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Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report

A 1988 news report presents Paul Brown's account of a 1973 UFO encounter near Athens, Georgia, including his reported sighting of two humanoid figures and later reflections on the event.

Video · 1988 · 5 min

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1988

John Pruitt introduces the report by saying that visitors from outer space have fascinated humanity since the dawn of civilisation.1 It presents Paul Brown, who Bruce Erion describes as a lay minister,2 businessman,3 husband and father,4 and American Legion baseball coach.5 According to the report, the 1973 Paul Brown UFO encounter near Athens, Georgia took place on the night of 1973-10-16.6 It says that Brown was driving home along a deserted stretch of USA, Georgia, Highway 29 near USA, Georgia, Athens.7

The account is presented as Brown’s first-hand recollection. He says he has vivid memories of the Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) encounter,8 saw everything around him light up and bright lights through his windscreen,9 and saw an object land on the road in front of him.10 He says that his car stopped and its engine died,11 after which two figures emerged from the craft and approached him.12 Brown says he raised a gun beside the car door and that the figures turned around without running.13 He further says that he heard no door shut as they disappeared behind a bright light,14 which then went out.15 The report therefore preserves both the claimed observation and Brown’s uncertainty about what occurred, without presenting an independent resolution.

The report places the testimony within a wider discussion of credibility and extraterrestrial intelligence. It says the encounter brought Brown reluctantly into the national spotlight and that he was still dealing with this in 1988.16 Brown describes repeated questions about whether he was the witness, often asked with a sceptical air.1718 The report also says that many experts do not find similar accounts preposterous,19 while David Finkelstein expects human-like beings under similar conditions elsewhere and J. Allen Hynek distinguishes belief in life elsewhere from the question of whether UFOs represent it.2021 It contrasts this uncertainty with Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), described as scanning from the USA, California, Mojave Desert,22 and notes that even a detected message would do little to settle the controversy.23 Brown says he regrets publicity,24 yet stands by his recollection and considers the encounter unresolved.2526

