Four men camping in Maine believe they were abducted by aliens.
Allagash wilderness
UFO eyewitnesses
CASE DETAILS
Four men — Jack Weiner, Jim Weiner, Chuck Rak, and Charlie Foltz — say they experienced a terrifying encounter with aliens while camping in the Maine wilderness. It’s taken the men years to go public. Each has been polygraphed and hypnotized, and their stories hold up.
Witnesses saw a light in the sky
For years, Jack Weiner was disturbed by reoccurring nightmares. He told no one about them except for his wife, Mary:
“I was starting to have nightmares, really terrible nightmares that I could not explain. I found myself in a very brightly lit room. I had no idea where I was or why I was there. To my left, I could see my brother Jim, Chuck Rak, and Charlie Foltz sitting on some type of bench, and they were all naked. I was wondering why they weren’t helping me, because I felt like I was in danger, and while I’m trying to figure this out, I notice this figure or a dark, shadowy-type figure emerging from this light– this bright light in front of me. I would wake up, uh, uh, sweating and breathing heavily and just in a– in a state of terror and shock.”
In 1988, Jack’s twin brother Jim confessed that he, too, was haunted by exactly the same nightmares:
“There were always certain elements of the dream that were the same– some type of creature, being helpless, being violated was a feeling I often woke up with.”
In every dream, the twins were with Charlie Foltz and Chuck Rak, two friends they had met in school. They wondered if these nightmares could be connected to a camping trip 12 years earlier in Maine. In August, 1976, the four men had spent two weeks in Maine’s Allagash wilderness. The Allagash covers thousands of acres in the northernmost part of the state. On the second night out, Jim noticed a bright object in the sky:
“It was just floating above the treetops, didn’t seem to be moving in any direction. And I looked at it through the binoculars for maybe 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and it suddenly just winked out from the outside edges inward. I mean, it literally just went whooht, like that, and it was gone. There was something about this thing that left me with an odd feeling that wasn’t quite right, but I really didn’t dwell on it.”
The men continued through the Allagash wilderness. On the fourth day, they decided to try some night fishing. They built a bonfire to mark their campsite. Once out on the water, Chuck Rak was the first to realize they weren’t alone:
“I had a feeling there was someone staring at me from behind me. I turned over my right shoulder like that, and I saw this large, round globe of light that looked exactly like what we had seen two nights previously.”
“It had this roiling effect to it, like a miniature sun, very, very bright. It lit the treetops up like daylight, and it was absolutely silent.”—Jim Weiner
“After looking at it for what seemed like several moments, we decided to signal this thing. That’s when Charlie picked up the flashlight and squeezed off a message–s.o.s.”
–Chuck Rak
The response was instantaneous:
“Well, when the light started coming toward us, my curiosity was satisfied. And I just dropped the flashlight. The only thought in my mind was to get to shore. I never looked back.”—Charlie Foltz
The men began paddeling back to shore:
“I remember looking over my shoulder, trying to keep an eye on this object as it was coming up behind us. It was getting very close. It was almost on top of us at this point. I remember thinking that we’re not going to outrun this thing.”—Jack Weiner
Their next memory was being back on shore, just staring up at the bright object:
“I remember thinking, ‘I could pick up a stone and bounce it off this thing’s side.’ That’s how close it was. And then, all of a sudden, it just streaked away very, very fast, and within a few seconds, it was like a star, just another light in the sky.”—Jim Weiner
“I remember stepping out of the canoe, and going up to the campsite… And I remember there was no panic. People seemed to be very relaxed.”—Chuck Rak
All four men agree they were out on the lake for less than 20 minutes. The huge bonfire should have burned for hours. And yet only coals remained, indicating a longer passage of time. Jack Weiner recalls:
“The unusual thing is that we didn’t stay up for hours and discuss this thing, which is what you’d think four young guys on a camping trip would do. We just seemed very fatigued and wanted to go to bed. The next morning, we got up and got our camp together and paddled to the next campsite.”
Alien as described by eyewitnesses
The men spent another 10 days in the Allagash wilderness but never again saw the bizarre light.
