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Unidentified Inside Americas UFO investigations S01E05 The Atomic Connection TEPES
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00:24The Pentagon has confirmed the existence of the
00:29Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program that studied UFOs, and they released video.
00:35There's a whole fleet of them. My gosh.
00:38For eight years, Lou Elizondo ran a secret UFO investigation for the U.S. military.
00:44But in 2017, he quit in protest.
00:47I put my entire future on the line because I believe in what I believe in.
00:51Now he's joined an elite group of former government insiders.
00:54Their mission, reveal what they say is the truth about UFOs.
00:58U.S. airspace is being violated by vehicles of unknown origin with advanced capabilities.
01:04It's rotating.
01:05The investigation has uncovered two astonishing encounters between UFOs and U.S. Navy carrier strike groups, years apart.
01:14We were all clamoring to get on the radio. Do you see in the water? What the f*** is that?
01:19If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I don't know if I would have believed in either.
01:23In each case, the Navy carriers were nuclear-powered.
01:27Is that why these things might be interested in carrier groups?
01:31For decades, UFOs have allegedly been hovering near nuclear assets in the American heartland.
01:36It shot straight up in the air and was gone in a second.
01:40And overseas.
01:41The beams went down into the weapons storage area.
01:43And I'm thinking, oh my God.
01:46Is there a connection between the appearance of these unidentified craft and America's most powerful weapons?
02:08President Bill Clinton wanted to know about UFOs.
02:11Ronald Reagan had an interest in UFOs.
02:13We know that Jimmy Carter, as a candidate, made a promise.
02:16If I'm elected, I'm going to find out what's going on with UFOs.
02:19And then he never said another word about them.
02:21Even presidents find out that they don't have the power to automatically release all this information.
02:32Today, I'm going to be meeting a former sheriff of a small town here in North Dakota.
02:36He had an interesting encounter some time ago.
02:39What makes this particularly interesting, I think, this incident is that, A, he's a law enforcement officer.
02:44B, he's former military.
02:46And C, there were other eyewitnesses.
02:48I mean, I don't want to speculate, but there seems to be a lot of sightings of something.
02:51What that something is, we don't know.
02:55At one time, this area had more nuclear silos than just about anywhere else in the United States.
03:19Larry Gessner served for 11 years as a weapons specialist at nearby Minot Air Force Base.
03:24He was responsible for loading nuclear weapons on bombers.
03:28And after retiring from the Air Force, he was sheriff of Sheridan County.
03:32I have been waiting 15 years where I get to tell this event.
03:36This is the first time he's talking publicly about his UFO encounter.
03:41So, why don't you show me where it all happened?
03:44Okay.
03:45Well, you've got this house here, which was the neighbor's house, and the driveway there.
03:50So, this is the lot.
03:51This is where your house stood.
03:52Yep.
03:53One night in 2003, he and another eyewitness saw something they couldn't explain.
03:58If you look over there, that would have been right where it came over.
04:03Okay.
04:04144 degrees.
04:05So, we're looking at almost due southeast.
04:08Okay.
04:09Copy.
04:09The thing that stood out the most to me was that instead of a horizontal plane for the lights,
04:16you know, which you would see on an aircraft, they were vertical.
04:19It was like this.
04:20Yeah.
04:20And so, I said, I don't know any aircraft.
04:22It was confusing.
04:24I kept saying to myself, this isn't making any sense.
04:26And as it got closer, the lights became more prominent.
04:29And we could discern that there was larger lights along the front edge, the rounder, you
04:34know, the bigger lights.
04:35And then there were smaller lights on the outside edge.
04:38As it got to this point here, now all of a sudden, I realized there's windows.
04:41There was a thickness to the wall of the craft.
04:43I got right over the top, and that's when I said, you know, about up in here.
04:47Now, I can see the bottom of this thing, and it's a diamond shape.
04:51It came to a stop.
04:52The lights went out.
04:54And then this white glow showed up on the back of the craft.
04:59And it shot straight up in the air and was gone in a second.
05:04You know what looks diamond to me?
05:05The F-117.
05:08That's kind of diamond shape.
05:12Maybe you were witnessing that.
05:13No.
05:14The size of this craft, it was probably close to 200 feet in the air and 100 feet wide.
05:21Okay, so this is a sizably different thing.
05:23Lou, I was an instructor for seven years.
05:27I had to teach people the weapons system on the aircraft.
05:31So I had to know the aircraft inside now.
05:33That was a huge thing.
05:36Absolutely, or in combat.
05:37So, I don't put words in your mouth.
05:40Have you ever seen in the history, with your time in the Air Force or afterwards,
05:45any aircraft before, during, or since that remotely resembles what you saw that night?
05:52No.
05:53Absolutely not.
05:54That thing was much larger than any aircraft I've ever seen in my entire life.
06:03Okay, so here's McCall's.
06:04You're here, right?
06:05Correct.
06:06What you're saying is that it was heading in the opposite direction,
06:10which is, in fact, certainly within the trajectory here,
06:14where you saw it and where it ended up and then shot up.
06:19is, in fact, towards Minot.
06:21Minot Air Force Base lies 75 miles to the northwest.
06:27Since the beginning of the Cold War,
06:29Minot has been one of the most weaponized places on Earth.
06:33It's America's only base that can launch both nuclear missiles
06:37and nuclear-armed long-range bombers.
06:39There are a lot of nuclear sites between where you are and Minot.
06:46I mean, I'm counting here, and there's probably 30 or 40,
06:50and I've got three maps.
06:51But between here and here, there's a hell of a lot of stuff here.
06:54Yeah.
06:55Nuclear.
06:55Yeah.
06:55This isn't the first time Elizondo's investigation has found a link
06:59between UFOs and U.S. nuclear assets.
07:02We seem to see these things around U.S. nuclear equities.
07:07Nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and nuclear technology.
07:13There definitely seems to be some sort of correlation.
07:16And if I see something that potentially has the ability
07:19to either threaten or disable our strategic nuclear capability,
07:25I have to consider that a threat.
07:28The progress that's been made in the last year is incredible,
07:31but there are still big secrets being kept.
