In the early eighties, I worked at a now-defunct army ammunition plant in a very rural and isolated area of East Texas. I was a clerk typist for the colonel who oversaw the running of the plant. I was in the office one morning, telling the secretary about a movie called Hanger 18. You, yourself, may have seen it. While I was describing the plot, the colonel called me into his office. Once there, he had me shut the door and told me to have a seat. This was highly unusual, and judging by the expression on his face, he was highly displeased with me. He was usually a very affable man, who joked with us and was kind and polite towards the secretarial staff. Everyone liked him. But today, he seemed like a completely different man, and at that moment, I felt like I was sitting in front of the principal about to get suspended.
He told me the subject of UFOs was not tolerated on base—ever. I was not to discuss the subject, joke about it, or even mention movies about it. I meekly said, “Yes, sir,” and was promptly dismissed. He closed the door after me, and I didn't see him for the rest of the day.
The next day, I was summoned into the Security Chief's office, where I was 'debriefed.' Where was I? What did I see? Did I tell anyone about it? I was almost in hysterics. It was only a movie and a badly done one at that, I told him. The chief relaxed and told me he was sorry he scared me. He explained that this was a high-security facility in a very isolated area, and rumors get out, and when they do, the curious come looking. The last thing he needed was UFO hunters and thrill seekers trying to break into the parameter.
It sounded reasonable. He joked with me, offered me a soda, and sent me back to work.
I thought the subject was closed. As I drove home that evening, I had the weirdest feeling I was being watched. After what happened earlier in the day, I reasoned that I was just being paranoid. I went into town, grabbed a burger to go and went home to the room I was renting from a retired couple.
As I was about to go to bed, the feeling of being watched crept up on me again. I felt compelled to look out the window, and sure enough, there was a black car parked behind my Mercury Cougar. I had no idea who they were. But there was something terrifying about that car and the way it just sat behind my own car. I couldn't see who was inside, but I was certain someone was in there watching the house. I wanted to leave, but there was no way I could get into my car and back out. Whoever it was had me blocked.
I sat by the window, peeking through the blinds, watching whoever was watching me. At some point, I must have drifted off to sleep, because by morning, they were gone. I resigned, packed my belongings, and went back to Texarkana.
There were other truly frightening things that happened just before and afterward. I won't discuss that here. This is a review, and not about how my twenty-six-year-old self was scared stiff by the United States Military. Suffice it to say that I found Mr. Salas' own story highly credible.
This experience, and subsequent other experiences, left me with no doubt that UAP's are real and the military, for whatever reason, is keeping silent about it. The problem with this subject is that there's so much conspiracy theory dung piled upon it that it's hard to tell what is true and what isn't. Even in his book, conspiracy theory nonsense has seeped in, especially when it comes to alien abductions. But the experiences at Bentwater RAF, Soesterburg AFB in the Netherlands, and the one Salas personally experienced as a missile commander at Malstrom Launch Control Facility are one hundred percent factual. These incidents are reported by highly qualified career military personnel with sterling reputations and zero sense of humor.
There is a great deal of speculation as to why the military covers up evidence of UAP's and Salas does a great job of going through that. His experiences are highly credible, as are the other men and women who witnessed UAP's trespassing on military air spaces, especially ones with nuclear capabilities. It is alarming and happens more often than we think. It is my hope that other career military personnel will come forward and break the silence and clear away the conspiracy theory nonsense that shrouds this important topic.
~review by Patricia Snodgrass
Author: Robert Salas
Red Wheel/Weiser, 2023
p. $18.95, pp.229
