Two Cowboys, 58 Miles Apart, and the UFO Encounters That Destroyed One Marriage but Healed Another Man’s Body
In the rugged terrain of Wyoming during the mid-1970s, two remarkable UFO encounters took place. What makes these cases particularly compelling is not just the extraordinary nature of the events, but the credibility of the witnesses involved: Pat McGuire and Carl Higdon, both hardworking men deeply rooted in Wyoming’s traditional cowboy culture.
Pat McGuire’s story began in 1973 on his 5,000-acre ranch in Bosler, Wyoming, a tiny town with a population of just ten. McGuire, a rancher accustomed to the practical realities of agricultural life, started experiencing a series of inexplicable events that would span several years. It began with observations of strange orange glows and streaking lights across his property, followed by disturbing discoveries of mutilated cattle. But what truly set McGuire’s case apart was his claim of regular UFO landings on his property — he would later testify on ABC Eyewitness News that UFOs had landed “twenty-five to thirty times” on his ranch.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of McGuire’s encounters came through some tangible results. After receiving what he described as telepathic messages, he was guided to dig in a specific location on his drought-stricken ranch. The result was the discovery of a 5,000-gallon freshwater source 350 feet below ground — a finding that defied local geological expectations. However, these experiences came at a considerable personal cost. McGuire’s claims led to the dissolution of his marriage and strained family relationships, though he later remarried and had thirteen children.
Meanwhile, approximately 58 miles away, an even more extraordinary encounter would unfold on October 25, 1974. Carl Higdon, a 41-year-old oil rig foreman was elk hunting in Medicine Bow National Forest when his life changed forever. The incident began with a seemingly mundane act — taking aim at a group of elk. But what happened next defied physics: his rifle bullet appeared to move in slow motion before dropping to the ground 50 feet away. The bullet, later recovered from Higdon’s pocket, was inexplicably flattened and turned inside out, baffling ballistics experts.
Higdon’s encounter escalated with the appearance of a being he would later identify as “Osso 1 ” — a six-foot-tall humanoid with distinctive features including yellow skin, straw-like hair with antennae, and a mechanical drill-like appendage instead of a right hand. What followed sounds like science fiction: Higdon, a tough-as-nails oil rig foreman who rarely took medication and “didn’t even like taking aspirin,” found himself inexplicably accepting pills from an alien stranger. When “Osso 1” offered him a pack containing several pills, explaining they were “for nourishment,” Higdon did something completely out of character — he took one. This moment stands out as particularly strange, not only because of the obvious risks of accepting unknown substances from an otherworldly being, but because it went against Higdon’s own well-established habits and natural skepticism.
Higdon then accepted an invitation aboard a cube-shaped spacecraft, reportedly traveling 163,000 light years in mere minutes to a planet featuring a tower reminiscent of Seattle’s Space Needle.
Carl Higdon’s extraordinary journey came to an abrupt and almost humiliating end. Higdon found himself standing on a platform facing what seemed to be an advanced scanning device. The device emerged from the wall, performed its mysterious assessment, and then retreated — only for “Osso 1” to deliver the cosmic equivalent of a Tinder rejection: “You’re not what we’re looking for.”
While the aliens may have rejected Higdon, they seemed to have left him with an unexpected parting gift — one that would perplex medical professionals. This was an event that he wouldn’t remember until later.
When found in a state of confusion later that night in the middle of the forest after this encounter, he was rushed to Carbon County Memorial Hospital. X-rays revealed that his tuberculosis scars had vanished, and his kidney stones had disappeared. How could that happen? In a state of confusion he could not recognize his wife, or could even recall his own name.
Dr. Leo Sprinkle, a prominent UFO researcher, investigated both McGuire’s and Higdon’s cases, conducting hypnosis sessions that helped uncover additional details while maintaining the consistency of their accounts. Higdon passed polygraph tests, went into detail on his encounter with Osso 1, and his story remained remarkably consistent over the decades. His wife, Margery, would eventually document the full account in a book published in 2017, shortly before Higdon’s passing in January 2022 at the age of 88.
What makes these cases particularly noteworthy is the cultural context. Both McGuire and Higdon were archetypal Wyoming cowboys — practical, no-nonsense men whose livelihoods depended on maintaining credibility within their communities. These were not individuals seeking attention or financial gain; if anything, their experiences brought unwanted scrutiny and ridicule. McGuire’s later political aspirations were derailed by his UFO claims, while Higdon largely avoided the spotlight, preferring to focus on his work and family rather than capitalize on his experience.
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