Neo (00:00)
Andrew, I had my hair cut, my ears waxed, my nose hairs trimmed, I had a facial and foot reflexology, you know why? Because I'm so excited this is our first guest episode
Android (00:00)
Yeah.
Why?
Neo (00:10)
so let's just get started. Welcome to another episode of Mostly True Alien Stories.
Android (00:12)
Let's just.
Neo (00:30)
is going to be a great show today because we have a very special guest coming on our first guest ever.
Michelle Hurd from the Picard series, Star Trek Picard. Yes. Yes. I love how you pretend to be excited. I love how you pretend to be excited knowing you knew who our guest was going to be.
Android (00:39)
No way! my gosh, this is exciting.
It's true, you just told me five minutes ago who the guest was,
Neo (00:50)
That is true.
Android (00:51)
I was more excited then than not. Now I'm still excited, but she's not here yet, so.
Neo (00:54)
I know. Well,
you're going to get even more excited when she gets on here. She's a wonderful person. And you know what? Our story today is really a good one. I'm excited about this. The Travis Walton
alien abduction episode. This logger out in Arizona in 1975 was abducted by aliens and gone for five days. It's a great story. We're going to, we're going to dig into that, see if that is a mostly true alien story. And before we get to all of that,
Android (01:21)
Yeah?
Neo (01:21)
Let's get into the alien news and entertainment.
Android (01:22)
Alien is alien
Okay, so you might know this. You might not know this.
White House, the White House finally gave us answers on the drones. Isn't this fantastic?
Neo (01:33)
yeah, I've seen
some of those reports, but let's see what you're
Android (01:37)
Well, what I'm going to report is New Jersey residents and disbelief over White House answers on the drones.
said. Yeah.
Neo (01:44)
Well, because they're not telling us anything. They're saying it's
classified, but then when you ask this general, well, what's classified about it? He says, well, I don't have my notes in front of
Android (01:53)
So local leaders there are not satisfied with the answer. The White House says that the drones were approved by the FAA.
wave of drone sightings baffled and concerned residents for the longest time in New Jersey. I mean, they were there for like what? Over a week, right? Just in the sky at night, just hanging
So the fears that the drones could be connected to foreign adversaries as residents questioned why were there so many sightings?
President Donald Trump vowed, he vowed to get to the bottom of the issue. Yep, he did. And at a White House briefing, it said the drones were approved by FAA and nothing to be concerned about.
Neo (02:23)
He did. He did.
Okay, well then there you have it. I'm not concerned anymore.
Android (02:33)
So.
You know, when we talked about this, we talked about a lot of things. We talked about them looking for radiation. We talked about them possibly being UAPs or UFOs. We talked about them just being guys recreationing with their drones
Neo (02:36)
I mean...
Yes.
Yeah. Yes.
Android (02:50)
Yeah.
Neo (02:51)
But now, I've been told it's
So we're good!
Android (02:55)
So,
Wait a second. I'm not good with it. You know why I'm not good with it? Because they chose their words carefully, which they always do. They like they're not dancing around it. So my question is, if it's the FAA doing research, what research is it? Why are they doing research? I don't understand. I mean, do we want to talk about what's over near that area in New Jersey? Do we want to talk about the Pekingini Arsenal, right? That's located in New Jersey?
Neo (02:57)
No, why?
Well,
long as the government is saying it's ours and no matter who they're pushing it up
Android (03:25)
and it's safe, then we should be
Neo (03:26)
I think that's where we go.
Android (03:27)
No, no, no, you're right.
it.
Neo (03:28)
I've
had it with the drones.
Android (03:30)
Yeah, but you know what's weird about the drones?
Is that literally four days ago?
In Mercer County,
in Ohio, the same thing is going on with several drone sightings.
Neo (03:37)
Wait, in Ohio? Wait, in Ohio the same thing's going on? You know what, there's all... Let me just tell
you something. The weirdest things happen in Ohio
the fact that they're now adding drones on top of it, I think they just got jealous of New Jersey and they're just like, let's send them up.
Android (03:46)
Well, you know what's... Okay, okay.
Okay, so the FAA, FBI, and local law enforcement's there in Mercer County
been contacted to coordinate an investigation.
origins of the drones are unknown, but you know what? We've already decided folks, don't worry about it. It is the FAA doing these
for.
Neo (04:08)
all saying the same thing.
Android (04:10)
Yeah, they're all saying the same
know what? I had a problem.
Neo (04:12)
Why are you so cynical
about this? Why are you so angry about the drones?
Android (04:16)
I'm not, I'm not, listen, listen, listen. No, I'm not angry. I'm not angry. I just find it odd. I feel like it's not everything, yeah.
Neo (04:17)
You seem angry.
You feel like they're not telling us everything.
Yeah, well,
so I mean, if you're going to get angry about drones not being told everything about the drones, I mean, God, you're not going to make it through this.
Android (04:34)
You're right.
Neo (04:35)
All right, what else you got?
Android (04:35)
This is my last
Upcoming UFO documentary.
It's called,
The Age of
Is there a way that you can echo, put an echo on me when I say that maybe?
Neo (04:43)
I'll totally
put an echo on it. You know what? Why don't you just do the echo? hear it.
Android (04:47)
the age of disclosure.
Neo (04:51)
Yeah,
I don't need to spend money on effects. got you. Yeah. That's
Android (04:53)
Yeah, no effects. I'll be in the special effects. If you need a beatbox, I can do that
The Age of Disclosure, it is a documentary based on UFO sightings and discoveries.
And it's claiming to lift the lid on an 80 year old coverup.
movie is scheduled to come out this March, 2025.
what's weird is
the movie was actually supposed to come out last year in 2024.
Neo (05:19)
So why do you think stopped
Android (05:20)
They probably uncovered something different, right? Something new, something unprecedented, something revolutionary.
Neo (05:20)
been an, it's, yeah. Right. Well, or
it's, it has been a, 2024 was a very active year for UFOs, alien, you know, phenomena and all of that stuff.
Android (05:33)
Yes it was. Yes it was.
Neo (05:35)
it's one of those things where I think, it was probably smart by the producers to say, Hey, let's just pause this now. Cause there's a lot of stuff going on. Let's see how this year takes us.
Android (05:45)
So to our listeners out there, if you're interested in reading on this article, you can check it out in
Neo (05:49)
All right. What else you got?
Android (05:50)
Paradise just premiered on Hulu.
Neo (05:52)
I've been seeing the coming attractions for this, man. I can't wait to watch it to tell our listeners what it's about.
Android (05:57)
can't tell you too much because it's going to spoil it for you. It involves a secret.
Neo (06:01)
Everybody dies. Everybody dies
and there's
Android (06:03)
not going to spoil it. But I will tell you this. It stars Sterling K. Brown, James Mardson, and Julian Nicholson. And those three actors, they're fantastic actors. the show is amazing. I've watched the first three episodes. The fourth episode doesn't hit until next week.
at the end of the first episode, your mind is going to be blown.
Neo (06:24)
I can't wait. love a show like that. And now I'm can you know how I am out about the series of an alien series stuff. I'm hoping this looks really good. I'm glad you recommended it. I'm going to make that a watch starting tomorrow.
what's up
Android (06:39)
Jimi Hendrix, frickin' amazing musician,
Neo (06:43)
Is he an alien?
Android (06:44)
No, he's not an alien. But did you know the song Purple Haze?
It's not about weed.
Neo (06:52)
What's it about?
Android (06:53)
It's about aliens.
It is about, yeah,
Neo (06:55)
Is it really?
Android (06:57)
it's about aliens.
Hendrix was a huge sci-fi
As a child, he loved Flash Gordon, the serials of Flash Gordon, right? He watched them all the time. He even told his parents to call him Buster, the name he borrowed from the lead actor.
Neo (07:06)
Okay.
