In September 1964, Captain McLeod and Sergeant Barnes were dispatched from Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Ohio. They were sent to investigate a UFO sighting in Northern California.
Wright-Patterson AFB got lots of UFO reports. 99% of them could be explained. And a sizeable percentage of those sightings were hoaxers looking for attention.
The other 1% were classified as UFOs and sent on to Project Blue Book. What happened from there, McLeod didn't know. The fact that he was being sent to the other side of the country meant this sighting was important to the Air Force.
McLeod had a copy of the teletyped report from the UFO tracking office. It was stamped with an unusual "Priority" notification. It read:
"UFO landing with entities reported by missile technician in Tahoe NF, Sacramento. Orders: Investigate and contain via usual protocols ASAP."
McLeod's first step was to interview the witness. And, even after 17 years as an investigator, this was the strangest UFO story he'd ever heard.
Summary witness report:
Witness Donald Shrum found himself disoriented and separated from his hunting companions, leading him to make the decision to spend the night safely perched in a tree away from potential predators.
While nestled in his chosen pine tree, positioned 12 feet above the ground, Shrum observed an unusual light. To his surprise, the source was something like a headlight on a massive cigar-shaped craft
Subsequently, a smaller vessel emerged from one of the mothership's huge rectangular ports.
From this secondary craft emerged a group of beings Shrum could only describe as humanoid.
These entities wearing spacesuits and were accompanied by some sort of robots that appeared to be on a mission to study the local flora.
As Shrum remained hidden in the tree, the beings became aware of his presence, and a few among them seemed determined to abduct him for reasons unknown. Undeterred, Shrum fiercely resisted these intruders, utilizing everything at his disposal, ultimately succeeding in fending them off.