As the years went by, they told friends and family about the UFO sighting, but no one really believed them. The men hardly believed it themselves. Then the nightmares began for Jim and Jack Weiner. Finally, Jim contacted UFO researcher Ray Fowler for help.
Fowler suggested the Allagash four undergo hypnosis with a trained hypnotherapist to recover details of the sighting. Under hypnosis, each of the men experienced terrifying repressed memories of being abducted. They were almost exactly alike.
Independent of one another, each of them drew illustrations of their incredible recollections. All four said they were taken aboard the craft. The aliens forced them to strip naked and seemed to be conducting medical examinations. The aliens took samples of the men’s skin and body fluids, their blood, urine, and semen.
What follows are excerpts from the actual sessions:
“They’re–they’re– they don’t know what to do. I think they think I’m going to come after them. I feel like I want to. I feel like I want to– the first one that comes near me, I’m going to throttle him. I don’t like these things. I don’t care where they come from. They shouldn’t be doing this to people.”—Jim Weiner
“They’re right there. Their face is right in my face. I don’t know why. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to know what they want. They’re saying things. In my head they’re saying, ‘Don’t be afraid. They say, ‘Do what we say. Just do what we say.”
—Jack Weiner
“It’s like a doctor’s office. I get that, it’s cold like a doctor’s office is cold. They put the panel over your chest. Then they scrape your arms and your chest, your legs and thighs. We shouldn’t be here. I just—I just keep thinking, “I want to be back in the canoe.”
–Charlie Foltz
Chuck Rak could see what the aliens were doing to Charlie:
“I see some sort of device on him. They’ve got a–this looks like a silvery, it looks like the– like it’s got curves on it. It’s almost like– like it sucks something. He’s got his head tipped way back. It’s almost like he’s in pain. We’re–we can’t help him. All we can do is watch him.”
It was not until after the hypnosis sessions that the Allagash four discovered that each of them had recalled the same horrifying events. The each took polygraph tests and passed.
For skeptics, however, stories of alien abduction do not stand up to scrutiny. Some suggest, including clinical psychologist Dr. William Cohn, that images from popular culture or horror movies may have triggered inspiration for memories of alien abduction:
“This movement is media driven. It’s cyclical. People hear about good cases on TV. They think they may have had the same thing happen. It sort of feeds upon itself.”
Dr. John Mack is a psychiatrist and author:
“Usually, these are people who have no interest in abductions, have not read about it, are unfamiliar with the beings, and are shocked and astounded when they hear someone else has had these experiences as well, or that there is material in the media about it.”
“The investigators have a very clear-cut agenda about what they’re looking for. So if you get somebody that’s doing UFO abduction research, this is a person that has already decided that UFO abductions are real, that thousands of people are having them. They have a symptom list. And if you come in the door with those symptoms, then you must have been abducted.”—Dr. Cohn
“It really doesn’t work like that. The person comes because they’ve heard that I’m open to listen to something which other therapists or, uh, other mental health professionals have not been able to listen to. This is not a club anyone wants to belong to.”—Dr. Mack
The four men have never backed down:
“This happened. If you believe it, that’s all right. If you don’t believe it, I don’t care. I don’t care, ’cause it did.”—Charlie Foltz
Patrick Hallisy
The truth is out there!
William Cafolla
I suppose the non believers also believe The Travis Walton story ( fire in the sky ) was made up to, or the incident at Shag Harbor Canada
Tina
I truly believe that they saw what they say they saw. I too, have seen were something had landed in my mommas back yard. Round in a circle and the grass had an impression in it~
Never did I say anything to anyone what I saw. My brother did mow the yard that afternoon. He did not mention seeing anything~
Karen
I know I’m not crazy. I know what I saw
Benoni
Now Chuck Rak says it didn’t happen at all and he just wanted money.
Tom
I was canoeing on the Allagash back in the mid 90’s. Most likely I can pinpoint the exact spot, I have a photo of the rock we camped at. But that night we were sleeping on the rocks and I was the only one awake. I looked to the sky and in the far distant seen this bright light. I thought it was a helicopter but after 30 min it didn’t move. I was memorized at it being so still above the horizon. After a while hour or so it moved closer (got bigger) but still far in the sky. Then unexpectedly zipped off to the right at 90 degrees and disappeared. A few years later I went back and did the allagash waterway again, this time didn’t notice anything. Was years later until I seen similar on tv, and recently was talking with someone about a book he mentioned. This topic came up so I decided to do a quick internet search.