Android (07:14)
He used to draw flying saucers. He used to read all types of fiction. He wrote fan fiction.
he was in Greenwich Village playing a
Chas Chandler,
former bassist of the
was like blown away by him and convinced him to fly to
He gets to Chandler's house and he sees that this guy's got nothing but bookshelves stuffed full of sci-fi
Novels that Hendrix had never heard of before.
read this novel,
Philip,
Jose Farmer's 1957 novel, Night of Light.
It's a story about an interstellar sun rolling up once a generation to start warping and distorting
also mentioned the purplish haze of sunspots glowing around the distant
And the phrase resonated with Hendrix.
Neo (08:02)
Wow.
Android (08:06)
Okay?
Neo (08:05)
That's the origin of that song.
Android (08:07)
it gets
He wrote,
a 10 page, thousand word poem about the bloody, war-filled history of the planet Neptune. After the show, he edited it down,
paired it with a guitar riff he'd been working on, and Purple Haze was born.
Neo (08:20)
Okay.
There
we
F'n Hendrix.
Android (08:26)
Jimmy
Neo (08:26)
You know, it's funny how things evolve, right? How it came to be. If he hadn't gone there, seen that novel.
Android (08:27)
And third, he...
Right. it's a weed. It's got to be
would have never wrote purple
Neo (08:32)
not that's all yeah
Now I'm not only going to watch the Paradise series, I'm going to go listen to some Jimi Hendrix after this
Android (08:40)
after you smoke a bunch of weed.
Neo (08:42)
You know what? I'm so excited. I know I rushed you through this news and alien news and entertainment today, but, it's our first guest episode and I think it's time that we bring in our guests.
we've got a stellar guest joining us today, one whose career has spanned crime, horror, sci-fi, and now mostly true alien stories. You know her from Law and Order SVU, where she served up justice with grit and intelligence. You've seen her slay in Ash versus Evil Dead, keeping the deadites in check. She's rocked roles in The Glades, Blind Spot, and countless other fan favorite series proving time and time again.
that she's got range, depth, and serious badass energy. But I can't wait to talk to her about her most out of this world role yet as the one and only Rafi in Star Trek Picard, where she goes toe to toe alongside the legendary Sir Patrick Stewart in the ever expanding Star Trek universe. Ladies and gentlemen, my friend Michelle Heard. Hi, Michelle.
Michelle Hurd (09:33)
Hello, hi, everyone.
I'm exhausted after that intro. I can do a lot of stuff. I need a vacation.
Neo (09:39)
Yeah.
Yeah, the show's over now. Yeah. Yeah.
Android (09:43)
Wow. Yeah, that was it. It was just an intro. It's
just a cold intro. Thank you so much. It's awesome.
Neo (09:48)
That's
Michelle Hurd (09:48)
See you
later. Okay.
Neo (09:49)
right. Michelle, have you met Andrew Triana? He's my co-host on the Mostly Truvalian stories.
Michelle Hurd (09:55)
Hi,
Andrew, how you doing? Hi. I'm very well,
Android (09:56)
Hi Michelle. I'm good thanks. How are you?
Michelle Hurd (09:59)
adore Neil, so I'm super happy to be here. Anytime I get to chat with him, it makes me happy.
Neo (10:04)
well, you should know that you are our first and favorite guest that we've ever had on this show.
Michelle Hurd (10:05)
What should I do?
It's so interesting how that happens, the first
Yes. Yes.
Android (10:12)
Best guess, the best guess we've had so far.
Neo (10:15)
You know, in a year from now, when we have our reunion show,
you're going to say, remember when you just first started this podcast and I was your first guest.
Michelle Hurd (10:23)
And you got all these other guests and it was all like, they're really good. Whatever. Whatever.
Neo (10:28)
we're trying to set this precedent for any of our guests that are going to come on, starting with you and going forward. We have to first start out and ask Michelle, do you believe in the extraterrestrial life and, and, and other worldly, you know, life on other planets?
Michelle Hurd (10:37)
What?
Yeah.
You know, it's interesting being on Star Trek, because you really do get the world of how huge our galaxy is, you know? And it does seem kind of strange that in this huge galaxy that takes decades to travel from one place to another, that our beautiful, precious little planet is the only form of life. So, you know, to me, I feel like there has to be
other life forms out there, there has to be. It's, know, I mean, there's black holes that, you know, that are centuries long, you know, that we don't know what goes on in there. And, you know, and as we always say, look at the stars, they're so beautiful. We all know that when we see a star, it's actually a dying star. it's, you know, life has already happened there for a period of time, centuries before we even get to it. So I believe there is, I hope there is, and, you know, being a Star Trek, you know, in person.
I hope that they're friendly. Because we have seen when they're not friendly, and it's not.
Neo (11:43)
Yeah,
yeah, being friendly would be key, I think for everything, because I think that's what that's what spawns all of this curiosity and everything is what you don't know. Right? Is it is it going to harm us or are we going to be fine? I'll tell you, it will change. And Andrew and I have this conversation a lot about when the day comes that and they reveal themselves on this planet.
Michelle Hurd (11:56)
Yeah.
Yes.
Neo (12:13)
I think a lot of shit's gonna change.
Michelle Hurd (12:15)
Well, cause this is the thing and I, you know, I was trying to figure this out, like why, you know, we've had so many movies, I mean, my shows as well, but so many movies about extraterrestrial and them coming down and this sort of scary situation and, you know, something appears in the sky and we all stop and then they're, you know, start shooting and killing us. And I guess we think that because in order to have that technology, right? Cause it's all about the science. How do you get from there to here? If we have done our work and we know that it takes years.
if not decades and centuries to travel to different planets, in order for some beings to come here, they would have to be more advanced than us. So I find it so interesting that we assume, and I could be just being a little bit too much of an optimist, but we assume that if you have better technology and you're more intelligent, for some reason you want to dominate and kill and destroy.
Neo (12:56)
Way more, yeah.
to dominate us.
Michelle Hurd (13:14)
Wouldn't it be a glorious thing if you have, because you're so advanced in technology, in science, in the understanding of the preciousness of life, that when you seek out other life forms, you want to save them, you want to elevate them, you want to share information, you want to expand the universe and the galaxy. I'm hopeful that that is really when they reveal themselves.
Neo (13:29)
to save them.
Android (13:44)
So I have a theory on all of
it be that all these TV shows and all these films are being created by people who possibly might have knowledge of extraterrestrial beings already? And so they're creating all of these things so that when they finally appear, everyone's not going to be shocked by
Neo (14:04)
think it might be a government influence of some sort because they have these agencies that probably know about these things and are just like they have a television division and a movie division and they are like, we need to write about this. You know, it's a good point. It's not a bad, bad point. mean, look at, you talk about the Star Trek, the Roddenberry, I mean, he, right? mean, the
Android (14:10)
Yeah. Men in black.
Michelle Hurd (14:14)
Mm-hmm.
Android (14:25)
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (14:26)
Well, I mean, that's
the thing that's amazing. You know, I just came back from a Comic-Con in San Francisco and every time I go to these Comic-Cons, it's an amazing experience. really is. My friends who don't do Comic-Cons are always like, what is it like? Neil got to come and see one, which was awesome. Thank so much for being there. But what's so beautiful every time I go to wherever it is and I go across the country, everybody is like-minded. We all have this sort of connection, right? There's all this, there's a...
Neo (14:41)
yeah, yeah, yes, yeah.
Michelle Hurd (14:53)
a desire and a hope for a better tomorrow, for a more inclusive tomorrow, for a world where, or a galaxy where we explore and we interact with each other. And I always say, you know, cause it's, I think it's like 60 years or something since Ron Berry, you know, our first introductions into Star Trek. How did he know? How did he know that in like, did he have a Chris? Well, there's an episode and I've got to remember the name of it cause I always quote it.
Neo (15:15)
Well, that's what's.
