GAUTIER -- Charles Hickson never stopped believing in UFOs.
He became a Coast celebrity in 1973 after his claims of alien abduction were made public. In the 38 years after, he appeared on TV, spoke at UFO conferences, gave countless interviews, co-wrote a book, UFO Contact in Pascagoula, and watched the night skies.
He believed that one day they would come back. He wanted them to come back, said his daughter, Tisha Hurd.
Hickson died Friday at the age of 80.
He had been diagnosed with lung cancer three weeks ago, but died from heart problems, she said.
Hickson became famous for his encounter with a UFO and its occupants.
He told law enforcement on Oct. 11, 1973, he and coworker Calvin Parker saw a spaceship with pulsing blue lights while angling for catfish off a barge dry-dock at the abandoned Schaupeters Shipyard on the East Pascagoula River.
Hickson told authorities it was just after dark when the two men were floated into the craft and a levitating eyeball-shaped probe scanned his body.
After the examination, the men were floated back to the wharf. They tried to report the event to Keesler Air Force Base, but were directed to the Jackson County Sheriffs Department.
Hickson told a reporter in 1998 he never minded the persecution that came with his celebrity.
When something happens to me, I dont give a damn who laughs at me, Im going to tell the truth, you know, he said in an Associated Press article.
Hickson said then this wasnt his first encounter with aliens or his last.
His daughter grew up believing. She was just a baby during one of his encounters, traveling by car through Jones County with her family. It was only lights following them that time, though Hickson said a spaceship was spotted by neighbors another time hovering over his house in Gautier.
Growing up with a father who looked forward to alien visits was surprisingly not difficult.
It was pretty cool, you know, she said. She never doubted what her father said was true.
I totally believed him, she said. Theres not one time in all the times since this happened that his story ever changed. Its always been consistent and to go through what he went through with the psychiatrists and the lie-detector tests and all the police and stuff, thats hard to make up and keep straight if its not true, all these years, 38 years later.
When Hickson wasnt talking about alien abductions, he was rooting for his beloved New Orleans Saints and fishing. He was also proud of his military achievement, earning five major battle stars while serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
Visitation for Hickson will be 6-8 p.m. tonight at OBryant-OKeefe Funeral Home in Gautier.