07:34If that can be leaked out or released,
07:37even if it's a dribble, it changes everything.
07:40Next, Elizondo stops in Las Vegas.
07:43He is here to meet with investigative journalist George Knapp.
07:47Knapp has uncovered documents that may reveal a connection
07:49between UFO sightings and America's atomic arsenal.
07:53If anybody is going to be able to shed some light
07:56and help me better understand that relationship,
07:59I think it's you.
08:00Over the years, Knapp has filed Freedom of Information requests
08:03with the Departments of Defense and Energy.
08:06This is from 1985.
08:08And interviewed scores of government eyewitnesses.
08:10These go way back.
08:12And these are reports of reported incidents?
08:14UFO incidents.
08:15This is from way back in 1948.
08:17That's over Los Alamos.
08:21Another unknown object in New Mexico.
08:25Interesting.
08:25That's during the Manhattan Project.
08:33During the 1950s,
08:34the Air Force detonated more than 100 atomic bombs
08:37and above-ground tests in the Nevada desert.
08:39I had more than a dozen people
08:41who had worked out there at the test site
08:44during the height of the above-ground testing period
08:47who said UFOs were commonplace.
08:49There were employees assigned to monitor UFO activity
08:53in connection with the tests.
08:55Sometimes they'd appear before the tests.
08:57Oftentimes they'd appear after it.
08:59And once in a while,
09:00they would appear during these tests.
09:04All of the nuclear facilities,
09:05Los Alamos, Livermore, Sandia,
09:08Savannah River,
09:09all had UFO incidents.
09:12This says if it's firmly indicated
09:14there is no domestic explanation,
09:16the objects are a threat
09:17and warrant more active efforts
09:19at identification and interception.
09:21Doesn't that sound familiar?
09:22And all copies were supposed to be destroyed.
09:25Three, two, one.
09:28In 1959,
09:30the U.S. introduced a deadly new addition
09:32to its nuclear arsenal,
09:33the ICBM,
09:34or intercontinental ballistic missile.
09:37These nuclear-tipped missiles
09:38could strike targets
09:39more than 3,500 miles away.
09:43According to Knapp,
09:44UFOs now began to be seen
09:46at the new ICBM launch sites
09:47across the Midwest.
09:49What would be an example
09:51of one of the more compelling incidents?
09:54In Minot Air Force Base,
09:55UFOs appear over these missiles.
09:57Something enables the missile
09:59and it's ready to go.
10:00In 1966,
10:02military personnel say a UFO
10:04appeared over Minot Air Force Base,
10:0675 miles from Larry Gessner's sighting.
10:08They claim one of Minot's nuclear missiles
10:11allegedly activated
10:12as a UFO hovered above,
10:14then deactivated when it disappeared.
10:17A year later,
10:18a similar incident allegedly happened
10:19at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
10:22Military personnel there
10:23say a glowing red, oval-shaped object
10:25hovered over its missile silos,
10:27and all 10 of the base's nuclear missiles
10:30were disabled.
10:31They don't know what's causing it.
10:32They don't know how to stop it.
10:34That puts it all on the line.
10:36That tells you how serious this matter is.
10:38Over the next two decades,
10:40multiple U.S. nuclear launch sites
10:42would report alarming UFO incidents.
10:44But no one can explain why.
10:46One of the most frustrating parts
10:48of pursuing the UFO mystery
10:50is the response from the government,
10:53from the military in particular,
10:54is that this is not an issue
10:56that concerns us.
10:57This is of no interest
10:58to national security.
10:59When, in fact,
11:00the very best documented
11:02and most impressive UFO incidents
11:04and cases
11:06always involve the military.
11:08They all involve military assets,
11:09military bases,
11:10facilities, nuclear facilities.
11:12Those are the ones
11:13that are really intriguing.
11:14I am sympathetic
11:15to our military
11:16and our government
11:17in terms of how you explain this.
11:20I think in the beginning
11:21of the modern UFO era,
11:23they didn't know
11:23what the hell
11:24they were dealing with.
11:25They didn't know
11:25where these things were from.
11:26They didn't know
11:27whether they represented
11:28a threat to national security or not,
11:30but they didn't know.
11:31And, you know,
11:32they didn't know
11:33how to tell us about it.
11:35I don't sympathize with them
11:36in that they have ruined careers
11:38and threatened people
11:39and imposed secrecy
11:41and have lied
11:42to the American public about it.
11:43People have been seeing
11:44these things all over the planet
11:45for as long as humans
11:47have recorded history.
11:49But the best
11:50and most interesting cases
11:51of the modern UFO era
11:53involve military assets.
11:54It's no surprise
11:55if these are from somewhere else
11:58and they're trying to check us out
12:00and what our capabilities are.
12:01Those are the assets
12:02that they would take a look at,
12:04that they would inspect.
12:05When you have Project Blue Book
12:07being canceled in 1969,
12:09for the reason that
12:10these are not of interest
12:11in national security,
12:12they're no threat,
12:13we're not going to study them anymore,
12:14you know damn good and well
12:15that's not true.
12:16Because the best cases
12:17do involve military facilities,
12:20military personnel,
12:21and military assets,
12:22in particular nuclear bases.
12:23Just think about this synopsis.
12:25At the facilities
12:26where we were first designing
12:28and building nuclear weapons,
12:29there were UFOs.
12:30At the facilities
12:31where we were testing the weapons,
12:33there were UFOs.
12:34At the bases
12:35where we deployed those weapons,
12:36on the ships,
12:37the nuclear submarines,
12:39all those places,
12:40all the people working there
12:42have seen these things.
12:43Are they all crazy?
12:44Because if they are,
12:45they shouldn't have their hands
12:46on nuclear weapons.
12:48Agreed.
12:48Either mass delusion
12:50or they're all right,
12:51but either way,
12:52we need to look into this.
12:53Yeah.
12:54Coming up on Unidentified.
12:56There it is.
12:57Hey, I see it too.
12:58What is it?
12:59We don't know, sir.
13:01I'm thinking,
13:01is this a warning?