Michelle Hurd (15:22)
in the original series where they have these two species that live on this one planet. And the species is on one side, on the left side, this might be on the right side, they're black and on left side they're white. And when the other species is black and white on the other side. At the end of this episode, they destroy their planet. They destroy their planet because they cannot accept each other.
Neo (15:34)
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah.
Wow.
Android (15:45)
It's the Gemini
I'll have to look it up.
Michelle Hurd (15:47)
probably, yeah.
Neo (15:46)
You're such a nerd.
Android (15:48)
Yeah,
I think it's called that. I'll have to look it up. Sorry.
Michelle Hurd (15:50)
And you're probably, yeah. No, I love that, I love
Neo (15:50)
You're such a nerd. You're such a nerd.
Android (15:54)
Sorry.
Michelle Hurd (15:53)
But that's the thing, right?
Is that how did they, how did he, so long ago, know that we needed this storytelling?
Neo (16:02)
Yeah, because you know there and and we know there is talented writers out there, but that's different. That's seeing the future. That's kind of, you know, really shaping it. It's different than, you know, being creative and writing a space show is one thing. And that's one of the things I wanted to ask you to when you're doing the series Picard or any of the sci fi stuff that you've done, where there's spaceships or there is, you know, alien weaponry or things like that.
Michelle Hurd (16:07)
Mm-hmm.
Neo (16:31)
Is there a guy on set? there someone on set that is just, I mean, how do they come up with it? So they make it, it's believable to me that I can accept that the tools that you're using and the ships that you're flying in and the things that I'm seeing are so believable. Is there that one guy that
Michelle Hurd (16:48)
God, yeah, absolutely. Every time and every time there's any kind of sci-fi thing you do, there's someone who's like literally geeking out when they're like, okay, Michelle, so here's your weapon. And you see it goes like this, you push these buttons and it's going to actually do this. And then you're going to see a projectile that's going to come out. mean, they are, they are jazz. They are geek. They've spent months and months researching, putting it together, figuring out how it would actually correlate, actually, actually work. I mean, it's, and I, I mean, it's
Neo (17:14)
Thanks
Michelle Hurd (17:17)
if for the actors, we go crazy over that stuff. I mean, it's the play time for us. I mean, I wish I had a tricorder or a replicator or a transporter. would be very happy.
Neo (17:20)
Yeah.
I
Oh, sure.
Sure. know, and then... Go ahead.
Android (17:30)
So that person, I was
going to say that person is equivalent to Q in the bond world.
Michelle Hurd (17:34)
Yes, except for Q just has that and these guys are have a lot more actual logistics they have to do.
Android (17:39)
are like, right? But yeah.
Neo (17:39)
Yeah, yeah, that's
yeah, that's more earthly stuff that I can get it like Home Depot and put it together for them. You know, these guys are creating stuff that you're just like, wait, how would you think of that? How is that possible?
Michelle Hurd (17:45)
Wait, what?
Don't even think of it.
I know. Well, you know, like I actually got the Samsung flip phone because on Star Trek, our tri-quarters are Samsung flip phones. We have a little unit that's on top of it that does all that stuff.
Neo (18:02)
huh.
Android (18:05)
that's cool.
Neo (18:05)
Yeah, listeners,
this episode is not sponsored by Samsung. Not yet. We don't have any sponsors yet.
Michelle Hurd (18:08)
It's not. However,
if Samson wants to send the three of us any phones, maybe the fold, we are there and I will pitch that.
Neo (18:12)
Hello.
Android (18:16)
I love it.
Neo (18:17)
well let's see let's see in action again michelle let's see the phone in action again
Michelle Hurd (18:18)
Yeah, it's actually fantastic.
It's just like that. How cute is that? And you open that up. Wow. And you can do all this kind of stuff. You can sit that way, like that. Nice way. I mean, it's really a good phone, ladies and gentlemen. Go get it.
Neo (18:22)
my god, does have does have a nice weight to it nice feel
Samsung. Love
so tell me about just a little brief history on on you, Michelle. You've been acting since you were young and a child, right? Out of New York? Yeah. Yeah, I remember those days. Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (18:44)
Since the dinosaur time, yeah, back in the horse and buggy days. we were there together. Yeah, I'm
a native New Yorker born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York. Grew up in Westbeth Artist Housing. My parents were both actors. They met on stage together. And then my mother became a psychologist after the kids were born and realized that someone needs to make a steady income. I, know, was a classic teenager, little delinquent.
Neo (19:05)
you
Michelle Hurd (19:11)
you know, all that kind of crazy, crazy stuff. then, she was crazy. She was crazy. She was a little over there. But then I got, you know, I had to, knew that I, and I don't, and I think it's my parents. I have to give it up to my parents for even in my, you know, crazy delinquent times. I knew the importance of an education and of a dream and, you know, trying to go for that dream. And my senior year, I auditioned for Boston University School for Theater Arts. And I got in and,
Neo (19:14)
don't sugarcoat it, Michelle.
Michelle Hurd (19:41)
and I got that bug. I grew up watching my, I'm the third of three girls and my second sister, Adrienne, started dance when she was like three or four. And since I was the baby and anybody who's parents with children know that you drop your children both off at some place so that you can just have a moment. So I grew up watching Adrienne dance. I watched my sister Denise on stage. She loved, you know.
acting and she loves acting and she's now a stage combat choreographer as well as an intimacy coordinator. My father not only was an actor but was an opera singer. Hugh Heard, thank you for saying his name, a glorious bear of a loving man. And so as the child, even though I was kind of a crazy delinquent, I watched my family blossom in the arts and it just seemed like the natural step to
Neo (20:18)
You Hurd. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (20:37)
Yeah, to continue storytelling. And mixed in there, my parents are activists. And so I understood that the way to tell the stories of individuals that are marginalized and may not always have the voice is through art, whether it's acting, singing, dancing, paintings, all that kind of stuff, art. Yet through that platform, we can tell those stories.
Neo (20:37)
It inspired you.
Android (20:41)
That's cool.
Neo (21:00)
Yeah, it gives you that platform. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (21:07)
If we think about it, like it's, you what you do as well. Storytelling is a sacred art form and it's been around for centuries. You know, we have stick figures, you know, running away from woolly mammoths in the caves. And that is storytelling to pass it down so that you're the future's generations can learn and grow. And so I, I, I'm so grateful for my parents for whether I knew it or not bestowing this, this, this desire to continue telling.
Neo (21:36)
Sure.
Michelle Hurd (21:37)
stories
and trying to reach out to the world and let us all know that we're all connected on this one planet.
Neo (21:42)
Well,
you do it so well. I saw you
in the
series, you're going toe to toe with sir Patrick Stewart and that must've been something for you as an actress and accomplished actress. I mean, I don't, don't, I don't care how accomplished you are when you're probably with someone like sir Patrick Stewart, you probably learned so much too as well. But when I saw you in the first scene, what's that first scene when he comes to get you?
Android (21:51)
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (21:51)
space.
my god. Yeah.
Right.
Neo (22:09)
and you
learn so much about your character in the first 30 seconds, this, you know, what Raffi is like, and you were just, mean, I'll tell you, scene stealer in a sense, and I'm just going, you know, how do you overcome that, you know, that sort of fear of working with someone? I don't wanna call it fear, it's not fear, because I know you're not afraid, but.
Android (22:23)
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (22:30)
Right here.
No, it's just
you want to do good and you're with someone who's so talented and so powerful in their talent, right? And if anybody hasn't seen it, the first scene that I have with Sir Patrick Stewart, which by the way, I get to call him P. Stew, P. Stew, which he loves.
Neo (22:37)
Yeah.
Sure. Yeah.
Wait,
tell, first tell our listeners, I know they probably know your character, but just tell us who your character is.
