Phyllis Budinger's Arizona Adventure

A r i z o n a--A d v e n t u r e

by Phyllis Budinger

“I wonder if ‘Chasing UFOs’ in my advanced years is a good idea?” This thought occurred to me when I agreed to travel to Arizona regarding the Travis Walton abduction for a TV production. This occurred January 19 and 20, 2012. The production was to be on the National Geographic Channel for a new series to be called “Chasing UFOs”. The regular cast for this series was to be James Fox, Ben McGee and Erin Ryder. The trip turned out to be a fascinating adventure, and in a way quite amusing. It’s worth telling before the details fade in my memory.

The Travis Walton abduction is well known to most people reading this. Suffice to say he was part of a logging crew on November 5, 1975 in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The abduction site is in the east central Arizona mountains, and is accessed only by old logging roads. After calling it a day, and with the sun going down, the crew of seven got in the truck to head home. As they traveled down the road, a UFO was spotted hovering off to the side. Travis got out, approached it, and was hit by a beam. The crew panicked and drove off, but quickly returned to find Travis missing. He was gone five days, and then reappeared just outside Heber, Arizona. For details, see his site www.travis-walton.com

I tend to be trustful and usually do not ask enough questions when I accept an invitation to participate in a TV production. After all, the resulting productions from previous UFO documentaries that I had been involved in had usually been well done. Right? And so it was that I agreed to go to Arizona. And, (wow!) to be able to see the Travis Walton abduction site was very enticing! I was game to go, even though I had two bad legs, of which one knee was to be replaced three weeks after the trip. I was blinded to ferreting out pertinent details involving the production.

I also was not given much information on anything (other than the flight plans to Phoenix). I guess I assumed too much. Things would have been simplified if they at least provided information on the weather conditions, how to dress, what to bring, and how they wanted me to participate. (I guessed they wanted me to collect samples and make comments regarding their analyses.) Though I knew I was going to the site, I didn’t know how tough it would be to reach in January. Nor did they tell me that the worst forest fire in Arizona history raged through the site in 2002, virtually destroying it. Most importantly, I was not told this would be "a reality” TV event! In short, I did not know what I was getting into.

I did wonder why they would do a shoot in this wilderness In January? And I asked as much. No answer. But then knowing little of the climate in the area, I supposed it was because it was close to that when the abduction event took place, and it probably fit best in the producer’s schedule. I did know that it was not a good time to collect any site samples. That’s for sure.

The "Coffee Shop" (myself, Ben McGee, Erin Ryder, James Fox)

The first day we met at a coffee/gift shop called “Coffee Break” in Heber which had a fireplace blazing and comfortable chairs. There was a large, intimidating, seven-foot standing grizzly bear staring at us and showing his teeth as we (James Fox, Erin Ryder, Ben McGee and myself) sat by a table. The sound and video crew were busily setting up equipment, along with someone who would portray the young Travis. This took about an hour and a half. They taped the four of us engaged in general conversation concerning UFOs. It seemed to me that part went quite well. Though in hind sight, I don’t think they got me to say what they wanted to hear. I gave “just the facts maam’.

The vehicles were loaded the next morning to make our way to the site. We had to go into the mountains about 16 miles out of Heber via dirt logging roads. I did not expect this would be any big deal, so my first shock was when we were met by a WWII Deuce and a Quarter truck, three SUVs, and six men from the Navaho County Search and Rescue team to take us to the site! Travis Walton joined us at this point.

Deuce and a Quarter loading up.

Navaho County Search and Rescue members and Phyllis halfway to the site. We stopped here to put chains on the Deuce.

We took off and passed wild mustangs and ponderosa pine over rocky ruts for roads. (Afterwards, I learned that hungry mountain lions and bear are prevalent there.) The Deuce, with chains, led the way, breaking the trail for the SUVs to follow. Even with the Deuce plowing through ahead, the SUVs slipped and slid coming precariously close to the edges of a number of chasms. No guard rails here! We were at about 7,500 feet, and there was between one to two feet of snow in the mountains. An hour and a half later we arrived near the site. We could not get to it in the vehicles. So they set up a base camp, and we had to trek about a quarter of mile to get there. Good thing I took my trekking sticks!

