(Editors note: Here is an article that we though would
be good to pass along to you that had an air forc base involved)
The Sun dropped
quickly behind the desert rock-piles revealing a deep red glow to the western
sky as Corey Rudolph and I made camp at the east end of Avenue J in Palmdale one
spring night in 1977. We had been visiting the area as often as possible in
response to several credible Bigfoot reports in this California desert. To the
east was nothing but dark black sky with thousands of stars and periodic meteors
whizzing by. Our objective was two-fold. One, to observe all we could during the
night, and, two, to get away from the Los Angeles rat-race. We had been driving
through the areas north of the mountains separating the Los Angeles area from
the desert in search of clues, and people to interview who claimed to have
encountered a desert Sasquatch.
Through the next
three years, Corey and I, and sometimes myself with my faithful Red-tailed Hawk,
Nixon, we gathered as much information on desert Sasquatch activity as we could.
In many cases, the witnesses told very similar tales of large hair-covered
man-like apes observed crossing the highway, or looking in their windows at
their homes usually after midnight. Through these witnesses we slowly became
aware that the military, just north of Lancaster, California at Edward’s Air
Force Base had been witness to these desert man-beasts for several years. We
finally made contact with three different military security officers, all of
which did not know of the others, who provided us with information relating to
what the Air Force knew about these animals. Before I continue with this, I must
inform the reader that these three men were willing to discuss this with us only
because we promised to never reveal their names or ranks, and if we did, they
would deny everything. Because I believe in keeping promises, I will comply with
their request, but will refer to them only by rank since I do not believe that
their status at the time would indicate or reveal their true identity, thereby
keeping my promise. I will also add that I have spoken to five additional
ex-military officers who were once stationed at Edward’s AFB and they all claim
that what the first three revealed was accurate, and that not much has changed
there since the 1970s.
The first I
interviewed was a Lieutenant in charge of security in the sector of Edward’s AFB
near Rogers Dry Lake. He was primarily responsible for supervising the
surveillance activity from sunset to sundown from 1972 to 1975 when he was then
transferred to Germany, then retired. This gentleman explained to me that the
base security was primarily involved with monitoring for unauthorized entry to
the base by curiosity seekers. The base was highly involved with classified
secret aircraft testing at the time, and there were many curious people trying
to take photos, or just see these things. In addition, the base had a very high
level of UFO activity, or, as he put it, Alien Spacecraft. In fact, he made it
clear that these craft were not from Earth, and that the Air Force knew very
little about them. When any unauthorized people or Alien craft entered his
perimeter, he was to report to the higher command, and observe. All of his
personnel had top security clearance, and were to discuss nothing of what they
saw. He further described some of these craft to me, but I was not very
interested at the time.
While they were
conducting surveillance one night, always using starlight scopes and motion
detectors spread throughout the base, one of the guards reported an infiltration
in his perimeter. When he asked for details, the guard described a very tall
man, but not really a man. Perplexed by such a report, he decided to drive to
the location and talk to the guard, perhaps thinking the man had lost his
marbles. When he arrived, a wide-eyed guard met him and repeated his story. The
lieutenant began to scan the desert for the intruder and soon spied him, or it.
Through the starlight scope he could clearly see that this was not a man. It was
a very tall, hair-covered, ape-like man walking through the desert. He said the
animal appeared to be looking at the desert floor in search of something. The
animal was about 500 yards distant, but the scope was very powerful and tripod
mounted so it could be observed clearly. Both men continued to observe the
animal as it wandered around almost aimlessly. He then reported to his superiors
of the activity and was told to keep the animal in sight. This was no problem as
the animal remained in the area. About five minutes later a helicopter was heard
approaching the area, then it was seen coming in fast from the east. They
continued to observe the animal which continued its activity. The helicopter
came in over a rock-pile, then the animal "spooked." It looked at the
helicopter, turned, and ran "like a deer" around a rock-pile and out of sight.
The helicopter searched the area, but never found the animal. The two men could
hardly believe what they had seen.
The next day the
Lieutenant reported to the command post of the previous night's activity. The
command told him that these animals had been seen on the base before, and the
public knew them as Bigfoot or Sasquatch. The command explained that they were
concerned that these animals may be related to the Alien Craft, and that all
such reports must remain top secret. He was told to continue to observe and
report, but not to intervene or disturb the animals until the command determined
what they were.