Michelle Hurd (23:03)
Yeah, yes,
Rafi. Rafi, she's a great character. When I got the audition and I read her character description, I was just like, my gosh, I need to play this part because she is a perfectly imperfect being, which I don't know about you guys, but I'm definitely far from perfect. And daily I try to journey on that life of discovery. And she is complicated and she's vulnerable and she's strong. She's a...
She's an addict, she's a recovering addict. She has been struggling with that battle for years. She stumbles, she falls, she fails, but she picks herself up again every single time. And what I loved about that and what I love about our producers and writers is to allow me to tell that story in the true way that you can because people who have addictions are with us, they're in our world, they're part of our community, they're part of our family.
Neo (23:56)
yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (23:58)
what I love that Rafi does and what the Star Trek community has told me she has done is she has allowed people who are on this painful journey of addiction and recovery to be seen and Hurd and to be understood.
that they are not disposable, that they shouldn't be pushed under the rug, that they're part of our community, that they're trying every single day just to get up, just to get up out of bed and try, just try. And sometimes it wins and sometimes you lose, but you try. So that's who Rafi is.
Neo (24:38)
Yeah. Yeah.
what a cool character to have in a, sci-fi, a star Trek. You know, it's like, it's bringing those types of vulnerabilities that you hadn't seen in, in, in a star Trek series at all. You know, and what
Michelle Hurd (24:45)
Exactly.
In at all, at all, the perfectly imperfect
beings. Cause Star Trek often has this utopia kind of thing and everybody's very clean and wears their suits, their uniforms and all that. That's not Rafi. And Rafi and Picard's history is, when we see her about 10, 14, 10 to 14 years earlier, she worked for the Federation under Picard.
Neo (24:58)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, like me, yeah. Right, right.
Michelle Hurd (25:19)
And Bacard was her mentor, her friend, her partner, And when we come to see them in this first scene, we find out that she has spiraled back down into addiction, into her whole.
Neo (25:36)
Yeah, her whole, her addiction,
yeah.
Michelle Hurd (25:39)
You literally
find her in her trailer in the desert and we find out that she feels, and there is some truth to it, that Picard let her down, abandoned her. And that's where we see, and I have to say just as the actor, that first scene, I'm literally, I put a, you
Neo (25:54)
Abandoned or in a sense, yeah.
Michelle Hurd (26:05)
a huge phaser towards Picard and I tell him to basically bug her off. I literally, you know, during rehearsal I said, I was like, and by the way, when I first met Patrick, I was trying to be really cool and calm and take deep breaths and like, hi, I'm Michelle and whatever. And I think my knees were making so much noise cause they were shaking and it sort of dissolved into something like, hi, I'm Michelle. You know, it's crazy. And he is, he was and is one of the most generous, you know, self-deprecating, kind, delicious,
Neo (26:24)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (26:34)
creature, I get to call my friend and he just enveloped me and he said, come into my dressing room, let's work on these scenes. And we really wanted to convey a deep friendship between these two. Like in one scene, how do you convey a deep friendship that's has lasted decades? And one of the things, which is so funny because I got such, like,
mean people saying things about me, but they all came around on the internet. The one reason, one thing that we came up with was that Rafi calls Jean-Luc Picard JL. And just that little tiny thing. And Patrick was like, she's the only one that should ever be able to call him JL. Just a tiny little thing. And it really showed their friendship, like the history of their friendship.
Neo (27:18)
Should do that. What a great little nuance. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (27:28)
So yeah, it was,
and I actually talked to him and to Jerry Ryan, because I was like, everybody's going to hate me. I'm so mean to Patrick and da da. And Patrick was like, no, darling. No, they're going to love you. You just keep at it. You be hard on me. They're going to love you.
Android (27:44)
Yeah.
Neo (27:45)
You know,
that's what makes great actors great too, by the way. Guys that have been in the business, know, guys and girls that have been in the business for such a long time have such a presence. You know, they're known for their acting and performance. I think what makes them great is the way they ingratiate other actors that make them look as good on screen.
Android (27:45)
So I.
Michelle Hurd (28:05)
Absolutely.
Android (28:05)
Yeah,
so I read an article about that. know, everybody was excited when Jerry Ryan came back as Seven of Nine and they were like ecstatic over it, right? And then they talk about you coming on the show and how your character like flipped the series upside down. It was wild that you come on, you know, and everybody's like, well, who's this? You know, I remember her. She was in Law and Order. And then.
The show starts and then you're just like the driving force. was really great to read that and to watch it. And what was great about it is that I didn't read that until after I had watched the series.
Michelle Hurd (28:44)
Hmm. Yeah.
Neo (28:45)
And
the things confirms what you're saying Andrew is I did get to see, I visited Michelle at a Comic-Con in New York City
have to say there were all the stars are there at tables and they're all great and lovely. But Michelle, her line was out the door and people for hours standing online and they are all purists, sci-fi, Star Trek-ies from day one.
Android (29:06)
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (29:07)
Mm-hmm.
Neo (29:12)
and they, Michelle's there standing for hours, hugging people, strangers, people dressed up in their Star Trek outfits, waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. I had to wait, I had to wait to go see Michelle. Yeah, but it was one of the things where it's just one of those things. And if you looked around the other tables, yes, they had people over there, but I am not kidding. I am not exaggerating. When I say,
Michelle Hurd (29:15)
Yeah.
Android (29:27)
Wow, that's funny because I didn't I got right in.
Neo (29:39)
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people just waiting and waiting and waiting online and Michelle did not leave until they were all seen. And that to me is what I think exemplifies the kind of person you are, Michelle, and that you truly care for your fans and that you embody this character of Rafi and that world of Star Trek. mean, it's such a, you're part of an iconic franchise. Not many people can say that.
Michelle Hurd (29:45)
That's right.
Thank you.
I know I can't... No,
it was...
Android (30:07)
Global, global iconic franchise.
Michelle Hurd (30:09)
That's literally,
I think our first episode, our first two episodes was directed by Jonathan Franks who plays number one, right? In Star Trek, and I go, Ryker. And he said to me, he said, Michelle, this is gonna be unlike any show you've ever done. Because when this show drops, you have 10 million family members across the globe. And I didn't quite, you know, I was like, yeah, yeah, cool. I know Star Trek's, know, No, yeah.
Android (30:18)
Play Ryker.
Neo (30:36)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Android (30:37)
Is Star Trek big? Really?
Michelle Hurd (30:39)
Do people know it? And I wasn't quite sure. And I remember the first, our very first season and our first time going to San Diego Star Trek. And there's a room in their hall called H, the H hall. And it's huge. It seats thousands. And I remember us coming out on stage and the reception, you know, we hadn't even aired yet and the reception blew me away. And then when I went to my first Comic-Con,
and people from across the world, across the world, not America, you can't fathom, and they're touched by this series, they're touched by this, know, because it makes them feel seen, because they, you know, I mean, it's a beautiful thing. It's.
Neo (31:11)
You can't even fathom it. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
What?
What a cool experience to be a part of.
Cause you know, we, can't relate to it. know Andrew can't, you know, it's just one of those things where, I gotta live through you, Michelle. gotta live through you on this one. Yeah. Awesome.
Android (31:29)
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (31:35)
Please do, yeah. And me too. mean,
I had no way of, and I've been, you know, doing this for decades and, you know, I'm so grateful and honored that, and humbled that, you know, as a woman of color, as a woman of color of a certain age and in this industry for decades, at this point in my career to have something, a gift like this character and this show and this family to be a part of, it's unlike anything, as I said. And one of the things that's,
Neo (32:03)
as it
gets.
Michelle Hurd (32:04)
Yeah,
and one of things about the Comic-Cons that is so, I mean, I feel like I'm not worthy, not worthy is because of who Rafi is. The people who come to my table share with me these vulnerable stories and these challenges that they've been going through and they're so honest with me.
Neo (32:30)
they speaking? Are they speaking to Rafi? Are they asking Rafi for advice? Or is it Michelle Heard, the actor?
Michelle Hurd (32:37)
I think,
again, I wanna harken back to the power of art. I think it's both, right? Because of Rafi's story and her struggle and her journey, they see themselves reflected and they want to come to the person who told that story that hit them. And so it's...
Neo (32:43)
Yeah.
Sure. Yeah. But it's,
it's, it's not only that you're an actress though, you've, there's probably some, perspectives of Rafi that you've lived through your life, but you also had to research this part. And so you really do become the subject matter expert in those kinds of struggles, you know, and those kinds of things because, and then people are probably ingratiated towards you more because you are an actress.
Michelle Hurd (33:07)
Absolutely.
Hello.
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Neo (33:25)
and you're approachable and you played this part. know, there's so many aspects to it. I think we could, we could really dive deep into, know, we need your mother here so she could really dissect the whole thing for us. That's exactly right. Well, listen.
Michelle Hurd (33:28)
So many things.
I know, need this psychologist right next to me. My 91
year old mother who's still a practicing psychologist, thank you very much. Merlin, that's right.
Neo (33:40)
God bless Merlin herd everyone.
She's amazing.
didn't she just go skiing with you guys or something?
Michelle Hurd (33:46)
You know, I know it's amazing. You
know, I always say that she is proof positive that if you do what you love, it will give you life. So, you know, if you're in doing, if you're in some workforce, anybody out there and listening to you you are suffering, you're grudging through it and you're hating it, get out of there, do what you love. It'll give you life.
Neo (34:03)
So what's up next for you,
Android (34:04)
I love it.
Michelle Hurd (34:05)
actually Michael Dorn who plays Wharf, the Dorn. I know, right? Who by the way is the, I always say he's the quintessential gentle man. He really is. There's a scene on in our show where he offers me chamomile tea and I'm like, that's Michael Dorn. He wrote a movie with me, him and Marina Sirtis, Tori. And so we're gonna be shooting that soon in London.
Neo (34:08)
Hmm?
Android (34:08)
yeah.
Neo (34:21)
Ha ha ha.
Very exciting.
Michelle Hurd (34:34)
And then I have another
film, which is gonna be a Hallmark holiday film that I'm shooting in May. Anywhere in there, I'd be perfectly happy to get another TV series or if Star Trek Legacy wants to go, then we'll be happy.
Neo (34:44)
Yeah. Well, I'm sure,
I'm sure it won't be long before you're back on another sci-fi series. You were terrific in this
it is now our time, Michelle, to go to the story for Mostly True Alien Stories. You want to stick around for this? You want to be a part of it? So, you know, the, we generally do on this show is we're going to share a reported, phenomenon, alien phenomenon in history.
Michelle Hurd (34:57)
Sure. What?
Hmm?
Neo (35:08)
And then I will tell the facts or read the story to you. And then we're all going to weigh in on whether we think this is a mostly true alien story or not. Okay. And there are no wrong answers, Michelle. And you can feel free to comment along the way. know Andrew always does. So yeah, I know. All right.
Michelle Hurd (35:19)
Okay.
Well, you know I always do. can't help it.
Neo (35:28)
is the Travis Walton abduction. It's a true crime UFO mystery, if you will. It happened in 1975 in November 5th, and the sun had just set over the Sitgreaves National Forest in Northeastern Arizona. The towering ponderosa pines swayed in the frigid night air and their silhouettes stretching across the rugged dirt roads that wound through the forest. Are you guys with me? All right.
Michelle Hurd (35:54)
See ya.
Android (35:55)
I'm with you. there.
I see it.
Neo (35:57)
For Travis Walton, he was a 22 year old logger and his six crew members, it had been another grueling day of cutting and clearing trees as part of a government contract for the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest Service.
They were behind schedule, which meant long hours and amounting pressure to finish their assignment before facing hefty fines.
So their boss, Mike Rogers, the law of the loggers was on edge. Their contract was already in jeopardy.
I think this is important, so remember this note. Okay. The crew, which included Ken Peterson, John Gouillette, Steve Pierce, Alan Dallas, and Dwayne Smith was packed into a 1965 international pickup
Michelle Hurd (36:24)
okay. right.
Neo (36:38)
they were rumbling down the dirt road away from their work site. They were done for the day. They're heading out. It was around 6, 10 PM. Remember November, so it's dark now. They're in the woods. And the sky had faded to a deep black.
Android (36:46)
already.
Neo (36:49)
and the cold November air crisp against their faces as they rode home. See, I set the stage.
Michelle Hurd (36:52)
can feel it, it's cold. you sure did.
Neo (36:57)
That's when they saw
A bright light, not just a light, but something glowing, hovering, floating silently above the trees ahead. At first they thought it was a plane, then maybe a helicopter, but it made no sound, and it wasn't moving like any aircraft they had ever seen.
Travis, who was sitting in the passenger seat, he was the first to
Against the warnings of his crew, he jumped out of the truck and he ran toward the object.
Michelle Hurd (37:25)
my!
Android (37:26)
Don't go,
don't go Travis. He's brave.
Neo (37:28)
Those loggers are so crazy.
Michelle Hurd (37:29)
They're like, let's
do it, come on.
Neo (37:34)
what Walton described later still defies
The object was a metallic disc shaped craft. It was glowing with an eerie blue green light pulsating as if it were alive and it hovered about 15 to 20 feet off the ground spinning slowly.
Michelle Hurd (37:45)
Hmm.
15 to 20 feet. That's very close. You can see that. Yeah.
Neo (37:52)
I mean, that's just, you could touch it if you
Android (37:52)
Yeah, that's pretty, yeah.
Neo (37:54)
jump. I think. Well, 15 feet.
Android (37:56)
Well, no.
Michelle Hurd (37:56)
I
don't know if I can jump that one. You maybe.
Android (37:58)
I can't jump that high, no. A little ladder, maybe.
Neo (38:02)
I, you
know what? I am going to try it later. I will see. No. Yeah. As Walton stepped closer, he felt an intense static charge in the air and the closer he got. he kept going. So he's feeling the static charge. He's still going towards it. Yeah. Yeah. And the closer he got, the more his hair stood on end. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe get back in the truck. Yeah. Then a beam of light.
Michelle Hurd (38:04)
I know you.
Android (38:05)
rocket rocket boots we should video them
Michelle Hurd (38:07)
I want
to be in it.
Travis is bold.
Android (38:19)
Okay,
so not smart.
Michelle Hurd (38:25)
That's sign. That's a sign you might want to back up. okay. Just saying.
Android (38:25)
Well
Neo (38:31)
shot out from the craft, and the next thing the crew saw was Walton being thrown into the air, his body stiff as a board, before collapsing onto the ground like a ragdoll.
Michelle Hurd (38:41)
Oh, travel. They took off. They took off. 1975, they're like, I don't know what's happening, let's get out.
Neo (38:43)
Guess what his crew did? They took off. They fucking took off.
Android (38:50)
They're
no. Right.
Neo (38:52)
Those guys, they panicked and they sped off leaving
him at whatever, wherever he landed, they left him. They were out. And then the guys in the truck literally didn't speak for a while while they took off. They didn't know what to say. They just took off. Then the driver, Rogers, slams on the brakes.
Michelle Hurd (38:56)
Beautiful.
Neo (39:08)
They got the better of him. was like, we, yeah, we gotta go back. We gotta go back. Yeah. But when they got back there, he was gone. Walton was gone, right?
Android (39:10)
We gotta go back and
Of course, yeah.
Michelle Hurd (39:20)
Whoa!
Android (39:21)
Yep.
Neo (39:22)
So these logger men of men, loggers, men of men, screamed like little girls and took off, left, yeah, yeah, left their best friend or one of their, their friend, their crewmate. I don't know. We'll get to that. We'll get to that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's some people I've worked with. just, I would leave. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (39:25)
That's right.
Android (39:28)
These are lumberjacks. They're lumberjacks.
Michelle Hurd (39:30)
You Jax, that's right.
Android (39:35)
Were they friends? Maybe they didn't really like him. Okay, okay. Right.
Michelle Hurd (39:38)
They're associates, you know.
We might leave. might.
Android (39:45)
I would've drove over them on the way out.
Neo (39:49)
All right, so at 730 p.m. So we're talking about an hour 20 minutes later the men arrived at the Hebrew police department they went to the police department they were they were
Michelle Hurd (39:57)
or later it took what is it like
coffee or okay go
Neo (40:00)
You're not wrong. Well, they went back, they couldn't find them and then they left and went to the police station. Yeah, sure. Whatever. I think they stopped to get something to eat. They were hungry. Yeah, exactly.
Android (40:01)
Well, they went back, right? They went back to find him. They went back to find him, right?
Michelle Hurd (40:06)
It's just a long drive. It's a long drive.
Android (40:07)
Okay, okay, all right, yeah. Well, they're up in the mountains, right? Where the trees are.
Michelle Hurd (40:13)
like they stopped and got a little coffee or something. Maybe in the end, something
Neo (40:17)
right. So they show up and they were, the police said that they were pale. They were shaken. They were out of breath. So something had happened, right? Well, yeah, they ran from the truck to the police station. Yeah.
Android (40:24)
They ran there?
Michelle Hurd (40:28)
Just park the truck and say, just
Android (40:29)
Great.
Michelle Hurd (40:30)
run!
Neo (40:31)
Then they spoke to Sheriff Marlon Gillespie and Deputy Chuck Ellison. I love that we have the real names because this sort of legitimizes a lot of
recounted the incredible story. At first,
this is what the officers assumed had happened. They thought these guys murdered Travis Walton and were concocting an elaborate
I mean for the police to immediately think that they murdered
They must be these guys must be. Yeah. I don't know. All right. We can kill him. All right.
Michelle Hurd (40:57)
They must have looked shook, like they must have come from the bottom down.
Android (41:00)
Right. Yeah, man, he's gone. He's gone. He's just gone. I don't know what to say.
Michelle Hurd (41:05)
In 19...
Android (41:06)
Yeah, that's mustard. I wish not to Sonic. We had a hot dog and sorry. Go ahead.
Michelle Hurd (41:09)
Exactly. It was
Neo (41:09)
That's right.
Michelle Hurd (41:10)
like ketchup here.
Neo (41:11)
when dozens of volunteers, law enforcement and search dogs scoured the area where Walton had vanished, there was no body, no blood, no evidence of foul play. So they started, they just ruled that out right away. And the FBI, Arizona state police and the national forest service were soon involved in the case. And for five days, five days, Walton was missing without a trace. Couldn't find him. Then in the early hours of November 10th, 1975,
A phone rang at a payphone in the small town of Heber, Arizona. And on the other end of the line was a disoriented, weak and terrified Travis Walton. Okay. Where was
Well, when Walton was found, he was severely dehydrated. He was malnourished, disoriented. He thought only a few hours had passed. And it was actually five days. When he was able to gather himself, he recounted what had happened on board the craft.
Michelle Hurd (41:56)
Mmm.
There's not going be any probing here, is Okay, go on, go on.
Neo (42:08)
There
might be. I don't have the video though.
Android (42:09)
Yeah.
Neo (42:12)
so Walton described waking up in a medical examination room lying on a metallic
The first thing he saw were three beings standing over him. They were small, frail, with large bald heads, enormous almond-shaped eyes, tiny mouths, and thin, almost translucent skin.
Michelle Hurd (42:24)
you
Patrick Stewart? I'm
Neo (42:32)
Could be, could be, could be. They wore tight fitting orange jumpsuits and never spoke aloud, but he could hear them inside his
Android (42:39)
Orange.
Orange is new! It's usually silver or... yeah.
Michelle Hurd (42:43)
Okay.
Neo (42:43)
Yeah, that
they maybe they changed outfits for him or something and went to Home Depot.
Android (42:46)
But what's the 70s? You know
what, it was the 70s. They were like, mm, mm, mm, mm,
Michelle Hurd (42:48)
And this is the operating room, maybe
the orange is their operating, you know.
Neo (42:52)
It could have been. Yeah. So needless to say, Travis panicked. He jumped off the table and he grabbed a long metal object from a nearby counter. This is his story. This is what he's telling us. And he started swinging it at the beans and they didn't fight back because they didn't want to dirty their orange jumpsuits. Right. That's right. Instead, they left the room and he was alone for what felt like hours. And then he, he, he wandered around the room.
Android (42:53)
That's right. Okay. That's good. I like it.
Michelle Hurd (43:03)
way so.
Android (43:08)
Bad choice. They just went, right.
Michelle Hurd (43:11)
That's right,
they just watched.
Neo (43:22)
He said it was dimly lit, corridors of the craft, and the walls were seamless metal, glowing faintly.
then he encountered another being,
but this one he says looked human. It was a tall, muscular man in a tight-fitting blue uniform with a glassy helmet.
Michelle Hurd (43:39)
Why? We haven't learned one size up. Okay. Just comfort.
Neo (43:46)
This new figure led him into another room where he was put on a table and before he knew it he blacked out again.
And the next thing he remembered waking up on the side of a road watching the UFO speed off into the night so he saw the UFO literally take off. So the big man did something to him. Yep we're not sure what.
Michelle Hurd (44:00)
I saw it. Hmm.
as well.
Android (44:07)
hmm. Hmm.
Neo (44:09)
Once news broke of Walton's reappearance, the media frenzy began. Investigators of course were
Skeptics argued that the abduction was staged so
Mike Rogers could get out of the logging contract penalties for being behind schedule. Remember in the beginning, they were behind schedule. That's a good, that's a big story to concoct. Sure. And then Philip J. Klass, a leading UFO debunker, accused the crew of orchestrating the entire thing as a hoax for financial gain.
Michelle Hurd (44:23)
That is a big story to out about.
Neo (44:35)
And then others believe that Walton had gone into hiding and drugged himself to appear disoriented when he returned. It might have been payday, maybe got some good drugs that day, you know, took him in the woods. Yeah,
Michelle Hurd (44:39)
Hmm.
to dehydrate himself and to...
Neo (44:50)
Right, for the payoff, which we'll soon find out, that wouldn't be worth it. But then came the polygraphs, all right? So Walton and the crew were subjected to a multiple lie detector test.
they were overseen by the Arizona state polygraph examiner, Cy, Gilson and five, five of the six crew members passed. They passed it. Walton passed his as well. even decades later, the original polygraph examiner stated there was no deception. Except for the one guy, except for the one guy who lied. Yeah, that guy.
Michelle Hurd (45:12)
Past it, okay.
Hmm, only one. The one was like, does he always like lies? I'd a
Android (45:25)
You're like, yeah,
Michelle Hurd (45:26)
liar.
Android (45:27)
know, Fred, Fred's a liar.
Neo (45:30)
Fred the Logger. Yeah. I always, as we always do in these stories, I always want to know who did make money on this, right? So before we decide whether this is mostly true or not. So Travis Walton did write a
Android (45:32)
Fred the Logger Liar.
Michelle Hurd (45:33)
That's
right. That's what they call him.
Neo (45:43)
it became a major motion picture, which was Fire in the Sky. Yep, yep. And that was in 1993.
Michelle Hurd (45:47)
I thought that, okay, because I saw it.
Android (45:52)
20 years later, he got, made money.
Neo (45:54)
however, he never made a fortune off this story. So he can, he's continued to attend UFO conferences, defend his account. he, took multiple polygraph tests over the years. Okay. Always passed.
Android (45:54)
Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (46:05)
and always pass them? Hmm.
Neo (46:08)
and something else that we like to look at is what other sightings were happening in the area at the time. Right. So.
In the months leading up to Walton's disappearance, multiple reports of strange lights and UFO sightings had been recorded in
Two years before, a similar abduction case was reported in Missouri, leading some to believe Walton's abduction was part of a wave of extraterrestrial
These are the facts. This is what I know. I don't know, Andrew, if you have anything that I've missed that you would like to fill in, but I will hand it. I'm going to hand it to you first, Andrew, and you let Michelle and I know whether you think it's a mostly true alien story or not. And then Michelle will go to you.
Android (46:40)
Yeah, this is
Okay.
Okay, so
here's something that I found. We know that they were in jeopardy of losing this logging contract, right? So what I'm reading here,
they were gonna be fined $2,500 if they missed their target, okay? So just 2,500 and they would not be able to bid on any other logging contracts ever. They were done. So they got a
Neo (47:02)
Just, 2,500.
So you have to close the company down.
Android (47:15)
They got it, yeah, or they get another name, you know, they give it to one of the other guys. Maybe they'll get a liar guy. He could start a new logging company. Okay. So here's something
Michelle Hurd (47:21)
Yeah, maybe Fred.
Android (47:24)
Mike Rogers, The lead guy, okay? On October 20th, 1975. So basically two weeks prior to this
Neo (47:27)
The lead guy.
Android (47:36)
Rogers wrote a letter.
to the government telling them that they were seriously behind and might not be able to hit the deadline. Here's something else that's interesting. Also on that same night, October 20th, 1975, on NBC,
Michelle Hurd (47:48)
BOOM
Neo (47:49)
Lay it on me.
Android (47:56)
there was a movie called The UFO Incident, a movie about the alleged abduction of Barney and Betty Hill.
Neo (48:03)
That's one of the original abduction stories, yeah.
Android (48:06)
Okay, now what's cool about this is that it starred James Earl Jones as Barney Hill,
who had undergone a hypnosis session with a psychiatrist, blah, blah. Okay, anyway, they watched that film two weeks prior. It aired two weeks before Travis Walton, because they said that they did. Rogers came out and said that they had watched it together. Together, well, no, just.
Michelle Hurd (48:19)
Hmm.
Neo (48:22)
Wait, how do we know they watched it?
together. Together as a crew. It was like movie day at the logging
Michelle Hurd (48:31)
a little group of them.
Neo (48:35)
crew.
Michelle Hurd (48:35)
Yeah.
Android (48:35)
It didn't say that they were all together, but we know that Travis and Mike Rogers were together to watch this film. Okay.
Michelle Hurd (48:41)
Hmm. Because Mike is saying
Neo (48:42)
Okay.
Michelle Hurd (48:43)
this, did Travis say that he had watched it? Okay, so they both went in on
Android (48:47)
Yes, Travis watched it as well.
Psychologists and skeptics argued that after viewing this movie, any person with little imagination
can now become an instant celebrity by claiming an induction.
Neo (48:58)
that. Okay, so what are you leaning towards here, Andrew? Is this a mostly true alien
Android (49:03)
there's one more, he was naked when they found him. And he made a phone call, okay, right? He made a phone call. Okay, so 1975, the phone call cost a dime. So did the guy in the blue suit go perfectly insert that time somewhere special so that he would have it to make the call?
Neo (49:06)
Mm-hmm as I thought I would I would assume
Michelle Hurd (49:09)
As we would all be.
Do we
Neo (49:23)
Well, you know what, I- Thank
Android (49:24)
Or he could have called collect, right?
He could have called collect. But in 1975, that would have been so expensive to make a collect call. But.
Neo (49:26)
you. Yes.
Michelle Hurd (49:30)
you're found, you're, you're
naked on the side of the road, you're going to make a pull up call.
Android (49:34)
Right.
Neo (49:34)
Yeah.
Android (49:34)
So no one saw a naked guy running using a telephone to call.
Neo (49:38)
There were no witnesses of seeing a naked guy making a phone call.
Android (49:43)
with this new evidence...
Neo (49:45)
What's your, what's your
Android (49:46)
No,
Neo (49:48)
This is.
Android (49:48)
I
think they made this up. Look, it's called mass hysteria. Mass hysteria can cause everybody to believe everything and you can actually pass a polygraph test. If you truly believe it, you can pass it. And this is 1975, so the equipment wasn't as good as it is now. yeah, whatever, he's been believing this for so long, it's true.
Michelle Hurd (50:01)
Hmm.
Neo (50:02)
But they still tested him years later. still testing him.
Michelle Hurd (50:03)
that you're hated.
Android (50:08)
think they did it because they were gonna lose the
what better way to say it than alien abduction.
Neo (50:13)
Okay.
Android (50:14)
What kind of friends or coworkers are these? Seriously.
Neo (50:17)
Alright, so you're saying this is not a mostly true alien story. Alright, well then I'm turning to Michelle Heard because now she has to weigh in.
Android (50:19)
No, no, I think it's made up. I think it's made up.
Michelle Hurd (50:23)
I mean, Neil,
Andrew just gave some serious information there. Well, I was trying to track it all and I was like 1975, so it's not gonna be any drone kind of thing, because we didn't have that at that
Neo (50:29)
were you leaning the other way before you Hurd this info?
Michelle Hurd (50:37)
witnesses saying that they all saw it, I was like, okay, okay. Now when Andrew says the whole thing about two weeks prior, they had all watched a movie, there was...
you know, all this information. There was a letter written about, you know, we're late on our logging things. Give us, have some grace with us or whatever. I think it's a terrible contract that they signed that if they didn't get that logging in, they're never going to be able to use, you know, anyone else. I mean, that's terrible.
Android (51:00)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's just, they said that what I read is that that's like part of the deal is that you've got to hit these deadlines. And if you don't hit the deadlines, then you're done. You're out. Well, you can't work there anymore. You can go work for somebody else, but they're just going to hear that you missed your deadline. Who's going to hire you?
Michelle Hurd (51:08)
or then you're out of business. mean, that's it.
Yeah.
But with all that sort of stuff, does make, and I absolutely, it is a true thing that you can have you know, mentality that if everybody sort of goes, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was it. They've done like studies of that when, you know, witnesses, have somebody come through a room and, you know, walk through and then they ask all of the people what the person looked like. And if enough people say, no, they were wearing that blue jacket, it was blue, it was blue. I saw blue. Did you see? It was all blue. We all believe it's blue. And then it was like, no, it was red. You know, it could be a completely different color. So I, I hear
also, well, was interesting just hearing the story. I thought it was so interesting that again, when he, in his story, when he woke up from the table, the first thing he did was jump off and start to try to like fight, which I guess is what you would do. But isn't it sad that again, just like I was saying, there's an assumption that they're going to hurt you as opposed to maybe going, are you trying to give me like the fountain of youth that I will never age? mean, you know, perhaps that could have been as well. We chat maybe a little something, something. And to me,
Neo (52:02)
Yeah.
Right, Yeah, can we try talking first maybe? Yeah, what's the plan?
Android (52:14)
He
needed a keyboard.
Michelle Hurd (52:15)
And I
know it's a story, still, even like the second being that he found was more human, it could be that they're so advanced that they realize, he freaked out seeing our actual form. Why don't we do something that will make him more comfortable? We do that in Star Trek, well.
Neo (52:27)
Good point. Yeah. Yeah.
Looks like he would like a very buff man in front of him. In a tight outfit with a blue helmet, glass helmet. Yeah.
Michelle Hurd (52:35)
Right in a tight outfit
Android (52:38)
Yeah. Well,
Travis Walton, the pictures of him show him having a nice village people mustache. I'm just going to say that. Of the 70s, yeah. He was a macho man. He was a logger. He had to be a macho man.
Michelle Hurd (52:45)
Is that right?
Neo (52:46)
Okay, yeah. Okay. Maybe.
