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Travis Walton

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Oddity

The Resume

    (February 10, 1953- )
    Born in Arizona
    Forestry worker
    Claimed to have been abducted by aliens outside of Snowflake, Arizona (November 5, 1975)
    Released by the aliens five days later
    Wrote the book 'The Walton Experience' (1978)
    Inspired the movie 'Fire in the Sky' (1993)

Why he might be annoying:

    A few years before his alien encounter, he was busted for check fraud and served two years probation.
    He and his brother Duane had been lifelong UFO buffs.
    His UFO encounter occurred a few weeks after NBC aired a TV movie about the alleged alien abduction of Betty and Barney Hill.
    Oddly, while Travis was missing, Duane spent more time giving interviews to UFO investigators than looking for his brother.
    After Travis returned, he and Duane did not bother to notify the police; instead, they headed to Phoenix to meet with members of Ground Saucer Watch.
    He tried to cash in on the National Enquirer's offer of $100,000 for proof that UFOs are extraterrestrial craft.
    At the Enquirer's insistence, he and Duane took a polygraph test; the examiner called the results 'the plainest case of lying' he had seen in twenty years of administering tests.
    Three decades later, he was a contestant on Moment of Truth, where the polygraph examiner ruled he was lying when he claimed to have been abducted by a UFO.
    Skeptical investigators noted that many of the details that Travis recalled of his abduction matched passages in Robert Heinlein's novel 'Have Space Suit -- Will Travel.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    The initial parts of his abuction -- the appearance of a saucer-shaped object, Walton running towards it, and a beam of light knocking him out -- were witnessed by six coworkers, five of whom passed polygraph tests about what they had seen. (The sixth witness's test was ruled to be inconclusive.)
    The deputy sherrif who first took statements from the witnesses said, 'If they were acting, they were awfully good at it.'
    Although he did not get the Enquirer's top prize, he did received $5,000 from them for 'the best UFO case of the year.'
    He had not wanted to be a contestant on 'Moment of Truth,' but he had been laid off and needed the money.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying