Beyond the Veil Magazine

The Carl Higdon Abduction

Issue #44: August 1982

On October 25, 1974, Carl Higdon, a forty-one-year-old oil field worker from Rawlins, Wyoming, went elk hunting in the Medicine Bow National Forest. He returned with a story that defied belief and evidence that defied explanation.

The Hunting Trip

Higdon had driven deep into the forest, seeking the elk that were plentiful in the area. Late in the afternoon, he spotted a group of five elk and raised his rifle.

He fired. But the bullet, instead of travelling normally, seemed to float from the barrel in slow motion. Higdon watched, astonished, as it drifted approximately fifty feet and dropped to the ground.

He walked forward to retrieve the bullet and found it flattened, as though it had struck something solid.

Then he saw the figure.

The Encounter

Standing nearby was a humanoid being approximately six feet tall. It wore a one-piece black suit and a belt with a yellow emblem. Its face was unusual: no chin, small eyes, and a head that extended back in an unusual shape.

The being spoke. It said its name was “Ausso One.”

Ausso asked Higdon if he was hungry. When Higdon said yes, the being tossed him a small packet. Higdon swallowed the contents without conscious decision.

The next thing Higdon knew, he was inside a transparent, cubical craft. Ausso and the five elk were present. Looking out, Higdon could see a tower and a large, bright light. He understood that he was no longer on Earth.

Ausso explained that Higdon was unsuitable for their purposes and would be returned. The next memory Higdon had was standing on a rocky slope, confused and disoriented, in darkness.

The Return

Higdon was found later that night by a search party, sitting in his truck, which had somehow become stuck in an area inaccessible by normal driving. He was incoherent and could not explain how he had arrived there.

According to accounts of the case, he was missing medication he had taken that morning. His tuberculosis scars appeared to have vanished. And the bullet he had fired was still in his pocket, impossibly flattened.

The Investigation

Leo Sprinkle, a psychologist at the University of Wyoming who had investigated numerous UFO cases, hypnotised Higdon to recover suppressed memories.

Under hypnosis, Higdon recalled additional details: the interior of the craft, the journey to an unknown planet, the appearance of Ausso and other beings. He described the experience with consistency across multiple sessions.

Physical evidence supported parts of his account:

The Bullet: Analysis showed the bullet had been flattened by something that left no conventional marks. It had not struck rock or wood. The manner of its deformation was unexplained.

The Truck: Investigators confirmed that the truck was found in a location it could not have reached by ordinary driving. The terrain would have destroyed the vehicle’s undercarriage, yet no damage was present.

Medical Changes: Higdon’s doctors confirmed that his tuberculosis scarring appeared to have diminished, though they could not explain how.

The Character

Carl Higdon was not a typical UFO witness. He was a practical, working-class man with no prior interest in science fiction or paranormal phenomena. His story embarrassed him, yet he continued to tell it consistently.

Investigators found him credible. His account was consistent. He showed signs of genuine trauma. And the physical evidence could not be dismissed.

Alternative Explanations

Hallucination: High altitude and exertion can produce altered states of consciousness. Higdon might have experienced a vivid hallucination. But this fails to explain the bullet, the truck’s location, or the medical changes.

Fabrication: Higdon had no apparent motive for inventing such a story. He received no financial benefit and considerable ridicule.

Misperception: Some unusual but natural event might have been interpreted through the lens of later cultural expectations. But the physical evidence resists this interpretation.

The Questions

The Carl Higdon abduction raises questions that other cases do not:

Why was he “unsuitable”? What did Ausso’s people want that Higdon could not provide?

What was the packet he swallowed? Did it affect him in ways not yet apparent?

Where was the planet he glimpsed? How far had he travelled, and how had he returned?

Higdon lived for decades after his experience, never recanting his account. The flattened bullet remained in his possession, a tangible reminder of an event that should have been impossible.

Whatever happened in Medicine Bow National Forest on October 25, 1974, it left marks that could not be erased.

Readers with similar experiences or expertise in ballistics are invited to contact our research department.