Michelle Hurd (52:48)
Copy that. These are kind
of a little bit of fantasy in the story, a little bit of fantasy added in there.
Neo (52:54)
So,
so I'm still, I'm not sure where you're headed with this, Michelle. So which way are you leaning? Is this a mostly true alien story or not?
Michelle Hurd (52:58)
I know. Well, I mean...
Well, it's because I'm a trekker. I'm going to say, mean, if I hadn't Hurd that other information, the two week thing is really hard. He fucking does that. He dropped that knowledge and you just gotta be like, do I ignore it? Please. he never does. Never does. Not gonna.
Neo (53:15)
Andrew does that. He always does that to us. Yeah. Yeah. But you know what? Let me, let me just preface this with Andrew doesn't believe in any of this stuff. Never does. So, so
that's information coming from a guy who, yeah.
Android (53:27)
Not yet, not yet.
Michelle Hurd (53:28)
yet, not until there's...
Android (53:29)
Well,
I'm like, need more information. That's what I usually say. I need more information. So doesn't believe that I say it's mostly true. I just need more information.
Michelle Hurd (53:36)
I mean,
the hard part is the, so there was a mass search for him. They couldn't find him. So for five days, I mean, I guess somebody could have hit him in a garage, you know, someplace.
Neo (53:48)
Sure.
Android (53:48)
He could have been picked up by somebody and driven somewhere.
Michelle Hurd (53:51)
But
even if he was picked up and driven somewhere, do they, for those five days to make the story correct, they're like, don't eat it and drink anything. Hold on, you like just, you'll be okay, just wait five days. I mean, have to probably, need some bruises, some bruises in some specific spots. I have to say, before I would have said mostly true, but now because of him, I have to say, I think it's not.
Android (54:02)
We have to probe you to prove that you were proven.
Neo (54:14)
So Michelle Heard is saying that this story is not mostly true alien story. Okay. All right. That's right. Well, now it is.
Android (54:20)
this is awesome. Thank you, Michelle. I'll send your check to which address.
Michelle Hurd (54:21)
I'm sorry. Yes, thank you. Venmo. Venmo's
fine as well with our flip phone.
Neo (54:28)
Now, now it is my turn and I will not be influenced by this mob at all. am, I am going, I will say I'm very disappointed in two of you, your outcome of this. Yeah, I get it. here, here's, here's, here's where I find this to be a mostly true alien story. And it's because I can't imagine in 1975, six loggers coming up with this story.
Android (54:29)
Yes.
Michelle Hurd (54:34)
Good job. Good job.
Android (54:36)
Awww.
Michelle Hurd (54:41)
I I felt pressure. I felt pressure.
Android (54:43)
you
Neo (54:58)
and really riding it out as five of them riding it out and you know just carrying through with this committed to this story all the way through. I do think that Travis was abducted I'm disappointed in the loggers that left him behind. I don't think I would leave any money behind.
Android (55:00)
Five. One guy lied.
Michelle Hurd (55:09)
Mmm.
Neo (55:18)
I would go get them. know, that's the only part for me.
Android (55:18)
I'd leave you behind, buddy. I'd leave you. Michelle and I would
leave. We'd be like, we're going to get help. And then we'd go. We're going to go get Picard.
Neo (55:24)
Yeah. I'm like, Andrew, help!
Help! And he's gone. And he's gone. Yeah.
Android (55:29)
Then he's going, but wait, they're not,
were going to help us.
Michelle Hurd (55:32)
That's the
thing is that, you know, when he was in the story that he tells, he was lifted up and then he was dropped, limp. I mean, it did seem strange that they wouldn't at that moment go pick him up. It seems the whatever that the light had done was, had did it, you know, that's what it wanted to do, you know, because they didn't know they wanted to take him away whatever.
Neo (55:39)
Mm-hmm.
Android (55:45)
Go get him. Yeah. Yeah.
Neo (55:45)
Help him.
Yeah. Yeah.
Android (55:53)
One of the greatest actors ever, right, is James Earl Jones. In the history of acting, James Earl Jones, could they not have been so influenced by his performance as Barney Hill that they made up the story? That's all I'm gonna
gonna say.
Michelle Hurd (56:08)
I go towards the, how you swayed me was the contract was that they knew that they were not gonna get the contract done. They were trying to figure out how do they, how can they save themselves? Cause they won't be able to work for that company or that place for a period, whatever, forever. And they saw the movie a couple of weeks
Neo (56:31)
why not? The machine breaks down, a guy gets injured, a fire starts, something else other than coming up with this wild ass fantasy in 1975 that they're going to just go, we're going to...
Michelle Hurd (56:38)
Something more, right.
Android (56:46)
I wasn't.
Michelle Hurd (56:46)
But also,
I think we should acknowledge the 1975 aspect of it. In the 70s, we were all kind of, there was some happy living little extra, hello, exactly. So there was a lot of fantastical thinking and kind of crazy thoughts. Let's move on.
Android (56:52)
Yeah.
Neo (56:54)
was known. Yeah, that's right, peace, and Kweilud stuff. Yeah.
Sure. Well, okay. Well, I think,
I think that this is a mostly true alien story and I will stand to it because they took the polygraphs, uh, because there was such a wild investigation done. There was all of, they never, I think you'd figure it out. I, there was so many people involved. You'd figure out that it was a hoax and a lie at that point. Yes, they were going to get fined with a logging company.
Michelle Hurd (57:27)
room.
Neo (57:32)
What I'd like to know is if they did get fined.
Michelle Hurd (57:34)
Mmm.
Android (57:35)
Yeah,
I'd like to know that too. I haven't been able to find anything on that, whether they were excused from their contract, that I don't know. But I'd be interested. He's still alive. Travis Walton is still alive.
Michelle Hurd (57:41)
Bye.
Neo (57:45)
Well, here's
Michelle Hurd (57:47)
Let's
Neo (57:47)
Yes he is. Get him on the show. Michelle's calling him on your Samsung.
Michelle Hurd (57:48)
give him a call. I'm gonna call him right now, guys. Hold on, hold on a second. No, I'm gonna call him here. That's right. I am in the middle though, I have to say, because I'm, you know, from my law and order days, from my detective stuff of like detail, detail, detail, you know, information, I hear Andrew from my artistry and my heart. I want it to be a true story because I...
Android (57:50)
Get him on the show.
No, she's going to use a tricorder phone. Yeah.
Neo (58:04)
Mm-hmm.
Michelle Hurd (58:15)
I want to believe that, and again, I want to believe that they were just trying to check things out, not trying to hurt him. They were just wanting to see what they could do, like maybe heal cancer. You never know.
Neo (58:24)
Yeah. Well,
Michelle, I can't thank you enough for being a part of mostly true alien stories. Our very first guest. Thank you so much. I, I, I'm, I'm a little disappointed that you are on the fence about the story. but you know, you, you know what? When you come back in a year, we'll, we'll, see how you are with the next one. That's right. Yeah.
Android (58:28)
Yeah, awesome.
Michelle Hurd (58:36)
Alright, alright. I saw the movie. I went to see the movie.
Android (58:44)
She's gonna have been abducted and she's gonna tell her own abduction story.
Michelle Hurd (58:47)
will tell my own story
about probing and they might have sized up. I'm just saying.
Neo (58:52)
Your own
story That'd be terrific Andrew great job the alien news and entertainment and just a lesson to be learned here Do not go in the woods with loggers if aliens are coming because they ain't gonna save you They're not gonna help you out. That's right. All right. Great job everybody Michelle. Love you. Thank you. All right Take care. Bye guys
Android (58:58)
Hey, thanks, buddy.
Michelle Hurd (59:06)
Paris, they will believe you.
Android (59:06)
not going to help you.
All right. Thanks. Bye.
Michelle Hurd (59:11)
Thank you guys, so nice to be here. Thanks.