Old timers- share your UFO stories from the 1960s and 1970s

I'm 68 years old. My story is from my college years 69-71. It must have been the autumn of 70, we all had coats on. Me and six of my college friends decided to go down to Giant City south of Carbondale, Southern Illinois University, for a little party in the woods. When we arrived at the spot we wanted to have some fun for the evening it was cold, so me and two of my male buddies walked the ridgeline looking for firewood. We had built a small fire to keep the three girls warm while we went after wood to burn. As we turned to look back and remark about how weird it looked to see the girls standing around the fire as if they were suspended in the air, it was very dark there, we chuckled about the image then a glow began to grow in intensity behind the girls over the ridge. Very slowly a ship of some sort rose up above the ridge. We couldn't have been more that a football field distance from it because we all could see a lot of detail of the hull of this thing. Not a sound but a low turbine like noise coming form it. It was disk shaped, lights on the bottom blinked in series around the base of it going round and round the edge of it. The girls had turned to face it as well and they were much closer than we boys were. They huddled together. It sat motionless for about a minute, then without a sound it zipped off over the tree tops and was about a mile away within a second, then lights shined up into the air like car headlights. We tucked and ran back to the cars and drove back to the dorms.

We talked it over and we all were as frightened as the next guy about the whole thing. We decided to go back the next night and reexperience what we had just done that night. The next evening just us guys went back and stood where we stood the night before. There was a glow coming in the sky behind the ridge again. But is was different than before. We decided nervously to climb the hill and look over the top of the ridge. When we got there we laid on our bellies and peered over the ridgetop. It was a full moon.

That was enough. It took a ton of courage to go back the night after and what we saw and what zipped off out of sight was real. It was a craft, solid, shining and I still haven't seen anything like it in any images of UFOs. We were no more than 300 feet from this thing and all seven of us saw it plain as day that night. Never will forget this. I would love to meet up with those friends again and talk about it. We never did after that second night.

A Viet Nam vet friend of mine told me of a story he experienced with a friend while living in California in his youth. They witnessed a ship loading people on board with aliens standing guard outside the ship. They were spotted and ran, jumped into the pickup and raced away. On the driver's side of the pickup Ray could see a ship keeping pace with them as they raced down the road. It eventually gave up the chase and they escaped. I know Ray he is honest and he hadn't told this to anyone before and it wasn't until I told him about my experience that he opened up.

Hope this was entertaining, it is for me now, they do exist, they are here there is no doubt in my mind.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

Not trying to scare you, but "paranormal" activities/events and UFO sightings and experiences are related. That should give you a clue as to "what" they are. They aren't illusions nor mental breaks. It's like a criminal who taunts the police for years, no one knows his identity. Until..they start comparing notes or the criminal slips up and leaves incriminating evidence.

a reply to: tooprotected

Thank you for your ''warning''.

I have had paranormal experiences as well and do consider the possibility that there could be a connection. However I am not going to automatically assume that they are malevolent as your ''example'' seems to suggest.


PS. Interesting. After a 7 year layoff from ATS, you first found my short post with a link worthy of making your first reply to. Can you tell me what about that obscure post attracted your attention rather than all the others in this thread let alone all the other threads that have run through ATS in all the years you have not posted? Color me quizzical.