Rendezvous With the Unknown

Chapter I

It was about 9:00 am when I received a text on my phone from the Pentagon. It was an Officer Dora Mitchell.

Please be advised that Colonel Thacker has an important proposal for you. Please be ready to accept his phone call at 10:00 am. Please acknowledge you’ve received this message.

How the hell did they find me, I wondered. I replied yes.

At 10:00 am precisely the Colonel was on the phone telling me there was a recovery mission he needed to see me in person about. He asked if I could be at the Pentagon by 1:00 pm and I told him I’d be there. “The guard at the gate will be informed of your arrival, just show him your ID and he will direct you from there.”

I had a bad taste in my mouth from the last time I had served on a mission as a civilian legal witness and archivist. I’d taken measures to exercise my privacy but they found me anyway. How was I to say no? I drove up to the Pentagon main gate with my ID in hand and a well decorated Military Policeman told me to hang left and the parking lot would be my next destination. From there, I would be guided to the colonel’s office.

“Thank you for coming. Please have a seat,” Colonel Thacker uttered obviously with something on his mind. “Can you be ready to go by zero six hundred hours in the morning?”

Jeez, I thought, they don’t mess around. “What kind of mission, Dora mentioned a recovery?”

“I’m not at liberty to reveal details of the mission at the moment until I have your approval to join the team.”

“You know the last mission you guys requested of me almost got me killed!”

“I’ve reviewed your past participation and JAG has prosecuted those responsible and they’ll be spending years in the brig!” The Colonel replied.

“Well, that’s nice to know,” I quipped.

“Are you in or are you out? Time is of the essence! Intentions are high!” Thacker snapped.

“Well, gosh since you’re so persuasive, asshole,” I thought to myself.

“This is no time to be sarcastic! You’re a civilian, but you will follow orders just as any military personnel would!”

“Alright-alright, Sir,” I agreed.

“I have here a form you will have to sign so we may move forward. You may review it.”

I remembered what my dad used to say when as he was a US Marine. It was a cynical joke among the enlistees, “Sign on the dotted line. Now your ass is mine!”

I read it and the terminology was a bit alarming. “It says here, and I quote. If I am captured by the enemy, I am to disavow any knowledge of my mission or any related intelligence. This scares me.”

“Don’t worry about it! That’s just standard legal jargon.” The Colonel then scribbled a number on a sheet of paper and handed it to me. “This amount will be on a debate card when you complete your mission and return.”

I glanced at the amount of money and almost gasped. I tried to wipe the look of astonishment from my face. That was almost a year’s salary I was looking at which made me even more suspicious about the risks involved in the mission. “How long of a mission are wea talking about?”

“About 72 hours if all goes as planned.” The Colonel replied.

“Alright,” I said as I signed the form.

Colonel Thacker reached across his desk and gave me a meat grinder of a hand shake and replied, “Welcome to the team.”

“So, what kind of mission is this, anyway, Sir?”

“A C-5 Galaxy crashed in Canadian territory, you will photograph and witness all details of the recovery of the black box along with classified contents in the aircraft storage compartment. That’s all I can tell you. Be ready have your AOC (Ass on Curb) at zero six hundred hours. A black unmarked SUV will be waiting.”

“What about my baggage? What should I bring?”

“Nothing all your needs will be provided for, personal hygiene, rations, and clothing. Just be ready to go! Dora will lead you out.”

Dora was a nice looking if not extremely all business and not much talk in her WAC uniform as we walked down a labyrinth of hallways to the parking lot. She wished me good luck turned sharply and left the sound of her clinking high heels behind her. I felt suddenly dizzy. What the hell had I signed up for?

