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    An alternative way to explore and explain the mysteries of our world. "Published since 1985, online since 2001."

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Classic Mysteries—Alternate Perceptions Magazine, November 2020



The 1977 Dawson UFO Encounter

by: Brent Raynes



Tom Dawson, 63, a retired car salesman, claimed that on August 6, 1977, at about 10:30 a.m., he was taking a walk down to his favorite fishing pond near Pelham, Georgia, when suddenly a disc-shaped craft silently came into view, hovering just a few feet off the ground between nearby trees. Simultaneously, Dawson found himself unable to move, and noted that his two dogs and some twenty head of cattle seemed to suffer from the same affliction.

Dawson described the object as being about 50 feet in diameter and 15 feet high, encircled by what appeared to be portholes, with a dome shaped structure on top. As he watched helpless, a ramp was extended down to the ground and seven hairless, snow-white entities appeared. The beings each stood about 5 feet tall, had pointed ears and noses, and while some wore a tight-fitting one-piece suit, others wore no clothing at all. They produced a high-pitched gibberish that he was unable to understand.

Meanwhile, the beings placed a skullcap looking device on his head and a hula hoop-shaped thing, that was connected to a box, around his midsection. Dawson felt that the entities were performing some sort of medical examination upon him. Then the beings gathered “some leaves and stuff,” and then they returned inside the craft and were gone in the blink of an eye.

At some point afterwards, Dawson regained his mobility and ran uphill (estimated at 300 yards) to his trailer. He was taken to the Mitchell County Hospital as he was having difficulty breathing and talking. A physician felt he had been very shaken by some event. In fact, he was treated for hysteria and given medicine to calm him down. Then soon afterwards he was released. Dawson stated that he believed that if he had been a younger man then the beings probably would have taken him aboard their craft.


Source: The Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial Encounters, edited by Ronald D. Story. New American Library, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10014. 2001. Feature submitted by researcher Billy J. Rachels.


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