CHAPTER ONE: PURSUIT OF AN EERIE LIGHT
Throughout my entire life I’ve always treated each story
involving the paranormal with a “grain” of salt. Even
though I never fully believed everything I read of
paranormal experiences, I nevertheless kept an “open mind”
for stories, which told of UFO’s, missing people, lost time
etc. During those first twenty-six years of my life, I’ve
always held onto the belief that for everything which
occurred, there was always a logical explanation for. Even
after all those years of reading many eyewitness accounts
of UFO’s & other incredible stories told by credible people
who stated that they had been abducted by aliens, etc. I
was never fully sold on the idea that these paranormal
accounts were actually true.
My skepticism of the paranormal continued well into the third year of my first
naval enlistment but it would suddenly end during my second
Western Pacific deployment with the USS KITTYHAWK.
It was late one night while we were conducting air
warfare exercises in the South China Sea approximately 60
miles off the western shore of Luzon Island in the
Philippines that my mind would forever be changed regarding
the truth behind the paranormal…
I would suddenly learn the truth that in a remote
mysterious ravine lying deep between the mountains of
Bataan Province, there exists a portal into another world
where space & time ceases to exist as we know it. A world
dominated by a horrible darkness, fear and monster men who
know nothing of the decency of a humane society. A world,
which knows nothing of love, & yet whose merciless
gatekeepers prey on the attraction between a man and a
woman and takes them who know this bond between two human
beings and forever imprisoned them where no one can hear
their futile screams for help…
It was late one night during my operations specialist
days while standing watch in the ship’s combat information
center that my first real experience involving the
paranormal took place. My watch station was the air events
status board in a section of Combat Information Center
known as the Direction & Decision Room.
CIC was very busy as it would normally be during a
combat training exercise. The continuous “jabber” of words
between the strike controllers sitting at their air tracker
radar consoles and pilots of the F-4 Phantoms along with
the A-6’s KA-6 Tanker and other naval combat aircraft added
to the high noise level in the “D & D” center of CIC.
Trying to overhear the numerous radio communications
between strike controllers and pilots, every message was
routine. Frequently, I had to erase and rewrite
communication frequencies on the edgelit glass status board
window as changing atmospheric conditions prompted changes
of radio frequencies to preserve clear radio reception
between the ship and aircraft.
It was shortly after 2300 hours (11:00 PM) in the
Philippine Time Zone. We had one more hour of flight
exercises before each plane would be recovered and “flight
quarters” would secure for the evening. Each evolution was
proceeding on schedule & was going normally until now.
At that instant, I heard the lead strike controller who
was sitting at the radar console next to where I was
standing, ask the pilots who commanded the K-A6 Fuel
aircraft to repeat his last transmission. Flying at 10,000
feet, the pilots of the F-4 Phantom along with the K-A6
were not able to accurately describe what they along with
their co-pilots had just observed appear in the distance
off their “port” (left-hand) side.
Above the noise, I overheard the K-A6 pilot radio into
CIC as well as to the F-4 Phantoms, A-7’S etc that he was
observing what he described as a large & mysterious-
looking “pillar of light” off in the distance. The huge
column of light appeared to originate somewhere in the
mountains of Luzon Island not far from Subic Bay which what
was our overseas homeport in the Philippines.
The F-4 Phantom pilot and his navigator became curious as
to what it was. Flying Pawtucket 111, Commander Kolwelski
shouted to his co-pilot sitting in the cocpitbehind him,
asking him what was his “take” on the large, ghostly-
looking “pillar of light” which had just appeared a moment
ago in the distance. His copilot responded that he had
never seen anything quite like this before in his life and
wanted to get a closer look. Totally bewildered, he wanted
his pilot to request permission to temporarily break away
from the formation & fly in the direction of the huge &
mysterious light, which loomed up into the night sky from
the mountains of Luzon Island to get a better look at what
this might be. At first both Cmdr. Kowelski & Lt.Cmdr.
Brian Jones could only guess at what it was.
“Was it a large search light? No way. No searchlight known
had enough power to produce a giant beam of light as large
and as bright as what they were now seeing.”
Was it a civilian aircraft? Negative! No aircraft known to
mankind could produce a light beam shinning with this
resilience from the ground upwards towards the sky.
Cmdr. Kowelski & Lt Cmdr. Jones were now totally baffled.
As their curiosity got the better of them both, they could
not resist the temptation to break away from the formation
& fly in the direction of the ghostly “pillar” of light.
