Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact - Above Top Secret

4. The Emotional Component: Cosmic SeductionThe Case of Gerry IrwinIn his book on the folklore of Celtic countries, Walter Evans-Wentz reports that the mind of aperson coming out of Fairy-Land is usually blank about what has been seen and done there. Thesame is true in many modern UFO reports. The mind of Private First Class Gerry Irwin was blankindeed when he woke up on March 2, 1959, in Cedar City Hospital. He had been unconscious fortwenty-three hours, at times mumbling incoherently something about a "jacket on the bush." Whenhe became conscious his first question was: "Were there any survivors?"The story of Private Irwin is mysterious, and very little has been done to clarify it. It has beenmentioned only once in UFO literature, by the late James Lorenzen, director of the APRO group,and has not, to the best of my knowledge, been the subject of subsequent investigation. Such aninvestigation, however, would throw light on the sociological context of UFO reports. Perhaps, asLorenzen suggests, there was a military investigation that has been kept secret. If so, secrecy on thepart of the authorities, if they are really concerned with the nation's peace of mind, is not the bestcourse. The well-established facts of the Irwin case, which serves as our introduction to a discussionof the problem or "contact," makes it clear that open research is now imperative on all aspects of thephenomenon.Late on February 28, 1959, Gerry Irwin, a Nike missile technician, was driving from Nampa, Idaho,back to his barracks at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. He had reached Cedar City, Utah, and turnedsoutheast on Route 14 when he observed an unusual phenomenon six miles after the turnoff. Thelandscape brightened, and a glowing object crossed the sky from right to left. Irwin stopped the carand got out. He watched the object continue to the east until hidden from view by a ridge.The witness decided that he might have seen an airliner on fire attempting a forced landing, inwhich case there was no time to lose. Consequently, instead of resuming his journey, Irwin wrote anote ("Have gone to investigate possible plane crash. Please call law enforcement officers.") andplaced it on the steering wheel of his car. Using shoe polish, he wrote "STOP" on the side of his car,to make sure people would find his note, and then started out on foot.Approximately thirty minutes later, a fish and game inspector did stop. He took the note to theCedar City sheriff, Otto Pfief, who gathered a party of volunteers and returned to the site. Ninetyminutes after he had sighted the strange object, Gerry Irwin was discovered unconscious and takento the hospital. No trace of an airplane crash was found.At the hospital, Dr. Broadbent observed that Irwin's temperature and respiration were normal. Heseemed merely asleep, but he could not be awakened. Dr. Broadbent diagnosed hysteria. Then,when Irwin did wake up, he felt fine although he was still puzzled by the object he had seen. Hewas also puzzled by the disappearance of his jacket. He was assured that he was not wearing itwhen he was found by the search party. Irwin was flown back to Fort Bliss and placed underobservation at William Beaumont Army Hospital for four days, after which period he returned toduty. His security clearance, however, was revoked.Several days later, Irwin fainted while walking in the camp, but he recovered rapidly. Several daysafterward, on Sunday, March 15, he fainted again in an El Paso street and was taken to SouthwestGeneral Hospital. There his physical condition was found similar to that observed in Cedar City. Hewoke up at about 2:00 A.M. on Monday and asked: "Where there any survivors?" He was told thatthe date was not February 28 but March 16. Once more, he was taken to William BeaumontHospital and placed under observation by psychiatrists. He remained there over one month.Lorenzen reports that, according to a Captain Valentine, the results of the tests indicated that Irwinwas normal. He was discharged from the hospital on April 17.The next day, following a very powerful urge, he left the fort without leave, caught a bus in El Paso,arrived in Cedar City Sunday afternoon (April 19), walked to the spot where he had seen the object,left the road, and went back through the hills – right to a bush where his jacket lay. There was a