Sightings - Cisco Grove Encounter: California, 1964

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

When a bow hunter encounters terrifying entities in the Sierra Nevada mountains, he realizes he’s no longer the predator - but the prey. Can he survive a night against intruders from another world?�� Sightings is a REVERB and QCODE Original. Find us on instagram @sightingspod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get groceries delivered across the GTA from real Canadian superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC optimum points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. When Ryan was 12 years old, he saw something in the sky that he couldn't explain, and he's been searching for answers ever since. And now he wants you to join his search on the Somewhere in the Skies podcast.

On Somewhere in the Skies, Ryan sits down with leading scientists, academics, philosophers, and people in all walks of life to discuss UFOs, the paranormal, and some of the most profound questions of our lifetime. Like in my favorite episode called I Worked at Area 51 and Skinwalker Ranch, where Ryan interviews a former Air Force serviceman who worked at both the Secret of Air

Base and the notorious Paranormal Ranch. Find out what happened to this guy, and maybe some answers to mysteries of your own on Somewhere in the Skies. new episodes every Monday on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To learn more, visit somewhereintheskies.com. Somewhere in the Skies is a production of the Lionsgate Sound Network. Every hunter knows there are unspoken rules in the wilderness. Stay alert, trust your instincts, and when darkness falls, make sure you have a safe place to bed down for the night. But what happens when you realize something has intruded on your sanctuary?

Something watching from the darkness, waiting to make contact, whether you're ready or not. Welcome to Sightings, the series that takes you inside the world's most mysterious supernatural events. I'm McCloud. And I'm Brian, and look at us, McCloud, first episode of 2025. That's right. The show's been such a hit, thanks to all of you, that we're gonna just keep on going, bringing new stories of the supernatural to you each and every week. McCloud, you have to tell me if there's one story that you're just itching to do this

year. Ooh, gosh, that's a great question. I think... I love ancient stuff, old stuff, so I think like Nazca lines kind of blow my mind. Oh. Yeah. Okay, that's interesting, because I'm to have to find a story for that one because all I really know is that there's these lines in the desert, but that's pretty cool. That's all I know too.

Yeah, huh. All right, a challenge. All right. The gauntlet has been thrown. Your work has been set out for you. Thank you. Well, we've also gotten a ton of great listener suggestions of some really cool sightings that I haven't even heard of before.

So thank you for those and keep them coming, you guys. We really, really appreciate it. And speaking of listener submissions, we've also had a ton of amazing listeners' stories sent our way, plus some really cool theories, which we love having those discussions with you. We haven't had a chance to reply to all of you yet, but don't worry. We will. We promise.

And for those of you new to the show here in 2025, welcome. On each and every episode of Sightings, we're going to bring you a thrilling story of an infamous supernatural encounter, followed by a discussion of the accounts that inspired the story. You know, we aren't trying to prove that these things are real or not. We're just trying to find out what makes these stories so fun and mysterious and exciting that they've become part of the cultural lexicon over the years. And, you know, we'll also give our gut take on things once in a while as well. – Yes, yes. And I know that I do tend to be a tough crick.

The skeptical gecko is strong with this one. You know, Yoda kind of looks like a Gecko a little bit. But I thought it would be fun to bring a new player to our discussion, you know, someone who can bring balance to the skeptical Geck, wow. Oh man, I'm going full Star Wars with this analogy, aren't I? Are you saying that we need a Luke Skywalker to balance the skeptical Geckos, Darth Vader-ness? I, yes I am. I mean, I would say I don't know why the skeptical Geckos gotta be Vader-ness. I... Yes, I am.

I mean, I would say I don't know why the skeptical gecko's gotta be Darth Vader, but, you know, fine. Whatever. All right. Well, let's... What do we have that's opposite of skeptical? We got... Skeptical, credibility, credulous, what's it? Animal. The credulous capybara. Capybara? That's the animal you come with? I don't know. I'm sorry.

All right. What else is there? Like chameleon, maybe? Chameleon. But that's too much like the gecko, like a convinced chameleon. Believer. Oh. Like, I'm a believer. Oh. I'm a skeptic and I'm a believer beaver. Beaver!