13:03Or is this some kind of communication?
13:05I couldn't believe
13:05what was happening.
13:06I started having health issues
13:07immediately after the incident.
13:09That's fascinating.
13:10You mean we have people
13:11in uniform
13:12who have actually
13:12may have been injured
13:14by coming up close
13:15and personal
13:16to one of these things?
13:25The colonel of an American
13:27Air Force base
13:28and a lot of his airmen
13:30claim that something
13:31from outside the Earth's atmosphere
13:33landed at their Air Force base.
13:35They inspected it.
13:37They photographed it.
13:38They took tests
13:38on the ground
13:39where it had been
13:40and found radioactive traces.
13:43There are only two explanations
13:46of what happened that night.
13:48One explanation
13:49is that it actually happened
13:50as Colonel Holt reported.
13:52The other is
13:54that Colonel Holt
13:55and all his men
13:56were hallucinating.
13:58Surely,
13:59to any sensible person,
14:00either of those explanations
14:02is of the utmost
14:03defence interest.
14:04this should be the subject
14:06of rigorous
14:07scientific investigation
14:09and not the subject
14:11of rubbishing
14:12by tabloid newspapers.
14:13I couldn't agree more.
14:15Lou Elizondo is in Virginia
14:17to continue investigating
14:18the link between UFO sightings
14:20and America's nuclear arsenal.
14:24Can we go back
14:25one more slide too
14:25to the nuclear power plant?
14:27Sure.
14:27So this is the nuclear power plant
14:29and this facility was there
14:30while you were there.
14:31Oh yes,
14:32it was there before
14:32I was there even.
14:33Elizondo's re-examining
14:35one of the most notorious
14:36UFO incidents in history.
14:37In 1980,
14:39Lieutenant Colonel Charles Holt
14:40was second in command
14:42of America's largest air base
14:43in Europe,
14:44RAF Bentwaters,
14:45100 miles northeast of London.
14:50Cold War tensions were high
14:51and the base was a pivotal part
14:53of NATO's defences.
14:55RAF Bentwaters
14:56is the largest tactical fighter
14:57wing in the free world.
14:59We had A-10s.
15:01The mission of the base
15:02was if the Eastern Bloc countries
15:04came into Germany,
15:05the A-10s would go kill tanks
15:07and carry the war
15:07to the enemy heartland.
15:09Bentwaters often housed
15:10advanced test aircraft
15:12and experimental weapons.
15:13It was a stressful time.
15:15But hidden deep under the base
15:17was one of the Cold War's
15:18most guarded secrets.
15:2025 fortified bunkers
15:22filled with lightweight
15:23but highly powerful
15:24nuclear bombs.
15:26Always at the ready
15:27to repel a Soviet invasion
15:28of the NATO bloc.
15:30This information
15:31wasn't made public
15:32for decades.
15:34As deputy commander,
15:36Holt's top priority
15:37was protecting the base
15:38from terrorists and communists,
15:40not UFOs.
15:41Tell me what you experienced
15:43back in 1980.
15:45We were having
15:46our Christmas party.
15:48We just finished
15:50main meal
15:50and we're getting ready
15:51for dessert.
15:52When the on-duty police lieutenant
15:53came in,
15:54white as a sheet,
15:54and he said,
15:55we saw lights in the forest.
15:56There was something out there.
15:57We don't know what it was
15:58so we came to get you.
16:00Oh, my.
16:03Space commander said,
16:04go put this thing to rest.
16:07Holt led a team
16:07into nearby Rendlesham Forest
16:09and began recording
16:10what he was experiencing
16:11on a small tape recorder.
16:14You're having a figmentation.
16:16You just saw a light.
16:17Where?
16:17Right in this position here.
16:20Straight ahead off my flashlight.
16:21There it is.
16:22Oh, yeah, I see it too.
16:23What is it?
16:24We don't know, sir.
16:26It's a strange,
16:27small red light.
16:28You'll see I'm
16:29maybe a quarter to a half mile
16:31maybe further out.
16:32Holt and his men
16:33began to see a series
16:34of lights flying above
16:35and then into the forest
16:37around them.
16:39The object comes
16:40into the forest a bit
16:41and it moves horizontally
16:42through the trees,
16:43avoiding the trees,
16:44obviously under some type
16:46of intelligent control.
16:48It appears that he may be
16:49moving a little bit this way.
16:50It's right on the house bed.
16:52It's coming its way.
16:53It is definitely
16:54coming its way.
16:55This is weird.
16:59Soon the lights
16:59were right on top of them,
17:01leaving Holt and his men
17:02paralyzed with fear.
17:03Now we've got an object
17:04about 10 degrees
17:05directly south.
17:07Here he comes from the south.
17:09He's coming toward us now.
17:11Now we're observing
17:11what appears to be
17:12a beam coming down
17:13to the ground.
17:16It's not real.
17:19The beam is not
17:20like an ordinary light.
17:21It doesn't radiate.
17:22It was like a laser beam.
17:24It was focused.
17:24It landed right 10, 15 feet
17:26away from us at our feet.
17:28I was literally in shock.
17:30Could you tell
17:31from your perspective
17:31how high in the sky
17:33they were?
17:33My guess is about
17:343,000 or 4,000 feet,
17:35but I can't tell for sure.
17:37Meantime, we noticed
17:38two glowing white objects,
17:39very bright objects
17:40to the south in the sky.
17:43Holt claims the craft,
17:44then flew north
17:45toward the base.
17:46We could hear
17:47the chatter on the radios
17:48that the beams went down
17:50into the weapons storage area.
17:51And I'm thinking,
17:52oh my God.
17:55Holt feared the craft
17:56was targeting the base's
17:57secret nuclear storage bunkers.
17:59It wasn't a comet.
18:01It wasn't a meteor.
18:02I mean, three of them
18:03moving in synchronization.
18:04They weren't coming down.
18:05They were moving in the sky.
18:07And I keep telling them
18:08where to look,
18:09and they keep telling me
18:10nobody can see anything
18:11with the radar.
18:12I'm thinking,
18:13is this a warning?
18:14Is this a weapon?
