Cisco Grove Encounter
Cisco Grove, California is about 35 miles from Auburn and is nestled in the breathtaking Sierra Mountains. It is, technically, an unincorporated community, and, as of 2016, its population was 81. This unassuming camping ground is home to one of the strangest aliens encounters I’ve ever come across.
On September 4th, 1964 something strange happened in Cisco Grove. Donald Schrum, 28 at the time, and a few of his friends were bow-and-arrow hunting in the area. Around sunset, Schrum had been separated from his group and decided it would be safest to take refuge in a tree for the night. As night settled in, Schrum noticed a white light in the sky. Thinking it may be a helicopter, he descended to the ground and tried to get its attention by starting a fire and jumping up and down. It appeared to work and the light stopped around 50 yards from him.
However, what stopped in the sky was no helicopter. Instead, it was a strange object that instantly scared him. Unsure what to do, he decided to retreat back up the tree to hide. This seemed enough to distract the light, but the relief was short-lived. First, he heard strange noises and movement below him. Three shapes emerged from the darkness below. Schrum noted in the NICAP report that “two humanoid beings and a robot-like creature approached the tree.” The two humanoids reportedly wore tight, military-like silver uniforms. However, the third humanoid was quite different. It looked like a robot. Schrum described it as having metal arms, legs, a hinged jaw, and glowing orange eyes that looked like two lightbulbs had been screwed in its face.
The beings seemed intent on removing him from the tree. The strange creatures shook the tree and attempted to get Schrum down. At one point, the robot-like creature unhinged its jaw and a white vapor seeped out of it. This vapor seemed to affect Schrum and he fell into an unconscious state.
When he awoke, the creatures were still below him and attempting to dislodge him from his hiding spot. He was slightly nauseous but realized he had to go on the offensive. He lit several matches, and that seemed to frighten them. Then, he began shooting arrows at them. One of them hit the robot. Upon impact, there was a flash of light and the robot fell down. This continued to happen, and the creatures scattered.
Schrum thought he was doing well...until another robot showed up. This robot also emitted a vapor. When he awoke this time, though, the humanoids were climbing the tree! So, he shook the tree and threw his gear below him to try and hurt them.
All of this behavior continued throughout the night. Near dawn, more beings approach through large plumes of smoke. This smoke caused Schrum to pass out once again. When he awoke, he realized he was hanging from his belt...but the creatures were gone.
When he finally made it back to his camp, he told his story and found that another hunter that had been separated saw the UFO.
Schrum was initially reluctant to share his experience and worried if he did share his story it would negatively affect his career as a missile defense contractor, and personal life. He went public with his story and made a report to NICAP. An interesting detail is, as Schrum felt sick after his experience, he went to the doctor’s and it was believed that radiation was the cause.
Thanks to David G. for this suggested blog topic!
The above image is from Loco Steve and depicts California Zephyr @ Tunnel 4 Cisco California. It is licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)