IncidentTravis Walton Incident (5–10 November 1975)

aka Travis Walton Incident (5–10 November 1975)

Logger Travis Walton, 22, disappeared from a Forest Service crew in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Snowflake, Arizona on the evening of 5 November 1975 after, according to six co-witnesses, being struck by a beam of light from a hovering luminous object. He reappeared five days later near Heber, AZ.

under-corroborated Six crew co-witnesses to the beam event passed polygraphs, one inconclusive; Walton's five-day absence itself has no physical record, and the case sits inside a documented logging-contract deadline dispute.

status history (1)

2026-06-09 · unannotated → under-corroborated — initial annotation sweep (Epic J.F4)

On the evening of 5 November 1975, a seven-man Forest Service contract logging crew was returning from a thinning job on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Navajo County, Arizona, when, by the account of all seven men, the crew’s pickup truck encountered a luminous disk-shaped object hovering above a forest clearing. Walton, then 22, exited the truck and approached the object; according to the other six, a beam of blue-green light from the object struck him, lifted him, and threw him backward. The six fled, returned approximately fifteen minutes later after the object had departed, and could not find him. They reported him missing to Navajo County Sheriff Marlin Gillespie that night. A multi-day search by sheriff’s deputies, Navajo County tracking dogs, and Forest Service personnel found no trace. He reappeared on the morning of 10 November 1975 near Heber, AZ, approximately 12 miles from the original site, in a phone booth at a gas station; his brother Duane drove to collect him. The six co-witnesses were polygraphed by Cy Gilson of the Arizona Department of Public Safety on 10 November and 15 November 1975; five passed conclusively, one (William Cogdill) returned inconclusive results. The crew was facing contractual penalties for non-completion of the logging contract — a financial motive contrary to their interest in fabricating the event. The case became the basis for the 1993 Paramount film Fire in the Sky.

Notable & intriguing

On 10 and 15 November 1975, six of the seven Forest Service crew witnesses were polygraphed by Cy Gilson of the Arizona Department of Public Safety; five (Mike Rogers, Ken Peterson, John Goulette, Steve Pierce, Allen Dalis) returned passing results, one (William Cogdill) returned inconclusive. The Sheriff’s Department considered this corroboration sufficient to treat the witnesses as not fabricating.

Arizona Department of Public Safety polygraph reports, 10 and 15 November 1975; Navajo County Sheriff’s Department file
The seven-man crew, led by Mike Rogers, was working a thinning contract for Western Wood Products on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest; the crew was behind schedule and faced contractual penalties for non-completion. Sheriff Gillespie and Rogers separately stated that the financial motive ran contrary to any incentive to fabricate.

Navajo County Sheriff Marlin Gillespie statement, 12 November 1975; Mike Rogers interview, Travis Walton — Fire in the Sky documentary, 2015
Walton’s own polygraph history is more mixed: he failed an early February 1976 test administered by John J. McCarthy (engaged by skeptic Philip Klass); he passed a 1993 Cy Gilson re-test administered for the Fire in the Sky film promotion; he passed a 2008 polygraph administered for the National Geographic Channel program Is It Real?.

Klass-McCarthy report, February 1976; Gilson re-test, 1993; National Geographic Channel polygraph, 2008

Public-record items already documented about this subject. Folklore is labelled. Sources cited where the specificity warrants it.

Suggested watching

Travis: The True Story of Travis Walton (2015) documentary

dir. Jennifer W. Stein · Prime / various · 1h 35m

Walton and all six surviving crew members on camera, plus full polygraph re-administration.

essential
Fire in the Sky (1993) film

dir. Robert Lieberman · various · 1h 49m

Paramount adaptation. Walton has stated he disliked the on-craft sequence.

fictionalized

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