Travis Walton

[Flatwoods]

Originally Posted by fitzbew88

- Is there a sound reason to believe that "...hovering disk[s] 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.

http://shadowboxent.brinkster.net/brownplasma.html

http://www.joshuapwarren.com/


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

[fitzbew88]

Originally Posted by Flatwoods

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.

Originally Posted by Flatwoods

http://shadowboxent.brinkster.net/brownplasma.html

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]

Originally Posted by urkotic

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]

Originally Posted by 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!

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]

YouTube - The Abduction of Travis Walton. Part 1

YouTube - The Abduction of Travis Walton. Part 2

[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%...to%20Black.htm