Believer beaver! I love it. I got it. Believer beaver and skeptical gecko. We need to get those on some t-shirts. Oh, absolutely. But all right, oh wait, that's enough housekeeping for the new year. We're so glad that you are here with us and excited to dive into today's supernatural story.

That's what you came here for. Where are we going, Brian? We are heading into the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1964, where one bowhunter in the wrong place at the wrong time is about to become the one who's hunted. So get ready for UFOs, bulging eyes, poison gas, and one night stuck in a tree that you will never forget. Coming up on this episode of Sightings. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sightings, super fans, it's a new year. And I have a question for you. What do you want your 2025 story to be? sponsored by BetterHelp. Sightings, super fans, it's a new year,

and I have a question for you. What do you want your 2025 story to be? New adventures, new challenges? Here at Sightings, we know how powerful stories can be. We bring you some pretty cool ones every week. That's right. But even in a world with monsters and mysteries, the most important story of all is your own.

Maybe you're ready for a plot twist, or maybe there's a part of your story that you've been wanting to revise or revisit. So if you want to pick up the pen and become the author of your own life, there's no better partner than the therapists at BetterHelp. BetterHelp is fully online, making therapy affordable and convenient. And look, you don't have to have been abducted by aliens or terrorized by a creature in your closet to benefit from talking to someone.

Maybe you want to learn positive coping skills because I know there's a lot going on right now. Or maybe you want to be the best version of yourself. You know, whatever your goal, BetterHelp has a diverse network of over 30,000 credential therapists with a wide range of specialties. And you can easily switch therapists anytime at no extra cost. So write your story with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash sightings

to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash sightings. Thanks BetterHelp for sponsoring this episode. And now onto our story. this episode, and now'd come to think about. Well, just about everything. See, I've always been a straight shooter. A meat and potatoes man who's never had much truck with tall tails or flights of fancy. Working in missile defense teaches you that kind of thinking.

You learn to trust your instruments, to believe that every blip on the radar means something real. That's what I always told my crew, if something shows up on your screens, you better believe it's there. There's no room for imagination in this line of work. But let me tell you something, there are things flying around in our atmosphere that no radar is ever going to pick up. Things that don't want to be found. And I learned that the hard way, out there in Sisko Grove. It was one of those

clear California days when the air's just starting to get that autumn snap to it. Two fellas from work had invited me out to Tahoe National Forest, about 70 miles northwest up Route 40, a spot near Sisko Grove. I'd never hunted that area before, but they swore by it. Said the deer up there grew big as horses, and the woods were so quiet you could hear a pine needle drop. We hit the road early and made it just as the sun was peeking over the Sierras, and the place was everything they'd promised, pristine wood stretching as far as the eye could see, with crystal lakes scattered between huge granite outcrops.

Paradise, plain and simple. So we set up base camp, strapped on our gear, and headed out. Now I may not have known these specific trails, but I'd been hunting since I could walk. Had my trusty bow, a quiver of arrows, and enough wood sense to track a ghost. Were so I thought. Because what happened to me in those woods, I don't think any wilderness experience or know-how would have helped me one bit. It's funny how the forest can turn on you sometimes. One minute you're following deer sign,

confident as can be, and the next... well, the next minute you're realizing that every tree looks exactly like the last one and that sinking feeling hits your gut when you know you've wandered too far from familiar ground. And that's exactly where I found myself at the end of the day. Lost. The kind of lost where you think back on stories of folks who wander into the woods and never walk out. But I tried to keep a level head and followed a ridgeline, figuring it would lead me back to somewhere I recognized. Instead, it led me straight to a cliff edge, with nothing but air between me and a river far below. By then the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, and I didn't have a flashlight, just my bow, three arrows, and the clothes on my back.