Cmdr. Kowelski immediately reached over to his in-flight
computer & keyed in a new heading of 120 degrees
true. “Triple Styx” suddenly turned and was now headed
directly towards the light. Seeing the F-4 Phantom change
course,” “Chippie” 145 (A-7 hornet) & Jury 220 K-A6” also
broke away without authorization & followed in pursuit of
the F-4 Phantom. Three fighter aircraft from the USS
KITTYHAWK had suddenly broke away from formation and was
headed at mock three speed in a southeasterly direction
towards the mountains of Bataan Province.
Sitting at his strike control radar console, OSC Lance
Lindgren reeled back in shock as he watched three
radar “blips” instantly split away & race off towards
Bataan. Thoughts now flashed through his mind. “What is it
out there that suddenly caused these pilots to break away
& go in pursuit of something? With growing concern OSC
Lindgren tried to reestablish radio contact with “Jury 220”
& “Pawtucket 111.” What he heard next was not what he had
expected to nor was prepared to hear. A garbled radio
transmission from Pawtucket reported seeing large glowing
personages with slowly moving wings rising up from
somewhere in between the mountains inside the “pillar” of
light… then the radio transmission cut off… sweating, a now
stressed Lance Lindgren bluntly asked for a cup of coffee.
On the Kittyhawk’s bridge, the commanding officer, air
boss, executive officer, Officer of the deck, His junior
OOD and everyone else in the pilothouse, crowded over to
the portside windows with their binoculars to see if they
could make any sense as what it was they were looking at.
Where they were looking, they could not see more than a few
miles. The OOD immediately ordered the helmsmen to turn the
ship to course 150 degrees true so they might be able to
get a better look in the direction where the three planes
had raced off to. The Captain along with the entire
bridge crew was now getting uneasy over what had suddenly
taken place & why these two aircraft broke formation, &
sharply turned course without prior authorization…
The first question, which arose in the captain’s mind,
was, “Was it suddenly discovered that the entire formation
was under surveillance by Soviet “Bears” “Migs” or any
other potentially hostile aircraft which were not
previously detected by radar beforehand?”
This did not add up. No Soviet aircraft known had the
technology to totally escape detection from our air
tracking radars. An hour earlier, we had conducted a
series of electronic countermeasures & successfully passed
a tough test in radar jamming when the OS crew on watch
wiped out every interference with a new type of anti-
jamming technique which cleaned the speckled dots &
pinwheels from our radar scopes. An hour later an A-7
hornet, a KA-6 Tanker along with an F-4 Phantom aircraft
were the last to touch down on the flight deck of the super
carrier named for that famous point on North Carolina’s
Outer Banks where two men named Wright successfully flew a
small plane.
The next morning, three pilots & copilots sat in the air
boss’s ward room before a panel of inquiry answering
questions as to what it was which they began chasing.
By 1100 hours, the details of their interview was
classified as “top secret” and securely locked in a safe.
All four men were given a psychiatric evaluation, which
immediately preceded a foolproof lie detector test…
By 1300 hours the results showed that these men were
completely honest and were mentally fit to resume their
duties as pilots…Rumors began to circulate throughout the
ship of what these men had witnessed appear rising into the
night skies from the Mountains of Bataan which caused them
to begin a fast pursuit of. Everyone accepted the theory
that the Russians had developed a new highly technical
surveillance weapon, which went well beyond the realms of
known technology. No one dared to speculate any further.
This first incident was immediately covered up!
CHAPTER TWO: OSSN COBB’S MYSTERIOUS MENTAL BREAKDOWN
No one aboard ship said anything more of the incident,
which occurred during that air warfare exercise on the
night of July 15th. Except for a late-night three- hour
underway replenishment operation, the next several days,
was the normal routine of eat, sleep stand watch eat sleep
watch etc. which kept us in that 24/7 rhythm. Our world
consisted of a space bounded by CIC, the berthing areas,
the tower and the mess decks.
I lived & worked in close quarters with men of every
creed & race with many personalities & who came from
all “walks” of life. Yes, we occasionally had our
stressful moments & disagreements but nevertheless we navy
men were all a “family” who worked with, lived with and
looked out for one other.
There was however one man in my division who stood out.
I always remembered his outgoing personality, friendliness
along with his unselfish ways. This young, very intelligent
Afro-American man was the type of a person who would lend
the shirt off his back despite his own hardship so as to
see that a fellow sailor would survive.