18:15Or is this some kind
18:16of communication?
18:18I couldn't believe
18:19what was happening.
18:24The next day,
18:26Holt reported his experiences
18:27to his superiors.
18:29The response mirrored
18:30a pattern that became
18:31familiar to Elizondo
18:32when he ran
18:33America's secret UFO program.
18:35I went into the office
18:36that morning.
18:37I think it was Sunday morning.
18:38The wing commander drove up.
18:40He said,
18:41that was some light
18:41you had last night,
18:42wasn't it?
18:43I said,
18:43it sure was.
18:44I said,
18:45I made a small tape recording
18:46of some of it.
18:47He said,
18:47what?
18:48Let's hear it.
18:50It appears that you may be
18:51moving a little bit this way.
18:52Yes, it's right on the has-bat.
18:53It's coming its way.
18:55He said,
18:55wow,
18:56let me have it.
18:56I thought,
18:58there goes my career.
19:00He took the tape,
19:01and of course,
19:01I worried all week.
19:04Wednesday,
19:04when he came back
19:05in the staff meeting,
19:06he said,
19:06I played the tape
19:07for the general and the staff.
19:08And the general,
19:09in his infinite wisdom,
19:10said,
19:11happened off the base.
19:12It's a British affair.
19:13Case closed.
19:14Wow.
19:18Hoping to catch the attention
19:19of someone up the chain of command,
19:21Holt drafted a memo
19:22detailing the events
19:24in Rendlesham Forest.
19:27I wrote the infamous memo
19:29and kind of cleaned it up
19:30a little bit.
19:30I didn't call it UFOs.
19:32I called it unexplained lights.
19:34When Holt's report leaked,
19:35it would make the Rendlesham incident
19:37worldwide news.
19:38Witnesses claimed
19:39that the Rendlesham Forest
19:40was the landing site
19:42of an unidentified flying object.
19:44And locals would come forward
19:45to bolster Holt's account
19:46that something strange
19:47had happened.
19:48The closer it got,
19:49the more I realized
19:50it was not an aircraft.
19:52I blinked and he was gone.
19:53But over the years,
19:55debunkers have claimed
19:56the incident was merely a hoax
19:57or something even more sinister,
19:59a secret American weapons test
20:01gone wrong.
20:02I did everything I could
20:04to stay in the background.
20:06I really didn't want the attention.
20:08It certainly wasn't career enhancing.
20:10It didn't help my career.
20:11By the way,
20:12there's not a damn thing
20:12we can do about it.
20:13Once you touch it,
20:14you got it.
20:15Right.
20:15You bought it.
20:19In the past,
20:20I can see why
20:21people didn't want to address it.
20:23How do you have a conversation
20:24about a threat
20:25that you don't know
20:26what it is
20:26and how it works
20:27and you can't do anything about it?
20:29When you have other concerns
20:30like nuclear war,
20:33that's why it's important
20:34that we talk to eyewitnesses.
20:35That's why with Rendlesham,
20:37you'd want to collect
20:38the eyewitness testimony.
20:39You want to pretty much
20:40collect anything
20:41and everything you can.
20:42So, John,
20:42you obviously had
20:43a very successful career.
20:44What I'd like to do
20:45is ask you a few questions
20:46about an experience
20:48you supposedly had.
20:49Lou Elizondo
20:50is meeting
20:51with an Air Force veteran
20:51who served under
20:52Lieutenant Colonel Charles Hall
20:54during the Rendlesham UFO event
20:56in 1980.
20:57The object comes
20:58into the forest
20:59and it moves horizontally
21:00through the trees,
21:00obviously under some type
21:02of intelligent control.
21:03I won't ask you anything
21:05that requires
21:05a sensitive answer.
21:07If you can't answer it,
21:08just simply say,
21:09Lou,
21:09I'd prefer not to answer that.
21:10Right.
21:12John Burroughs
21:12was a military policeman
21:14on the RAF Bentwatter's base
21:15in eastern England.
21:17Among his duties,
21:18protecting the base's
21:19secret arsenal
21:20of nuclear weapons.
21:23To the best of your recollection,
21:25tell me what happened.
21:27It was Christmas night.
21:29Came on duty at 2300.
21:32When I went down
21:33to the staging area,
21:34the halt was out
21:35in the forest.
21:36Okay.
21:36If you listen to the halt tape,
21:38you'll hear my name on it.
21:39What is it?
21:40We don't know, sir.
21:41We don't know that
21:42two other personnel
21:43requesting you
21:44to find a movie
21:45in your dislocation.
21:46Tell them negative
21:47at this time.
21:48We'll tell them
21:49when they can come out here.
21:50Is this a sample?
21:51You're going to work this sample?
21:51While Lieutenant Colonel Halt
21:52and a team
21:53investigated reports
21:54of mysterious lights
21:55in the nearby forest,
21:57from the base,
21:58Sergeant Burroughs
21:59listened to the unfolding
22:00events on the radio.
22:01This is weird.
22:03Okay, here he comes
22:04from the south.
22:04He's coming toward us now.
22:06The beam is not
22:07like an ordinary light.
22:08It doesn't radiate.
22:08It was like a laser beam.
22:10It was focused.
22:11It landed right
22:1110, 15 feet away
22:13from us at our feet.
22:14I'm observing
22:15what appears to be
22:15a beam coming down
22:16to the ground.
22:19Later that night,
22:20another set of lights
22:21appeared.
22:22This time,
22:23Burroughs
22:24and another military policeman,
22:26Sergeant Jim Penniston,
22:27were sent
22:28into Rendlesham Forest.
22:31This orange light
22:32all of a sudden
22:33appeared in the distance.
22:34It started coming down.
22:36Are you in the forest?
22:37We're in the clearing area.
22:39I'm like,
22:40I'd like to get a closer look.
22:41The sergeant was with me.
22:42He looked at me
22:43and he says,
22:44go for it.
22:45As we started moving towards it,
22:46it looked like
22:47it started moving towards us.
22:50As they approach the light,
22:52Burroughs says it suddenly
22:52flew over him
22:53and his partner.
