SpaceX rocket launch should be visible in Phoenix this weekend The incident Five decades on, true believers and skeptics continue to debate what occurred in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in central Arizona on Nov. 5, 1975. A seven-man crew was finishing up a routine shift on a logging contract near Turkey Springs. After their shift ended, they got into the pickup and began their drive back to town. Mike Rogers, the crew boss, was behind the wheel when they saw the craft. “ We rounded that corner and there was an open view at a clearing and there was a thing, a UFO … It was an oval-shaped object, three-dimensional, and it had lighter parts and darker parts — looked to have sort of a framework,” Rogers says. Related advertisement advertisement According to Rogers, he stopped the truck, then Walton got out and quickly walked toward the object that was hovering about 15 to 20 feet above the ground. The crew was yelling at Walton not to approach it. Rogers recounts hearing loud rumbling and piercing sounds, before seeing Walton hit by a “bolt of energy.” “ It was just a straight beam, like a direct thing, and hit him in the head and chest area and knocked him on his back. He landed about 10, 15 feet from where he was standing. And at that point, it scared us so bad that I hit the gas,” he says. Per Rogers’ account, they fled the scene before acknowledging that leaving Walton was not the right thing to do. He gave the others an option to either go back with him or to get out and wait in the middle of the forest. They all decided to go back. Through the trees, he could see light rise up and then streak off. When they arrived back at the location, they searched for Walton. “ We went all around through the clearing looking for him, calling his name and couldn’t find him at all,” Rogers says. Related Best 2025 holiday events in Phoenix advertisement When they found no trace of him, they headed into town to contact the authorities, and that evening, law enforcement began a search. Over the next few days, what started as small-town speculation turned into a national media frenzy. Theories of a kidnapping or a murder coverup swirled. The phone booth from which Travis Walton called for help now sits next to the Heber Tire Center. Angela RoseRed Walton was missing for five days before his reappearance, when he made a collect call to his sister’s house from a Heber phonebooth. When his brother picked him up, he had no recollection and did not realize he had been missing for five days. Related advertisement advertisement “That just kind of, you know, really hit me really hard, wondering what had happened,” Walton says. Soon after he reappeared, he underwent regressive hypnosis and psychiatric and medical examinations, including drug and alcohol tests. “At first I was completely unable to speak about it at all … I was just so traumatized … I couldn’t even tell my brother what had happened,” he says, but he believes the hypnosis helped him communicate the experience. “I was the observer in what happened rather than the experiencer … so it kind of separated me from it … and that made it easy enough to where I could talk about it after that,” Walton says. Related Free things to do in Phoenix this week advertisement Even skeptics can’t deny the impact the alleged incident has had in the past five decades. Walton’s experience sparked national headlines, lectures, conferences, documentaries, books, podcast episodes, a motion picture (1993’s “Fire in the Sky”) and, most recently, a 50th anniversary event hosted by Walton’s family. The Fyre in the Sky Smoke Shop is one of the local businesses leaning into alien tourism. Angela RoseRed The town Travis Walton’s UFO experience didn’t just change his life forever; it’s also shaped the small communities of Heber and Overgaard. For the better or the worse depends on who you ask. Related advertisement advertisement The neighboring small towns of Heber and Overgaard, commonly referred to together as the shared community Heber-Overgaard, are about two and a half hours northeast of the Valley, near the Mogollon Rim. Folks come up here to fish, to hike and to wander through the little souvenir and antique shops that dot the area. And since the 1975 incident, there’s been a new kind of tourist showing up: the alien enthusiast. “Some locals might not like it, but it draws people in and puts them on the map,” Walton says. The town really became a pop-culture touchstone in the 1993 motion picture, “Fire in the Sky.” Although Walton made a cameo and was even brought in as a consultant, he felt the portrayal lacked accuracy in some areas, specifically the extraterrestrial encounter. Related How to see the APS Electric Light Parade in Phoenix: Route and road closures advertisement “The first time I got a copy of the script, the portion of my experience aboard the craft was not in the script. And when I saw what they’d done with it — it was not representative of what happened at all.” Faithful to Walton’s experience or not, the film just intensified the public’s interest in the area. Wild Woods LLC sells alien-shaped carvings. Angela RoseRed According to local business owners, the incident regularly brings UFO-enthusiast tourism from as far away as Europe and Australia. One local spot, Fyre in the Sky Smoke Shop, went all in with the theme. The Red Onion restaurant serves fans by selling alien T-shirts. Even the Heber-Overgaard Chamber of Commerce has decided to embrace the local legend