Now the smart thing to do would have been to stay put till daylight, but I was too dang stubborn to cave that easily. So I cautiously made my way back the direction I came, clinging to the last remnants of dusk, and eventually found myself in a yawning canyon dotted with boulders and pines. And that's when I heard it. The unmistakable sound of something big thrashing around in the brush nearby. My first thought was bear. Had to be. Since nothing else out here made that kind of racket. And let me tell you, facing down a bear with

just a bow and arrow? That's not exactly a fair fight. So I did what any sensible man would. I climbed the sturdiest tree I could find, a thirty foot pine with a trunk as big as a barrel. And even though the thing didn't have any branches and its lowest twelve feet, it's amazing what you can manage with a bear breathing down your neck. So I scrambled up the bark fast as I could and settled onto the first stable branches I could find, then scanned the darkness for any sign of the bear. But of course by then the woods had gone eerily quiet, and after a few more minutes passed with no further disturbance, I finally started to relax a bit. Maybe I'd spooked the bear, and it had

run off. Or hell, maybe there never was a bear and my panic-stricken brain had conjured the whole thing up. Either way, I wasn't about to climb back down and find out, so I resigned myself to a long, cold night in the tree. I found a semi-comfortable spot where I could keep watch without risking a fall if I dozed off, and I couldn't stop thinking about Judy and our little girl back home since they were probably worried sick by now. But at least I was safe, right? Ha. It must have been a half hour or so later when I first noticed the light. At first it was just a white glow weaving through the distant trees, and it made sense that it'd be my body searching with lanterns or maybe even a rescue crew. But then I saw it sail clean over a tree and my brain shifted to

thinking helicopter had to be who else would be out searching at night. So I jumped up, fired off a signal flare and started waving it over my head like a madman, and that got the light's attention alright. And as it beelined towards me, I remembered thinking, thank God, they've spotted me. But as it grew closer I realized this was no ordinary searchlight, and it wasn't attached to any helicopter or vehicle I'd ever seen, either. No, this was something else entirely. And it came to a dead stop about 150 feet away from me and hovered there in complete

silence. No engine noise. No whirring blades. Nothing. And I could see now it had two smaller, darker objects circling around it like planets orbiting a star. And all three of them began circling my tree, slow and deliberate, like they were looking. Looking, of course, for me. So I pressed myself as close to the tree as I could because now I most certainly did not want

to be found. But before I could figure out if I'd actually been spotted or not, there was this massive flash of light, and I swear I spotted a huge dome-shaped craft hovering off in the distance as those two smaller objects dropped straight down into the woods nearby. And I raised my bow as quiet as I could, ready for whatever might come walking out of the brush. And sure enough, a rustling sound came from those woods, and then a pair of ferns parted, and well, what stepped out was no animal.

It was something else entirely. The thing was about five and a half feet tall, and dressed head to toe in this silver suit that reminded me of the heat-resistant coatings we use on certain components at work. But this fabric seemed impossibly smooth, except at the joints. And while the thing had two legs and two arms, there was no neck, just this seamless continuation of a torso into a head, with horrifying bulgy eyes. I couldn't tell if there was some kind of goggles or if the eyes just bulged unnatural from the head. Either way, I'd never seen anything like it.

The thing started inspecting the nearby plants like it was taking samples or something, and I prayed it hadn't noticed me or had just forgotten I was in the tree. But then a second creature showed up, identical to the first, and they started communicating, making these weird cooing sounds, kind of like owls, but mechanical, almost. And I felt this surreal sense of detachment as I watched them, almost like I was watching some bizarre nature documentary. Then, of course, they looked up. Those dark, bulbous eyes locked on mine, and I swear my blood ran to ice.

And those two things came right up to the base of my tree and started pushing on it with their spindly-gloved fingers, like they were trying to test its structural integrity. And I debated shooting them. Of course I debated shooting them. But all of a sudden, they stopped touching the tree and just stood there, staring up at me. But not just staring. Menacing.

Like they were trying to will me down with the sheer intensity of their gaze. And I thought maybe, just maybe I could wait them out. That I might be saved because these things clearly had no earthly idea how to climb a tree. But it turns out I thought too soon. Because right then I heard a mechanical humming like a generator and something crashing from the brush the same way the creatures came from. But what emerged from the woods was no creature. This thing was bulkier and

boxier in shape, with a square head and glowing eyes the color of hot coals. It moved with the stiff mechanical gait, and when it unhinged its mouth, the bottom half of its face fell away entirely. I realized then I was looking at some kind of robot, a nightmarish version of the things I'd seen in science fiction pictures, except this was real. This was happening. As all three of them, the silver creature and mechanical friend, stared up at me, I realized they had one goal and one goal only. They were hell-bent on getting me out of that tree. What's in this McDonald's bag? The McValue Meal.