His unselfish helpful attitude was well demonstrated to me
several months earlier while we were still docked in San
Diego, California. This man took it upon himself to use his
liberty time to come back aboard ship one night while I was
standing in port duty and spent an hour showing me how to
use the maneuvering board. In an hour, OSSN Chester Cobb
showed me how to properly use the maneuvering board to
calculate true winds, avoidance courses, navigational
points as well as bearings, ranges & times of closest
points of approaches, etc. In an hour, I had learned what
it took me days to figure out during the previous overseas
deployment. From that day on, I would be forever in debt to
OSSN Cobb for taking the time to show me maneuvering board.
His on the job training paid off during the next several at
sea periods, which took place during our pre deployment at
sea exercises off the coasts of Southern California &
Hawaii.
After more months of air exercises, quals & other pre-
deployment preparations, the first rays of dawn broke over
the eastern skies on Wednesday May 21, 1975. The last
pallets of supplies were being loaded aboard ship. By 2:00
PM after an engineering delay, the ropes were untied flags
shifted to the mast & the USS KITTYHAWK was again underway
for its 1975 Western Pacific Deployment.
Through out the 21- day transit from San Diego to Subic
Bay, OSSN Chester Cobb worked with us all in the Starboard
Watch Section. When it came to our hourly rotation he
always relieved me on time whether we were on the scope
dead reckoning table, or on the lookouts. Chet Cobb always
had something to talk about. He was the type of guy whom
anyone could not help but feel at ease with especially
during those long uneventful hours we spent looking out
over a monotonous sea both day and night. We in OI Division
all thought that OSSN Chester Cobb was a great asset to
CIC, The Kittyhawk & the Navy….
It was shortly after sunset late one afternoon about a
week after the July 15 incident. The Kittyhawk was cruising
through the southern section of its assigned operational
area off Subic Bay. Chester Cobb along with fellow sailor
OSSN Mike Post were standing watch on the forward 010
lookout level of the tower when something suddenly
appeared… Mike Post will never forget what he along with
Chet Cobb observed in the evening skies in the direction of
the Philippines during those unforgettable moments but what
was particularly terrifying was the horrible effect it had
on OSSN Cobb. He would never be the same again. His destiny
had changed in a moment’s time. From that moment on, his
naval career had ended!
I was standing watch on the 07 aft lookout. The time
was1900 hours (7:00 PM) local time. I was looking back
towards the western skies when suddenly I heard a piercing
scream through the sound powered phones immediately followed
by words which I would rather never hear again. The last
ray of daylight was still visible in the western skies when
at that instant everything became clothed in a mysterious
greenish yellow light. Turning around, I then noticed an
eerie glow coming from somewhere behind me. At that same
instant another piercing scream shrieked through the sound
powered phones. My first thought was… “Did someone witness
the devil appear in front of him?
Again, I tried to look forward but I could not see far
because the ship’s forecastle & tower obstructed my view of
the mysterious glowing light that illuminated the skies off
the starboard bow (forward right-hand corner) of the ship.
Both Mike Post and Chet Cobb who stood on that forward deck
had an unobstructed view of the source of the eerie light
which seemed to shine from somewhere below the southeastern
horizon up into the nighttime skies. This was that same
ghostly looking “pillar of light” which extended up from
the southeastern horizon & into the night skies over the
South China Sea that the three fighter aircraft had first
witnessed a week earlier. Everyone on watch in the ship’s
pilot house, the flight deck, and all exposed weather decks
witnessed the eerie sight but it was OSSN Cobb who became
particularly terrified by what he was seeing within that
huge “pillar” of light.
Continuous screams of terror shrieked through the sound
powered phones as Mike Post desperately tried to restrain
OSSN Cobb on the 010 level. He was also terrified by what
he was seeing in the column of light.
In CIC OS1 Hale, OS1 Cooney & OS1 Chewning leaped up from
their radar consoles when they heard the screams over the
sound-powered phone circuit coming from the 010 level.
Dropping everything they were doing, all three of them ran
as fast as they could towards the doorway, up the nearest
ladder (stairs) and down the passageway (hallway) in the
direction of the tower. Caught by surprise over this
unexpected incident, horrifying thoughts raced through their
minds as they both were running. “What is going on here?
What is this thing about a “pillar” of light?” They both
kept asking each other. “ Is someone cracked up there on
the 010 level? Did we just lose someone over the side of
the ship?” Cooney, Hale & Chewning would quickly find out
that OSSN Cobb’s screams were “well founded!”
