By The Modern People Staff
Originally published in UFO Reports



In 1972 the International UFO Bureau investigated reports of an Oklahoma City couple who overheard a telephone conversation that appeared to be a high-level communication involving the underground North American Air Defense Command Center at Cheyenne Mountain, Colo., and several military installations.

Sherry Eckhardts had been talking to her mother for about five minutes when their conversation was interrupted by a voice saying: “This is NORAD Central … we have a Red Alert … Moscow has been notified.” At this point Sherry called her husband Bill, to the telephone. “The discussion centered around two flights of UFOs-one approaching Houston, Tex., from over the Gulf, the other approaching Los Angeles, Calif.,

… we have a Red Alert … Moscow has been notified.” At this point Sherry called her husband Bill, to the telephone. “The discussion centered around two flights of UFOs-one approaching Houston, Tex., from over the Gulf, the other approaching Los Angeles, Calif.,

“The discussion centered around two flights of UFOs-one approaching Houston, Tex., from over the Gulf, the other approaching Los Angeles, Calif., and fighter interceptors being ‘scrambled’ to meet them,” Bill Eckhardt explained. The message went on: “V’/e have radar · contact coming in over the Pacific . . . Houston ii; tracking … interceptors have been sent … this is Nor ad … we have a Red Alert … this is not a test.” Eckhardt related, “We heard that two F-104 fighters were fired upon and downed near

The message went on: “We have radar · contact coming in over the Pacific . . . Houston is tracking … interceptors have been sent … this is NORAD . . . we have a Red Alert … this is not a test.” Eckhardt related, “We heard that two F-104 fighters were fired upon and downed near Alamogordo along with one unknown. Toward the end of the conversation that lasted almost an hour, a .

Eckhardt related, “We heard that two F-104 fighters were fired upon and downed near Alamogordo along with one unknown. Toward the end of the conversation that lasted almost an hour, a voice was heard saying, ‘Fighters have visual contact … and they look like flying saucers … get the President on the line.’ After some cracking and garble the voice said, ‘We have the President on the line … go ahead Mr. President.’ ”


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Eckhardts then related that “A voice very much like President Nixon’s said something to the effect of ‘This may be one of the most historic phone calls I may have to make.’ At this point the conversation then became garbled.” After the telephone “snarl-up” a troubleshooter for Southwestern Bell Co. called (the Eckhardts had notified the telephone company pf the trouble) and stated that “the lines had been tied into the NORAD line in this area.” In a bulletin from Washington, the Defense Department denied any high­level military communication. A spokesman for NORAD said that, although he cannot explain what happened, “we do know no such con­versation emanated from NORAD”. White House officials stated, “The President was in his library working

After the telephone “snarl-up” a troubleshooter for Southwestern Bell Co. called (the Eckhardts had notified the telephone company pf the trouble) and stated that “the lines had been tied into the NORAD line in this area.” In a bulletin from Washington, the Defense Department denied any high­level military communication. A spokesman for NORAD said that, although he cannot explain what happened, “we do know no such con­versation emanated from NORAD”. White House officials stated, “The President was in his library working

In a bulletin from Washington, the Defense Department denied any high­level military communication. A spokesman for NORAD said that, although he cannot explain what happened, “we do know no such con­versation emanated from NORAD.”

White House officials stated, “The President was in his library working on his State of the Union message. He did not make any calls and he did not receive any.!’ Just what Bill, his wife Sherry, and his in-laws, Mr. & Mrs. Roy Parker, heard may never be known. But they maintain that by some

Just what Bill, his wife Sherry, and his in-laws, Mr. & Mrs. Roy Parker, heard may never be known. But they maintain that by some fluke – either man-made or natural – they listened to what sounded like highly sensitive communications.

Appearing with the article was a photo showing a UFO crashing into the Pacific which corresponded with the Jan. 12, 1972, incident.

Since publication it has been deter­mined that the photos were obtained from the 1955 Universal picture THIS ISLAND EARTH. However, additional UFO sightings were reported to in­dicate that something was going on in the areas mentioned by the Eckhardts at the time of NORAD message.

Girrard Morgan reported to an Albuquerque, N.M., televisi9n station that he, his son and neighbor saw four yellowish I ights about 1,500 feet off the ground.

Yet another report was forwarded to the Bureau. Chris Navarro observed a round, white and reddish object that same day at about 9: 27 p.m. in Houston, Tex.

On April 19, 1972, the ST. LOUIS GLOBE DEMOCRAT carried proof that telephone lines do get crossed. The clip read in part:

AP-Space Center Houston-Space experts talking with Apollo 16 Astronauts during a delicate ex­periment were shocked when a strange man’s voice came booming from the communications system. Hello, said the voice in English with a Spanish accent. There were a couple of words in a foreign language, a deep bass voice singing a bar of music, something that sounded like a sneeze, and finally the sound of hammering. The Astronauts did not hear the interruption. The unidentified speaker was’ a telephone repairman somewhere in Spain.

Recent developments have added yet another unexplained mystery. On Feb. 20, 1974, it was announced in Washington that NASA had asked AT&T to look into reports that fake radio communications from Skylab astronauts were overheard on at least four long-distance telephone calls.

The fake messages between ground control and the astronauts reported Skylab had been hit by a Russian missile and that the space station was failing into the sun ..

NASA stated that the disaster was overheard by persons on at least four long-distance calls within a two-week period prior to the Feb. 8th return to Earth.