22:56Whatever it was
22:56came over the top of me.
22:58I phased away
22:59and was gone.
23:03Burroughs says
23:03he has no memory
23:04of what happened next.
23:06But Sergeant Penniston
23:07told him he appeared
23:08to vanish into thin air.
23:10So let me see
23:11if I've captured
23:13this correctly.
23:13Just remember coming there
23:14and then all of a sudden,
23:15bam, gone.
23:17And then all of a sudden,
23:19he tells you
23:20that you were here
23:22and you basically
23:23disappeared.
23:23And then I was back.
23:26We start walking back
23:27and there's where
23:28you can get stranger.
23:30Neither one of us
23:30remember anything
23:31until the next day.
23:33That's very interesting.
23:35And so what was
23:36Holt's reaction
23:37to all this?
23:38Don't really know.
23:39I have no memory
23:39from that point
23:40until the next day.
23:42Do you think
23:43there was some
23:44loss of time somewhere?
23:46Well, I mean,
23:47that's where I try
23:47to be careful with this.
23:49I don't understand.
23:50People have said
23:50I was abducted,
23:51I was taken,
23:52and all that.
23:52Maybe I was.
23:53I honestly do not know
23:55what happened.
23:56That's haunted me
23:56my whole life.
23:58Immediately after
23:59the incident,
24:00Burroughs says he started
24:01to experience health problems.
24:03I had some eye issues
24:04and then at one point
24:05my gums turned white.
24:06That's fascinating.
24:09Coming up on
24:10Unidentified,
24:12nukes, UFOs,
24:13and allegations
24:14of a cover-up.
24:15I went in
24:15to see the doctor.
24:16She goes,
24:17well, there's an issue here.
24:19And I go,
24:19what's the issue?
24:20She says,
24:20well, you weren't
24:21in the Air Force
24:21when you said
24:22this event happened.
24:32When you were there
24:32at the base,
24:33did we already have
24:34nuclear capabilities
24:35in or around the area?
24:37I'm not at liberty
24:38to comment on
24:38what the resources were,
24:40but I'm not at liberty
24:41really to comment
24:41on any base
24:42I was ever at.
24:43I mention that
24:44because for whatever reason,
24:45wherever these things occur,
24:47there is some sort
24:49of nuclear connection.
24:51What that connection is
24:52at this point,
24:52we can only speculate,
24:54but we're trying
24:54to figure that out.
24:56John Burroughs
24:57was a military policeman
24:58on one of America's
24:59most secret nuclear
25:00weapons bases in 1980
25:02when he says
25:02he came into contact
25:03with a UFO
25:04in England's
25:05Rendlesham Forest.
25:06Whatever it was
25:07came right over
25:08the top of us.
25:09I go,
25:09what the hell just happened?
25:11He goes,
25:11I'm not really sure,
25:12but I got knocked
25:13to the ground.
25:16Burroughs says
25:17after his encounter,
25:17he began experiencing
25:19serious health problems
25:20and went to a hospital.
25:21I went in there
25:22and when the doctor
25:24saw me,
25:24he started doing
25:25a normal checkup.
25:27He put the stethoscope
25:28on my chest.
25:29He looked at me strange
25:30and says,
25:30what's the Air Force
25:31have to say
25:31about your heart murmur?
25:33And I'm like,
25:34heart murmur?
25:35I don't have heart murmur.
25:36He goes,
25:36oh yes, you do.
25:37Doctors had discovered
25:38life-threatening scarring
25:39on his heart.
25:40There are people
25:41who are reporting
25:43when they come near
25:45or they come close
25:46to or observe
25:47a phenomena
25:48that there are
25:49changes occurring.
25:51Burroughs says
25:51his injuries
25:52were just the beginning
25:53of his problems.
25:54Can I read that?
25:56Sure.
25:56In 2012,
25:57he filed a claim
25:58to get Veterans Administration
26:00Disability Benefits,
26:02but he was shocked
26:02to find his military file
26:04had been classified
26:04as top secret.
26:06So I went in
26:07to see the doctor.
26:08So I sit down
26:09and she starts
26:10asking me questions
26:11about what my claim
26:13is about.
26:14And so I answer
26:15two or three questions
26:16and she says,
26:17hold on a second.
26:17And I look at her
26:18and I say,
26:19what?
26:19She goes,
26:20well, there's an issue here.
26:21And I go,
26:22what's the issue?
26:22She says,
26:23well, you weren't
26:23in the Air Force
26:24when you said
26:25this event happened.
26:26And I go,
26:27what do you mean
26:27I wasn't in the Air Force?
26:28She says,
26:29according to our records,
26:30you didn't enter
26:30the Air Force
26:31until 1982.
26:34We have no medical records
26:35going back before 82.
26:39And that's when
26:40the stonewalling started.
26:42Burroughs needed help
26:44and he got it
26:45from an unlikely source.
26:51I'm going today
26:52to meet a former
26:53senior staffer
26:54for the late
26:55Senator John McCain.
26:58This is Cheryl.
26:59Well, hello.
27:00Pleasure to meet you.
27:01Pleasure to meet you.
27:02How are you?
27:03I am doing wonderful.
27:04Cheryl Bennett
27:04was able to use
27:05her skills navigating
27:06the military bureaucracy
27:07to get Burroughs'
27:08disability benefits.
27:10Out of all of the veterans
27:12that I have worked with,
27:13and I have had
27:13at least 200 veterans
27:14that I worked for,
27:15never had a problem
27:16with getting any records.
27:18Getting information
27:19for John Burroughs
27:20was like pulling teeth.
27:22It was literally
27:22the most painful thing
27:24I've ever had to do.
27:25Do you think there was
27:27a concerted effort
27:28to say,
27:28okay, this file
27:29we do not want to share
27:31or was it...
27:32Yes.
27:32It was the higher-ups
27:34that were blocking
27:35John from getting his care.
27:36Department of Defense,
27:37Department of Justice,
27:38they were all
27:39being very reluctant.
27:40But John's case
27:41was extraordinary
27:42because he had gone
27:44years trying to get help
27:45and nobody was there
27:46for him.
