What Is the Jonathan Weygandt UFO Crash Retrieval Case?

TL;DR

Marine Jonathan Weygandt says that in late March or early April 1997, during Operation Laser Strike in Peru, he and about ten Marines found a roughly 20-meter egg-shaped craft wedged in a granite cliff, leaking a clear syrup-like fluid that stripped hair from his legs and discolored his uniform. Men in black camouflage and Department of Energy hazmat teams took him away by CH-47. The details of who arrived, and why the DOE was there, are the strangest part.

Transcript

that that documentary on Jonathan Wagan I like I'd heard of him but I had never heard any of the backstory that you described of what was going on in what was it Peru that happened? Yeah. 1997 Operation Laser Strike. Operation Laser Strike. Never heard of it. So this was a classified US Southcom, US Southern Command operation to track narot traffic... Read More

Key Insights

• Operation Laser Strike was a classified US Southern Command operation to track narco drug traffic across Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia, involving Marine Air Control Group 28, Air Force elements, and the CIA setting up TPS-43 and other radar systems.
• Jonathan Weygandt was a Marine on nighttime guard duty in late March or early April 1997 when a sergeant told him a craft had crashed and they needed to check whether it was friendly, with no mention of UFOs at first.
• The crashed craft was described as roughly 20 meters long, egg-shaped, wedged in a granite cliff face, metallic but changing colors like purple and green in a mother-of-pearl effect similar to oil on water.
• The craft leaked a clear but viscous syrup-like fluid that got all over Weygandt, removed hair from his legs, discolored his uniform, and had lasting physical effects to this day.
• Weygandt reported a light circling the craft's circumference that powered down alongside a guitar-amp-like sound, and felt something inside reaching out telepathically to reassure and ask for help.
• A team of men in black camouflage intercepted the Marines and stripped their gear, echoing the later testimony of whistleblower Michael Herrera; Department of Energy personnel in hazmat gear then arrived by CH-47 helicopters.
• The DOE's Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST), governed by the 1954 Atomic Energy Act, responds to nuclear or radiological signatures worldwide and was already monitoring South America in 1997 over an errant Russian probe.
• The 1954 Atomic Energy Act classifies UFO materials as transclassified foreign nuclear materials, making them born-classified and able to bypass standard declassification, a mechanism named in the 2023-2024 NDAA UAP Disclosure Amendment.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the Jonathan Weygandt UFO crash retrieval case?

Jonathan Weygandt was a US Marine stationed in Peru in 1997 as part of Operation Laser Strike, a classified radar mission tracking narco traffic. On nighttime guard duty in late March or early April 1997, a sergeant (thought to be Sergeant Montil) told him a craft had crashed and that they needed to check whether it was friendly, with no mention of UFOs. Weygandt, Sergeant Allen, Sergeant Atkins and about seven other Marines drove and trekked to the site, where they found a roughly 20-meter egg-shaped craft wedged in a cliff face.

Q: What was Operation Laser Strike?

Operation Laser Strike was a classified US Southern Command (Southcom) operation to track narcotics traffic in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and other South American countries. Marine Air Control Group 28 was sent down alongside Air Force elements and a large joint program including the CIA to set up TPS-43 and other radar systems to detect narco planes. There is still debate over whether Weygandt's detachment was at Pucallpa in central Peru or Iquitos in northern Peru, since he was not told where he had been taken.

Q: What did Jonathan Weygandt say he found at the crash site?

In a ravine he found a craft about 20 meters in length, egg-shaped, wedged into what he believed was a granite cliff face. It appeared somewhat metallic while shifting colors like purple and green, described as a mother-of-pearl effect similar to oil on water. There were what looked to be three hatches, one of them open with a possibly nonhuman arm hanging out, and fluid leaking from the craft.

Q: What effects did the craft's fluid have on Weygandt?

The fluid was clear but viscous like syrup, and it got all over him when he stood close underneath the craft. He says it removed hair from his legs and discolored his camouflage battle dress uniform, with effects lasting to this day. Later, the men who apprehended him pushed his face into the ground to get more of the liquid on him.

Q: Did Weygandt say anything happened to him at the craft besides the fluid?

He reported a light traveling around the craft's circumference that seemed to power down, along with a sound like a guitar amp that died away, as if the craft were shutting off. He also felt something inside the craft reaching out to communicate with him, telling him it was okay, not to worry, and asking for help. He says he has since seen the creatures that were in the craft in his dreams and cannot explain how they contacted him.

Q: Who apprehended the Marines at the crash site?

As the Marines started heading up the ravine, a couple of US Army CH-47 helicopters flew over and moved to land in a nearby clearing. A team of men in black camouflage intercepted the Marines and stripped them of their gear, which the discussion notes echoes the later testimony of whistleblower Michael Herrera. Weygandt, then about 23, swung at one of them and clocked him in the head, after which they beat him. Out of the helicopters came people in gear ranging from rain jackets to full hazmat and MOPP suits, marked and stamped DOE, Department of Energy.

Q: What happened to Weygandt after he was detained?

DOE personnel in protective gear stripped him of his clothes, handcuffed him to a stretcher, gagged his feet and flew him out on a CH-47. He does not know what happened to Sergeant Atkins or Sergeant Allen. His contamination by the liquid is believed to be why he alone was taken.

Q: How is the Department of Energy connected to UFO crash retrievals?

The Department of Energy runs its own Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST), a rapid reaction team that can deploy across the continental US or worldwide to respond to nuclear or radiological signatures. Its founding authority is the 1954 Atomic Energy Act. In 1997 DOE NEST was already interested in South America, using Defense Support Program satellites to monitor the region after a Russian probe went errant and was feared to crash near Peru and Bolivia.

Q: When and why did Weygandt first go public with his testimony?

He first spoke publicly in the year 2000 on Steven Greer's Disclosure Project archive, part of the 2000 disclosure briefing project that gathered whistleblowers together. He reached out to Greer because he was facing reprisals and thought he was going to die. He described being surveilled, having his money messed with and his cars tampered with, and there is still material he does not like talking about.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• In 1997 during Operation Laser Strike, a classified US Southern Command anti-narcotics radar mission in Peru involving the Marines, Air Force, and CIA, Marine Jonathan Weygandt and about ten other Marines were sent to investigate a reported crashed craft, initially believed to possibly be a downed plane.

• The Marines found a 20-meter egg-shaped, color-shifting craft wedged in a granite cliff, leaking a syrupy fluid that removed Weygandt's leg hair and discolored his uniform. He sensed a presence in the craft communicating with him, and has since seen its creatures in his dreams.

• Men in black camouflage and Department of Energy hazmat teams arriving by CH-47 apprehended Weygandt, who was contaminated by the liquid, handcuffed to a stretcher, and held underground for two days. He went public in 2000 via Greer's Disclosure Project after facing surveillance and reprisals.