For $5.79 plus tax, you can get your choice of junior chicken, McDouble or chicken snack wrap plus small fries and a small fountain drink. The McValue Meal. For $5.79 plus tax, you can get your choice of Junior Chicken, McDouble, or Chicken Snack Wrap, plus small fries and a small fountain drink. So pick up a McValue Meal today at participating McDonald's restaurants in Canada. Prices exclude delivery. So there I was, stuck in a tree and staring at three entities from outer space

who wanted me on the ground. I'd like to say I faced this nightmare scenario with courage and dignity, but the truth is I was scared out of my mind. And desperate to put as much space between myself and these things as possible, I shimmied further up the tree until I found myself twenty feet up and perched on the sturdiest branch I could reach. And what happened next?

Well, it would have been almost comical if it wasn't so terrifying. The silver creatures tried boosting each other up the tree. Problem was, their bodies weren't built for climbing. They were too stiff and awkward and they kept sliding off like sad sacks of potatoes. This went on repeat for a good time. Boost. Fall. Try again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. And all the while the big robot thing just stood there staring at me while the silver creatures kept hooting at one another like demented owls. And even though they weren't making any progress, I wasn't about to wait around to see if they

eventually figured it out. So I knocked one of my three remaining arrows and let fly. The arrow struck the robot square in the chest, sending sparks flying. Seriously, it was like I'd hit it with a live wire instead of an arrowhead, and I thought the thing just might go down as it stumbled backward, but it regained its footing and stared back up at me, defiant as ever. So I fired my last two arrows as fast as I could at the silver creatures, but they scattered quickly and the shots went wide, and though it seemed to put a damper on their climbing

enthusiasm, it didn't stop them one bit. They just decided to change tactics. The silver beings made a new bird-like sound, and the robot stepped forward. Staring up at me with its dead eyes, its jaw dropped open, and this white smoke started pouring out and drifting up towards me. The smell arrived first, chemical embracing, before the effect hit me like a punch to the gut. The world spun and the next thing I knew I was slumped over with one arm and both legs dangling from the branch. It's pure dumb luck that the sturdy limb kept me from pitching right into the creature's waiting arms. But now I knew their tactic, and I wouldn't let it work on me again. So I shimmied further up the tree until the trunk was barely four inches around and

used my belt to strap myself to it. If I passed out again, at least I wouldn't fall into the clutches of those things. And thank God I did, because that robot kept trying to gas me while the silver jerks paced around below. I ought to stop for a second and address the fact that this sounds crazy. And it's true, it is crazy. My mind was racing and I knew that unless I came up with some kind of plan, I'd end up out of the tree and hauled away to that dome-shaped ship I'd seen. So it was right about then, strapped to the tree after being gassed for the third or fourth time, that I realized I needed to fight back. And you know what?

I did it using the clothes on my very back. I started with my hunting cap. Yanking it off my head, I fumbled for my matches. My hair oil made the fabric light easily, and I dropped the flaming bundle down onto those silvery heads below. The bulging-eyed ones instantly scattered, clearly spooked. And I noticed the robot thing even recoiled from the flames. So my plan was working. Now I just needed to hit that robot and hopefully catch it on fire. So I stripped off my jacket and hopefully catch it on fire. So I stripped off my jacket and started tearing it into strips. Meanwhile the robot belched another cloud of that noxious

gas. This went on and on for hours, with me waking up after each attack to rain fire from above. As the night went on, I started getting cold from the lack of proper clothing and sick from the repeated gas attacks. I even started to lose my sense of proper clothing and sick from the repeated gas attacks. I even started to lose my sense of time, my entire world view narrowing to that tree, the creatures, and the flames. But I kept at it. And finally, finally, I hit that robot square in its gaping hinged mouth with a flaming scrap of sock.

As soon as the flames made contact, the robot hissed to sound unlike anything I'd ever heard in my life, like a mechanical squeal that came from hell itself, and it flailed trying to unhinge its mouth and dislodge the flaming scrap of fabric, as below the two silver creatures ran around in a panic. And as I watched the chaos unfold, I thought maybe, just maybe, they'd leave me alone for good. But that thought of course was far too naive, because the robot extinguished the flames in its mouth and then it glared up at me with what had to be hate in its cold red eyes. So I reached to light another scrap of clothing but realized I was out of matches.

