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204880 sightings reported...
and growing

Cannon AFB, NM

Sighted on Tuesday 06. January 1976
Reported on
Shape: Disk | Duration: Weeks
Source:

Air Force scrambles armed fighters after "bogeys" and subsequent cover-up (1976)This event was for me a culmination of about 2 weeks of unusual activity during my duty as USAF personnel at Cannon AFB, NM. Preceeding this, there were reports of cattle mutilation near Gallup. I personally interviewed at least 20 witnesses. While minor details of the craft would vary - and a few of the descriptions were of a small red sphere - the basic description/behavior of the main sightings were virtually identical. I also spent an evening interviewing a family of 5 who spent the previous evening watching the "silver discs" hovering over the field behind their house in Clovis. One of the more interesting episodes was when aircraft were launched near shift change. I worked swing shift and on Friday nights if aircraft land with avionics problems, swing shift worked over rather than calling in midnight shift from their weekend. As usual, we had verified sorties by Job Control and there were no scheduled training flights. When I heard the sound of F-111 afterburners, I ran to the loading dock to see if they were ours (not Nellis or Mountain Home F-111's) and saw the "CC" designation on the tail as two Cannon AFB F-111D models launched abreast. This was the first time I had seen 111's launch in that formation - it was definitely unusual. Our shop dispatcher immediately called Job Control, upset that our weekend would likely be postponed as we waited for the aircraft to land and likely land with repairs needed. ((name and rank deleted)) hung up the phone and told us that the launch was no training sortie - it was a "hot scramble". This means the aircraft were launched with live ordinance!! When we inquired as to why, he said they were tracking bogeys. Again, I ran out to the loading dock platform and began scanning the skies. I saw nothing. I went back into the A-shop waiting area and ((name deleted)) recalled that a buddy of his was the radar operator on duty. We called the "radar shack" and got him on the phone. He said he had never seen anything like this. The bogeys would appear and disappear, seemingly without cause and would occasionally move at incredible speeds over and near the base. We asked him if it could be a radar malfunction. He said "negative" - the radar was in perfect working order and he had run diagnostics. He also was a seasoned operator and I do not believe it was an error on his part (after all, we DID scramble two $26,000,000 aircraft after something). I jotted down the phone number to the radar shack - on the off chance.... The two aircraft landed about 90 minutes later and surprisingly, had no repairs that would require us to work over. I left the shop and went to the Airman's club on base, had a few beers and played some fooseball. I left for the barracks and arrived in the CQ (charge of quarters) area at around 02:00. I noted the phone on the desk and decided, what the heck. I dialed the number to the radar shack and here is my account of what transpired, with my comments: (ring-ring) VOICE (excited and loud): "This is Capt.((name deleted)) - IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" [OK, in the USAF you do not answer a phone that way. Even Generals do not answer phones that way - it could be the President. Everyone is taught protocol - "This is <rank> <name>, ma'am or sir. How may I help you?" Also, the odds of a Captain being in the middle of a cow pasture in a small radar building at 02:00 on a Friday night is really slim.] ME: "This is ((name and rank deleted))." [I almost hung up. I knew upon hearing his voice I was in trouble.] VOICE: "State your business, ((name and rank deleted))!" ME: "I was wondering if there were any more bogeys sighted?" VOICE: "Who told you there were bogeys sighted?!?" ME: "I spoke to the radar operator earlier - we scrambled two aircraft..." VOICE: "I don't know what you are talking about - there were no bogeys and no scramble." ME: "I saw them take off..." VOICE: [Begins to yell and curse - like a sailor! I mean REALLY bad - very hostile towards me]. Who is your C.O.? [In the USAF, we don't have a "C.O." or Commanding Officers - we have Squadron Commanders but since my father was ((deleted--military)) for ((XX)) yrs., I knew what he meant. This was my first clue that this guy was fishy.] ME: ((name deleted)) sir." VOICE: "And what is your serial number?" [Strike two - no such thing as serial number in the USAF at that time. It was replaced years earlier by the SSAN - social security account number. NOBODY called it serial number because that was a throwback to the "brown shoe days" of the Army Air Corps - which was very past tense and a history the modern Air Force would just as soon forget. But again, I knew what he wanted so I complied without questioning the use of terms. At that point, I knew this guy was not