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| Drawing by Billy Norris as described by the witness |
August 6, 1977, near Pelham, Georgia (20 miles north of Thomasville), in Mitchell County. At 10:30 a.m., retired automobile salesman Tom Dawson (sixty-three years old, at the time) took a walk down to his favorite pond to see how it looked for fishing later that day.
Just as he got inside the fence surrounding the pond, a circular space ship zipped right in between the trees and hovered just a few feet above the ground. At the same time he found himself, his two dogs and twenty head of cattle, frozen in place by an unseen force.
Dawson said the craft was about 15 feet high and 50 feet in diameter. It had portholes all around and a dome on top. It made no sound and changed colors rapidly from one to another. Suddenly, a ramp came down and out came seven hairless, snow-white beings, about 5 feet tall, with pointed ears and noses.
Some had on tight-fitting one-piece suits while others wore nothing. They talked in a high-pitched' gibberish he could not understand.
They conducted what he thought to be a medical exam of some kind. They placed a skullcap-like device on his head and a large hula hoop-shaped thing (connected to a box) around his midsection. After they had collected "some leaves and stuff," they got back on the ship and were gone in the blink of an eye.
Once free, Mr. Dawson ran uphill (about 300 yards) to his trailer. He was having trouble breathing and talking, so he was taken to the Mitchell County Hospital, where the doctor said he had been shaken both mentally and physically from his encounter with the UFO and its occupants. He was treated for hysteria (given something to calm him down) and later released. Dawson said he believed that if he had been a younger man the extraterrestrials would have taken him away. - Billy J. Rachels / Billy Norris - UFO Bureau of Georgia
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The following is another version of the original report that includes other information:
Location: Pelham, Georgia
Date/Time: August 6, 1977 - 10:30 am local time
"I AM JIMMY HOFFA"
Tom Dawson, 63 and retired, was walking with his two dogs from his trailer home to a nearby farm when a "circular shaped space ship" with a dome and portholes, 40-50 ft in diameter and 12-14 ft high, hovered several feet off the ground in a field in front of him. He immediately noticed that he was unable to move a muscle as well as his dogs and the cattle in the field seemed likewise to be immobilized.
A hatch in the object opened, a ramp was extended, and 7 strange looking humanoids 5 ft tall emerged, five men and two women. The first stepped down cautiously, as if to test the solidity of the ground; then the rest followed, with two taking up sentry positions at the hatch. They were all hairless, with skin "as white as a flour sack," their noses were sharp and turned up, their ears were pointed, and they had no necks. One of the men and one of the women were completely nude. The clothing of the rest, male and female alike, was very beautiful with silk like shoes with pointed, turned up toes.
The humanoids cautiously approached Dawson and gave him a kind of physical examination, placing on his head a skullcap with cords connecting it to a hoop bearing dials. They dropped his trousers and lifted his shirt for the examination, passing the hoop over his body. While the examination was in progress, a loud voice came from the object, shouting three times "I am Jimmy Hoffa" (!) a fourth repetition was cut off, and the voice was not heard again.
After completing the examination, all returned to the craft except two men, who walked about 10 feet away and "went into a conference." They had very shrill voices, and although Dawson was unable to comprehend what it was they said, he thought he heard the word "Jupiter." He had the impression they were debating whether or not to take him on board; at any rate, they did not, and the leader passed his palm across his chest as though to signal good-bye. They reentered the ship, closed the hatch, and took off. He saw the object rise to 75 feet then, in a wink, it was out of sight. Dawson was then freed of his paralysis; he ran directly to his next-door neighbor, but was so excited he could say nothing more than "space ship!" He was taken to a hospital and treated for hysteria. - Billy J. Rachels - UFO Bureau of Georgia
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6 August 1977 10:30
Pelham, Georgia, USA
Paralysis, 5 beings with sharp noses, pointed ears, no necks, pale white skin, removed his shirt and pants in pasture, placed skull cap on his head, heard voice in head, something about "Jimmy Hoffa". Explanation: Hoax.
An abduction of a witness was reported. One disc was observed by one male 63-year-old witness in a pasture for two minutes (Dawson, T). Five pallid beings were seen.