So I threw my bow at the thing, then my canteen, the loose change from my pockets and even some choice insults. But the robot didn't budge, nor did the two silver guys. They weren't giving up easily and kept trying to gas me, and after another hour of futile attempts to knock me out of the tree, their plan was beginning to work. I was tired, sick, and out of ways to fight back. And just when I thought I couldn't take any more, when I was sure I'd either fall or simply give up, I saw the first hints of dawn peeking over the horizon. Relief coursed through me. Surely these creatures were nocturnal. Surely they'd retreat with the coming of the sun. But they didn't.

They'd retreat with the coming of the sun. But they didn't. No, that would have been too easy. Because instead of retreating, they were joined by a second robot who came bounding out of the trees. And it settled next to the other robot. And they faced each other. And as those horrifying eyes turned to me, some kind of electrical current started arcing between their barreled chests.

And I knew it was going to be bad, because the two silver creatures backed off, watching this transpire from a safe distance. And those arcs of electricity built and built until the very air around my tree felt charged. And as the energy coalesced, a pulsing, writhing mass of vapor materialized and rose straight towards me. And I think I might have screamed right then, thrashed like a madman against the belt tethering writhing mass of vapor materialized and rose straight towards me. And I think I might have screamed right then, thrashed like a madman against the belt tethering me to the tree. But it was no use.

The vapor enveloped me, cold and sickening. And though I tried to hold my breath, the edges of my vision dimmed and narrowed to a point. Then the whole world blinked out of existence. And the last thing I remember thinking was, this is it. They finally got me. I don't know how long I was out, but when I came to I was still in the tree, still strapped

to the thin trunk that had saved my life so far. But when I looked down with bleary eyes, expecting the worst, I realized my attackers were gone. All of them, the robots, the silver men, the distant dome-shaped craft, had vanished like a bad dream. But this was no dream, of course. My torn clothes, my missing gear, and the horrible feeling in my gut proved it was all too real. I was sick, freezing, and probably in shock. But I was alive. After an hour or so of waiting to make sure they didn't come back, I managed to unfasten

myself from the tree and climb down on shaky legs. I half expected those creatures to jump out of the bushes and grab me as soon as I hit the ground, but the woods were peaceful. Birds were singing. And if you didn't know otherwise, you'd never assume anything had ever happened here at all. I started walking, though I had no idea where I was going. I just knew I had to get away from that tree, but I didn't make it far before my legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground. And there, with my face pressed to cold mud, I heard the most amazing sound of salvation, the sound of whistling. Human whistling. So I mustered all the strength

I had and pushed myself to my feet and shouted as loud as I could, and after a few moments my buddy Vincent came running out of the brush. I'd never been so happy to see another human being in my life. And I blabbed out my story as fast as I could about the silver men and their pet robots trying to snatch me out of the tree. And I fully expected him to think I'd lost my mind, but Vincent just listened quietly with a strange look on his face. And when I finished, he told me something that made my blood run cold.

He'd seen something too. A huge object hovering in the sky the night before. And as he watched, a smaller craft detached from it and zoomed off in the direction I said I'd come from. I reckon that was the moment that I knew with 100% certainty that I wasn't crazy, that what happened out there in those woods was real, more real than anything I experienced before or since. Vincent and I made our way back to camp in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. I was grateful beyond words to be safe, to be found, but I knew my life would never be the same.

How could it be? Knowing what's really out there. Sometimes, late at night, I'll be working the radar systems, tracking normal aircraft through our skies, and every now and then something will show up on our screens that moves in ways nothing should be able to move. And when that happens I think about those silver beings, those robot companions, and that dome shaped craft. And I wonder just how many other things are up there, just beyond the edge of what our

instruments can detect. How many other entities are studying us, testing us, trying to understand us just like those beings were trying to understand how to climb a tree. I don't have answers to any of those questions, of course, but I do know one thing for certain. I've never looked at the night sky the same way again, and neither would you if you'd spent a night in Cisco Grove. Sightings will be back just after this. Welcome back to Sightings, where we're about to unpack that wild story I just narrated. I have to say, the whole thing felt like some kind of twisted survival video game.

