Travis Walton - Walton's Return Makes The News

Walton's Return Makes The News

By Tuesday afternoon, word of Walton's return had leaked out to the public. Duane took a telephone call from Spaulding, and told Spaulding not to bother the family again. Clark writes that after this telephone call, "Spaulding became a sworn enemy in the case." (Clark 363)

Among the other telephone calls after news of Walton's return was one from Coral Lorenzen of APRO, a civilian UFO research group. She promised Duane that she could arrange an examination for Walton by two medical doctors — general practitioner Joseph Saults and pediatrician Howard Kandell — at Duane's home. Duane agreed, and the exam began at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Clark writes that "between Lorenzen's call and the physicians' examination, another party would enter, and hugely complicate, the story". (Clark, 636) Lorenzen was telephoned by an employee of the National Enquirer, an American tabloid newspaper known for its sensationalistic tone. The Enquirer employee promised to finance APRO's investigation, in exchange for APRO's "cooperation and access to the Waltons". Since the Enquirer's financial resources were far greater than APRO's, Lorenzen agreed to the arrangement. (Clark, 363)

The medical examination revealed that Walton was essentially in good health, but they did note two unusual features:

• A small red spot at the crease of Walton's right elbow that was consistent with a hypodermic injection, but the doctors also noted that the spot was not near a vein.
• Analysis of Walton's urine revealed a lack of ketones. This was unusual, given that if Walton had indeed been gone for five days with little or no food as he insisted (and as his weight loss suggested), his body should have begun breaking down fats in order to survive, and this should have led to very high levels of ketone in his urine. Critics would argue this inconsistency is evidence against Walton's story.

Walton would later speculate that he had gotten the mark on his elbow in the course of his logging work; critics would speculate that the mark showed where Walton (or someone else) had injected drugs into his system. Clark dismisses this possibility of drugging as most unlikely, given that the medical doctors found no sign of it, but he also notes that perhaps "more difficult to explain is the absence of bruises, which one might expect in the wake of Walton's alleged beam-driven collision with the ground". (Clark 637) Walton later noted that he had been an amateur boxer and had rarely bruised even after rough matches; he also noted that in his logging duties, he and others had taken some painful bumps and falls which had not left significant marks.

When Sheriff Gillespie learned of Walton's return through the mass media, he was angered. Gillespie thought that he had demonstrated his belief in the UFO story with his announcement following the polygraph exams. However, Duane was still bitter over what he saw as the lackadaisical search effort during Walton's absence. Walton then told Gillespie what had happened during the five days he had been gone. It was the first time he had told anyone the tale, other than his family or close friends.