NUFORC Sighting 104084

Occurred: 1973-10-15 20:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2013-11-03 18:03 Pacific
Duration: 20-30 minutes
No of observers: 100

Location: Millington, TN, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Changed Color, Aircraft nearby

3 Saucer shaped UFO's over Naval Air Station. F-4 Phantom Scrambled.

This sighting occurred at Naval Air Station Memphis in Millington, TN, where I was stationed at the time as a young Marine. The sighting happened at dusk sometime in mid- September of 1973. 100 (or more) of us were ordered to change barracks from one barracks building to another. While walking with my personal gear accompanied by another Marine, I heard someone say, "Look up!".

When I looked up, I saw a saucer-shaped craft hovering several hundred feet above me. Although the craft was hovering, it made small darting movements left/right and up/down. These occasional sporadic movements were so abrupt that it was obvious the anything inside the craft would be tossed around like a rag doll. Brilliant rotating lights were emitted from the underside of the craft. The lights splashed in brilliant colors, blue, red, white. etc.

Someone else yelled, “Look over there! There are more of them!.” I quickly scanned the horizon and saw what looked like 2 identical saucer shaped craft downrange from the craft we had been watching.

At this point, all of us that were moving gear stopped, set our gear down and simply watched the spectacle unfold. Many comments were made by many different Marines that these craft were obviously not of this world.

Being on a Naval Air Station, a single F-4 Phantom jet was scrambled. We watched the fighter take off and make a slow turn to the right toward the closest craft with his afterburner glowing. Marines everywhere were saying things to the effect of “I wonder what will happen now!” or “Man, I’d hate to be that pilot.” There was a great dread in the air that it seemed that we could all “feel.”

As soon as the fighter began to approach the closer craft, the craft moved at unbelievable speed and began hovering again almost instantaneously beside the other 2 saucers that were waiting downrange.

The Phantom jet rolled to the left and made a high G turn toward the (now) 3 saucer shaped craft hovering some distance away. As soon as the F-4 started to close on the 3 hovering craft, all 3 UFO’s shot off at great speed and were completely out of sight within 2-3 seconds.

When the craft disappeared, I saw the F-4 Phantom switch off the afterburner and start a slow turn back toward base. This whole event took perhaps 15 to 20 minutes but it seemed much longer.

Posted 2013-11-11

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