A guy stuck in a tree fighting off aliens with arrows and flaming clothing while trying not to get gassed by robots. That is a great way to describe it. I should say though, before we even do do anything that I didn't embellish any of those details. Really? Yeah, everything in the story came directly from Donald Shrum's account of what happened to him that night in 1964. Even the part where these supposedly advanced aliens couldn't figure out how to climb a tree? Kind of bizarre, isn't it? But regardless of these aliens ineptitude, it still had to have been a harrowing encounter.

No doubt. No doubt. I mean, we've got lights in the sky, bug-eyed humanoids, two robots, toxic gas. And a hunter who became the hunted, which is what stood out to me when I first heard this story, because it felt almost like something out of a Predator movie, albeit one with decidedly dumber aliens. Could you imagine a Predator movie like this? It's like Predator with Adam and Sam. Oh my God. But no, before I go cracking jokes, I want context,

I want facts, so enlighten me, Brian, because I've never heard of this before. All right, well, like I said, I didn't really have to invent anything for this. I did streamline a few elements. For example, Donald built some signal fires in the night before the alien encounter instead of having a flare. And he also turned out to be less of a radar engineer or an analyst, you know, with privy to all this top secret knowledge than a tradesman who was welding and painting these top secret rockets for Minuteman missiles

and the Titan program for space. All right. So a bit more blue collar than in this story and his hunting companions that they work at the same company? They did. So we have three guys all working on these top secret missile projects heading out into the wilderness to go bow hunting. And the place they went, Cisco Grove, well, it looks remote now.

I have to imagine that in 1964, it was in the middle of nowhere. It's kind of in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, west of Lake Tahoe, and despite its remoteness, it certainly seems scenic. So, it's, of course, a great place for aliens to take a vacation. You know, it's interesting you should say that because apparently there are uranium deposits in the area and it hasn't really come up in any of our other episodes before, but UFO researchers have noted a pretty profound connection between uranium deposits and UFO sightings around the world.

Juicy. All right. Now we're talking. Fascinating. Actually, it makes sense, because in the story, Donald saw the aliens inspecting the ground and, like, plants and stuff. So maybe they were taking test samples or something, and he just happened to get in their way? Yeah, that's kind of what it seems like to me. And these aliens, they just seem like these,

you know, little scientists in lab suits with their, you know, googly eyes walking along on the forest floor. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah. Oh, gosh, I just, my mind just went to minions, too. little scientists in lab suits with their googly eyes walking along on the forest floor. Oh, yeah, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go,

go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, was not an effort to, you know, attack or capture Donald, but, you know, an effort to keep him occupied almost, you know, to deflect his attention away from whatever the rest of the aliens might have been doing, you know, just over the ridge or whatever. Oh, that could explain why their gas didn't kill him. But on the other hand, it could just be that they wanted a pristine specimen to abduct. Yeah, but if they were the abducting types, I have to wonder if they'd be...

Where's their tractor beam? Like, they have no other skills to speak of. Right, right, right. Very, very little ability to mechanically function in a physical world with any kind of athleticism or competency. You know what, I've never, other than like in sci-fi movies and stuff where you're already in space, I don't think I've ever heard of an alien sighting that involved robots. There's been a few sightings that actually have robotic beings.

In 1962 in Argentina, there was a couple that reported that they saw a UFO and then a robot came out of it. But the moment that the robot saw the couple, it got scared and ran back into the UFO and flew away. I just had an R2D2 like, oh! But the robot! Yeah, yep, yep. And then in 1972 in Australia, six teenagers allegedly saw a 10-foot robot and it attacked their car and caught it on fire. And then it disappeared without a trace. Right.

It seems very strange to me though, because if they built these robots to presumably do something beyond just gas people, they don't seem, like the robots don't seem to have any skills either. Gosh, this is so horrifying. If I'm putting myself in Donald's shoes, like, it's just bonkers. It's, I don't even know. Did he have a family? He did. He had a wife and a new daughter.

A new daughter? Oh my gosh. No wonder he was just fighting for his life because, man, but like you imagine that you're gonna get attacked by a bear or something when you're out in the woods, not a trash can releasing noxious gas and little alien scientists and spaceships. I mean, this is earth shattering. I mean, like what did, how was he after this? He was messed up for a long time.