by slinging UFO-themed swag such as Travis Walton’s book, DVDs and even an “Alien Rub” cooking spice blend. Related advertisement advertisement Some local landmarks are popular photo-taking spots, including the forest itself and the “Travis Walton Rescue Site” next to the Heber Tire Shop. It’s the actual phonebooth Walton called for help from, and when its original home at a gas station was torn down, it was moved to its current spot. The booth stands alongside an abduction-themed mural with bright-green, wood-carved aliens made across the street at Wild Woods LLC. John Velasquez, Wild Woods LLC owner, does a brisk business in alien wood sculptures created by championship carvers. He recalls when a wood-carver proposed making alien sculptures, an idea the previous owner rejected before realizing how much business it could bring in. Now, it’s a staple in the store. “ We’re constantly doing batches,” Velasquez says. “About a month and a half ago, he did a batch of about 12 to 15 aliens. We sold about a third of that before they were even painted.” The distinctive wood-carved aliens were a selling point for resident Kathryn Blowers, who admits that the Walton incident was the main reason she moved to Heber. Related See new Phoenix Mercury logo during Friday night drone show advertisement “We had a few UFO-type encounters living in Phoenix, and we were invested in figuring out why … Arizona in general had so many UFO experiences …we saw the alien wood carvings all over town and knew this place was for us, and it truly is,” she says. Kevin Nettles’ “Alien House” is a local landmark. Angela RoseRed Kevin Nettles, a metal fabricator and artist, dedicated the outside of his home to extraterrestrial-inspired artwork to show support. The “Alien House” is located just miles from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest entrance. “I’d heard the Travis Walton story before, and I saw people selling alien carvings and stuff up here, and I’m like, I’m gonna fit right in. I’m gonna be the alien house. I just made the sign for that and put alien stuff up. I’m showing town spirit.” Related advertisement advertisement Outside of local tourism, other visual artists have been intrigued and influenced by Walton’s abduction accounts, making it a recurring artistic theme. Northern Arizona-based tattooer and artist Kat Richards, known as Miss Kitty, began dedicating her life at an early age to paranormal subjects, specifically UFOs. Walton’s story inspires Richards as an artist to this day; her business logo is a flying saucer with a tractor beam. Clients from all over the U.S. commission her for alien-themed tattoo designs. “In my heart, I would love to be a well-respected, highbrow artist who just did really beautiful oil paintings of nudes and still lifes,” she commented on her artistic approach. “But ultimately, if I’m authentic to myself, I just want to create art centered around flying saucers and alien abductions and themes of the paranormal.” Richards created the cover art for this article, and is fascinated with the Walton incident. Related 15 best tourist attractions in Phoenix advertisement “ I think it’s one of the most compelling stories of alien abduction, that they all took polygraphs and they all passed, except one who is inconclusive. It lends a lot of credibility to the entire incident,” she believes. Travis Walton, second from left, with his family during the 50th anniversary event. Angela RoseRed The legacy And that’s the question to this day, isn’t it? Is Walton’s story true? Related advertisement advertisement When we asked for more information about the incident in local Facebook groups, the responses showed the strong feelings the event still elicits in Heber and Overgaard residents. “Hoax,” one responded succinctly. “Walton is a crack head who got high and lost in woods. He made up the story. Those of us from here know he’s a giant liar crackhead,” griped another. One woman wrote, “I think the controversy and strong emotions reflect the incident, true or not, (and) create a bit of a rift between townspeople that still lives today.” Even eyewitness Mike Rogers, a self-described rationalist and realist, emphasized the contrast of his own viewpoint to Walton’s. “I believe in UFOs. But the one thing that’s really important here is that nobody, none of us but Travis, saw him being abducted. So I can’t say emphatically that Travis Walton was abducted.” Related Insanely expensive store opens at Scottsdale Fashion Square advertisement Rogers, however, stands firmly by his accounts of witnessing the craft and a “beam” hitting Walton before the crew fled the scene. Even without seeing Walton taken onto the craft, he did not deny the possibility that it happened. ”The fact is, we did not see him being abducted, but that doesn’t mean that he was not abducted. (It) means that we didn’t see it.” Walton welcomes constructive dialogue from skeptics, though in his view, they always fall short. When asked for a response to the negative comments posted recently online, he adds: “Online remarks are mostly positive from many people who actually know me, while the most negative comments come from people who don’t know me. They don’t have even the vaguest knowledge of any of the basic facts that are indisputable, like what the sheriff’s department did and said. Related Source: https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts-culture/arizona-fire-in-the-sky-ufo-event-still-shapes-town-after-50-years-40627511/