In
October, 2000 a close friend made me aware that a store in
Squamish, a small town about 30 odd miles northwest of
Vancouver, was displaying an unusually large carving of a
"typical" alien.
One week
later a casual conversation with a Squamish resident again
centered on this figure and the impression that it created
to the viewer. This person quickly provided a follow up
e-mail which at that point, from the additional details
provided, prompted three of us to not only go and see this
replica for ourselves, but better still, meet the creator
of it.
We duly met
by arrangement at a local restaurant’s coffee shop. The
gentleman, who was waiting for us, is by profession a
logger and as one might expect is a big husky guy, but not
the Paul Bunyan type frequently depicted as being the
stereotype. This person could very easily be mistaken for
an insurance man or if you prefer a professional football
player. Well, O.K., a retired one! On meeting him he comes
across as a very unassuming sort of guy.
His story is
disappointingly lacking in expected details. One winter’s
night in 1984 he and his wife were at that time living in
Vernon. Hearing a loud buzzing noise they went to the
window to look out in an attempt to locate the source.
Living in a secluded area at that time it was puzzling as
to what could be causing it. They never did find out. All
they saw was a three quarter circle of green light on the
snow against their house, the other quarter fell on the
home. Duane readily admits that he is scared of very
little, but bearing in mind that there was really nothing
to see outside, his reaction was one of fear and caution.
He didn't investigate. And that’s the end of the story.
The three of
us plied him with questions for nearly two hours, which he
patiently tried to answer. Yes, he was an artist, but had
not been up until the above "encounter?", simply stating
that his best previous efforts were "stickmen". Then
overnight he began to carve alien heads in the best
Whitley Streiber Communion book cover manner. After
numerous attempts in this direction and unwittingly
imitating Richard Dreyfuss playing with his plate of
mashed potatoes in the "Close Encounters" movie, he
decided to attempt something on a larger scale, namely
"Big Al." who took two months to complete. Duane carved it
in relief from a log of yellow cedar. The finished work
stands at about seven feet high, weighs in at around 250
lbs and takes two men to move. We visited its present
location at "The Outpost" on Main Street in Squamish and
certainly found it all too real, (assuming you accept
alleged alien interaction accounts and drawings as being
accurate).
Another
new-found talent is writing poetry; although I gather from
his own description that it bears no resemblance to either
Shelley or Wordsworth. Let’s just say, it’s more in
keeping with a 21st Century approach.
Under our
barrage of questions we found that Duane was certainly
answering in the affirmative to some of them. One thing
that was refreshingly different was that he had not
indulged himself in any of the prolific UFO/abductee
related literature that is presently saturating the market
place.
He told us
about another very brief UFO sighting that he had some
time ago. Plus a story that concerned four logging buddies
who related an experience whereby a disc-shaped craft
approached and hovered over them for ten minutes whilst
they were working in the bush. Then just as abruptly left.
The witnesses resumed their work. No, they did’nt report
it!
Apparently in
his "down time" he also carves whales and animals. He
added too that his partner was very attached to "Big Al."
(my appellation, not his), and bid it a reluctant and
tearful goodbye when he decided to put it up for sale. In
case you are interested in a large size traffic stopper
and have some loose change laying around, the price is
$2500, . . . a bit too rich for my blood. In any case
where would I put it? If I placed it outside UFO*BC’s
headquarters it would simply be a challenge for U.B.C.’s
engineering students to kidnap it and probably hang it off
the Alex Fraser bridge. A most inappropiate place I feel.
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