Kathleen
I looked online and I found this on Unsolved Mysteries wiki:
In a 2016 interview, Chuck Rak admitted that the abduction part of the story was made up, and that he went along with the narrative for financial gain, however, he does admit to seeing a series of strange lights over a period of a couple days during the camping trip.
Carla Contini
It’s pretty clear that he was just distancing himself from the others. In Fowler’s book it shows the hypnotist had no trouble getting the other three under, but Rak struggled and felt disappointed that he had not recalled more. Rak also mentioned that he had read books by Strieber and Hopkins, which led skeptics to accuse him of confusing fact and fiction, etc. I think he just got sick of the whole thing.
Anon
Hypnosis is notoriously unreliable and prone to creating false memories.
Jason
Bologni. The subconscious does not lies…
Katie
Hypnosis loosens things and allows other spirits to affect you. The demonic will lie to you. Even a human hypnotist can suggest to you that things which are not happening are and you will believe it.
hmmm
this is real freaky
i think its probably real as when they went under hypnosis, the most traumatic stuff was uncovered
unless they were high on some hallucinatory drug, i don’t see any way they could have come up with such detailed stories, that are all the same
this story is genuinely scary
im never going to maine
Ryan B.
They were on psychedelics the night of the “abduction.” Chuck Rak admitted in 2016 the “abduction” was a hoax.
Pepe
El Pepe
hmmm
the he-
Keith Luethke
Chuck Rak doesn’t really want to believe this happened to him and who can blame him. The fact is they did see a UFO. Were they taken? I don’t know but I do know that having nightmares for years isn’t normal. Their artwork definitely improved after the incident. They once had a website where they sold prints but I can no longer find it. The comic book is incredible. I’ve always been surprised this story was never made into a movie in the nineties. We might never get the full truth of this incident but it makes a hell of a good story.
Ronnie
Here’s the truth…..
YouTube: Allen Nolan “Don’t Be Deceived” series
Scientific & Biblical
Jesse
It didn’t happen, they made it up. Go back and watch Chuck’s body language during the UM episode. I’m sure they saw strange lights but I doubt they were abducted by aliens.
The other one
Yep thats exactly how it happens. Only if ur the lucky one u get a reach around!
Adam Davis
In 2016, Chuck Rak confessed that the abduction part was made up. It has also come out that the men were high on psychedelics that night of the alleged “abduction.”
mischievous chihuahua
Rak also said during the August 31 interview that he and other members of the group had used recreational drugs on the night of the alleged abduction. “I remember Jack brought some Afghan temple ball with him to share with the rest of us,” he said. “Yeah, we were definitely stoned when we went out on the lake just before we got that sighting.”
According to Rak, he felt conflicted when others asked him whether the group had been under the influence of drugs or alcohol on the night of the encounters. “I remember being on ‘The Joan Rivers Show.’ Joan was asking, ‘Were you guys drinking or taking drugs?’ Fortunately, I was sitting furthest away from her. Jim (Weiner) was right next to her and he had to field that question and lie and I didn’t have to lie.”
https://fiddleheadfocus.com/2016/09/10/news/community/top-stories/subject-of-1976-ufo-incident-casts-doubt-on-allagash-abductions/
Day
Being on drugs probably hurts their credibility but it actually makes their story more logical in my opinion. If this crazy incident happened, why would 4 grown men not talk about what just happened after reaching the shore? One because individually, they probably think they just tripped too hard and weren’t about to share that experience with another grown man. Two because so much time had elapsed they were coming down off their trip and they had that tired sinking depressed feeling and just wanted to go to sleep. And just because one man takes back his story that’s more believable than 3 sticking to it? It’s biased based on what you want to believe but I don’t discount them just because they were high.
Melody Rutledge
I have had very similar incident happen to me back in the early 90s. Have told very few people. Most think I’m making it up or have dreamed it. My memories are not near as detailed as these 4 guys but what I do remember is a lot like theirs!!
joe
Hello
Jason
Wow. Money talks. It don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk. I just HAD to see if this had been solved
Paulfootball
The three guys claim that Chuck Rak just doesn’t want to speak about it anymore so he made up the story that it didn’t happen. Rak did say he did see lights but they weren’t abducted. I guess it depends on what you choose to believe.
