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This is the true story of Calvin Parker, a Mississippi teenager who experiences a UFO abduction

that leaves him traumatized and places him at the center of an international media frenzy. At the

time of his 1973 abduction, Calvin’s a brawling country boy in the process of turning his checkered reputation around so he can start a new life with his soon-to-be bride Waynette. 

But three weeks before their wedding day their world is shattered when Calvin is abducted. 

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from Pascagoula, the graphic novel by Jason Gleaves 

Dr. J. Allen Hynek

Within hours of hearing about Calvin's abduction, the world's most famous UFO authority, J.Allen Hynek (Project Blue Book) flies down to Pascagoula to question and examine Calvin and co-abductee Charlie Hickson.  Hynek's conclusion shocks the world and marks a turning point in public perception of abduction events:

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There's simply no question in my mind that these men had a very real, frightening experiences.  

I find them to be 100% honest men. Under no circumstances should they be ridiculed.

Let's protect them." 

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Yet Calvin Parker is not protected.  He is hunted and haunted - by both his 

traumatic memories and by the cruel and callous media hungry for sensation.

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1973 is at the height of an unprecedented spike in UFO interest across the country. It is an era of unanswerable questions and unending debates, creating the perfect storm of conditions for word of Calvin’s abduction to catch like wildfire.   The entire nation turns its' eyes toward Calvin Parker

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Within days of the encounter, both Johnny Carson and Walter Cronkite

make references to Calvin on national television.

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Walter Cronkite

October 16, 1973

Johnny Carson

October 14, 1973

Calvin's defiant 'leave me the hell alone, or else,' threat to to a world press that is

rapidly descending on him is captured by a UPI photographer and it becomes an

image seen around the world, instantly making Calvin infamous and a

target for all comers, well intentioned or not. 

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His story ignites a feverish interest. 

But what exactly is Calvin's story?

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This is what he tells NBC news the morning after the encounter.   

A few days before Calvin and Waynette are to share their wedding vows, Calvin suffers a nervous breakdown. He is tranquilized and chained to a bed in the hospital ward.   

Yet Waynette fights off family and friends and insists of going through with the marriage.

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The more Calvin seeks his privacy and his dignity, the more the rapacious

news media stalks and mocks him mercilessly. 

When The UFO's Fell On Dixie by Joe Eszterhas January 1974.

This cover story written by the soon to famous screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is dripping 

with withering condescension and brutal dismissal.  It paints vicious stereotypes of 

rednecks as racist, incestious, high school drop outs too dumb for their own good.  

Mississippians, and Calvin were target practice for the big city hipster.

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Click PDF to read the article

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Unequipped to cope with what has happened, and wanting to force the memories from his mind, Calvin makes a dramatic decision to go underground. 

He and Waynette move away from their families and their hometown and

begin their marriage of a fugitive life on the road moving from town to town

whenever Calvin's identity as the crazy abductee becomes known.  

He is plagued by terrifying flashbacks, demonic visions and

lives in a shadowland of regret for what once was.  

Calvin remains steadfast in keeping his silence about the encounter.

Not even Waynette can pierce the shell.

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But there's no mistaking the trauma that's just beneath the surface.  

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Eventually, his shame and his terror lead to breakdowns and failure.

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The promise of their young love ends as Calvin and Waynette divorce.

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But all is not lost. 

It takes decades, a meeting with the legendary Budd Hopkins, and an

unbreakable love that lasts across a lifetime, to find the healing necessary.

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This is Calvin's true story of redemption and return. 

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