Empire unusual suggested

88 PASSPORT TO MAGONIA
He had reached Cedar City, Utah, and turned southeast on Route
14 when he observed an unusual phenomenon, six miles after the
turnoff. The landscape brightened, and a glowing object crossed
the sky from right to left. Irwin stopped the car and got out. He
had time to watch the object as it continued in an easterly direction
until hidden from view by a ridge.
The witness decided that he might have seen an airliner on fire
attempting a forced landing, in which case there was no time to
lose. Consequently, instead of resuming his journey, Irwin wrote
a note ("Have gone to investigate possible plane crash. Please
call law enforcement officers.") and placed 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 the Cedar City sheriff, Otto Pfief,
who gathered a party of volunteers and returned to the site. Ninety
minutes after he had sighted the strange "object," Gerry Irwin
was discovered unconscious and taken to the hospital. No trace
of an airplane crash was found.
At the hospital, Dr. Broadbent observed that Irwin's temperature
and respiration were normal. He seemed merely to be 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. He was also puzzled by the
disappearance of his jacket: he was assured that he was not wearing
it when he was found by the search party. Irwin was flown
back to Fort Bliss and placed under observation at William Beaumont
Army Hospital for four days, after which period he returned
to duty. His security clearance, however, was revoked.
Several days later, Irwin fainted while walking in the camp,
but he recovered rapidly. Several days afterward, on Sunday,
March 15, he fainted again in an El Paso street and was taken to
Southwest General Hospital. There his physical condition was
found similar to that observed in Cedar City. He woke up about
2:00 A.M. on Monday and asked: "Were there any survivors?"
He was told that the date was not February 28 but March 16.
Once more, he was taken to William Beaumont Hospital and
TO MAGONIA . . . AND BACK! 89
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 he was normal. He was
discharged on April 17.
The next day, following an unidentifiable but 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 w^nt back
through the hills—right to a bush where his jacket lay. There was a
pencil in a buttonhole with a piece of paper wound tightly around
it. He took the paper and burned it. Then he seemed to come out
of a trance. He had to look for the road. Not understanding why
he had come there, he turned himself in and thus met Sheriff Otto
Pfief, who gave him the details of the first incident.
The Lorenzens contacted Irwin after he had returned to Fort
Bliss and undergone a new psychological examination, as futile
as the previous one. His case came to the attention of the Inspector
General, who ordered a new examination. On July 10,
Irwin rccntered William Beaumont Army Hospital. On August
1, he failed to report for duty. One month later he was listed as a
deserter. He was never seen again.
NEW HAMPSHIRE REVISITED
The Irwin case is reminiscent of another incident that has become
one of the standards of modern American folklore: the
report by Betty and Barney Hill and their examination under
hypnosis by Dr. Benjamin Simon, which has been documented
at length by John Fuller in his excellent book, The Interrupted
Journey. 2 The reader must carry in mind the main features of the
Irwin and Hill cases in order to follow the discussion that is the
object of the present chapter, so those already familiar with the
cases must forgive me if I repeat what is already well known to
them. But in so doing, I hope some observations will come to
light that have not previously been published.
Report No. 100-1-61, in the files of the 100th Bomb Wing,
Strategic Air Command, Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire,
was prepared by Major Paul W. Henderson. The only official