Bill Blaski
These guys have now came out and said they were high during this trip. Physcodelics and tripping made them experience things. Aliens not so much.
Adam
Weed/hash doesn’t make you hallucinate. I’ve tried almost all psychedelics – Light appear brighter, you’re more sensitive to your surroundings and can have visual distortions – Not once do they conjure up actual beings or an abduction. If they’re that tripped out they wouldn’t have been able to step in the canoe.
Adam Hetch
The Greys are an under race the basically work for the Draco Reptilians they are both from Oryans belt. They Dracos run the world and shape shift a lot of famous people are not who the claim to be. Look into it.
Greg
I’m gonna stick to Star Wars and Harry Potter
beth
As I see it, it could be a collective false memory, or it could be true memory. Having watched a few interviews, they don’t seem like overly dramatic guys seeking the spotlight. I find it interesting. Especially with other similar reports of orbs.
X
Unresolved. In a 2016 interview, Chuck Rak admitted that the abduction part of the story was made up, and that he went along with the narrative for financial gain, however, he does admit to seeing a series of strange lights over a period of a couple days during the camping trip.
https://fiddleheadfocus.com/2016/09/10/news/community/top-stories/subject-of-1976-ufo-incident-casts-doubt-on-allagash-abductions/
shelley
Why is this even listed here as an unsolved mystery? In a 2016 interview, Chuck Rak admitted that the abduction part of the story was a total fabrication, and that he went along with the narrative for financial gain. see wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allagash_abductions
This should have been updated here or at least removed from an ‘unsolved’ list
Anon
This is exactly what we do to animals in laboratories when we test on them for the sake of science and rationalize it as something that needs to be done. They scream and scream but we never listen. Now Aliens are doing the same to humans, also for the sake of science. What makes us so special? Think about it. To the animals we test on and torture and eventually kill, we are the Aliens.
Richard Maldonado
Chuck Rak admitted it was a hoax and they did it for what most of this ufo bissness
Is all about MONEY. Although I do believe in aliens it’s people like these who really put a wrench in the ufo/alien phenomena . Don’t take this personal because I’m just saying in general to any one who invest time or the hardcore believer, don’t be fooled so easily do your homework because if you don’t your just as guilty as the rest of these sidewinders .
Bill blaski
These guys were violated With probes and such. If i remember right one guy went under hypnosis and remembered being probed.
Tracy S
I live in Maine, my birth state. I can say I have seen weird lights in the sky. I thought at first a airplane but, they went from being slow to a fast blasting away, they have always been a distance from me. Nothing ever close but, people do talk once in a while and say they have seen things. Most won’t say anything afraid of criticism. There are some strange things in Maine’s deep woods. I do believe these men always have….
Anonymous
I believe them, four grown men ain’t gonna lie about being abducted. They were probably that traumatised by the experience that it only started being remembered hence when they were grown men, a sanity mechanism.
Anonymous
in the early eighties, ~ 1980-1982, I was with childhood neighbor friends, all of us between 13 and 16 years old. we were in st charles illinois outside of chicago , in the nightime backyard of one of our homes, we saw a large bright circle just like in this allagash description. The ball was bright white and rose quickly above the backyard trees and stopped silently above the trees about 50 – 60 yards away. There were some nice deep woods back there. And all 5 of us saw this thing above the woods. It then dropped quickly the other way, down into the woods and disappeared. We all ran back to the woods to look for it, but never found it. it was strange. Around that same time, My sister and mother claim they had a frightening encounter with a bright beam of light over the car they were driving in , that followed them over the car for a few blocks , this was right behind these woods. very interesting unexplained experience.
eq
ok that is weird
Johnny
One of the better re-creations in a Hall Of Fame crime show. I think the Allagash 4 accounts are credible. They aren’t seeking fame or fortune like many try to do. The Maine camping trip into the Wilderness 1976 should have been a relaxing and joyous time. It was very realistic with the light following them and the 4 aggressively paddling to avoid the object. The men were lucky that they weren’t maimed or killed during these experiments. Maybe, these courageous and honest men will get others to share their experiences and this evidence can be documented and further studied.
al royce
Concerning the general UFO question. You might get someone familiar with the ancient languages (Hebrew or Greek) a little high, and they might just reveal what Ezekiel I really says. It’s interesting.