27:48Had you heard about
27:49the Rendlesham incident
27:50prior to him
27:51talking to you about it?
27:53And did he explain to you
27:55in general terms
27:57what that incident was about?
27:58In great length.
27:59I don't care
28:00what you're trying
28:01to cover up.
28:01This guy's life
28:02is on the line here.
28:04Why are you deceiving him?
28:06It happened
28:07and he has results
28:09of his heart
28:10and his eye
28:11to show
28:11it happened.
28:13Was this a purposeful effort
28:16to squelch
28:18John's records
28:19from being made public?
28:20Oh, I would adamantly say
28:22yes, 100%.
28:23It was deliberate.
28:25I mean, to this day
28:26he still doesn't have
28:26his medical records
28:27and they won't give them to him.
28:29What do you think
28:29they're afraid of?
28:30The incident that took place.
28:32They literally
28:33had proof and evidence
28:34and they didn't want
28:36the world to know
28:37which is kind of scary
28:39because you don't know
28:40what else they're covering up
28:41or they don't want us to know.
28:45John Burroughs
28:46is one of only
28:46two U.S. servicemen
28:48to receive military benefits
28:49after exposure
28:50to one of these
28:51unidentified objects.
28:52The other
28:53is the man
28:54who was with him
28:54in Rendlesham Forest
28:55that night,
28:56Sergeant Jim Penniston.
28:58If the U.S. military
28:59really tried to cover up
29:00what happened in Rendlesham,
29:02was this part
29:02of a much larger pattern
29:03that went on
29:04for decades?
29:07I mean, there's a very
29:09checkered history
29:10of the Pentagon
29:11using the military
29:12as guinea pigs.
29:13It's not inconceivable
29:14that there is some
29:15secret test program
29:16of advanced aircraft
29:18that's using
29:18our active-duty military
29:20folks basically
29:21as test subjects
29:22without telling them.
29:24It's almost like
29:25the Kennedy assassination.
29:26There's so much evidence
29:27pointing at something,
29:28but nobody knows
29:29exactly what it is.
29:30But something really
29:31did happen.
29:32The people really
29:33were affected.
29:34There's no argument
29:35about that.
29:42Lou Elizondo's
29:43investigation
29:43has uncovered
29:44new details
29:45of recent UFO encounters
29:46with nuclear-powered
29:47U.S. Navy ships.
29:49But the connection
29:51between UFOs
29:52and America's nuclear assets
29:53stretches back decades.
29:55There were employees
29:56at the test site
29:57assigned to monitor
29:59UFO activity
30:00in connection
30:01with the tests.
30:05Investigative journalist
30:06George Knapp
30:07has told Elizondo
30:08that UFOs were seen
30:09near U.S. nuclear tests
30:10dating back to the 1950s.
30:14All of the nuclear facilities,
30:16Los Alamos,
30:17Livermore,
30:18Sandia,
30:19Savannah River,
30:20all had UFO incidents.
30:22I'm here to discuss
30:24the so-called
30:25flying saucers.
30:26There's a news conference
30:29that was recorded
30:30on film
30:30after the UFO flap
30:32in 1952,
30:33two weekends in a row.
30:35UFOs are seen
30:36on radar,
30:37they're seen visually.
30:38We have received
30:39and analyzed
30:40between one
30:41and two thousand reports
30:42that have come to us
30:44from all kinds of sources.
30:46We've been able
30:47to explain them
30:48as hoaxes,
30:50as erroneously identified
30:51friendly aircraft,
30:53as meteorological
30:54or electronic phenomena
30:56or as light aberration.
30:59General Samford
31:00speaks to the media
31:01and says
31:02it was a weather inversion.
31:03Now that's a lie.
31:04We know
31:05that there have been
31:06investigators
31:07that have been on the scene
31:08of some of these instances
31:09where they've collected
31:10physical evidence
31:11and it's squirreled away.
31:16So what are
31:17these unidentified objects?
31:19One theory
31:20has persisted.
31:21The entire UFO phenomenon
31:23is in fact
31:24a U.S. government
31:25disinformation campaign
31:26to draw attention away
31:27from its own
31:28next generation weapons.
31:30In the past,
31:32the American government
31:33hasn't always been
31:33very forthcoming.
31:34There have been sins
31:35in the past
31:36that the American government
31:37has been guilty
31:38of committing
31:38against the American people.
31:40No wonder people
31:41don't trust the government.
31:43For decades,
31:44the military's
31:45counterintelligence divisions
31:46used the public's
31:47fascination with UFOs
31:48to disguise nuclear weapons research
31:50and top-secret aircraft testing.
31:54RAF Bentwaters
31:55near Rendlesham Forest
31:56hid one of the U.S. military's
31:58largest stockpiles
31:59of Cold War nuclear weapons.
32:01And some say
32:02what happened there in 1980
32:04was merely a military test
32:06gone wrong.
32:07That same year,
32:09at Kirtland Air Force Base
32:10in New Mexico,
32:11another series of strange events
32:13unfolded
32:13that raised even more questions
32:15about the government's role
32:16in the UFO story.
32:17In 1980,
32:19Kirtland Air Force Base
32:20in New Mexico
32:20was still one of the centers
32:22of storing nuclear weapons
32:24and parts for nuclear weapons
32:25inside a big mountain
32:27that was hollowed out.
32:28Greg Bishop
32:29is a UFO expert
32:30who wrote a book
32:31about the Kirtland case.
32:32It was a place of secrets.
32:34It was a place
32:34of black projects.
32:36And the Air Force
32:38would rather that people
32:39not figure out
32:41what was going on.
32:42As technology began
32:44to rapidly progress
32:44in the early 1980s,
32:47so did a new arms race
32:48with the Soviets
32:48to develop advanced weapons
32:50and aircraft.
32:52Kirtland was home
32:52to a massive nuclear weapons
32:54stockpile,
32:55but it was also
32:56one of America's
32:57most classified weapons
32:58testing facilities,
32:59where early versions
33:01of stealth jets
33:01and unmanned drones
33:03began to take shape.
