Hangar 1: The UFO Files

23.976

Okay. We're recording. Today's date

is January 2, 2005. Anytime you wanna start.

My name is - and I was living

in California at the time.

1985, Los Angeles, a pair of teenage friends

sneak out after curfew. A 16-year old kid

to protect his identity, we're referring to him as Chet,

had just gotten his driver's license, he takes his best

friend out to explore a place that's considered off-limits.

Their destination, a decommissioned

missile site. In 1950s, the US Military

installed a ring around Los Angeles

on 16 Nike missile sites.

These are anti-aircraft

missiles mainly put in there to defend the growing

aerospace industry in Southern California.

By the early 1980s, however, many of these

had been shut down. I suspect there are few things

more appealing to a group of teenage boys

in the prospect of checking out an abandoned missile site.

Chet and his friend hopped the fence to take

a look around. There's not much to look at anymore

but they're having fun, sneaking around and exploring.

The kids are having a great time being kids

when suddenly Chet looks up and notices something.

There are blue lights just above them in the sky.

These blue lights appeared and I'm thinking,

"Oh, man, this is a police helicopter,

we're gonna get busted for trespassing."

If this was a helicopter, the rotors would be

deafening by now.

Instead, the boys don't hear anything.

It's totally silent.

The blue lights descend from above

and the boys quickly realize they are not dealing

with the police. I don't know

what to call it. It wasn't like anything

I'd ever seen on Earth.

A giant UFO.

Now, this UFO is so bright that the boys can barely

see the craft itself. The entire missile base

is getting lit up like it's the middle

of the day. Chet and his friend

are frozen. The witnesses

are paralyzed by more than just fear.

This light was shining down on us

and I suddenly realized, I couldn't move.

It was like this UFO was somehow holding

me in place. I couldn't run and hide,

I couldn't yell out. I felt trapped.

What were you thinking at that moment ?

I was thinking, "Am I gonna die ?"

Chet's experience is not unique.

Hundreds of everyday citizens report having their lives

turned upside down by a UFO. Could these never-before-told

stories hold the key to the UFO mystery ?

MUFON investigates extreme close

encounters right now.

The Mutual UFO Network known as MUFON

is an independent organization not bound to any government.

They investigate reports of UFO sightings

from around the world. Over the past five decades,

they have collected

more than 70,000 files

stored at a secure location known as Hangar 1.

Now, MUFON is granting assess to their vast are kind.

These are the files of Hangar 1.

Los Angeles 1985, a pair of teenagers

are trespassing at a decommissioned

missile base when a UFO descends

from above, projecting a light that appears

to paralyze the friends.

What were you thinking at that moment ?

I was thinking. "Am I gonna die ?"

And then it started to feel like

something was invading my brain.

Invading ?

Yeah, somehow I knew that this UFO

was like scanning me, you know. I could feel it in there,

reading my mind.

Chet's friend later reported experiencing the same thing.

Was the UFO scanning

these kids ? And if so, why ?

Was the UFO specifically interested

in these particular boys or could it have been attracted

activity on the missile site ?

After about a minute

of what the witnesses called telepathic scanning

from the UFO, the intense light surrounding

the craft dimmed. The boys finally feel

like they can move again.

The UFO quickly flies up into the sky

just as silently as it appeared.

Do you recall how you felt ?

I don't know. I was just glad it was over.

These teenagers have just been through something

amazing. But now that it's over, what do they do next ?

To tell their story is to admit that they were trespassing

on government property. Not to mention, they're afraid

of being ridiculed. So they keep it to themselves.

There are very confusing aspects of these experiences

and the physiological impact of just seeing

these incredible things.

The spiritual awakening that occurs when you realize

that we are not alone in the universe.

It is life changing.

These lesser known stories

can be very important because they often validate

some of the more famous sightings.

But when they decide to come forward,

a pattern starts to emerge.

Okay. We're all set. You can start

when you're ready.

WoOkay. Thank you. Summer 1970,

Loreen Cosentino spots her young son

pedaling home on his bike. Even from the door,

I could tell right away that something was wrong.

The kid races up the driveway,

jumps off his bike and makes a beeline

for the front door.

The boy is talking a mile a minute.

Loreen can't even make out what he's saying.

The kid is clearly rattled.

She thinks maybe there's been an accident or something.

But the boy is upset about far more

than scrapes or bruises. The son tells his

mother he just saw a UFO, a flying saucer

covering directly over the neighborhood.

And what was your reaction ? I was just happy

he wasn't hurt. I wasn't really taking

the UFO part seriously. She tries to console

her son, telling him it's probably just a plane

or a trick of the light or something

but this only starts to upset him again.

He was begging me, just come with me and see.

So like when a child is afraid of a monster

under his bed, Loreen wants to show her son,

there's nothing to be afraid of but then she looks up.

It appeared right over the roof.

What appeared ? It was -

I guess the best way to describe it is

a flying saucer.

Just as she's assuring her frightened child

that there's no such thing as flying saucers,

bam, there's one plain as day.

Now, she doesn't know what to say.

This UFO is shiny and metallic.

There don't appear to be any windows

or doors or hatches or even any seams at all.

It's just a perfect disk, quietly levitating

over their neighborhood.

Now, the mother and her son are just standing there,

staring at this UFO. They don't know what to do.

They're awestruck, but they're both

seeing it together. It's very real.

They keep watching this thing for almost five minutes,

it's not moving, they're not moving.

It's like the whole world had stopped.

But then the mother take a step closer

and everything changes. The flying saucer

suddenly launches itself upward and disappears into the sky.

The witness described it as not building to acceleration,

it was just instantaneous. Whoosh. It was gone.

The first thing the mother wants to know is,

"Are we the only ones that witnessed this ?"

This is a mind-blowing but very brief encounter.

No one else was there to see this UFO which means

that Loreen's story is not going to make

any headlines.

This is the 1970s, there's no internet.

So, how do you confirm this kind of sighting ?

The mother calls the local news to ask if anyone else

has reported seeing a UFO in the area.

And as it turns out, the answer is yes.

Several people reported similar sightings that day.

That night, she tunes into the news

but there's no mention of flying saucer reports.

So, this amazing story just remains this family's

own secret for decades.

Then in 1990, the mother learns about MUFON,

and finally has somewhere to officially report

her encounter.

Well, some witnesses may wait years

to reveal their stories. Once in a while,

a MUFON investigator will be in the right place

at the right time and stumble across

an amazing case that might never

have been reported.

Next, a chance discovery uncovers

a lost history of terrifying UFO events

going back over 50 years. This has got to be alarming.

Here's this flying saucer and it circling you

like an animal, getting ready to pounce.

And later, a late night encounter

on a lonely highway gives one man

an up close look inside a UFO.

When we return.

MUFON archives contain thousands of UFO accounts

previously unknown to anyone without access to this vault.