Chapter II

Sure enough, the truck stood before me in the early morning twilight as I got in. The side door opened automatically and a driver wearing dark glasses and a heavily armed trooper sat next to him in the passenger seat. This was spooky. The driver looked in the rearview mirror and simply nodded as he accelerated out of the neighborhood and we proceeded to Bolling Air Base. We flashed past a Vietnam era camouflage painted F-105 Thunderchief Fighter Bomber as we entered the installation and the driver turned off to a runway with a charter jet waiting on the tarmac. I saw several others I assumed were part of the team. A stocky soldier dressed in khakis grabbed my hand, “I’m Major McDonald,” He pointed out to everyone. “This is the civilian observer, “He announced to everyone. “Here is Tech Sergeant Will Long, and our two support troops, Lieutenant Montgomery and Seal Team Sergeant Henderson.” All nodded to me. “Your gear has already been stored in this overhead compartment,” he pointed out.

“Well, I guess you guys are ready to go,” I smiled nervously.

“Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable,” Major McDonald said reassuringly.

The Lear Jet 75 took 3 and a half hours to get us from DC to McChord Airbase in Washington State to their Whidbey Island airfield where we landed. From there, we entered a huge MH-60T Jayhawk Sikorsky helicopter as I was told we’d be flying over the ocean before arriving at an old WWII Canadian landing strip a few clicks from our final destination. I noted in my knowledge of UFO history the fatal crash of a B-25 Mitchell Bomber carrying two Air Force intelligence officers and purported material ejected from a flying saucer over Maury Island June 21, 1947. This part of the world had a baffling past when it came to the unexplained.

I was feeling weak as I hadn’t been able to eat much for dinner in anticipation of the next day’s flight, and for breakfast I’d forced down a bran muffin with a glass of water before the unmarked SUV picked me up. One of the copter pilots handed out MRE’s to all of us. It was about noon by this time. I got a tuna mac and cheese casserole that I wolfed down just to keep my strength up as everyone else ate. The we lifted off. The powerful Coast Guard rescue chopper spirited us into the chilled air over the Pacific and we headed north along the Canadian coastline!

Major McDonald stood at the front of the crew compartment and bellowed, “Alright everybody listen up! We’re on a classified mission not even Elmendorf or Eielson Air Bases know about our undertaking! We will be landing in bear country, and I do mean bear country where fifteen-hundred-pound Kodiaks roam, hungry and opportunistic at all times. So, keep your heads on a constant swivel! When we land, we will be 5 clicks from a C-5 Galaxy that crash landed here 28 hours ago! We will recover the flight recorder and inspect the contents that were carried within and await a lifting body chopper to carry it out. We will maintain a defensive perimeter around the aircraft until that time. The crew survived and were evacuated hours ago Is that understood?”

“Aye, Sir,” came the reply from the military personnel.” I just nodded.

The team glanced at each other with the kind of expressions that acknowledged they were in the shit now. I took a deep sigh as the Major walked by and tapped me reassuringly on the shoulder as he checked on the rest of the team.

“ETA, five minutes! Be sure and strap in. The weather’s going to be a little rough!” one of the pilots sounded off on the intercom system.

Sure enough, the chopper was jolted by some powerful Northwest Pacific air currents as the pilot descended and hovered over the inland beach. He touched down just short of a dense forest of Spruce and occasional Redwoods. The stage was set for the next leg of our mission, and I was wondering just how prevalent the bears would be. I carried by duffle bag and Major McDonald issued me a handgun. “A 45 Caliber Colt. You know how to use one, son?”

“Yes, Sir,” I can handle it.”

“Like I said, the bears here are active. Keep that in mind.” McDonald awaited his team to assemble and gestured to move out.

“This GPS locator will lead us right to the C-5. This should be a piece of cake,” Will Long advised me with a confident smile as we trudged through the thick forest. There was no cleared path only the occasional wildlife trails and we weren’t going in their direction. The Seal Team shooter led the team while the Lieutenant trailed us. Both men constantly scanned the landscape ready to engage any threats. About a half hour in we encountered our first bear, a huge and hungry looking brown Kodiak. The point man raised his hand for us to stop as the mighty predator paused, sniffed the air, and moved on. He was about 50 yards away and had crossed our path ahead of us. We were crouched, wind coming our way from the east, after a few minutes we continued.

