Many of my sky watching investigations in the field have ended the same way. In fact, I’d say somewhere around 99.9% end the same way. But once in a blue moon you may get lucky… or unlucky if you believe in luck.
This is one of those times and it changed my life forever.
An Absolutely Perfect Day In The Southern Sierras
It was March 11, 2017. A normal day. Clear sky. Comfortable temperature. Tracey & I loaded up our equipment for a day of sky watching for UFO sighting activity in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains located in Central California.
Departing the city of Bakersfield we drove east on Highway 178 which winds through the Kern River Canyon alongside the Kern River. Continuing on 178 until reaching Lake Isabella we then headed north on Mountain Highway 99 towards Kernville. It was an absolutely perfect day for sky watching in the southern Sierras.
The view here at night is incredible! Below is a video we made from a UFO sighting sky watching investigation we performed at Lake Isabella. Tracey & I setup basically between the two dams. This was before the recent construction performed on the dams.
(GPS: 35.652506, -118.468444)
Watch the video:
Driving North On Mountain Highway 99 Along The Kern River
Driving north on Mountain Highway 99 beyond Kernville towards the Johnsondale Bridge our attention was suddenly directed to an aircraft above the Kern River flying in our same direction.
I hurriedly pulled over and we both captured the aircraft. Tracey in photographs, myself with a video camera. Upon seeing the aircraft I could immediately recognize it was a United States Navy F/A-18.
Arriving At The Johnsondale Bridge Near Sherman Pass Road
Getting back in our vehicle the two of us continued north on Mountain Highway 99 until we reached the Johnsondale Bridge where we stopped at the parking lot. It’s a popular spot in the summer time for outdoor enthusiasts visiting the Kern River.
(GPS: 35.968202, -118.486482)
According to the United States Forest Service:
This site can be utilized for white water boating access, picnicking, and hiking. At about 19 miles north of Kernville via Mountain Highway 99, this site offers a great river hiking trail and boating access. The Kern River Trail (33E30) offers a great day hike with seasonal fishing access.
Being Quick On The Trigger
Both of us exited the vehicle. It was here we first began watching the sky above. Together we walked on the bridge and gazed at the clear water of the Kern River. Such a beautiful area. Don’t forget to bring your fishing pole!
While at the location we were startled when multiple low-flying military jets quickly passed by overhead flying north through the river’s canyon. Being quick on the trigger we captured the action. Check out our video at the end of the article to see the action we captured.
Sky Watching On Sherman Pass Road Just Below Sherman Peak
It appeared as though the jets were chasing something… someone. Tracey & I were semi-new to this exact location so that’s probably why we thought that, funny now that I think about it. If they were chasing something, we both felt we needed to get closer to the action.
Aircraft we spotted from the bridge area appeared to be behind the small hill you can see in the picture above, just in front of me where I’m pointing (I’m dressed in a black t-shirt). Both us jumped back into the UFO Seekers SUV and made our way behind the hill to get higher. To get there we would need to take a different road.
The only road available in that location is Sherman Pass Road. I turned left onto Sherman Pass Road which is located just hundreds of feet south of the Johnsondale Bridge. We began to climb higher up behind the hill.
Maybe half a mile up the road we found a great spot to pull over on the right looking back towards the direction these low-flying military aircraft were coming from (direction of Kernville essentially). I grabbed my video camera. My beautiful girlfriend grabbed her DSLR.
(GPS:35°58’20.8″N 118°28’18.0″W)
Together we began sky watching again looking south through the river’s canyon. Our decision paid off big time.
What an amazing sight! The sound is awesome. In our picture above you can see a US Navy F/A-18E fighter jet we captured to our east. On the tail wing of the aircraft you can see the code, “AB”. I was able to locate the squadron.
