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| If you see something, keep your mouth shut |
You might call me a Military UFO Witness. I have been talking about UFOs, on this blog, nearly every day for about the past eight months - with a little time off for cancer and skiing, no biggie. It was not always that way - the UFO talk, not the skiing. I have loved skiing for 35 years. But for nearly as long, I kept my mouth shut about UFOs. I would tell a few close friends and family, usually after a couple drinks. It is not often that I have more than one drink these days (though I admit, I went to SUNY Plattsburgh) but when I do, it is pretty easy to get me to talk about my UFO sighting.
One friend, whom I most often have a drink with, kept telling me for years that if he had seen a UFO, the way I describe it, he would make his whole life about it. I have always had more important things to do - for me and my family. I had long given up on doing what is right for society.
Hold on, you may say. Who would do such a thing? Well, pretty much everyone who has served in the US military and witnessed a UFO, would do that. Yeah, nobody wants to be the butt of a joke, or even worse, be reprimanded. Nobody wants to receive punishments like confinement to barracks, loss of pay, loss of rank. This happens. Nobody wants to be that weird, "UFO Guy." So we keep our mouths shut. It seems the official policy at the time was:
- Keep your mouth shut
- If you see something, say nothing
- Most of all, keep your mouth shut
My story follows the same pattern as all the others. This is now becoming public, thanks to people like Lue Elizondo. When I spoke with Lue last summer I was a bit surprised at his lack of surprise. It happens all the time. Lue clued me in to this. It is especially bad with pilots. They are in the air all the time. There is nothing to see in the air but clouds and other aircraft. Not all of those aircraft are of this world.
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| Will Smith |
By the way, I heard there is a new Men in Black movie coming out this summer. Wait a minute. When did Men in Black III come out? I totally missed that one.
New Guidelines for UFO Reporting
Last week Politico announced the US Navy is drafting new guidelines for UFO reporting. "For safety and security concerns, the Navy and the [U.S. Air Force] takes these reports very seriously and investigates each and every report," Politico reported. Well, that is not exactly true. At least I know it was not that way in the Army, when I was in, back in the 1990's.
For me, the jokes began as soon as I got picked up at the end of my guard duty shift, the night of my sighting. Mike, the other witness, had told the other guards and the driver about what he saw, the moment he got in the transport truck. By the time the truck got to my site, only a minute or so later, Mike and I were already a couple punching bags.
Our driver believed us and told me he had heard there were a lot of sightings around military bases. They wanted to see what we had. That made sense. I was guarding a giant pile of ammunition and explosives. I do not know how the driver knew about all these sightings. There was no Internet in 1992 (although Al Gore could not stop talking about how great this Information Superhighway was going to be) and very little on TV about UFOs, other than occasional science fiction movies on the topic. Maybe the guy read the Enquirer and the Weekly World News, a lot. He lived in a trailer, so...
That is what people thought of UFO witnesses. There was no distinction between that and being a fan of the Bat Boy. Kiss your credibility goodbye, if you believe in UFOs and Bat Boys. You probably also have a moldy sandwich with the face of Jesus, sitting in a glass case at home.
When we got back to the Guard Shack, Mike tried to tell the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) about what he saw. Bear in mind, if you have been following this blog you know that Mike was behind the aircraft so he only saw a little piece of one of the bright lights at the front of the ship. He watched it for nearly half an hour before it zipped off into space in a streak of light. Had I known that at the time I would have been more descriptive with Mike about the ship. It was right next to me and visible in its full splendor. I thought he saw exactly what I saw. We would not reconcile this until we finally met again last fall. I also would have accompanied him into the guard shack to share my version of the story.
The NCOIC did not want to hear a word about what Mike had to say. He must have thought Mike was making up a wild, fantastic tale. He told Mike to get out of his building. From the way Mike describes it, the guy was angry and close to being violent with Mike.
The next day there was a coldness in the air. It was not the late Canadian summer. It was the other members of my Army Reserve Unit. We had gone to bed some time between 1:00 am and 2:00 am and by 8:00 am the story had made the rounds through all four platoons. Mike and Dave (we probably would have been called by our last names but I told Mike I would not print his last name in this blog) are a couple nut-jobs. They believe in flying saucers. I am sure there was no organized effort to stay away from us but people did.
Before mid-day, Mike told me he was recanting his story. He could not take the ridicule. He could not handle the cold shoulders. He did not want to be that weird "UFO Guy."
Neither did I. I did not go so far as to lie about it. I stuck to my story, as I do to this day. I just stopped telling people. I shut my mouth. I kept my mouth shut for years.
The new Navy guidelines may remove that stigma. They want people to report what they saw. They do not go so far as to acknowledge that we are being visited by aliens spaceships, though. Even the top Brass, who are obviously behind this, do not want to stick their necks out and use the U-word. I like the way Marina Koren at The Atlantic put it, "if you see something, say something, but for God’s sake, lower your voice. Don’t call it a UFO."
Why Does the Navy want to hear about UFOs?
Yesterday, NBC News MACH quoted a spokesman for a Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, “There have been a number of reports of unauthorized and/or unidentified aircraft entering various military-controlled ranges and designated air space in recent years,” Ya think? I knew that 27 years ago but nobody wanted to hear about it. All this time I could not help wondering why the military would not want to know about this. Did they know more than they were letting on?
Now I am thinking it is the opposite. Everyone had their heads in their BDUs. Yes, we really are that dumb. Anyone who has risen to a high rank in the military has done so by following every rule in the field manual. UFOs were not in the book. What was in the book was, if you are a crazy person you will not be promoted. Rather, you will be ostracized and eventually you will look for a new job.
I served out the remaining five years of my contract with the US Army, without incident. I received the Army Achievement Medal prior to transferring into the Inactive Ready Reserve and an Honorable Discharge two years later. Throughout that time I did not mention the word UFO once to anyone.
I remember the first time I told someone my story, after the initial sighting. It was probably the winter of 2000 or 2001. There was snow on the ground. I was visiting my dad with my cousin and one of his many future ex-wives (my favorite one, as it were). We stayed up late, drinking and playing cards. I am guessing we probably played 31. But it could have been Bloody Guts or Queens and After. The card game broke and we were winding things up for the night.
I do not remember how we got on the topic but I started telling my story. I believe I experienced a little PTSD that night. I can still remember feeling like my blood had turned cold, as I detailed the ship to my closest family members. My eyes got watery. I did not cry, though a single tear rolled down my cheek. I was back there in Gagetown, reliving it all over again.
That first telling of the story was cathartic. A weight had been lifted. I would still not tell many people, for a long time. And every time I did, my eyes would water up, though less and less each time. At this point, thanks to this blog, I no longer get emotional when I talk about my sighting. It is something that happened. It was terrifying. It was horrifying. But I no longer experience the terror and horror.
I would encourage anyone who has been through something similar to talk to someone about it. Tell your closest friend or loved-one. If you are in the military, report it to your commander. Tell me, if you want. I would love to hear your story. We do not have to put your story in this blog, though it is important that the public hears as many stories as we can put out.
If you saw something, say something.
Enjoying this blog?
If you have seen an alien spaceship or any type of unidentified flying object (UFO) contact me using the Contact form on this page. You may remain anonymous if you want. I will not ridicule you or try to tell you why you are wrong. I get it, I saw one too.
Thank you for reading and keep an eye on the sky.
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