THE LAST DEED 
By Kenny Young 

Having your name and phone number appearon a UFO-oriented television talk-show can bring in all kinds of strangephone calls. Certainly that was the case in early May of 2001 when I hadappeared as a panelist on the Cincinnati-based cable-television programUFO Update: LIVE! produced by Bob Leibold, Executive Director of NaturalLight Productions. The program does not only play in Cincinnati, is routinely"bicycled" around to various public access cable facilities in Ohio. Ithas been seen in Columbus and is quite popular by viewers in Dayton, Ohio(notorious for the legendary "Blue Room" or "Hangar 18" of Wright PattersonAir Force Base). One particular episode of UFO Update: LIVE! was cablecaston Northern Kentucky's CPC (Community Program Center) Channel 21 and withmy telephone number appearing on-screen, one important viewer came forward. 

In the midst of several mindless callers,most likely tricksters caught up in the frivolity and tomfoolery of UFOs,one strange call came to my attention. It was the illegible voice of aman leaving a number for me to return his call. The voice was raspy andwheezy, sounding -to be truthful- like one of the prank phone callers thatrespond to the TV program. Little did I know it was the voice of someonefighting for their life. 

Mr. Benjamin Davidson, a resident ofCovington, Kentucky, had twice contacted my voice mail telephone number,seeking to contact me directly. Upon receipt of his first message, I didnot return the call immediately (being leery of the voice on the otherend of the line). When he called a second time, I notified associate researcherChris Coffey (personal secretary to the late Leonard Stringfield) thatsomeone with an 'unusual voice' was trying to contact me regarding 'somethingto do with UFOs.' After listening to the recording and affording some seriousconsideration that the unusual voice may not be a prank, a decision wasmade to call the telephone number and together we spoke with Mr. Davidsonby 3-way telephone conversation. 

Davidson, who was born in 1938, explainedthat his body was ravaged with cancer and that he was dying. His voicewas destroyed by the disease and he could barely 
be understood. Davidson explained thathe had "just a few days" left to live and had an important story that hewanted to tell. Both Chris Coffey and I listened closely to discern whathe was saying through his slight, wheezy gasp. 

A STRUGGLE TO TELL 

This story, he explained with the agonyof a dying man, had never been told to anyone before he approached us withthis strange account in May of 2001. He has never told his wife nor anyonein his family... nobody. As we listened with cautious interest, Davidsonsaid that he had been involved in an unusual incident that happened inApril or June of 1964 or 1965, the exact date of which was lost in thefog of time. Interestingly, the occurrence had strangely escaped his thoughtsuntil the early 1990s. Mr. Davidson explained that while sitting at hiskitchen table sometime in the early 90s, a cigarette burned the hair onhis arms. This burning smell of singed hair on his arms unleashed a floodof memories from April or June of '64 or '65 that he found very disturbing. 

He explained that in '64 or '65, hewas employed as an exterminator and would travel from Portsmouth, Ohioto Cincinnati along U.S. Route 52. Frequently he would retrieve and haulchemicals along this route. It was on a late Sunday night midway alongone of these hauls (between April and June) that he was driving along thedark roadway after taking a temporary diversion to visit his mother. Movinginto a small clearing along U.S. Route 52 somewhere in the vicinity of Aberdeen or Manchester, Ohio, a semi-circular object appeared situatedon the roadway in front of him, obstructing his route. 

The object, he said, was oval-shapedand was comprised of some sort of iron or aluminum with different coloredlights around it. Due to this roadblock, Mr. Davidson 
drew his car to a halt. 

Benjamin Davidson said he was confrontedby several entities that were standing along the roadside of U.S. Route50 near Aberdeen, Ohio and taken onto the object. Davidson described themas 'creatures' or 'what you would call aliens.' 

"What kind of creatures, what did theylook like?" I asked. 

Benjamin Davidson went on to describethe creatures, saying that these entities were not similar to the onesusually reported in UFO literature. They did not look like the child-sized,large headed black-eyed staring aliens that appear on television and inthe movies. But rather, these beings resembled the insect known as a 'PreyingMantis.' Upon his utterance of this revelation, Chris Coffey gasped andlater said: "I knew he was going to say that." 

DARK EXPERIENCE 

Davidson said that at no time did thecreatures speak to him as he was escorted into the large object that blockedhis path on the roadway. The escort, he said, was 'non-violent.' 

"I don't know why," Mr. Davidson recalled,"but I wasn't afraid." 

The interior of this object, he said,was well lit but he could not discern a light source. He estimated therewere about 20 of the 'Preying Mantis' occupants on board the object ashe was taken to a table and subject to some sort of physical examination. 

"They scraped the skin off my hands,they clipped my fingernails and took blood," he said during the 20-minutetelephone discussion. Davidson again reassured that he had told this storyto nobody before now. 

Benjamin Davidson suddenly paused fora moment. Both Chris and I waited, thinking that he must be strugglingto recall the details or dealing with physical agony. 

"There's something else that was wenton there," he said after the pause. "There was another examining tablein the room. On this examining table was a little girl. That little girlwas dead." 

Chris and I listened with a dreadfulsilence. 

"I know she was dead. I didn't knowwho she was or where she came from, but it was quite obvious that she wasdead." 

"What did you do?" I asked. 

"What could I do? I didn't do anything." 

Davidson said he had little memoryof anything else taking place during this episode, only recalling thathe woke up at a traffic light somewhere near Portsmouth, Ohio. Being severalhours late from home, his wife was deeply concerned. Upon arriving home,he was unable to explain his prolonged absence. In the years since theevent, his wife has been of the suspicion that he was having an extramaritalaffair and this had caused anxiety in their relationship. 

YOU BETTER HURRY 

In closing he again asserted that itwas his dying intent to share this information. When asked if he wouldagree to allow us to videotape his story, he tentatively agreed but said:"you better hurry." 

So ended our conversation. I plannedto notify TV producer Bob Leibold and have him make arrangements to meetme in the next week to interview Davidson. All I 
needed to do was to set up a confirmedtime we could meet Mr. Davidson at his home. A return call made to hisresidence several days later was answered by his wife. Benjamin Davidson,she said, had died. Our plans to meet Mr. Davidson and videotape his commentswould not take place due to his death several days prior, and shortly aftermy one and only conversation with him. 

I felt as though in shock. His wifewas silent. She only said that she knew that he had talked with us beforehis death and she became aware of his bizarre story when he told her ofhis discussion he had with us. She did not offer any comment on his accountand no comment was requested. 

For me, taking this report and consideringthe nature of its delivery was quite startling and somewhat disturbing.This was clearly something important to Mr. Davidson, I thought, as hestruggled to tell his story. I was of the impression that he was sincereand he felt this to be one of his last acts. It clearly was. Aware of hisextreme health condition and fate, I could only listen and attempt vocalsupport. I could ascertain no motive and undertake no investigation. Onlyconsider the source and listen to the story. More profound than the lastacts of a dying man may be the incredible story he had to relate .