SUBJECT: GERMANY SIGHTING REPORT FILE: UFO2469
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MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUFONET-BBS NETWORK
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GERMANY SIGHTING REPORT
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[NOTE: I received this sighting report recently. It is
provided here with the approval of the author/witness.]
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� About ten years ago I had a rather unusual experience �
�that I've never discussed with anyone in much detail even �
�though I think about it all the time. So, I thought I'd post�
�my little UFO story here and see what people could make of �
�things: �
� �
� In the Fall of 1981 I was a young teen serving as an �
�Army tank crewman with Alpha Troop 1/10 Cavalry 4th �
�Mechanized Infantry Division, Ft. Carson Colorado. I was a �
�gunner aboard an M60A1, the antediluvian predecessor to the �
�M60A3. �
� �
� In early September of that year, my unit shipped out for �
�West Germany as part of the annual Reforger exercises. We �
�arrived on September 6th, drew our equipment, and headed �
�straight for the field. �
� �
� After about three weeks into the exercise my Squadron �
�took defensive positions around a little village called �
�Ramrod or Butzbach, I can't remember which. In fact, the two�
�villages may be very close to each other, I've never checked�
�a map. (I'm pretty sure it's Ramrod) �
� �
� Our tanks and M113s were placed in a thick little patch �
�of forest on the edge of a 1/2 kilometer wide by one or two �
�kilometer long field of thick green grass amidst slightly �
�rolling hills. Our gun tubes faced North towards the village�
�some two kilometers away. �
� �
� The field itself was surrounded on all sides by thin- �
�trunked German fir trees with an average height of 90 feet. �
�A paved, two lane, road ran through my unit's position and �
�down the middle of the field into the village. �
� �
� After waiting two uncomfortable days for the British to �
�attack our positions, my Troop commander decided to let us �
�take trips to the sportzplatz in the village below for �
�showers. We hadn't bathed in over a week. �
� �
� I went in on the second run with most of my platoon, �
�about twenty guys. It was a cloudy, overcast, mid-morning. I�
�cannot remember the day or the date. We were riding on a �
�full canopied 2 1/2 ton truck. I sat at the rear of the �
�vehicle, near the tailgate, because I liked the view and �
�didn't smoke. The back-flap had been rolled up and tied �
�open. �
� �
� If none of you here have ever ridden on a canopied 2 1/2 �
�ton truck, then understand that it is a jolting, jarring, �
�noisy, completely deafening experience where all aboard �
�acquire many bruises and stiff rearends after even the �
�shortest of drives. Communication is achieved only by �
�yelling to one another at the very top of your lungs. �
�Communication with the driver, from the back of the vehicle,�
�is next to impossible. �
� �
� But I digress... �
� �
� As the truck made its way along the road at a 15 to �
�20mph clip, something moving in the air above the trees to �
�the East (The directions given here are only for purposes �
�of orientation) caught my attention. Less than 100 yards �
�away, just above the treeline, moved what appeared to be a �
�large (make that DOUBLE large) Glad Bag "rolling" about �
�through the air as if caught by the wind. �
� �
� Its speed must have been less than five miles an hour. �
� �
� Intrigued, I watched as the "bag" loped along �
�southwards, skirting above the trees, and then chaotically, �
�haphazardly, curved west towards the open field and began �
�descending. �
� �
� Now, this was all very unexciting until I noticed that �
�the "bag" was changing shape and color. �
� �
� As it made its westward "turn" and sloppy, rolling, �
�descent (just as a large, half-inflated, giant, garbage-bag �
�would if caught in a slipstream at 90 feet), its color �
�changed from flat green, to flat red, to flat black, to �
�flat blue and so on. As this was happening, so too did its �
�baggy, bulky, shape, begin to smooth and flatten the closer �
�it got to the ground. �
� �
� Pay special attention to the word -smooth-. It was as if �
�all turbulence had ceased and every crinkle, every ripple, �
�every bump, every possible exterior surface distortion that �
�might be caused by the slightest movement of wind "within" �
�the "bag", had vanished. �
� �
� Indeed, it was elongating and flattening to become a �
�smooth disk. �
� �
� At an altitude of scarcely twenty feet, all downward �
�motion suddenly ceased as the "disk" made a precise and �
�radical maneuver that sent it on a perfect horizontal �
�glidepath above the field. At this very instant, in reaction�
�to the sudden and completely artificial maneuver, my Platoon�
�Sergeant, SFC Venero, said, and I quote him exactly: "What �
�the f___ -IS- that thing?" �
� �
� To which I replied "It looks like a garbage bag that �
�changes color!" (Brilliant words indelibly etched in my �
�mind. <g>) �
� �
� I hadn't known he was watching, but he'd seen everything �
�just as I had. �
� �
� As the disk then continued to descend again, this time �
�with a very steady and controlled forward speed of ten �
�miles an hour or so, my truck crested a hill. Moments �
�before this "thing" would have landed, my view was blocked �
�by the hill as we moved downwards towards the bottom. �
� �
� I did not say a word. I did not scream "STOP THIS �
�TRUCK!" I did not in anyway try to jump off the moving �
�vehicle and run like hell to see what it was because I KNEW �
�I'd be... yelled at by my Sergeant. I was a disciplined �
�soldier and the thought of being yelled at kept me GLUED to �
�my seat. �
� �
� After the UFO disappeared behind the hill, Sgt. Venero �
�looked at me, blinked his big dull eyes once or twice, then �
�shrugged his shoulders. "Hmm" he said. �
� �
� Because the whole event was so very undramatic, because �
�there was no Close Encounters of the Third Kind theme music �
�playing, because the truck was rattling and swaying and �
�bouncing and because I would've looked like a fool, �
�screaming at all of them to shut up and tell the driver to �
�stop, I said not a damned thing. �
� �
� Nada. �
� �
� Later, when I tried telling others about what I'd seen, �
�the standard response was the heady "Sure, Conley. Sure." �
� �
� Sergeant Venero, not the most interesting, thoughtful, �
�or well read fellow, chalked it up as being "Just one of �
�those things." �
� �
� Now, whenever I've told this story to fellow military �
�people I get the usual "Hey, it was probably just an RPV." �
� �
� This is a very logical possibility, but I've seen quite �
�a few remotely piloted vehicles and ALL of them have wings, �
�ALL of them fly in relatively straight flight paths, ALL of �
�them change direction with a dip of the WINGS (which, as I �
�said, this craft did not have) and NONE of them change color�
�and NONE of them change -SHAPE- in flight. (Forget midget �
�craft with variable sweep wings. This UFO did not have �
�wings.) �
� �
� Because of the noise in the truck, I can't tell you if �
�the craft made any noise. I will say that I heard nothing. �
� �
� What I saw just did not appear to be man-made. �
� �
� Has anyone here ever seen anything like this? �
� �
�=END= �
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