33:04A lot of the military technology
33:06is at least 10
33:07and sometimes 20 years
33:08ahead of public awareness.
33:11They have to be.
33:12That's the way, you know,
33:13you keep ahead of the enemy.
33:14One local man
33:15began documenting
33:16the strange lights
33:17flying above the base
33:18and started recording
33:19the Air Force's
33:20radio communications.
33:21He was listening
33:22to radio transmissions
33:23from the base,
33:25microbursts
33:25and communications
33:26having to do
33:27with defense programs.
33:30He calls up the Air Force
33:31and he says,
33:32do you know you guys
33:32have these lights
33:33flying around the base?
33:35They said,
33:35this is very interesting to us.
33:36Why don't you come down
33:37to the base
33:37and talk about it?
33:39The Air Force
33:40assigned a counterintelligence
33:41operative named
33:42Richard Doty.
33:44I began a dialogue
33:45trying to find out
33:46everything he had.
33:48We had to decide
33:49on what we were
33:49going to do then.
33:51Were we going to
33:51allow this to happen
33:52or we were trying
33:54to convince him otherwise?
33:56Doty says he began
33:57telling the man
33:57what he was seeing
33:58was actually aliens
34:00and even gave him
34:01a computer loaded
34:02with what appeared
34:02to be messages
34:03from an alien race.
34:05This computer
34:05starts spitting out
34:06the most insane stuff
34:07you can imagine.
34:08We're on a dying planet
34:09and we need your help
34:11and we want to
34:12exchange technology.
34:14He got more
34:15and more paranoid
34:16and Doty actually
34:17encouraged this paranoia.
34:19We planted to see
34:20that what he was seeing
34:22and what he was hearing
34:23and what he was collecting
34:24was in fact
34:24probably maybe UFOs.
34:27But Richard Doty's
34:28covert mission
34:29wasn't just to
34:30confuse civilians
34:30about what was happening
34:31at Kirtland.
34:33The operation
34:34was also intended
34:35to spread disinformation
34:36to Soviet spies
34:37looking to steal
34:38America's most advanced
34:39military technology.
34:41The Air Force
34:42put out UFO stories
34:44to see if the Russians
34:46would start,
34:47you know,
34:48seeing chum in the water
34:49and show up
34:51at U.S. military bases
34:52or in different places
34:54where they might be
34:54trying to spy on us.
34:56But it's a very difficult
34:57subject to get
34:58to the bottom of
34:59and have any real sense
35:01of where you are
35:03in this Hall of Mirrors.
35:05There's probably
35:06about 80%
35:08of false information
35:09being presented,
35:10about 20%
35:11of factual information.
35:12Unfortunately,
35:13the UFO community
35:14doesn't know
35:15which is which.
35:16Many have questioned
35:18whether Lou Elizondo
35:18is another Richard Doty
35:20and his new UFO crusade
35:23is part of a larger
35:24disinformation campaign.
35:26Before he ran
35:27the Pentagon's
35:27secret UFO unit,
35:28Elizondo was assigned
35:30to protect highly classified
35:31military technology
35:32just like Doty.
35:33Lou Elizondo
35:34has a background
35:35in effectively
35:37government-sanctioned
35:38disinformation.
35:39That's what you do
35:41in the counterintelligence business.
35:42You spread lies
35:43for a purpose.
35:45Coming up
35:46on Unidentified.
35:48I've been a
35:49counterintelligence officer
35:50my entire career.
35:51Since the day
35:51I went into the Army,
35:52that's what I do.
35:53Do you understand
35:54why some in the
35:55American public
35:56see that as
35:58a negative
35:59in your message now?
36:13Look,
36:14this is real.
36:16We know it's real.
36:17We need to look at it.
36:19We need to apply
36:19more attention,
36:21more resources
36:21into this.
36:22Lou Elizondo
36:23and his partner
36:24Chris Mellon
36:24insist they're not part
36:25of a UFO disinformation
36:27campaign.
36:28They're fighting
36:28for disclosure.
36:30It's actually
36:30against the law
36:31to conduct a covert action
36:32against our own people.
36:33We're the universe
36:34and we have.
36:36There's a difference
36:36between what has occurred
36:40on some occasions
36:41in the past
36:42where individuals
36:43such as Richard Doty
36:44allegedly confuse
36:46or sow some disinformation
36:48but we're in there
36:50trying to promote
36:51transparency,
36:52trying to get more
36:53information out.
36:54There's no pressure
36:55on the government
36:55to release any information
36:58until we came along.
37:00Our combat pilots
37:02are encountering
37:03these things.
37:03It's confirmed
37:04by radar.
37:05It's not responsible
37:06to walk away from this.
37:07It's what 99%
37:09of the people
37:09in the department did.
37:11Lou was not
37:11one of those people.
37:24Wow.
37:25This is a picture
37:26of when I was
37:26a very young man.
37:30That's my dad.
37:32He's the one
37:33who told me
37:34anything worth loving
37:36is worth also dying for.
37:38After 20 years
37:39of serving his country
37:40as a military
37:41counterintelligence officer,
37:43Lou Elizondo
37:43is still adjusting
37:44to life as a civilian.
37:47So how did it feel
37:48when you had to ask
37:49your family
37:50to pick up and leave?
37:52It felt terrible.
37:54The point of sacrifice
37:56is not necessarily
37:56being a martyr
37:57but it's being willing
37:58to give everything
37:59you have
38:00for the right reason
38:01and that is so others
38:03may live
38:04and in peace.
38:07I've been a
38:07counterintelligence officer
38:09my entire career
38:09since the day I went
38:10into the army.
38:11Counterintelligence
38:12and human operations,
38:13that's what I do.
38:14Do you understand
38:15why some in the American
38:17public see that
38:18as a negative
38:20in your message now?
38:22People who say,
38:23well, you know,
38:24you've been trained
38:24to deceive.
38:25Well, yeah,
38:26to some degree
38:27you deceive the enemy.
38:27You're not my enemy
38:29but, you know,
38:30the government's
38:30made up of people.
38:31Good people,
38:32bad people,
38:32people in between.
