Awesome Or Off-Putting: The Alien Abduction Of Herbert Schirmer

Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts or just the plain unexplainable.

This week: Ufology/Aliens

On December 3, 1967 Herbert Schirmer, a policeman on patrol in Ashland Nebraska, was abducted by aliens. Well that's his claim anyway - and a big claim it is too. It involves things like red neck-welts, hypnosis, spaceships absorbing energy from power-lines and alien bases on Venus. It's a tall tale, but is it true?

While on duty one night Herbert Schirmer saw what he thought was a truck in the distance with red flashing lights. As he got closer he flashed his light on it and saw what most definitely was not a truck, but a saucer on the ground. What may be even more startling in that underneath the saucer he saw a pair of legs. The ship sent sirens blaring and took off into the night with flames shooting out from underneath. In his log book Schirmer noted:

"Saw a flying saucer at the junction of highways 6 and 63. Believe it or not!"

The ship flew directly over him and off into the distance. Within days of the encounter Schirmer was hit with strange physical ailments including a red welt on his neck, sickness, and headaches. What may have startled him the most was that he realised on the night of the abduction he'd actually experienced missing time.

Around this time a study into UFO sightings was being conducted by a group called the Condon Commission. The commission invited Schirmer to participate, and they put him under hypnosis. He recalled many things about his experience, including - according to an article on the matter - this:

"What really happened, he said, was that the lighted object came toward him and landed near his car. Several humanoid beings got out and approached him. One of them shined a light in his eyes through the windshield; then something like green gas flowed all around the car. Schirmer found he couldn't draw his revolver. Without knowing why, he rolled down his window. One of the beings reached in and grabbed his neck. Seconds later, he found himself standing outside his car. The being asked, "Are you the watchman over this place?" Schirmer couldn't answer. The being asked, "Would you shoot at a space ship?" "No, sir," Schirmer said. The being motioned for him to come aboard the craft."

The same article goes on to give Schirmer's description of the aliens:

"Schirmer described the beings as four and a half to five feet tall, with heads somewhat narrower and longer than an average human. Their skin looked grayish white; their noses were fairly flat and their mouths looked like slits that didn't move. Their eyes were slightly slanted, though not overly large; the eyelids did not blink. They wore silvery-gray jump suits that included a tight-fitting headpiece with a small antenna on the left side. On the left breast they wore an emblem of a winged serpent. A drawing made by Schirmer indicates the beings look similar to humans, and not like the "Gray" type often linked with more recent abduction accounts."

The policeman learned of the aliens grand purpose here on Earth while on board their ship. They told him it was to conduct a 'breeding analysis program,' and that they'd been conducting this program for a long, long time. One of the creatures even told him:

"Someday, Watchman, you will see the universe."

Shortly after his encounter Schirmer was made police chief. He only lasted in that position two months because his experience haunted him so.