UFOs, the military, and paranoia.. my experiences

Hello.

I was an infantryman in the US army from 1993-1998. I served as a US Army Ranger and was a member of an air assault Search and Rescue team (SAR team). I had an experience at the end of my term of service that i have never been able to explain and that to this day I find confusing.

In December 1998 I was assigned to Fort Belvoir, VA, as a air assault training liaison for US Army ROTC cadets. We maintained an active duty presence and were on call for local search and rescue, while at the same time training ROTC cadets that rotated through on a 12 week cycle. On the evening of December 18th a request was made for our assistance with a search and rescue on what we were told was a crash of a small commercial aircraft. We all thought this was odd, after all, we were soldiers trained to do search and rescue of pilots and military aircraft. After discussing the mission with the CO, we were taken in a Blackhawk helicopter into the local mountains. SOP would dictate that we are give specific locations, information, and coordinates to conduct a thorough search. Strangely, the CO told me that we would be given all the information en route as it was important for us to reach the crash site asap. He informed me that we were tapped for SAR because of the remote location and the insertion techniques required our special talents.

No information was given me en route to the site. A "liaison officer" whom I had never met was already on the Blackhawk when we boarded. He was a nice man, middle age, and very cordial. He reminded us of our duty, told us to perform our task to the best of our abilities, and to maintain the professionalism of a US Army Ranger. This was all very strange, I did not know where we went, other than to say that the flight time was approx. 30 minutes into a more remote area of VA. As we approached the site, I did not see any light.. no burning, smoke, or anything that is usually indicative of a downed craft. We came to a hover over a wooded area and fast ropes were dropped over the side.. We fast roped down into a wooded clearing that was at first evaluation pitch black and without movement. When we reached the ground we assembled our SAR teams as per SOP and were informed by the liaison officer to maintain our position. After approximately 10 minutes a Delta operator came out of the tree line and led us into the woods approximately 100m. We were told to set up a perimeter, secure the area, and STFU. If you were in the military or have ever dealt with Delta you understand what I mean when I say we did what we were told.

There were approximately 6 Delta operators on site. A small area was lit with red chem sticks. We were told to conduct a standard search of the area and report any finding to Delta per SOP. We did our search, found nothing, and returned to the site.
The "site" was a small zone roughtly 20 feet by 20 feet. Other liaison officers were on site with Delta (there were 4 in total). The were photgraphing, collecting, and recording information. I can only describe to you what I saw from the light coming from the red chem stick. There was a small object, roughly the size of a large beach ball, resting on the ground cover. There was no impact crater or damage. A circular opening about 1 foot in diameter could be seen. I could see into the object partially and i was surprised to see that it was mostly hollow. What struck me most was how simple it was... no light, no windows, no wires. It reminded me of an empty capsule or small re-entry vehicle. After approximately 2 hours a CH-53 flew over, the object was secured and attached via cables, and taken away. We had to hump it a couple miles to another clearing and were loaded onto Blackhawks and flown home. I never saw the liaison people, the Dela operators, or the helicopters again. When we reached Fort Belvoir we were reminded of our oath, our duty, told this incident did not happen, told to not ask questions, and dismissed.

(continued)

I dont really know what to make of that night to be honest...

It wasnt a plane. It could have been a satellite. However, it was empty and unlike anything I have ever seen before.

The incident has always remained in my mind as a disturbing moment in my military service. I have never been harassed and I still talk about it with my friends from the service to this day.

What bothers me is the secrecy, the officers I have never met. But mostly, the presence of the Delta operators on site.

Ive trolled this site for a while before deciding to come forward. It was a real incident. I wasnt given any information at the crash site so I dont really know what I saw.

Anyways, I just wanted to share this. I found this site a few months ago in a search for some answers.

Retzius

This is the most similar incident I have been able to find..

en.wikipedia.org...

But what I saw wasnt shaped like this thing..

I read your whole story. Pretty interesting stuff. A couple years ago when I was in high school I was thinking of joining the Rangers/Delta in hopes of getting to do things like this. I realized though that it would probably be the exception in what would be a whole bunch of duties.

Did you have any sort of interest in strange paranormal/ET stuff before this event? In your experience does Delta usually deal with this sort of thing? What did they do to the ground/area where the "craft" had been after it had been taken away? Oh and was the interior of the sphere the same texture as the outside? Any strange sicknesses or anything like that after contact with this thing?

Sorry I know that's a lot of questions

reply to post by retzius


A few things concern me here.

1. Whilst I was in the military I was bound by the Official Secrets Act (UK) which means in the broadest terms - zip bloody lip about anything you see, hear or experience during your time - for life. Break this 'law' and you will (and people have) been locked up. Why are you not bound by this? I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of the Rangers.

2. You referred to a Delta telling you to STFU and you did what you were told. My experience of working with both is rather different - you both are apparently Special Forces with fierce rivalry and if one told the other to STFU it wouldn't be a 'Yes Sir, how high Sir?'

Not withstanding the above, an interesting anecdote but if true I am majorly disappointed that a member of SF broke the creed to tell anyone about it.

Hi there, thax for youre reply. Ill try to answer the best I can.

Did you have any sort of interest in strange paranormal/ET stuff before this event?

No, no experience at all.

In your experience does Delta usually deal with this sort of thing?

I have no idea, I wasnt in Delta although we had trained with them before.

What did they do to the ground/area where the "craft" had been after it had been taken away?

I don't know. After it was taken away, we left the area. Others remained behind.

