Trappers
in Athens
By Erik Cooley, MUFON’s Valerie Schultz,
and Nomar Slevik
Trapping—wherein animals are trapped for their fur and sold for livable wages—has been a tradition in Maine even before the state was established. Previous to 1947, the state’s legislature set the trapping season length; however, Maine trappers begrudged the short amount of time granted. This changed with the creation of the Maine Trappers Association in 1947, and the organization was able to extend the season’s allotment of time. The Trappers Association is still intact and holds various conventions and weekend outings throughout the year.
In 1988, one such weekend outing occurred in the small town of Athens. This blue-collar agricultural town was named after the famous Greek city, and as of the 2010 census, it’s home to a little over one thousand people (I have more Facebook likes than this place; that’s small!). Athens was one of the first incorporated towns in the area (1804) and sits between the mill towns of Guilford and Skowhegan. The Trappers’ Weekend was held on the fairgrounds located off Route 150 (which is another addition to the Somerset Triangle). MUFON reported a remarkably strange encounter that two men endured one night while camping at the fairgrounds.
The day started early for Randy and Gene (pseudonyms). Trapping was their forte, but as trapper outings go, it was nice for them to interact with their counterparts. As night fell, the men decided to camp out on the fairgrounds, ensuring an early start to the next day’s activities. They found a remote area, away from the others, and rested a bit. Around two o’clock in the morning, Randy was enjoying a cigarette when he observed a bright light hovering about sixty feet above a pine tree near their camping area. He woke Gene to get his thoughts on the light. He suggested that it was just someone driving a truck through the field. But as they watched, they knew that didn’t seem right. The light got so bright, it bathed the entire field in daylight. Awestruck, they both gazed at the object, amazed at the unusual light that was now about one hundred yards away from them. As the light closed in, the two men noticed a red ball of light come out from underneath the original light. It circled above the treetops, swooped down in front of them, and inexplicably vanished. At this point, the bright light descended and did not make a sound as it did so. They described it as “a mothership and a beam of florescent light that was floating in the air with no engine and no sound.” Suddenly, the men observed a “chain-link of colored rings.” This occurred in front of their tents, and while they watched the colored rings, morning “just blinked on.” I mean this quite literally—it was dark and two o’clock in the morning, and then it was daylight. The bright light and red chain-link lights were gone, and it was approximately four hours later. The two friends were shaken and confused by what they had witnessed, and were utterly in shock that morning had arrived in an instant.
Later, in an effort to determine what had occurred, the men contacted author and investigator Raymond Fowler. After meeting with the men, he advised them to seek the assistance of MUFON to determine what had possibly transpired. In working with the organization, Randy and Gene were introduced to a hypnotherapist to help them bring to light some of the moments of their missing time. The doctor attempted to put Randy under hypnosis, but was unsuccessful. Gene, who was able to be hypnotized, panicked during the session. He was in a highly frightened state and was emotionally and visibly shaken. The doctor took him out of his hypnotic state, and with his teeth chattering, Gene muttered that he could not go on any longer.
The men discarded the idea of learning more and attempted to forget about the encounter and just go about their lives. They tried to find some semblance of normalcy, but it was difficult given the unusual nature of their encounter. Randy suspected that they had been abducted that evening and is currently considering going under hypnosis again. He hopes to learn more about the event. Gene had a very tough go of it for a while and never fully recovered from that fateful night. Although the exact nature of their encounter was never fully understood, it was clearly a life-changing event for both men.
This case was investigated by Valerie Schultz at MUFON and closed as “Unknown.”