By: Joseph Perry (Twitter/X)

Writer: When It Was Cool

Also Featured At: Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, B&S About Movies, The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict, and Diabolique Magazine, and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum.

Film Review: Pascagoula 73 Documentary TV series (2025)

Official synopsis: Explore the shocking 1973 Pascagoula UFO abduction of Charles Hickson, Calvin Parker and Maria Blair. A gripping tale of alien encounters, fear, and resilience that changed their lives.

Most people with even a passing interest in UFO and alien abduction lore have likely heard of the case of Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, who claimed to have been taken aboard a craft above the Pascagoula River in Pascagoula, Mississippi on October 11, 1973, and examined by what they took to be as either extraterrestrial creatures or robots. With the four-part, approximately four-hour documentary series Pascagoula 73, director Darcy Weir and co-writer British UFO researcher Philip Mantle revisit the case. It’s an interesting take on matters, although one episode stretched the limits of credulity much more than the others.

Throughout the series, both historical interviews and news footage are shown along with more recent interviews and new animation recreating both the Hickson/Parker abduction case and that of Maria Blair, who claims to have been both a witness to the pair’s abduction and an extraterrestrial kidnapping victim herself, along with her husband.

The first installment, “Charlie Hickson’s Ballad of Abduction,” is one of the two most impressive episodes, in my estimation. It’s both a fine introduction for newcomers and a solid refresher for those familiar with the Pascagoula Abduction.

The second episode, “Calvin Parker’s Hypnosis File”, was interesting, as Parker was famously the more media-reluctant of the pair. Here he relates how it was difficult to stay employed because of the abduction case, and how it affected his life until he accepted that he should not only discuss the incident, but write a book about it. The hypnosis session was filmed for the documentary and also shines a light on later alien encounters Parke claims to have had.

The third installment is “Maria Blair’s Hypnosis File,” the episode that I found to be credibility straining. Blair’s tale seems like it grows taller the longer it goes on, such as her husband striking a deal with the extraterrestrials and, if I understood the result of her fetal implant correctly, her daughter possibly being an alien/human hybrid.  

The final installment, “Who is Philip Mantle,” is a strong closer to the series. It profiles Mantle — who provides insightful commentary in each episode of the documentary — from his initial interest in UFOlogy to the present day. He’s an intriguing subject and highly knowledgeable about alien abduction cases, and discusses such topics as the difficulty of spotting hoaxes and frauds in the field.

Overall, Weir delivers a documentary series that may not provide new hard evidence, but that treats its subjects with respect without going one-sided either way. Not everything worked for me, but there was enough to keep me engaged and entertained throughout. 

Pascagoula 73 is available on Amazon Prime at https://amzn.to/3E3hCb2

Joseph Perry also writes for the websites Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), B&S About Movies (bandsaboutmovies.com), The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict (gbvreviews.com), and Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom). 

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