38:34Some of these people
38:34have agendas,
38:35some of these people
38:36don't.
38:37It's no different
38:38than a church
38:39or a company
38:40or a school.
38:41And where do you
38:42land on that scale?
38:44Well, I hope I land
38:45on the good guy side.
38:48I mean, you know,
38:49I'm going to sit here
38:49and toot my own horn.
38:51I don't like that
38:52but I think
38:53time will tell.
38:55I think just because
38:56someone is in
38:56the intelligence field
38:58doesn't mean
38:58that the person's bad.
39:00You need intelligence
39:01out there.
39:01You need people
39:02out there on the wire
39:03doing that type of work.
39:05It is absolutely vital.
39:06It saves lives.
39:07It finds bombs
39:08before they blow up
39:09and rip people's legs off.
39:10It stops people
39:11from getting in ambushes.
39:12It stops people
39:13from having buildings
39:14blown up
39:15and the floors
39:15dropping out below them.
39:17CI is very,
39:18very important
39:19when used responsibly.
39:20But it's like anything else.
39:21A kitchen knife
39:21can make a fantastic
39:22five-course meal
39:23or it can be used
39:24to, you know,
39:25hurt people.
39:27So, you know,
39:27it is what it is.
39:29It's just a skill
39:29like anything else.
39:30I've dedicated my career
39:31and adult life
39:32to protecting Americans
39:33and our way of life
39:35and not deceiving them.
39:40There was a time
39:41that the U.S. government
39:42definitely applied
39:43its counterintelligence assets
39:45against the American people.
39:46But we've learned
39:47our lesson.
39:48And if I was ever asked
39:49to do those type of things,
39:50I wouldn't do it.
39:50Period.
39:55Over the past year,
39:57Elizondo has discovered
39:58what he sees
39:58as a disturbing pattern.
40:00UFOs have allegedly appeared
40:02above America's
40:03atomic test sites.
40:04Air Force bases
40:06stockpiled
40:06with nuclear weapons.
40:08The beams went down
40:10into the weapons storage area.
40:11I'm thinking,
40:12is this a warning?
40:13And nuclear-powered
40:14aircraft carriers
40:15across the globe.
40:17You've got an object
40:18that just shows up
40:19at will,
40:20does what it wants,
40:21in a battle group
40:22on one of the most
40:23powerful warships
40:24in the world.
40:25And you actually get
40:26a man-fighter,
40:27two of them,
40:28that are eyewitnesses,
40:29and then nothing gets done.
40:31So what if they're E.T.,
40:32or they want to hang out,
40:33then it's all good.
40:34You know,
40:34we're all going to do
40:35a group hug
40:35and sing Kumbaya.
40:37But what if they're not?
40:40At the facilities
40:41where we were first
40:42designing and building
40:43nuclear weapons,
40:44there were UFOs.
40:45On the ships,
40:46the Nimitz,
40:47the Roosevelt.
40:49All the people working there
40:50have seen these things.
40:51Are they all crazy?
40:52Either mass delusion
40:54or they're all right,
40:55but either way,
40:56we need to look into this.
40:58Elizondo is now
40:58more certain than ever
40:59that these unidentified craft
41:01pose a serious threat
41:02to national security.
41:04And there's a link
41:04between UFOs
41:06and U.S. nuclear assets.
41:08If it's a threat,
41:09it's a threat.
41:10You're telling me
41:10you know it's a threat,
41:12and you're telling me
41:13to ignore it.
41:14You're telling me
41:14to turn my back to it
41:15and pretend it's not there.
41:21But the ultimate question remains.
41:25How do you explain
41:26these seemingly
41:27unexplainable events?
41:32There's basically
41:33three possible explanations
41:35if you're just a rational,
41:37objective-minded person.
41:39First,
41:40this is a foreign country
41:42that has made
41:43some sort of breakthrough.
41:44China, Russia, Israel.
41:46There's only a handful
41:47of countries
41:47that probably would have
41:48the capability,
41:49potentially, to do this.
41:51Second,
41:52it is a secret
41:53U.S. government program.
41:54These are advanced
41:55military aircraft
41:56that only a very few
41:58number of government officials
42:00and defense contractors
42:01know about.
42:02And that could explain
42:04why the government
42:05sort of doesn't want
42:06to talk about it,
42:07because they want to shield
42:08these secret military aircraft programs.
42:10The third possibility
42:12is the pilots reporting
42:13these have just lost their mind
42:15and they're hallucinating.
42:18Lou Elizondo and his team
42:19believe none of these theories
42:21can explain the multitude
42:22of UFO encounters
42:23with the U.S. military
42:24they have investigated,
42:26dating back seven decades.
42:29We have to at least
42:31look at the damn data,
42:33stop actively suppressing it,
42:35and stop criticizing people
42:36who want to come out
42:37and have the conversation.
42:38And they can't discount
42:39another possibility,
42:40one few in the military
42:42establishment
42:42appear even willing
42:44to consider
42:45that what we are dealing with
42:46is something else entirely.
42:49On the next,
42:51Unidentified.
42:52The distance between the Earth
42:54and the nearest other star
42:55is a few light years.
42:57A spaceship could make this journey.
42:58We don't know of any reason
42:59why it's impossible.
43:00I would like to see
43:01what you have.
43:02That's what I'd like to see.
43:04We assembled
43:05more than 13,000 cases.
43:09It should arrive
43:10that destroyed
43:12helicopter wings.
43:14I can show you
43:15the photograph.
43:16I'm just doing a photo.
43:17These are all their events.
43:19I've got the whole thing here.
43:21This may indeed be something
43:23that we are completely
43:24unprepared for.
43:25It's chilling.
43:27For decades,
43:27thousands of people
43:28experienced
43:29unidentified flying objects,
43:30and nothing has been done
43:31about these instances.
43:33We need to confront the truth.
43:35So, Tom,
43:35this just hit the wire.
43:37This is a political article.
43:39The title is
43:40U.S. Navy Drafting New Guidelines
43:42for Reporting UFOs.
43:44This is the story
43:46of the millennia.
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