The Needles UFO Crash: What Really Happened?

y 14, 2008, an oval object with a turquoise glowWhile driving on I-40 on his way to work that
fell out of the sky around three o’clock inmorning, Hayes saw a small convoy of
the morning and crashed west of the Coloradodarkly-painted vehicles exiting the highway. The
River near Needles, California. The crash wasvehicles had black and white government license
almost immediately followed by the appearanceplates. The lead truck looked a bit like a very
of unmarked vehicles with government licenselarge SUV with a dome on top, a truck bed and
plates manned by non-uniformed personnel, aappeared to have four wheel drive. The vehicle
small fleet of transport aircrafts and helicoptersmay have been carrying a remote controlled
including a sky crane which later removed thedrone. Hayes said that he could see a triangular
object. Like many incidents of this kind, this oneobject that sat on top of several small humps in
quickly became a non-event. So what reallythe truck bed and that it reminded him of the
happened?look of a stealth bomber.
It’s important to understand that theA dark green van followed behind the first vehicle
object in question has been seen in the Needlesand a longer van followed the green one. Hayes
area before and elsewhere as well. An objecttold Costigan that he could see men inside the
described as oval shaped with a turquoise glowtrucks. They did not have military uniforms on,
was spotted by a motorist traveling just west ofbut after he made eye contact with the driver of
Needles on I-40 on April 17, 2002 at around threethe third vehicle, it followed him to the radio
thirty in the morning. During that incident thestation. One of the trucks returned later that day
object hovered above the road in mid-air. Anotherand briefly parked outside the KTOX building. It
sighting occurred in 1997 near Columbus, Ohio. Aseemed to be involved in some sort of
photographer was filming clouds when a glowingsurveillance of the radio station.
object described as turquoise in color appeared onHayes and Costigan reported the strange events
several of the frames that were photographed.that occurred on May 14, 2008 during regular
The object wasn’t seen through theprogramming at KTOX for days and asked for
camera lens at the time the photos were taken.any other witnesses to come forward.
Needles, California, is located in the Mojave ValleyThat‘s how they obtained the story from
and is a part of San Bernardino County.Bob and he wasn‘t the only person to call
It’s just across the bridge from Arizonain. Someone known to them from nearby
and near the Nevada border as well. HistoricLaughlin, Nevada, phoned to report that Janet
Route 66 and I-40 run through the town with aplanes where taking off and landing at the Laughlin
population of between 5000 and 6000 people.Airport all night on the date that the crash
Originally named for a group of pointed rocks onoccurred. Because the airport and control tower
the Arizona side of the Colorado River, Needleswere closed at the time, Laughlin Airport
was founded in 1883 and has been an importantpersonnel cannot confirm the presence of the
stopping place for people traveling east to westJanet planes on the night in question.
into California ever since. It’s also the kindJanet planes are the nickname some have given
of place where the crash of something strangeto the aircrafts that fly workers in and out of
might go unnoticed if it occurred outside of town.Area 51. A small terminal exists at McCarran
Fortunately, this crash had witnesses.Airport in Las Vegas for the mysterious airline
The first witness to the May 14, 2008 incidentoperated by EE&G (a U.S. Government
was a person we’ll call Bob. He lives on acontractor). Large and smaller passenger jets and
houseboat in Topock, Arizona, a town that is littlea few prop planes ferry workers to Groom Lake
more than a Marina and a couple of stores nearin Area 51 and the Tonopah Test Range, but
Golden Shores. Bob reported seeing a glowingthere is no reason to expect that such aircraft
turquoise-blue-green object high in the sky andwould land in Laughlin. Because the airport and
headed in his direction around threecontrol tower were closed at the time, Laughlin
o‘clock in the morning. He was sitting onAirport personnel cannot confirm the presence of
the upper deck of his houseboat at the time. Asthe Janet planes on the night in question.
it passed, he said that it looked as though theStrange things continued to happen in the Needles
thing was on fire. He saw the object hit thearea after the crash. No one seems able to locate
ground somewhere west of the Colorado RiverBob and many believe he has left the area. Toni
on the California side. It bounced once and heSagan, a member of the River Valley Democratic
recalled hearing a noise like a thump.Club in the area, was questioned by a stranger at
Thinking that some kind of plane had crashed,a club meeting after she appeared on the radio
Bob tried using his satellite phone to call 911. Hisstation to talk about the 2008 presidential race.
phone would not connect. After the crash, BobThe man wanted to know if she heard any off-air
heard the sound of helicopters approaching andconversations between David Hayes and a
reported seeing five of them flying in formationwitness to the crash he had on the phone. Toni
less than twenty minutes after the object hit thesaid that she had never seen the man before and
ground. One of them circled his houseboat beforethat he seemed out of place in terms of the way
rejoining the others. Another was a sky cranehe dressed as compared to most people that live
that retrieved the oval-shaped object while it wasin the area.
still glowing with some kind of cables or a net andAlthough a public shows that at least one military
flew away with it. The crash occurred betweenhelicopter was in the area on the night of the
Topock and Needles, west of the Colorado Rivercrash, there are no police, emergency, military or
and south of Needles.government agencies willing to offer any
Frank Costigan lives three miles east of thecomments on the incident. Noted journalist
Colorado River and became the second witnessGeorge Knapp and members of the Channel 8
to the May 14, 2008 incident. He got up around(CBS Network TV Affiliate in Las Vegas)
three in the morning to let his cat out. WhileInvestigative Team say they have contacted
standing in his backyard, Frank noticed a large“police agencies in three states, the
glowing object streaking across the sky. It flashedLaughlin Airport, the weather service, the FAA
a number of colors including turquoise, blue andand several military bases” asking for any
green. The object was headed towards thekind of statement about the incident. All of them
ground and he expected to hear some sort ofclaim they know nothing about the crash.
impact noise. Costigan later offered thisBased on the description of the object and the
statement:circumstances surrounding its retrieval, it is
“I thought I might hear something when itdoubtful that the thing was a meteorite. It could
hit the ground because if it was as close as Ihave been space junk, but the fact that it
thought it was and as big as it was, I thought Ichanged speed and seemed under some kind of
would hear something. But I did not hear anything.intelligent control makes that unlikely. It’s
And it went out of my view before it hit thepossible that the object could have been some
ground… It went behind a hill, and I waitedtype of experimental U.S. aircraft, but given the
to see if I could hear it crash because as big as itdescriptions that have been offered, it seems to
was, it was bound to make noise.”be a bit beyond what even the best secret
Costigan reported that the object was brightaircraft prognosticators have predicted we
enough to illuminate the ground. He said that itcurrently have available.
came out of the northeast, headed southwest atTwo possibilities remain that might explain what
a tremendous speed, slowed down and speededhappened in the Needles area on May 14, 2008.
up again before moving out of his sight. Frank is aOne is that a UFO or spacecraft of unknown
retired Superintendent of Operations and Policeorigin was tracked by government authorities to
Chief. He worked at Los Angeles Internationalthe point where it made contact with the earth.
Airport (LAX) from 1978 until 1985 and at OntarioWith retrieval teams standing by, the object was
(California) International Airport from 1985 toquickly removed from the area and any
1986. He occasionally does special reports andnecessary clean-up was accomplished without
news investigations for KTOX, an AM radiomuch notice. The other is that a UFO or
station in Needles, California. Frank later told Davidspacecraft of unknown origin was being
Hayes, the station owner, about the bizarretest-flown by a human pilot from Area 51 and
object he saw earlier that morning. Hayessimply malfunctioned causing the subsequent
surprised Costigan with his own strange story.actions.