Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing nobody can deny, it’s that Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson’s alleged UAP encounter on October 11, 1973, is arguably one of the most haunting to have ever come to light. That’s because, as chronicled in Netflix’s ‘Files of the Unexplained: File: Pascagoula Alien Abduction,’ these co-workers were admittedly taken as well as examined before being returned physically unharmed. Though this entire incident, plus the ensuing media frenzy, did have a significant impact on the former’s mental health — it was to such an extent his wife ultimately had to become his anchor.
Who is Waynette Parker?
It was reportedly back in the early 1970s that Calvin came across Waynette for the first time, just for them to soon fall completely head over heels in love despite their fair share of differences. As per reports, while he hailed from a rather broken home and had a troubled past, she was a strong-minded woman with a great upbringing, but the sole thing that mattered to her was his clean heart. Therefore, when he got down on one knee while expressing his desire to start anew with her, she said yes without hesitation, only for them to then set a date for the nuptials in November 1973.
Little did they know that a mere three weeks before they were to tie the k knot, Calvin would reportedly end up being abducted by aliens — something he didn’t tell Waynette until days later. “I think it was about three days into it,” she candidly revealed in the aforementioned episode. “I had heard something had happened. I didn’t realize the extent of it until I actually laid eyes on Calvin. The 18-year-old actually wanted to protect her at first, yet once he understood there was no way he could keep this incident a secret if they were to spend forever together, he drove up to her place.
Waynette said, “When Calvin got out of the car — first time I had seen him since it happened, four days later — I can’t say he ran towards me, but he got to me pretty quickly. We embraced and hugged for the longest time. I noticed his mouth was quivering. Just very traumatized, very – – unsettled.” He even had a nervous breakdown a few days before his big day with the love of his life, and it wasn’t until he was hospitalized, tranquilized, and chained to a bed that he could settle down. Nevertheless, his partner assured him she still wanted forever, so they went ahead with their union.
It was then that Calvin and Waynette mutually decided to step away from the limelight, driving them to often move from one place to another while also trying to build a family of their own. He eventually stepped into the world of construction as well as oil to escape attention too, that is, until a stroke in 2010 limited his physical ability to such a level they had to return to Mississippi. That’s when the latter also began encouraging him to publicly open up to not just set the record straight but also deal with his trauma, resulting in ‘Pascagoula – The Closest Encounter: My Story’ to be published in 2018.
Where is Waynette Parker Now?
“I could tell [Calvin] didn’t want to talk to me about it, which was fine,” Waynette said in the original production. “I didn’t want to do anything that was going to upset him. I gave him his space e, and I felt like in my heart that when he got ready to talk to me about it, he would.” He ultimately did, and then she didn’t urge him to go public for decades because she knew there’d be a time for that too — his second encounter in the 1990s opened up that page, driving his book. In the end, she stood by him through thick and thin, right until he passed at the age of 68 on August 24, 2023 — so, today, it appears as if this Mississippi native is doing her best to grieve in private while also trying to spend all her free time surrounded by loved ones in the hopes of moving on.
Read More: Was Chloe a Real Enslaved Girl in the Myrtles Plantation? How Did She Die?