His wife has written about him having severe emotional trauma for my bad years, you know horrible dreams Overwhelming anxiety fear that the creatures would come back for him again weird things to like the sound of owls Remember in the story how oh right, right, right, right that the sound of owls would disturb Donald and he would wake up screaming those those eyes, those eyes, you know, because these aliens had these weird, gawgly eyes. So, I mean, like he must have told someone, like other than his wife. Here is his dilemma.

He worked for a top secret defense contractor. He couldn't afford the scrutiny or the risk of losing his job, it seems. So, you know, for 40 years, basically, this story stayed mostly in the dark. Wait a second. Why... You said mostly in the dark. Was there something behind that? Well, sort of.

They didn't go public with this. Understandably so. But Donald and his wife reached out to one other person outside of their family, and that was the head of the astronomical observatory of their local college in Sacramento, California. And this guy, the first thing that this guy does after being contacted by Donald and his wife is calls the Air Force.

So... Oh, no. I feel like every time the Air Force gets involved with these sightings, it's never good. Is that our Project Blue Book fellows? I don't know if they were Project Blue Book or not, but what ended up happening was two officers came to meet with Donald and they ended up taking one

of the arrows that Donald had shot at the robot because Donald collected them before going home. And of note, the arrowhead allegedly had this aluminum-like kind of melted metal on it. So even though it hit the robot and bounced right off, it clearly did some kind of damage. Collected something from the alien. Yeah.

And then, of course, the Air Force collected it from Donald, and Donald never saw it again. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And during the discussion with these two Air Force officers, these guys tried to tell Donald that, no, no, no, no, no. What you saw was not aliens. It was one of three things.

It was either one, the Japanese, or it was a group of teenagers. Or what, wearing armor? Wearing robot suits. Or it was a bunch of Air Force trainees who were doing some kind of operation. Gotcha. Well, I do know that like in many aspects of the military whether it's Navy or Air Force Air Force especially you do kind of Training for survival. Yeah, you like parachute into somewhere and then you have to make your way out

Exactly or like your your plane crashes. So you got to be able to sustain yourself. So despite all of their efforts to Obscure or you know deflect from aliens or something like that and saying, no, no, this was nothing. This was a big nothing burger. A few weeks after the event, Donald and Vincent, who was the coworker, they went back to Cisco Grove and found that tree. And wouldn't you know it, someone had already been there and combed the area, picking up any shreds of evidence and even raking the ground

to like cover up and obscure any footprints. Ooh, that's suspicious. So aside from that missing arrowhead, okay, so there's the missing arrowhead, but there's no other physical evidence? I guess not. We got nothing until 2005, 41 years after the incident, when Donald and his wife showed up at a MUFON meeting.

Now MUFON's another UFO advocacy or investigative group. And they shared their story with the world after 41 years. Do I see a skeptical gecko coming out? I mean, he's always in there scuttling around. You know, so 41 years, I always kind of, I wonder, what's the motivation? Because a lot of these stories, it's just a person saying, this thing happened to me.

And that's all you got. And so after, why suddenly in 41 years does he come out with a story? On the other hand, it's compelling that he kept it under wraps for 41 years. Anyway, I always also struggle a little bit with like alien motive with a lot of these sightings. Like in our Kelly Hopkinsville, it's like, what are they doing down there? What is this advanced species came across the galaxy to do what?

Harass some farmers and like chase a guy up a tree? The uranium is a new thing. I, I had never heard the uranium thing that sightings tend to happen around uranium. So, uh, I guess my believer beaver brain starts kind of going like, okay, well maybe they need uranium for fuel and they're just need to mine. This is how it goes. They got to mine uranium and he just happened to be there. And like these robots or whatever, like, weirdly weirdly I find it kind of compelling that they are inept and like kind of think about our own drones and mechanisms like bumping into walls

and like falling downstairs. Like you know robots kind of lack contextual understanding and especially when you're on an alien planet. So the fact that they're kind of bumbling, I kind of find compelling because it's less harrowing. If you're telling a story about a sighting, it's to have them just goofy. That's a really astute observation because if he's gonna make this up, you know, from whole cloth, you would think that he would make these aliens

seem intimidating, like he defeated a nemesis. Yeah. So, my mind's kind of divided here, because, pardon me, I don't think there's any incentive for him to have made this up, and like we just discussed, there doesn't seem to be a motive to make it up in the way that he did. So, if he did...

