OCTOBER 24, 2024 |
Photo – Front cover of Margery Higdon’s book – Courtesy Margery Higdon
Tomorrow marks the fiftieth anniversary of Rawlins resident Carl Higdon’s supposed alien abduction.
On October 25th, 1974, Everett “Carl” Higdon Jr., then 41 years old, took a vacation day from his oil rig job to hunt in the Medicine Bow National Forest south of Rawlins. Sources indicate that Higdon was tracking game south of McCarty Canyon.
During the Sep 14, 1978, episode of In Search Of…, titled “UFO Captives”, Higdon was placed under hypnosis by University of Wyoming Counseling Psychologist Dr. Leo Sprinkle. Higdon recalls that on the afternoon of October 25th, 1974, he was taking aim at a bull elk when something unusual occurred.
Higdon said the bullet stopped in midair, as if an invisible wall stopped it. A humanoid creature approached the hunter and said that he was going to take him aboard his spaceship.
In a 2017 interview with Inception Radio Network host Patricia Baker, Higdon described flying above the trees in a cube shaped craft with five live elk.
The reverb is part of the original recording.
Higdon claimed to have been discovered seven and a half hours later by friends, disoriented and sitting in his truck several miles from his previous location. The hunter was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbon County for evaluation and was released after receiving a clean bill of health.
During his alleged alien encounter, Higdon said he formed a psychic connection with his abductor, a being he calls Ausso One. In the 2017 Inception Radio Network interview, Higdon told a story about how he asked Ausso One for rain and the extraterrestrial granted his request.
Higdon described Ausso One as a 6-foot-tall humanoid wearing a black one-piece outfit, similar to a wet-suit worn by scuba divers. The alien had small eyes, no ears, and a head of incredibly coarse, almost straw-like hair. Higdon said the mouth of Ausso One was a simple slit with three very large teeth and a chin that blended directly into its neck.
Higdon said the alien appeared to float instead of walk and may have been an android.
As further proof of his connection to the extraterrestrial visitor, Higdon said Ausso One correctly predicted that his wife’s boss would survive a recent cancer diagnosis.
After his encounter, Higdon sought help remembering the details of his abduction from Dr. Sprinkle at the University of Wyoming. Speaking on the 1978 episode of In Search Of…, Dr. Sprinkle said that a loss of time and memory are typical signs of an alien abduction.
Higdon said he didn’t face much criticism from the community after revealing his unusual encounter. During the 2017 Inception Radio Network interview, Carl’s wife Margery said the people of Rawlins knew her husband was an honest man.
Higdon died on January 26th, 2022, at the age of 81. In the 47 years since his supposed abduction, Higdon’s story did not change, leading many to believe the hunter’s tale.
Speaking to Inception Radio Network, Higdon encouraged people who have had similar encounters to talk to a professional. The Rawlins resident credited his relationship with Dr. Sprinkle for allowing him to live a normal life after his alleged alien abduction.
Dr. Sprinkle died on November 21st, 2021, in Laramie.
In December of 2017, Carl’s wife Margery published the book, “Alien Abduction of The Wyoming Hunter: First person story of Carl Higdon, October 25, 1974” The book has been relatively well received.