Oh and was the interior of the sphere the same texture as the outside?

Really to dark to tell, but it all looked prettys smooth to me. No obvious bolts, rivots, etc.

Any strange sicknesses or anything like that after contact with this thing?

No, we were all fine as far as I can tell. We had hangovers the next day, but I doubt that counts

Sorry to disappoint you with these answers. I am trying to only tell you what I saw, no conjecture.

reply to post by vonspurter


Actually the Official Secrets Act has been successfully challenged and overturned under the auspices of Public Interest.

In recent years there have been several ex SAS people giving out information on "black ops" and activities behind enemy lines and the MOD was unable to silence them. In fact there have been several key cases in this.

Also due to the nature of the UK setup any kind of use of this act becomes public domain and the MOD would not step into the light and start pulling the act on people talking about UFOs, its counter productive to secrecy.

In the UK you are still INNOCENT until proven guilty and the MOD would first have to admit that the information being given out was classified and secret and then prove the person gave it out.


I think its easy to see why they wouldnt come out and prove that anyone saying UFO coverups were going on was commiting a breach of the infmaous act.

So its highyl unlikely ANYONE coming out and giving this kind of information would be prosecuted, they simply wouldnt do it.

Ill try to answer these too.

1. Whilst I was in the military I was bound by the Official Secrets Act (UK) which means in the broadest terms - zip bloody lip about anything you see, hear or experience during your time - for life. Break this 'law' and you will (and people have) been locked up. Why are you not bound by this? I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of the Rangers.

I joined the military when I was young out of a sense of patriotism. I love this country. I have a aged a bit now, and I still love America like I did when I was young but my perspectives have changed. If we are to be a democracy I believe we need to be a more open, not less open society. I believe that the American people can handle more truth than the government gives them credit for. Also, it remains as the one event in my career which has never really sat well with me after all these years.


2. You referred to a Delta telling you to STFU and you did what you were told. My experience of working with both is rather different - you both are apparently Special Forces with fierce rivalry and if one told the other to STFU it wouldn't be a 'Yes Sir, how high Sir?'

This was never my experience. Rangers are a special group but we all knew we were not Delta. Many of the kids in Rangers aspire to Delta and almost look upon them with a sense of hero worship. Almost like a college team getting to work out with a pro team for a day.. You are gonna show them you can be one of them and do as you are told to the best of your ability.

Not withstanding the above, an interesting anecdote but if true I am majorly disappointed that a member of SF broke the creed to tell anyone about it.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I think others can discuss this incident without any due distress. I just want to see if my experience might be a puzzle piece that helps makes the whole picture more clear.

reply to post by retzius


Thanks for your reply and I agree mostly with what you have said. I too have had an experience in the military which is why I identified with your story and wanted to know why you decided to reveal the story.

Contrary to what the previous poster said about the UKOSA being soft. I refer to the case of David Kelly

No proof. But I think I'll keep my mouth shut thank you.

reply to post by vonspurter


Yes, but David Kelly was something they had to admit to prove him guilty.

They are aggressive on standard secrets because they can be, very unpleasant.However if someone comes out and says the MOD is meddling with alien spacecraft you wont hear a peep out of them, the very last thing in the world they are going to do is admit he was breaching official secrets.

That would require proving he wasnt stating fantasy and the MOD isnt about to do that. Basically anyone can whistle blow on those kinds of secrets and be confident the MOD wont want it turning into any kind of investigation, they would just brand your nuts ad be done with it.

i suppose the first Question that springs to mind = why you ?

Interesting tale indeedy; fascinating stuff. It's not often I read 'experience' threads, but today I was bored - for the record, I believe what you are telling me is true and your not lying (who the heck would lie for ATS points after all )

Do you have any other ideas as to what it may have been?

Retzius, thank you for sharing a VERY interesting experience.

Sounds like they only told your unit "what you needed to know", as a means of controlling secrecy. Its difficult to determine if this object was military or 'other' though.

Hopefully someone who had an experience with this event will come forward and shed more light on it.

Thank God for people like you who "overcome" the crazy overwhelming sense of duty years after being in the service. I am also an Army vet. This is an incident that has "bothered" you all these years, right? Well, that means whatever happened in that remote part of VA was not normal and thank you for sharing your experience. I bet you feel better talking about it. The citizens of this country NEED to know what is going on. Kudos to you!

Hi.

Honestly guys I have no idea wtf it was. All I can reiterate was that it was a metal sphere, smooth, and it appeared to be hollow. It reminded me of a capsule or container. It didnt appear complicated meaning there were no wires or obvious mechanisms on it.

It bothered me that it was open. Whatever was inside was obviously not in there anymore...

I found this link that I though was very interesting... It is a similar experience but also different in alot of ways.

www.arrickrobotics.com...

They even took x-rays and imaging of this thing in the link. This thing looks pretty beat up to me and does at least appear to be a fuel tank.... What I saw was still very smooth, and didnt have the additional ports or attachments this thing did.

I wish I could tell you more. I only want to be objective and tell you what I saw.

Ill add that I really did think it was strange there was no obvious sign of damage or an impact crater. If it fell from the sky or re-entered the atmosphere I think it there would be something.

Questions I still have:

1. What was in it?
2. Why call in military for this? Is this what Delta does?
3. Did it land there or crash there?
4. How could it not be damaged if it crashed?
5. Conversely, if it landed how does it fly?

One thing I though of is that maybe it was payload container left behind or dropped by something else. But that is a guess at best.

Any other ideas?