It must have been around 2:30 pm by the time we reached the C-5 Lockheed Galaxy. First, we saw the gouge in the ground that had raked the floor of the forest just missing the trees as the giant cargo plane crew managed to bring the aircraft down in a meadow just beyond the tree line so narrow that the chopper crew probably wouldn’t have attempted to land here. The landing gear was either crushed or sunken into the soil. It looked as if the nose had been partially damaged, but the plane was relatively intact. It had come to a stop just a few feet from the trees that would have made for a nasty forced landing.

There was no way to get into the plane from the belly hatch beneath, but the major and the tech sergeant managed to pry open the side door. They pulled out a gangway ladder and we were set to climb in. I took out the military grade Go Pro camera they’d given me and began filming the condition of the aircraft, noting the structural damage as I walked around the perimeter. Then I looked up from the camera, and my worst nightmare was there a few feet away glaring at me and ready to strike! Another Kodiak! Was this the one we’d passed earlier? Hell, I didn’t know!

“Easy!” The Seal Team shooter called out to me. “Do not run. Stand your ground!”

The furry giant poised to sample human flesh glanced over at the Seal Team point man than fixed his hypnotizing gaze back on me. Time stood still. The Kodiak let out a low thunderous growl as it’ s lips flexed with deadly intention. I could only stand there waiting to be eaten. I reached for my pistol, not having much faith in this kind of weapon against a 1500-pound brute! Lieutenant Montgomery flanked the bear slowly from the right with his automatic shot gun raised. Suddenly time reasserted itself and the bear lunged with incredibly explosive speed. Montgomery fired first striking the Kodiak from the side but that did not stop the giant! It only flinched even if it was a mortal wound, an adrenalized bear can kill while it itself is dying. Almost immediately came the shot from Seal Team Sergeant Henderson, who fired and hit the bear alongside its head, and that stopped the furry man-eating, locomotive just a few feet from where I stood! The left side of its head bloodied. Trembling, I nervously holstered my handgun. The ground shook when the Kodiak fell dead, eyes wide open as if it was still alive only frozen in time.

I walked off a few feet away, bent over, and wretched! The Major walked over and slapped me on the shoulder. “You okay, son?”

I stood up taking a few deep breaths, “Yeah.”

“You feel up to continuing with your work?” The Major asked.

I nodded, “Yes, I can go on now.”

I thanked Henderson and Montgomery who both said the same thing, “Don’t mention it. It was just our job.”

I climbed back into the C-5 and filmed the cockpit instrumentation readings so some explanation to investigators would be available. I turned toward Will Long, the tech Sergeant. “Why wasn’t the NTSB called out on this one?”

The NTSB is a civilian agency. They’re not authorized for military incidents especially anything of a classified nature.” He explained.

“Well lucky us,” I replied sarcastically.

“Yeah, you nearly bought it back there,” Will eyed me worriedly.

“Please don’t remind me. I’ll have a hard enough time trying not to get nightmares over this shit.”

Will shined an intense flashlight into the cargo hold, and there it was. A disk-shaped craft in a dull metallic color, that had been loaded before the ill-fated flight. Both of us stared in silence. “So, that’s what all this classified business is about,” the Sergeant murmured. “Be sure to get this on film.”

“I’m on it.”

“Hey! Come see this!” major McDonald shouted as he looked upwards into the late afternoon sky.

 Will long and I hopped down from the hatch and stood gazing up into the sky. There from the north and approaching was something that appeared like a circular object. As everyone watched spellbound, an odd vibration seemed to fill the air that everyone could even feel in their chest! The elliptical object drifted overhead. Blinking colors emitted from its edges with a brilliant contrast to the orange sunset that was approaching! We all crouched like ignorant animals unable to decipher what was happening.