Dawnrae
Wake up ppl. Aliens are real. Travis Walton… Betty and Barney Hill. The Allagash Abductions…. MOVIE Night Skies. Movie Fire in the Sky. When it happens to you, you will believe. Trust me….. and YES !
Myst
This could have happened 1 of 2 ways.
1) This happened as a sort of mental test. They hijack your mental functions and use it’s sensory data as a simulation thus allowing you to remember and still be fully clothed just like a bad trip. This also explains how they in explicably lost time and were really tired.
2) They were abducted and more than just the medical stuff happened. Reason being is they all remember is the really painful and scary stuff. Now if you think of this as a highly exploratory team then they may have done this to see if they were contagious (explaining the non terrestrials being wary of them) like Columbus and the Native Americans.
Be fore warned this is just a theory.
what happen
one night right before going to bed i turned the light off and suddenly notice bright rays of light out side my place it was bright like day for about ten to fifteen seconds i asked my wife if she saw the light she said no but weird thing is is my sub mind seemed to be controled some how what was about to happen but not ressiting it then i laid down not comfortable then just blank out then when woke up it was still dark my mind told it self its done it finished and it never happen but my mind kept on willing accepting what my outer mind would never so i told my self it never happed when i woke it was if it was where i lift off just trying to get comfortable and time was at least two three hours later this happen when i started to show interest in the subject maybes thats the mistake of many showing interest can be dangerous and can trigger this things to happen to you.
hopeful
one late eveing just before sunset i was taking trash out for pick up day and i looked up in the sky saw one large white ball of light looks just like a perfect ball shape our what i call a very large orb as i was watching it then i saw another one it was coming towards the other one and they joined together as if they where having a conversation than separated one lift out of sight the other kept in sight and it started to act playful zigg zaggy threw the clouds and then out of sight to my empression in stead of being ships they are actually a living thing in its self the ball is a life form is what i think that masks as a ship this occured in the ninty’s.
IV
There story sounds more believable than yours
Anonymous
What makes you such on expert?
Anonymous
I don’t believe in aliens. Not the way some people do or horror films and TV have betrayed them. However I do believe these man experienced a bizarre and unusual event. When I was younger there was a military base in the desert a few miles away from my house. Unexplained aircrafts would be sighted by several locals. Strange lights in the sky would be seen an occasion. My Theory is our government is capable of doing some very secret things. They have been connected to very bizarre cases such as Rosewell. I believe something unexplainable did happen to those men. Some kind of trauma. Deep in their subconscious their memories of this strange event is emerging through their dreams. As a society our curiosity of other life on other planets and space aliens are so great. That its easy to mulipulate those things. I believe that those men where abuducated by aliens no; by unexplained parties yes. Whoever decided to take these men where crafty; smart and scary. These men where drugged maybe given a little hallucinogenic. Hence when their memories retrieved these certain events that would explain the dark creatures. Were these man used as guinea pig;yes. For what reasons it’s unexplained. Could it be our government; yes. Could whoever took these men given them powerful drugs; mulipulated their memories and given them a false sense of an abudcation ; very likely. Someone was smart enough to falsify the truth so years later. When these men recalled certain events it sounds like they are crackpots going on about alien/UFO sightings. Something bad happend to these men.We may never know what sinister things where behind this. I do believe they where taken against their will and I wouldn’t be surprised if our government was involved.
al royce
The big evidence is in old writings. You might have someone give you a literal translation of Ezekiel 1, or with patience you can do it yourself. Bible commentaries are indirectly helpful. At a large library as I was working on it, a mysterious man would drop by (He wasn’t dressed in black). “Interesting, isn’t it?” said the intellectual. “The Greek is even more interesting,” Also a few creepy fellows, who I believe were associated with a local seminary, seemed to refer to me as a Gabriel, slang for whistle blower. My hearing was better than they thought.