Upon arrival on the 010 level OS1 Hale was about to give
Chet Cobb & Mike Post a stern lecture when he suddenly
stopped talking in mid-sentence at the sight of the strange
light off in the distance! He, OS1 Cooney & OS1 Chewning
stood there & watched in utter amazement as they witnessed
the pillar of light. Grabbing a pair of binoculars, OS1
Hale froze in fright when he saw what he could only
describe as huge winged beings carrying people skywards!
Everyone on that lookout level stood there in total shock &
disbelief!
Slowing down to a dead stop, the ship changed its
heading for now I could see what everyone else was
observing. The flight deck was now crowded with people as
the announcement came over the ship’s 1-MC Public Address
System of the eerie “pillar” of light. Illuminated by the
eerie light, the ocean’s surface reflected the ghostly
glow. I could barely make out our accompanying destroyers
who no doubt were also witnessing the strange sight off to
the southeast.
Shimmering like a huge curtain waving in a gentle
breeze, the ghostly column of light gradually faded away
until there was nothing but a tropical starlit night sky.
Everyone aboard the Kittyhawk who saw the light was in
utter chaos as they stood there in total shock and
disbelief over what they all had witnessed. OS1 Hale &
Chewning managed to calm OSSN Cobb. He just sat there in
the corner of the 010 level shaking like a leaf. Ten
minutes later, the shrill whistle of the boatswain’s pipe
immediately preceded Captain Hubbard’s announcement over
the 1-MC:
“Good evening this is the captain. In the last several
moments most of us who were topside observed something in
the southeastern skies we will not be able to & most likely
never be able to explain what it was. I do want to reassure
all hands that at this time we are in no danger and have
not been in any danger all evening. It has been brought to
my attention that a few hands have been frightened over
what we had witnessed in these last several moments. I will
make every effort to provide adequate counseling to those
individuals who may have suffered a breakdown over what
they had observed. I can assure you that what we saw here
tonight was not merely an allusion.
Approximately one week ago six pilots observed the same
sighting while conducting a training exercise, when Cptn.
Kowelski along with his co-pilot first observed this
same “pillar” of light and raced off in the direction to
get a close look at it. What they observed was exactly what
several of us saw here tonight. A few of us state that
there was what looked like beings with wings rising into
the skies. I dare not comment on this but again I along
with everyone else here on the bridge and everywhere else
who witnessed the sightings are open to discussion as to
theory. I would like to first set up a schedule so as to
interview all those who had first witnessed the sighting
then I will conduct open discussions via closed circuit
television as to what theories we may have in regards to
the sighting. Lastly I will have an open forum to discuss
any adverse effects the sighting may have had on a few of
our shipmates Right now we must try to reestablish a normal
routine. We are going to resume air operations at this
time. That is all.”
A half-hour later the fighter aircraft were back in the air
again on another exercise but those shipmates such as OSSN
Cobb were no longer the same. Later that night when he came
back down to CIC, Chet suddenly began screaming saying that
he saw a message in that light saying that he was now Jesus
Christ! A frightened watch section leader promptly had OSSN
Cobb relieved from his duties as a watch stander and placed
in the psychiatric section of the ship’s sickbay where a
few naval clinical psychologists evaluated him. The
following day we tied up in port in Subic Bay, Philippines.
Chester Cobb was transported to the psychiatric ward of the
naval hospital where he was closely evaluated for the next
week. It was finally determined that he was no longer
mentally fit to resume his duties as a sailor. A week later
he was discharged from the navy. To this very day, I along
with everyone else in OI Division believe that OSSN Cobb
was not driven insane by the long hours of being underway
with the USS KITTYHAWK but had been frightened out of his
mind by what he had seen appear that night in the skies.
The mysterious sight in the skies that night would forever
remain a mystery in the minds of all.
Two weeks later on August 4, 1975, I met the lady who would
later become my wife for the next 23 years. A filipina
lady named Mariamelda R. Lota, mother of a 9-year old son
named Michael, a 6- year old daughter named Juvita and
later give birth to another little baby who would someday
become the Philippines most beautiful girl. Marialuisa!
The ship went on to complete its entire six-month
deployment without further incident and on December 15,
1975 we returned to our homeport of San Diego, California.
The mystery behind that “pillar of light” which appeared in
the night skies in the direction of the mountains of Bataan
would be put to rest for the next 23 years until one night,
a certain filipina beauty queen would lead me right into
the heart of the paranormal…
Contact me here: Richard J. Ohanlon Jr.
Submitted From: Richard J. Ohanlon Jr., NY, USA