Major Mc Donald called out, “Get me the chopper crew on the radio!”

Tech Sergeant Will Long grabbed his microphone to contact the MH-60T Jayhawk crew!

Chapter III

“This is the recovery team, do you read, over?”

“Affirmative, this is Jayhawk!”

“Do you have any air traffic on your radar? I’ve got an unknown hovering above my coordinates! “

“All I have is a Canadian fighter jet orbiting the area, Sir”

“You’ve got ground clutter. Climb above treetop level, and give me a radar reading!”

“Yes, Sir!”

The engines of the MH-60 T screamed to life as the pilot started the propulsion system and pulled up into the sky. He leveled out at 50 feet and the co-pilot picked up a blip over the recovery team’s crash site.

“We have a contact in your vicinity, Major,” The chopper pilot acknowledged. “A solid return.”

Before the major could say anything else the hovering ellipsoid unleashed a curtain of translucent, glimmering light, that enveloped the carcass of the Kodiak bear! The men were stunned and crouched onto the ground behind Spruce tree trunks fearing some kind of unimaginable assault. The bear’s body was levitated off the ground and drifted upward to meet the alien craft.

“Oh, shit!” Will Long gasped. “They’re going to know that we did it!”

Sergeant Henderson raised his rifle at the unknown aerial anomaly, but Major McDonald ordered, “Put your weapon down, Sergeant!” The soldier obliged.

Then the UFO descended toward the ground slowly casting a shadow beneath itself. The recovery team braced for a battle with the unknown, but instead something curious happened. The elliptical anomaly did not land but came to a midair halt about five feet off the ground, and suddenly the Kodiak emerged from beneath the vessel, unharmed, no blood staining its fur. It loped into the forest unmolested! The men simply stared mesmerized at what they’d seen. The craft rose into the sky again and maneuvered over the C-5 Galaxy transport and once again an iridescent curtain of shimmering light enveloped the huge aircraft.

The apparently jammed and damaged nose of the C-5 where all major equipment was off loaded began to vibrate as if being pulled by an invisible hand. Just then the Canadian jet pilot attempted an interception run! The CF-18 Hornet was going to make a pass, but something happened that demonstrated the technical superiority of the unknown craft. The Canadian fighter simply dropped out of the sky! They spotted a parachute opening but the CF-18 left a plume of fiery orange and black smoke over the horizon obscured by the trees!

“Jesus Christ!” I blurted out!

Suddenly, the nose of the C-5 Galaxy opened like magic, flung back up toward the cockpit as if an invisible hand of God had tossed it open! A glow was emitted from inside the cargo compartment of the giant transport aircraft. The intense vibration penetrated everything around the C-5 and a form appeared from inside. The once dull metallic shape of the disk that had been secured from inside emerged from the nose, now glowing a pale blue color! It drifted out into the upon beneath the curtain of glimmering light and began to rise to meet with the mothership that had been emitting the powerful field.

“What is it? Some kind of electro-magnetic field?” I asked Will Long.

“Definitely, some kind of projected electronic field, for sure,” He replied without taking his eyes off the spectacle before them.

The disk that had been held in the belly of the C-5 Galaxy was now inside the hovering UAP that had demonstrated its imperviousness to the human presence it now hovered over.

“Apparently, Mama came back for her space child,” I quipped nervously!

“Yeah, “Will gulped, still spellbound by what he was seeing.

Major McDonald walked up to me, “Did you get that on film?”

“Most of it, Sir,” I nodded.

The elliptical craft silently rotated slowly and then lifted off and flashed into an unbelievable acceleration skyward, and was gone in seconds!

“Couldn’t have been one of ours!” The Major spoke to himself in astonishment.