Setting up the base camp about a quarter mile from the site.

site location

About half way into my trek to the site I had my first fall into a snowdrift. I managed to get myself out with no help. I finally arrived and saw the complete devastation to the site from the 2002 fire. At that time it was the worst fire in Arizona history. The original trees were obviously gone with only some of their stumps remaining. Slowly, new growth was just now struggling to appear. The two photographs which follow aptly show the remains.

What's left of the site after the 2002 fire ravished it.

James Fox and Travis Walton sampling stumps from trees.

By the time I got to the site the video/audio people had already set up. James Fox and Travis Walton were busily working with hand saws to retrieve cross cuts from the stumps of trees that existed at the time of the event. (I might add that it seemed to me that Travis seemed to be a little on edge being there. James noted it too.)

These samples are intriguing because of the tree rings. Wide rings from the site trees show that from the time of the abduction in 1975 and for 15 years afterwards they experienced rapid growth. A crosscut of a tree just outside the side shows no rapid growth. Following are photographs of the samples James and Travis cut.

Cross cut of site tree with wide rings.Shows excessive growth.

Cross cut of off-site tree with narrow rings. No excessive growth.

While the stumps were being sampled there were two side shows going on. One was planned, and the other “true reality”.

The first involved Erin Ryder. I saw her putting on climbing gear. I thought: “What’s she up to?” The cameraman followed her to a large ponderosa pine. Up she went with the cameraman following all the action. She flung wildly, cutting off branches with an ax. I have no idea why she was doing this. These branches, in my opinion, would be of no value for analysis. This went on for about 45 minutes while she spewed language that would make a sailor blush! (Obviously there was no audio.) After it was over she came up to me and apologized.

Erin Ryder in the tree. Her comments: "*#@!!#@$??!!"

Then there was my side show. I was wandering around the site at the same time as the “Erin in the tree” incident. Then it happened! A log covered with about a foot of snow got in my way. It deliberately challenged me to climb over it. I took up the challenge and put my right leg a few inches in front preparing myself for the big step-over. The problem was the log was covering a large hole which was masked by the snow. My leg went down two feet and under the log. I was not going to get myself out of this one. “A little help here!” “Help!” “Help!” My hero, James Fox came trotting over to my rescue. He grabbed my arm and started pulling. I was chatting away, though no ‘sailor’ language. Then, flop, James went down, rolling in the snow also.

Assessing the situation James summoned additional help from a crew member. They got on each side of me and finally pulled me out. Then they sat me down on the ‘culprit’ log where I remained much of the remaining time. Ironically the cameraman missed the best reality shot of all the episodes they aired, that is, James and Phyllis rolling in the snow. And what was Travis Walton doing while this was going on? Like the gentleman that he is, ignoring it all, or at least trying to!

James loves to retell the story. Each time he embellishes it more. In his last version he had the snow up to five feet deep with me screeching like a magpie! I can’t wait until the next version. Or not!

Night had fallen when Travis and I were finally driven from the site in an SUV. The crew and cast remained behind to do some night filming. During the ride I admired the Arizona winter night sky. It was beautiful; with the stars so bright I believe they could actually cast your shadow on the snow! No light diffusion there! It was sort of creepy too, knowing what happened to Travis. In that desolate spot you could easily visualize a UFO silently closing in on you. I remember Travis saying to me something to that effect. “We might be arrested when the crew disappears.” (He was reflecting on the fact that when he disappeared, the sheriff thought the logging crew did Travis in.)

The show finally aired! By now most of you know what a debacle that turned out to be. It was mostly laughable and unbelievable, and soon the series was cancelled. I prayed they would not include my part. And, I was lucky! My contribution ended up on the cutting room floor. However, my name was included in the credits for a few tenths of a second.

The producers promised viewers and all participants high-tech investigations and intellectual debates on the subjects. That’s not what we got. One critic implied that all reality shows on the unexplained produce ‘bunk’. He included “Chasing UFOs” as one. They use what entertains, like “Erin in the tree”.

Two participants in the series (Ben McGee and James Fox) came out and expressed their disappointment in the series. They both had high expectations. Ben, a PhD. scientist, said he was suffering heat in his own circles. James said his credibility and reputation took a serious hit. Travis Walton also had high expectations. They told him that samples would be taken and analyzed by experts. I saw him a few months later and he asked me: “What happened to those tree samples.” I said: “Dunno”. I would say the two co-producers have some ‘splainen’ to do.

Do I regret the trip? Definitely not! The resulting debacle was an inspiration to delve further into the Travis Walton case, which I am doing.

Travis Walton and Phyllis