Here’s what I found:
Strike Fighter Squadron 81 (VFA-81), also known as the “Sunliners”, is a United States Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet strike fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana. They are a part of Carrier Air Wing One, their radio callsign is Inferno, and their tail code is AB. Their mission is to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations from the sea. The squadron was originally designated VA-66 on 1 July 1955, was redesignated VF-81 the same day, redesignated VA-81 on 1 July 1959, and finally redesignated VFA-81 on 4 February 1988. – Wikipedia
Time To Move Higher Up Sherman Pass Road
By now it was starting to get later in the day. Being in that exact spot on Sherman Pass Road was exhilarating that day but we also needed to get a better vantage point. Our mission was to spend time night sky watching for UFO sighting activity but the insane US Navy pilots had drawn our attention, batteries, and memory card space.
We decided to drive higher up Sherman Pass Road. This road tops out around 9,000 feet, called Sherman Pass, no joke. If someone kept driving on this road It eventually leads to the Mojave Desert on the eastern side of the southern sierras near Ridgecrest, California.
We once got stuck on Sherman Pass during a night investigation. Watch the video:
The Impossible Happens, Tracey Captures A UFO
I continued driving up Sherman Pass Road to a great spot. That’s when a big turnout captured my eye. I pulled the vehicle over and parked. This is where we would take more pictures.
(GPS: 35.978336, -118.441095)
This was before the pandemic. It was always quiet then in the area. Nobody to be seen for miles. From the turnout we could look back down towards the Johnsondale Bridge although the hill we initially drove up blocks the actual bridge from being seen.
Tracey took out here DSLR. She rapidly snapped a large amount of pictures back down towards the bridge location and the hill. It was in that group of pictures the impossible happened.
Tracey captured a UFO.
What we captured appears to be some type of spherical ball drone, human we think. But for others, they believe it is alien in origin.
It Appears To Be A Spherical Ball Drone
Inside the images she would capture a spherical ball descending from the sky into the river’s canyon exactly where the Johnsondale Bridge was located. The spherical ball appeared in 2 images.
See the two images below, plus a third where the object was gone and descended into the canyon.
Here’s a close-up side by side comparison:
The United States military has equipment like this. Strange small drones. If you think I’m crazy, here’s a tic tac shaped drone created by Japan and our military to combat ICBM missiles.
Watch the video here:
Watch our video analyzing the capture here:
Watch our original 2017 Season 1 Episode of the incident from here:
“Cloaking Device” Explanation And Glowing Vapor Trail
At the time we had been catching an orange glowing object over the central valley at dusk and some military talking head I had encountered at Edwards AFB kept telling me it was a glowing vapor trail around an aircraft, like a diversionary piece of equipment to make an aircraft look like a satellite passing overhead.
I become obsessed with vapor trails especially the one famously seen occurring around the top of a B-2. So I associated our Sierras capture with our separate and unconnected Bakersfield sightings / glowing vapor trail conspiracy.
That’s why initially I believed the vapor trail caused by the spherical ball could have been a “cloaking device”. A vapor trail cloaking device. It hides the craft or drone. I was impressionable back then. Plus I was a newbie.
I always knew it was a drone, human or alien. I just don’t see an alien in the pictures so I immediately go to human. I follow Occam’s razor.
In the video below is a rendering I created of it for our Season 3 Episode covering the Vandenberg Air Force Base UFO incident (now Vandenberg Space Force Base).
Watch the video here:
The orange glowing object we were catching was more than likely the ISS or a satellite, as seen through heavy atmosphere & heavy particle pollution in the central valley of California (AQIs near 150 sometimes) which may even enhance the brilliance of orange. It’s almost a creepy orange plus it causes objects to appear larger than normal (my professional opinion from sky watching 6+ years now).
Watch the a video of an orange object we captured over the central valley in Meridian, California:
Conclusion
I don’t know who was flying the spherical ball. I think, maybe, it was China and not the USA. Why? The government would have asked me to destroy the pictures. I sent the spherical ball pictures to an Air Force Base. I never received a response.
What did happen was the “UAP” fiasco later that year. Are the two connected? I don’t know, everyone now talks about spherical balls.
Although you’ve never heard anyone speak of that day, heard our names spoken when someone talks about spherical balls flying on Earth, or anyone mention our years of field work when discussing the topic of UFO sightings, now you know about the day that changed my life.
It was truly an incredible day in civilian UFO Investigator history. All investigators should take pride in that day. They should also thank Tracey for snapping the pictures! I do!
