On July 2nd, 1971, the Bat Patrol was going on a camp out to Marina Beach to get ready for a troop camp out that was getting ready for an upcoming Camporee. The Bat patrol was me, Floyd, Richard, Kenneth, Gary, Mike and Tom. The plan was to hike to the beach and knock out a hike requirement. We would set up camp, eat dinner and blow off fireworks because it was the Fourth of July. We then planned to do another hike to the Marina Drive In where they were showing the movie “Vixen!” that featured naked women.
That didn’t exactly happen.
We were kids eleven to thirteen. So we set up camp, made a shitty dinner and blew off all our fireworks before the Sun had set. It was really cold with wind coming off the ocean, so two at a time guys were going over the big giant sand dune to gather driftwood on the beach for the fire. We also gathered kelp because kelp blows up like fire crackers when burned. At 5pm it was Floyd and I that had to trudge to the beach to gather firewood. When we crested the dune, this was our view:
What Floyd and I saw was a gun metal grey metal disk. It wasn’t swamp gas. It wasn’t a helicopter or the planet Venus. It certainly was not a weather balloon.
About 30 feet in circumference, it was nothing like what shows up lately on TV. About 300 meters off shore. If you have ever seen a helicopter go over a body of water and the rotor wash flattens the water, this thing was doing it to the surf and the surf was crashing around it with the area underneath totally calm. Distance and size are accurate by judging the waves and breakers. I’ve provided a picture for reference. You do the math. No, I’m not posting an artist’s rendition because I’m still looking for what I saw. No last names are used because at least one person has become a recluse and I don’t want to out the others without their permission. If [BIG IF] you were there and feel comfortable, feel free to comment. IF YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE DO NOT OUT THEM YOURSELF.
So there was Floyd and I staring dumbfounded. We don’t remember who said it, but someone said “Do you see that?” and the other one said “Yeah”.
“Should we tell anyone?”
“Hell yes.”
We then started screaming for everyone to come and see this thing. They all start scrambling up the dune. In typical “UFO Story” fashion, before anyone else can see it, it quavers and quivers a little and BAM….gone to the horizon.
Decades later I got to spend time with Floyd who I hadn’t seen in about 15 year. Sharing a couple of beers we caught up on each others’ lives. Then Floyd got quiet and then said, “Do you remember that camp out at the beach?”
I said, “Like it was yesterday.”
*nods* Yes sir. #ibelieve
UPDATE: One of the guys there that day remembers something completely different. He remembers Floyd and I yelling and him trying to get up the dune. The next thing he remembers is standing on the dune with everyone else. When he got back to the camp, the campfire was out. Everyone didn’t talk and just went to bed.
Thanks Jeb