“Well, we did what we could. Now we have to wait for the removal unit to get this C-5 off Canadian territory. He grabbed the microphone off Will’s radio. “Jayhawk, this is the recovery team. We have a Canadian fighter jet down and a parachuted pilot beyond our point. Try to see if you can locate him and his parachute for rescue. We’re okay here. Do you copy?”

“Roger that Major, we’re on our way. We saw the blip disappear off radar.”

I looked at the Major inquiringly, “How are they going to get this big bastard out of here?” I gestured toward the C-5 Galaxy.

“There’s no aircraft in the world that could haul this big bastard into the air alone in one piece. Unless it was one of those damn UFO’s that just shot out of here like a bat of out hell. It will have to be disassembled,” he explained.

Just then the crackle of Will’s radio came on, “This is Jayhawk. Have recovered the Canadian pilot. He’s in good shape. We’re taking him to the nearest base for a debriefing. Do you need us for anything else?”

“Negative, Jayhawk, we’re supposed to wait for the retrieval operation. We’ll be bivouacked here until then.”

“Roger that, Major. Hope to be back to pick you guys up, over.”

“Copy that,” The Major replied. “Stay safe. Over and out.”

“It’ll be night time soon, Major, where do we settle down?” I asked.

“Any of you men have a problem with using the C-5 as shelter? We won’t have to worry about any bears.”

“Well, I know one thing. There’s one bear who aint coming back to harm us!!” Lieutenant Montgomery laughed.

Major McDonald nodded with a smile, “The fuel tanks are undamaged, and no evidence of any electrical problems so we’ll just hole up in this bird. Should be rations still here too.”

“Good idea, Sir,” Sergeant Henderson chimed in. “Because, nightfall is coming fast and it’s gonna get cold!”

The Major glanced at me, “I’ll expect a full report out of you when we get back.”

“You’ll have it, Sir.”

Chapter IV

The next day, the retrieval team showed up with a lifting body helicopter and a disassembly unit who would part out the C-5 in order to get it airlifted out. The night had been quiet and comfortable if not a bit odd, but it beat the hell out of sleeping in a tent and thinking some huge bear might come sniffing around. I reviewed the Go Pro footage I’d taken and made notes to fill out my report with. The same Jayhawk crew that had dropped us off previously in their MH-60T Sikorksy picked us up for the flight back to McChord Airfield on Whidbey Island. From there we jetted back to DC.

I asked about the Canadian pilot who they’d picked up, and they said he’s been dropped off with the nearest military base. I’d asked the crew if they had seen the UFO that had interacted with us at the C-5 crash site, but they’d only seen the radar blip. They asked about what we had seen, but Major Mc Donald shut down that conversation saying that the mission was to be compartmentalized! That pissed me off, but what could I say? However, I allowed the Go Pro to roll as the copter pilots asked about the incident without the Major noticing.

After arriving in Washington, I used an archive library to assemble my report content and then drove to the Pentagon where I was allowed in to personally deliver it to Colonel Thacker who was not in, but Dora was. So, I made small talk with her before I left as I dropped it off with her. She gave me her phone number, and I told her I’d give her a call. I made sure that she would forward a copy to Major McDonald. I left exhausted after a 17-hour day and looked forward to some rest in the coming days. The payment came as a debit card in the mail and a commendation for work well done.

I thought I’d washed my hands of the whole incident with a very strange awakening after the UFO sighting in Canada, and tried to put it behind me as well as nearly being eaten by a Kodiak bear, strangely though, several days later, I received an unmarked delivery that left me confused. It was a large envelope with photographs. The address was conspicuously vacant. Inside were aerial photographs of the gun camera footage taken from the CF-18 Hornet jet fighter pilot that had been knocked down by the UFO! The perspective was from above and at an attack angle just before the pilot was forced to eject! I had no idea who could have sent this to me and even if this was an attempt to incriminate me for being in possession of classified material, but I kept the photos anyway. That ended this entire bizarre mission, with a bizarre twist, but I did give Dora a call.

The End