you the truth. I'm on a drinking, ma'am, at night in my car. You know, one of the wolfies is all that to ask me. You know, that's normal. I keep a drink around the house. And my wife will tell you I'm not a, and my boss will tell you I'm not a drinking man. What do you want? I run to Johnny, you call Johnny Walker. Little Johnny Walker. Call him right now, tonight. And he'll, he'll vouch for me. You're a former or something? I'm a former one. Yes, sir. I run part of that chill yacht. I'm not a drinking man. With something like that, I had to have something to settle my nerves. And I, before I could make my mind up to tell somebody about it.

16:29 I didn't think nobody would believe me. How about the boy? Did he take a drink? He took a little drink. He wasn't much able to take a drink, though he was scared of that. He took him a little drink. I told him to take him a drink. He was throwing all the pieces. He was hissed there. Almost many, I think. His nerves settled. What do you mean anything about you, boss? Flying an object on the O.J. last week? Well, there was a pleasant family over the last week, saw one. I believe they called the sheriff's department over the last week. He's in a chamber on the hall. I see this one before. Yes, sir. I remember, you know, the last week there's a pleasant family out there looking one. Say that in a picture. Yeah. And I believe the deputy was over that night.

17:29 And when they did sighted that banging off here later. Not me. And you know, and some of the guys here said that. They never had to talk something like over the place. That was the same idea. Oh, good place. It was red. That boy described this as being red. Yeah. I don't remember my wife and kids now. I think your wife and kids are all right. Sure. You want something to that boy? He's supposed to be right this day. He's got colors. He's scared of death. That's one thing. You're like I am. Do you mind taking us home, right? Do you expect me on it? I sure do it. You want some more money? That's fine, isn't it? You want to come back and talk to me? Yes, sir. I'll come back and talk to me. You've got to see it. I've got to see it. But I must tell you one thing.

18:30 I don't want no big publicity about the thing. I just feel what I've seen and what happened. And I don't want to get my family and everybody excited about it. Because they're excited enough now. But I'll feel what I've seen and what happened. That's all I can do. But I'd rather not have all that publicity in life. I'd rather not. If you think I ought to, I will. But I'd rather not do that. But I mean, I brought it to the officials and you owe me what you want with it. I'm just telling you what happened. I'm just working man trying to make a living, Jim. You're working in the morning. I'm supposed to work in the morning.

19:30 Seven o'clock, what, 6:30. What time to get off the morning? We're working now and now. We're trying to get off at 4:30. I'm supposed to work in the morning. Seven o'clock, what, 6:30. What time to get off tomorrow? We're working now and now. We're trying to get off at 4:30. What time to get off tomorrow? Sure do. If you stay fed, in yourself listed, you keep it down. You can't. I don't want to know that. I don't want to mention my name.