Tom Dawson, 63 and retired, was walking with his two dogs from his trailer home to a nearby farm when a "circular shaped space ship" with a dome and portholes, 40-50 ft in diameter and 12-14 ft high, set down in a field in front of him, hovering several feet off the ground. He found he was unable to move a muscle, and his dogs, as well as the cattle in the field, seemed likewise to be immobilized. A hatch in the object opened, a ramp was extended, and 7 strange looking humans 5 ft tall emerged, five men and two women. The first to leave stepped down cautiously, as if to test the solidity of the ground; then the rest followed, with two taking up sentry positions at the hatch. They were all hairless, with skin "as white as a flour sack," their noses were sharp and turned up, their ears were pointed, and they had no necks. One of the men and one of the women were completely nude. The clothing of the rest-males and females alike-was very beautiful with silk like shoes with pointed, turned up toes. The humanoids cautiously approached Dawson, and gave him a kind of physical examination, placing on his head a skullcap with cords connecting it to a hoop bearing dials. They dropped his trousers and lifted his shirt for the examination, passing the hoop over his body. While the examination was in progress, a loud voice came from the object, shouting three times " I am Jimmy Hoffa" (!) a fourth repetition was cut off, and the voice was not heard again. After completing the examination, all returned to the craft except two men, who walked about 10 feet away and "went into a conference." They had very shrill voices, and although Dawson was unable to comprehend what it was they said, he thought he heard the word "Jupiter." He had the impression they were debating whether or not to take him onboard; at any rate, they did not, and the leader passed his palm across his chest as though to signal good-bye. They reentered the ship, closed the hatch, and took off. He saw the object rise to 75 feet, and then in a wink it was out of sight. Dawson was then freed of his paralysis; he ran directly to his next-door neighbor, but was so excited he could say nothing more than "space ship!" He was taken to a hospital and treated for hysteria. - www.ufodna.com
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Tom Dawson made his living selling cars in Florida, then retired to the peaceful community of Pelham. He was 63 years old on August 6, 1977, living in a mobile home park on Vada Road with his wife and daughter. He arose early that Saturday morning, then took his girl to visit Linda Kolbie, who owned a house adjacent to the mobile homes. Dawson was a frequent visitor to the Kolbie home, where he enjoyed playing with their infant son.
After chatting with Linda for a few minutes, Dawson decided to walk to a nearby pond and see if conditions looked right for fishing. He set out accompanied by his two dogs, walking through a pasture occupied by 50 cows to approach the fishing hole, located in a grove of trees.
It was a beautiful day, the countryside quiet as Dawson neared the water. When he was 100 feet from the water, a circular space ship instantly appeared and hovered four feet above the ground in front of him. It was 40 to 50 feet in diameter and 12 to 14 feet high. A protrusion like a cabin was on top of the craft, which seemed to be colored shades of several different hues.
Dawson was frozen in place-he could not move a muscle. The cattle in his field of vision were also frozen, as were his dogs-one had a leg suspended in the air, stilled as it took a step.
A hatch opened on the ship and a figure emerged that Dawson dubbed the "leader." He seemed hesitant to disembark and his first step was tentative, but then he motioned four more aliens to join him. At the same moment, two "sentries" appeared on top of the craft.
Of the five humanoids that approached Dawson, three were men and two were women. All were beautiful and shapely, their skin a bloodless, powder-puff white. Their ears were sharp their small noses upturned. They had no neck-their heads sat directly on their shoulders. Their heads were hairless, as were the rest of their bodies. Dawson knew because a male and a female alien were naked.
The other three wore identical clothing, beautiful and with a texture and color that defied description. Their shoes, of the same material, ended in sharp, one inch high turned up toes.
After hesitantly approaching Dawson, the aliens preceded to conduct a medical examination. A device similar to a skullcap was placed on his head. It was connected by cords to a hula hoop sized ring which contained an extensive series of dials. During the electronic survey, the creatures stepped up to Dawson and dropped his pants, apparently to check his sex.
At this point Tom Dawson was transported to Oz. From the interior of the ship a human voice announced: "I am Jimmy Hoffa. I am Jimmy Hoffa. I am Jimmy Hoffa and I'm in this ship. I am..." and the voice was abruptly silenced and not heard again.
Hoffa was a notorious labor leader who had disappeared several years earlier and never reappeared.
As each alien completed their part of the exam, they reentered the ship. The last two removed the headset from Dawson, then conferred. They had appeared to communicate during the medical tests, emitting a shrill, high pitched sound that struck Dawson as gibberish. One of the females kept repeating a word that sounded to Dawson like "Jupiter."
Dawson thought the creatures were debating whether they should take him with them. They declined to kidnap Dawson and the leader "waved" goodbye by crossing his open palm across his chest, then they boarded the ship. Within seconds the ship quickly rose to 75 feet and vanished soundlessly.
Man and animals were instantly released from the force that had immobilized them. Dawson hastily secured his clothing and ran to the Kolbie house, where Linda was working in the yard about 9:15 a.m.
"He was in bad shape," Linda told a reporter. "He couldn't talk at all. I looked up to see him waving his arms and struggling for breath."
She sat Dawson down and fetched a cool rag to help calm him. The man was "wheezing and rocking, wild-eyed," she said.
Linda attempted to learn what had happened, but all Dawson could choke out was "space ship." Fearing for his life, Kolbie called an ambulance, which rushed him to the hospital.
Dawson recovered, but the experience had him shaken for days. Despite experiencing the disbelief of others, he stuck to his story, saying: "I don't care what they say. This is the truth...I'm not crazy. I wasn't drinking. I've never had a mental condition.
"The whole time it happened, my mind was alert. I knew what was happening...I do know what I've seen. I do know what happened."
Several months later I traveled to Pelham and spent a Saturday with Dawson, interviewing him, the neighbors, and the paramedics (the doctor told me to leave him the hell alone). Everybody accepted Dawson's story, and none thought a person could fake that degree of distress. This remains Georgia's most bizarre story, and I know something happened to Dawson-I'm just not certain what. - 'Weird Georgia' - Jim Miles - 2006