Other than people enjoy telling stories and the attention that comes from them. That's also valid, yeah, exactly. Point in case the show. But if he did actually see something, I'm wondering what it could have been. If he didn't encounter actual aliens who were looking for uranium with robots,

I wonder, did he misinterpret an actual military operation? Were those Air Force guys right? Could it have been some kind of neurochemical imbalance of some kind? Like for instance, Donald was exposed to chemicals at the company he worked at, including one which was later proven to be a carcinogen and caused death for a lot of workers.

And Donald Sun said that this chemical would just seep out of him through his sweat, which sounds horrifying. But I wonder if enough exposure to something like that makes you go, makes you see things that aren't there necessarily or- Maybe, are there any reports of this chemical creating like hallucinations or-

Not that I could find, I'm grasping straws here, but just trying to figure out like, what could this have been if this guy didn't actually see what he says he saw? It's the 60s, right? It is the 60s. And he went out into the woods with his buddies in the 60s. Like they might've just like dropped some acid,

taken some shrooms. Like I can 100% imagine like a dude dropping some acid, taking some shrooms. Like, I can 100% imagine, like, a dude dropping some acid, having a bad trip, and winding up spending the night in a tree. I can see that as well. And I'm imagining little raccoons or something at the base of the tree, and he's imagining them actually to be something far more nefarious.

Right. But why don't you give us a Believer Beaver take on this one, McLeod, I want you to stretch your horizon zero a little bit. Sure. Yeah, no, it's fun. I mean, honestly, I think Believer Beaver might be a really fun new character for me.

I mean, if it's real, I think it's the ambiguity of the purpose of the aliens. And again, like I mentioned, the bumblingness of them kind of resonates with me. Like the truth sometimes is just kind of bumbling and hard to grasp. Like there's no clear cut reason for them being there. And their modes of violence were somewhat indirect.

Like they had no missiles or projectiles, which speaks to me maybe of a truly an alien culture that just does not approach things the same way as us, does not go in there pew pew, trying to like bust things up. And they were just very befuddled by what they found on earth. And they're like, our gas, our gas isn't working. The gas always works.

Why isn't the gas working? You know, the weirdness of it somehow lends plausibility in my mind. And then also, you know, this, if I'm to believe that he actually had an arrow, to begin with, that had some weird aluminum on it, that it was taken and not given back to him, that's pretty creepy.

If I'm to believe that they went back and actually the land had been, you know, scoured, depending on how long it was, because also that could have just been like clearance. Sorry, the skeptical gecko is running into my beaver. Get out of here. Anyway, listeners, you tell us what you think. We love discussing this stuff and hearing your ideas about what's going, what might be going on here. So hit us up on socials at SightingsPod. And we are still looking for incredible stories of your own encounters with the supernatural. So find us on Instagram or email us at stories at sightingspodcast.com.

Yes. Where are we headed next week, Brian? Well, we are going to one of my favorite places, Hawaii. Heck yeah. Ah, palm trees, Mai Tais, and presumably something absolutely horrible. Any guesses? I don't know any Hawaiian creatures,

so I'm going to have to go with ghosts. Like, Hawaii's a spiritual place, like a demon, something related to nature. I bet we're in for a killer ghost story Well, you're gonna have to wait to find out same time same place next week here on sightings. See you then see you then Sightings is hosted by McLeod Anders and Brian Sigley produced by Brian Sigley chase Kinzer and McLeod Anders Brian Sigley. Produced by Brian Sigley, Chase Kinzer, and McLeod-Anders. Written by Brian Sigley. Series music by Mitch Bain. Story music by Mitch Bain and Madison James Smith. Mixing and mastering by Pat Kickleiter of Sundial Media. Artwork by Nuno Cernanos.

For a list of this episode's sources, check out our website at sightingspodcast.com. Sightings is presented by Reverb and Q-Code. If you like the show, be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so you're first to hear new episodes every week. And if you know other Supernatural fans, tell them about us. We'd really appreciate it.