References (30)
  1. John Pruitt says that visitors from outer space have fascinated humanity since the dawn of civilisation.
    “has fascinated man since the dawn of civilization, visitors from outer space.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:00.1-00:00:04.0
  2. Bruce Erion describes Paul Brown as a lay minister.
    “He's a lay minister, a businessman, husband, father, American Legion baseball coach.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:14.4-00:00:18.0
  3. Bruce Erion describes Paul Brown as a businessman.
    “He's a lay minister, a businessman, husband, father, American Legion baseball coach.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:14.4-00:00:18.0
  4. Bruce Erion describes Paul Brown as a husband and father.
    “He's a lay minister, a businessman, husband, father, American Legion baseball coach.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:14.4-00:00:18.0
  5. Bruce Erion describes Paul Brown as an American Legion baseball coach.
    “He's a lay minister, a businessman, husband, father, American Legion baseball coach.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:14.4-00:00:18.0
  6. The report dates the encounter to the night of 1973-10-16.
    “nothing ever happened to him on the night of October 16 1973 but it did”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:35.8-00:00:40.5
  7. The report says Brown was driving home along a deserted stretch of Highway 29 near Athens.
    “brown was driving home along this deserted stretch of highway 29 near athens”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:51.5-00:00:55.5
  8. Paul Brown says he has vivid memories of the encounter.
    “yes i have very vivid memories of what happened and what took place”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:45.4-00:00:48.8
  9. Paul Brown reports that everything around him lit up and that he saw bright lights through his windscreen.
    “everything seemed to light up around me, and I thought, well, that's strange, and I kind of looked up through the windshield, and I could see bright lights around me.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:00:57.3-00:01:07.5
  10. Paul Brown says that an object landed in front of him on the road.
    “When I realized that this thing was landing in front of me, I come to a screeching stop”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:08.0-00:01:11.7
  11. Paul Brown says that his car stopped and its engine died.
    “I come to a screeching stop, and as I stop, well, stop, and my motor just died.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:10.8-00:01:14.7
  12. Paul Brown says that two figures emerged from the craft and approached.
    “Two subjects came out from, I don't know whether they came out of the side of the craft or from underneath it, I couldn't tell that, started down the road toward me.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:15.6-00:01:22.5
  13. Paul Brown says that the figures turned around after he raised a gun.
    “So when I pulled the gun up beside the door, they turned around, did not run,”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:23.0-00:01:26.3
  14. Paul Brown says that he heard no door shut as the figures disappeared behind a bright light.
    “And as they disappeared behind that bright light, I did not hear a door shut.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:27.7-00:01:31.2
  15. Paul Brown says that the light went out after the figures disappeared.
    “Next thing I knew is the light went out.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:32.5-00:01:34.0
  16. The report says the encounter brought Brown reluctantly into the national spotlight, which he was still dealing with in 1988.
    “Paul Brown's encounter thrust him reluctantly into the national spotlight, something that he's still dealing with.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:37.6-00:01:43.2
  17. Paul Brown says that people ask whether he was the person who saw the UFO.
    “Time to time, people will say, aren't you the one that saw the UFO or the unidentified flying object?”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:43.9-00:01:51.4
  18. Paul Brown says that such questions are asked with a sceptical air.
    “Bruce Erion: With a skeptical error, do they say that? Paul Brown: Yes.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:51.6-00:01:53.1
  19. The report says that many experts do not find accounts like Brown's preposterous.
    “And while Brown has had to endure his share of skepticism, there are many experts who don't find this kind of story preposterous at all.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:01:54.0-00:02:00.8
  20. David Finkelstein expects beings not very different from humans wherever similar conditions exist in other solar systems.
    “Yes, I expect then whenever we'll find similar conditions in other solar systems, we'll probably find other beings not very different from us.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:02:01.8-00:02:11.6
  21. J. Allen Hynek says that life and intelligence may exist elsewhere, while treating their connection with UFOs as an open question.
    “My feeling is that there is a life and intelligence elsewhere. However, The big question is, is that what UFOs are?”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:02:12.3-00:02:22.8
  22. The report says that the UFO question has been clouded by natural phenomena and fakes.
    “But sadly, that question has been clouded over the years by natural phenomenon and by outright fakes.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:02:23.5-00:02:29.4
  23. The report describes SETI as a government-sponsored project scanning the heavens from the Mojave Desert with large radio telescopes.
    “For years, a government-sponsored project called SETI, or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, has been scanning the heavens from the Mojave Desert with huge radio telescopes, listening for some trace of intelligent life.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:03:18.6-00:03:31.2
  24. The report says that a SETI message would do little to settle the UFO controversy.
    “But even if they were to pick up a message from outer space, it would do little to settle the UFO controversy.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:03:32.7-00:03:37.3
  25. The report places Alpha Centauri approximately 39 trillion kilometres from Earth.
    “Our nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is 24 trillion miles away, an extraordinary journey for even some ultra-advanced life form to make.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:03:38.6-00:03:46.7
  26. Paul Brown says that he regrets making the encounter public.
    “Bruce Erion: Do you ever wish now that you hadn't made this known publicly? Paul Brown: Yes, I have thought about that a lot.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:03:57.7-00:04:02.6
  27. Paul Brown says that many people think he is crazy because of his account.
    “A lot of people think you're crazy and kooky and whatever, you know.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:04:03.2-00:04:06.6
  28. The report says that Brown stands by his recollection despite the personal price.
    “And yet, despite the personal price that he's had to pay, Paul Brown stands by his recollection of what he saw on that deserted highway that night 15 years ago.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:04:07.1-00:04:16.2
  29. Paul Brown regards the encounter as still unsolved in his own mind.
    “In my mind, it's there. What people think, I don't know. It's still unsolved in my mind.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:04:17.5-00:04:22.9
  30. Bruce Erion considers Brown's experience one of Georgia's great unsolved mysteries.
    “And what was it that he saw? Well, that's going to remain one of Georgia's great Unsolved Mysteries.”
    Paul Brown Recounts His 1973 UFO Encounter With Two Humanoids | 1988 News Report 00:04:47.0-00:04:51.3

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