; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The Day 'Martians' Made Contact


On April 24, 1964, at approximately 10 AM, a 27-year-old farmer named Gary Wilcox was in one of the fields on his 300-acre farm spreading manure at Newark Valley, New York, when he noticed something unusual over by the edge of the woods. Curious, he drove his tractor over for a closer look at a bright flash of light on the hill. The flashing was intermittent, like a mirror reflecting sunlight. When he was about 300' away, the flashing light turned into an egg-shaped object. Wilcox shut off his tractor and walked the remaining 100 yards. When he came in close proximity to the object, the following description was given in the police report:

The first thing I noticed was that it was off the ground, it was a little bigger than a car in length. It was an oblong shape something like an egg. There were no seams, rivets or anything like that. It was completely smooth. It was aluminum color. I touched the thing and the metal was harder than aluminum and it did not move. I don't know whether it was on legs or hovering in the air. It was about 20' in length, 4' high and 15'- 16' wide. While I was feeling it there was no vibration or sound and it was not hot or anything. While I was touching it, two small men about 4' high came out from under the tank object. I don't know where they came from. Each of them was carrying a tray about a foot square. The tray looked like it was made of the same stuff the ship was made of. Inside the tray was what appeared to be sod. I was standing about a foot away from the ship
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One of the figures advanced to within 5' of Wilcox and said:

Don't be alarmed. We have talked to people before. We are from what you know as the planet Mars.

In his police report, Wilcox gave a detailed description of the two figures:

I could understand what was said but cannot tell whether they were speaking English or not. One of the men was standing in rear of the other. I could see that both of these 4' high men had arms and legs the same as us. I couldn't tell whether they had feet or hands the same as us. They were quite broad for such short persons or individuals. I could not distinguish whether they had shoulders or not, they seemed to just go straight down. They had no face, such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, or hair. The voice seemed to be coming from about them rather than from either of them. There was a voice, but I don't know where it was coming from insofar as their body was concerned. They seemed to have a sort of suit on that covered where the head would normally be located all the way down. When they raised their arms, you could see a wrinkle where our elbow would be located. The color of this completely smooth cover-all-type suit was whitish-aluminum-tint color. There was no evidence of hair. The only thing I noticed was the wrinkle when they moved their arms at the elbow.

Wilcox couldn't tell which figure was speaking to him, but it appeared to be the one closest to him. They told him that they had been watching him for some time. In fact, they, assuming their race, had been watching people on earth for some time. He was asked questions about the tractor, the manure and the manure spreader. They were very interested in organic substances, such as soil. Martians obtained their food from the atmosphere and had a very rocky terrain that was not suitable for growing. They knew little about agriculture, but were visiting earth in the hope that they could restore their soil and raise food crops. Cows were quite a mystery to them. They could only come to earth every two years and on this voyage they were collecting samples from the Western Hemisphere. The figure expressed an interest in commercial fertilizer and Wilcox made an offer to bring them some.

The conversation ranged into other topics other than crops, fertilizer, and agriculture. The figure spoke of space, their ship, and of other subjects that went over Wilcox's head.

Part of the reason for learning about soil and agriculture concerned a potential cataclysmic change that might take place. He was told that Mars and Earth will be trading environments, due to the rockets, missiles, and miscellaneous objects ejected into space from Earth. They also advised that people from Earth should not send individuals into outer space. They predicted that the astronauts John Glenn, Virgil Grissom, and the two cosmonauts from Russia would die within a year due to exposure from space. Wilcox was also told that for his own good, not to say anything about the experience to anyone, but the visitor made no threats nor extracted a promise from him to keep the encounter secret.

Wilcox's original sketch of the 'Martians' and the craft

According to the police report, this was how the encounter came to an end:

They then walked back under the ship and disappeared. They ducked a little bit when they went under it. The ship then seemed to hover. I heard a noise that sounded like a car motor idling. It was not loud. Then it just took off slowly forward above the ground in a gliding manner and flew over the valley in the direction of Ed Sokoloskis barn and disappeared into the air after it was about 150' away. There was no heat, blasting, wind, dust, noise, other than the idling sound, light, or anything else left behind when the ship took off.

They did not try to harm me in any way and there was nothing with them that looked like a weapon. They did not raise or lower their voice. It was the same throughout the conversation. They did most of the talking.

After the vehicle left, Gary noticed pairs of 2½" square depressions in the ground where the figures had stood. There was also some red dust where the vehicle had rested, evidently from propulsion. It disappeared after a couple days.

I have read this statement and it is true. I realize that the incident described above is unusual, but I do certify that it is a true and accurate account of what actually happened.

Signed: Gary T. Wilcox

Witness: George E. Williams

Witness: Paul J. Taylor

Although John Glenn is still alive and well, Virgil Grissom and two others died in the tragic Apollo capsule fire of January 27, 1967, and Russian astronaut Vladimir M. Komarov was killed when his capsule’s parachutes didn’t open upon re-entry on April 24, 1967, exactly three years after Wilcox was given the alien prediction.

Psychiatrist Dr. Berthold E. Schwarz gathered much background information on this case and followed up with an extensive interview of Wilcox at his home on October 18, 1968. Dr. Schwarz was extremely impressed with Wilcox’s obvious background and evidence of stability, integrity, honesty, and intelligence. A detailed chapter length review of his investigation of this case can be found in his two volume book, UFO-Dynamics: Psychiatric and Psychic Aspects of the UFO Syndrome

Click for video - Gary Wilcox 1964 Martian Encounter

Source:
ignaciodarnaude.com
The UFO Evidence: A Thirty-Year Report: Volume 2
thenightsky.org
The Mammoth Book of Unexplained Phenomena
ufocasebook.com
Extraordinary Encounters: An Encyclopedia of Extraterrestrial & Otherworldly Beings
isaackoi.com
Binghamton Press - May 9, 1964
Encounters with UFO occupants (A Berkley medallion book)