USAF.] ME: "((number deleted))" VOICE: "What you are talking about never happened. You are a lying <curse-curse-curse> and I can prove it. I'll have you busted - yell-curse-yell-curse. I will be watching your every move, Airman. You are not to mention a word of this to anyone, ever. AM I CLEAR??" ME: "Yes sir." VOICE: "We know where you work, we know where you are - if you communicate any of this bullshit story you have concocted, I will make sure you end up in a place worse than Leavenworth." [Leavenworth is as bad as it can (legally) get for an errant military person. I fully took this as a physical threat. It was not spoken plainly but it was as clear to me as it was to him.] During the days after this conversation we received an order from the Base Commander, citing USAFReg 111-(?) which I looked up in the base library. Basically, it says that no information regarding any unidentified flying object can be communicated to anyone under threat of court martial. I also kept running the conversation with ((name and rank deleted)) over in my mind. Something was wrong with it all. I also became upset with his conduct. As an officer, he stepped over the line - big time. I began considering bringing him up on charges of conduct unbecoming. With anger and indignance as emotional bulwarks, I began to search for this ((name and rank deleted)). Despite an exhaustive search on and off base, there was no such person. I thought maybe the guy at the radar shack knew him. When I called for him, I was told by his Sgt. that he had been transferred out. I told him it was important I get in touch with him and was told he had been sent TDY to destinations unknown. I detected this Sgt. was "touchy" about this situation. His voice and behavior were showing signs of stress. When I said that I didn't reacall him mentioned having orders, the Sgt abruptly ended the conversation. So, who was this ((name and rank deleted))? I don't know but I suspect he works for a non-military, extra-governmental agency that is directly involved in the supression of the evidence surrounding UFO phenomenon. I never heard from him nor do I suspect anyone was actually watching me. Several days passed by and the UFO sightings seemed to diminish in frequency. One night, after midnight, I was driving back to base from Clovis on Hwy 60. I noticed some flashing lights over the base that seemed to be hovering. I figured they are Jolly Greens (Sikorsky HH-3E helicopters) that land there to refuel from time to time. (BTW, I am an aviation expert and private pilot in addition to fmr. USAF) As I approach the exit to the base, I notice the lights - 2 sets - are still hovering over the base. This struck me as curious because they would never hold that long over the base at this time of night. I begin to wonder if this could be UFOs. I begin to watch intently, glancing at the road occasionally. As I move closer, I can make out 2 outlines of disk shapes, with a perimiter of multi-colored lights that appear to be on the very edge of the disks. They are either moving around the ship or strobing in such a way to give that impression. The objects also are moving - hovering - moving. I notice that there seems to be no acceleration curve in their movement. It is instantaneous, linear ON-OFF. I make a correllation - the speed the lights appear to be moving 'round the ship increases, then the ship moves - then the lights slow down again. I see bright blue lights out of the corner of my left eye. The power lines along the hwy. are exploding (or maybe a transformer) and huge blue balls of arc light are thrown onto the hwy in front of my car. I reflexively dodge them. Looking back in the rear view, I notice a small fire is beginning. I look back at the skies over the base. Only one ship is left. Regret letting the other "get away" and watch the last ship without averting my gaze for anything. Yes, I call them "ships" because now, I believe that is what they are.) The lights on this one begin to rotate faster and faster until the multi-colors "meld" into a ring then ball of bright white (this happens in like one second or less - multi-color ring > meld to white ring > burst into incredible PURE WHITE ball of light- like no light I've seen) and it streaks past horizon in a split second. On the flat desert, clear night, 500' altitude (est.) - you figure the speed. I pull over and open the driver's door of my Buick. Dazed - absolutely stunned - my world has just been turned on its head. Everything I know is wrong. There is also something like a "force" that compels me to commit every detail of this evening to memory because one day it will be important. I don't know why but it will be important one day. The next Monday, the Clovis newspaper had a small report of an "unexplained blackout" on the east side of town that night. ((name deleted)) Consulting Engineer Fmr. USAF, Viet Nam Era Veteran((NUFORC Note: Date may be approximate, although the witness does not indicate that fact. PD))

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