The lieutenant had
heard of Bigfoot before, but not in the desert. He had always thought that this
was some sort of fable or hoax. But he knew what he saw, and now knew that they
were real.
Through the
following years he and his crew observed the Sasquatches on the base several
times. By 1975 they had sophisticated equipment including video surveillance
cameras mounted in "key" areas. He then explained to me that they had video
taped these animals several times, but the tapes were classified and held under
top security at all times. By the time he left Edward’s, they had learned very
little about these creatures, but his feeling was that they were not UFO
related, but biological living beings.
The second officer
I interviewed was a Major before he too retired in 1978. He had served at
Edward’s AFB from 1970 through 1978 and was in charge of one of the Command
Posts on the north end of the base. He too explained that they were primarily
interested in UFOs and Aliens. In fact, it was through his words that I first
heard the term "EBE" which is apparently the military term for Aliens, or
Extraterrestrial Biological Entities.
In any case, the
Major confirmed what the Lieutenant had told me, but added that these creatures
also found their way into the secret underground tunnels that run under
Edward’s. Although the use and existence of these tunnels was classified, he
told me about them knowing that their importance was a moot subject to me. He
said that they had surveillance cameras in the tunnels and had, in fact, video
taped the Sasquatches as they wandered through them. He said that they were not
concerned with the Sasquatches on the base because they had learned that they
were not related to EBE activity, and that they were certain that they were
simply undiscovered animals. When I asked why they had not captured or killed
one in order to prove the existence to the world, he returned that they could
not reveal anything that happened on the base. He said that if they were to
admit that these creatures often wandered around on the base, the public would
loose confidence in their ability to keep the base secure. This, in turn, would
give people the idea that they could do the same. Since there was so much secret
work continuing on the base, it was not in their interest to discuss the
Sasquatches with the public. They wanted to keep people out, not encourage them
to visit in search of Sasquatches. They already had enough problems with UFO
seekers, or those wanting to get a peek at a secret aircraft.
The third man was
a security "grunt." That is what he termed himself. He claimed to have seen
these Desert Sasquatches through starlight scopes on scores of occasions. This
man was only about 19 years old, but extremely military in his self presence. He
called me "Sir" until I asked him not to. He told me that he had seen a couple
of Sasquatches that stood over ten feet high, had seen "obvious" females (one
with a young one walking with her), and once saw a group of five Sasquatches
walking together, all over six feet tall with the tallest about eight feet tall.
They were fully hair-covered except the palms of their hands, the base of their
feet, and their face. He said their face resembled an ape with very small eyes,
a flat nose, and ape-like lips. The arms were long and slung down to the knees.
He said their feet were like ours, without an arch, as they had tracked them
through the desert several times. When I asked him about the surveillance
videos, he told me that he knew of them but was not involved in that. He said
only officers were allowed to videotape the creatures or UFOs. Cameras were not
allowed on the base in the hands of the "grunts." He said that he felt very
privileged to have seen these animals with such clarity because he knew there
were several like myself that would do anything to see one. However, he
suggested that these animals were not as rare as people assumed, but they are
very shy and almost strictly nocturnal. They could be photographed, given the
right opportunity, but those opportunities were rare because these creatures are
very good at remaining concealed ... even in the desert. He told me that the
reason they were on the base was that they "knew" they would not be harmed. He
thought that somehow they could "feel" danger, or even pick up on human
thoughts. Since the officers and grunts on Edward’s were ordered not to harm or
intervene with the creatures, they could feel this vibe and felt protected. Some
of these animals, of course, wander around outside of the base, but these
animals are always watching their backs, he explained.
To conclude this
report, I should advise that several sources have told me in recent years that
the Desert Sasquatches are still being watched at Edward’s AFB. In fact, one
officer recently told me that the base security actually appreciates the
presence of the Sasquatch there since they give the officers some "needed
entertainment." Then a question came to mind. Could the EBE’s be just as
interested in the Sasquatches as they are of other base activities? The officer
stopped for a moment, thinking, then said simply, "Perhaps."