Ron Felber - Mojave Incident: Inspired by a Chilling Story of Alien Abduction

The devil might be a presence from another universe. We might be fighting an implaccable enemy out there and the devil might be the agent of the implaccable enemy with God as the tired general fighting that war with his own agents of hope."

Norman Mailer

David Frost Interview

November, 1992

Mojave Incident

Highly unusual, traumatizing events outside the realm of normal, human experiences.

Bernard Vittone, M.D.

National Center for Psychiatric Disorders

Washington, D.C.

The most compelling case of its kind I have ever encountered.

William L. Anixter, M.D.

Mountain Psychiatric Center

Asheville, North Carolina

This book for the two Mikes: Pierce and O'Brien

WHAT FOLLOWS IS an incredible true story. If these adjectives seem a contradiction, they are not because the story Im about to relate defies both our senses and the reality we share, yet it is absolutely true.

In November, 1990, while I was on a business trip to California, Paul Moran, a longtime associate, told me about Tom and Elise Gifford and the trauma they endured while in the Mojave Desert some thirteen months earlier. It was over dinner and in confidence because few people knew of what had occurred.

Frankly, the Giffords were afraid to tell anyone outside their immediate family and Paul, Toms closest friend, for fear of ridicule. Nevertheless, Paul felt it important that I know. As a writer, the story would be of interest to me and Paul knew it. As a friend of the Giffords, he hoped that having someone listen to and communicate their astounding encounter would aid them in at last coming to grips with the experience.

Tom and Elise Gifford are stable, credible individuals. Tom is a thirty-two year old supervisor of large construction projects. He is a graduate of the University of Redlands where he excelled in football as an all-league linebacker in the early 1980s. Ones immediate impression upon meeting him holds. Tom is a quietly confident, self-reliant man. The kind of witness any attorney would relish having on his side in a case where the outcome hinged on a single individuals testimony.

As a person, Elise Gifford is no less impressive. Like her husband, she is the product of a middle class upbringing and a University of Redlands graduate. Elise is the mother of three: Thomas, age 2; Zoe, 5 months; and Ashley, yet unborn at the time of their abduction. She is gentle, yet strong-willed, particularly when it comes to her family. The more sensitive of the two, Elise is the recorder of fine detail; the problem solver confronted on the evening of October 22, 1989, with a mystery she and Tom will be forced to contemplate for the rest of their lives.

This is their story. A crack in the wall, if you will, that offers the rare opportunity to see beyond this reality into another so startingly different that it will change the way you view mans place in the world forever.

R.F.

Mendham, New Jersey

September, 2015

The moon shall bleed its light, And the stars shall fall from the heavens.

Revelation 6:12-13

WHEN WE FIRST saw them dropping from the sky we thought it was some kind of military maneuver; maybe for Operation Desert Storm. But it was too massive even for that. I mean, there were thousands of them falling, then rushing toward us.

So I kicked out the campfire, grabbed my gun, and ran into the back of the camper with Elise. Then we sat there, Indian-style, waiting. Until they came. Thousands of them. Thousands of pairs of tiny, red eyes glowing in the dark around us.

Tom Gifford

La Mirada, California

October 20, 1989

12:20 p.m.

T he getaway weekend Tom had promised seemed a godsend, Elise was thinking as she vacuumed the wall to wall carpeting in their living room. Outside, Tom was packing the 1987 Ford pick-up his Dad had lent them for the trip. Complete with campers shell, a double bed and fully carpeted interior, she was hopeful its conveniences would make their weekend in the Mojave Desert more bearable.

Originally, it had started as a hunting trip, an idea she found abhorrent, but now their plans had expanded to include a stop at Cima Dome and sightseeing at Mitchell Caverns. Not exactly a jaunt to the Islands, but these days with the kids and Toms hectic schedule, just getting away together was enough to satisfy her. Besides, theyd be camping at Midhills which Tom knew to be clean and well cared for, so it wouldnt really be roughing it.

She flicked off the Electrolux. Her eyes scanned the living room for toys, baby bottles and Zweiback toast; the artifacts a young mom came to expect after having scoured their four bedroom ranch-style home for the better part of the morning. Call her the nervous type or just plain conscientious, but she wanted the house to look right. After all, Toms parents werent obliged to babysit and agreeing to take care of the kids for the weekend was a big favor. The least she could do was to see to it that the place was clean, with beds made and dishes done. She bent down to retrieve a Transformer Tom Jr. had tucked away beneath the coffee table.

Elise turned the plastic toy inward so that the spaceship converted into a tiny, green monster howling up from the center of her palm. The face was twisted grotesquely, whether in fierceness or in pain she could not tell. She studied it for a drawn moment. Why on earth would a silly toy like this seem so strangely significant? she wondered before tossing it into the toy chest in the corner of the room.

Thomas! Tommy, where are you? she called. Elise Gifford padded through the hallway and into the babys bedroom looking immediately to the crib where Zoe, their five month old, lay fitfully sleeping. Her hair was blonde and her skin fair like Elises. Her legs and body were long and extended beneath the cotton blanket. Gonna make a fine sprinter someday, Elise reflected in a flash of memories back to her track days at Chaffey High. A natural born runner.

The thought had no sooner passed through her mind when she caught sight of Tom Jr. Already a climber at 2 years of age, he was on the other side of the crib attempting to scale the guardrail! She rushed across the room in time to catch him, then shook her head at the futility of it all.

You little monkey! she scolded holding his face six inches from her own. You were gonna pounce on your baby sister, werent you?

She rubbed her nose up against his. He giggled and squirmed as Elise held him back from her again, staring deep into his crystal blue eyes. For a split second she thought she saw something in them; no behind them, that caused her pause. Quite unlike his own, these appeared the wizened, knowing eyes not of a toddler, but of an old man. We know one another well, the eyes seemed to be saying. We are the same, you and me, in mind and body and soul.

These reflections were interrupted by the sound of Toms heavy footfall as his 61, 225 pound frame ambled down the hallway toward Zoes room.

Where the hell are they? he pled in exasperation.

Shhh, Elise hissed back at him. The baby!

He held up his right hand in a gesture of compliance. Sorry, I didnt know she was sleeping....

She screwed her eyes to the ceiling, feeling every minute of their five-year marriage, then gathered Tom Jr. in her arms.

Have you called? she asked once theyd entered the hallway.

Yeah, yeah, I called. Theres no answer.

She planted Tom Jr. feet-first on the carpet, then bent down to tie his shoe.

Then, theyre on their way. Theres no need to have a heart attack about it! Youll get to shoot your deer or buck or whatever it is youre after. I swear, sometimes I think youre more of a little boy than your son!