Close Encounter of a joyous kind

It was a Sunday evening, and three people were enjoying a meal at a local Los Angeles restaurant, deciding how they would best spend the remainder of the evening. After the usual suggestions of movies and night clubs, out of the blue they said "Let's go to the desert!"

So began a night of adventure which they would never forget? The three were Aetherius Society members Rodney Crosby and Wajid Hassan and sympathiser Irwin Engel. They instantly felt a sense of adventure, as if something important was going to happen. After a few preparations, with blankets, maps and flashlights, they were off. Rodney, being a native Los Angeleno, assumed the role of navigator.He took them up the Los Angeles Crest Highway, the mountain road that curves up and over steep, rugged Southern Californian peaks. They meandered along the narrow road enjoying the stillness and beauty of the passing terrain, which was so inspiring that they soon had to stop and send out a prayer of thankfulness to God and the Devas for such wonder.

They rode on without a clear destination in mind, following an invisible compass and intuitive map that guided them onwards to the highest elevation point, near the peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains, approximately 10 miles from the peak of Mount Baldy in the same mountain range.Suddenly they became aware of a tremendous presence that seemed to surround and fill the car. They described it as a "probing" type of energy, yet very uplifting, healing, ancient and wise. As quickly as it came it was gone. The three, awed by the experience, sat in silence as they wound their way up the deserted mountain roads-three minds wondering what could possibly be awaiting them next on this strange journey.

Around 1.25 am Rodney took over the wheel from Wajid, and as they rounded the next long curve in the road he noticed a bright red globe with a fiery tail rising behind the peak from which they had just travelled. Rodney shouted out "Look over there!"It was a UFO which turned from red to green and then to yellow, diminishing in size and becoming more circular as it went higher. It finally turned to a yellowish-white, and to their amazement and shock, stopped and hovered directly over them.With hearts beating hard in nervous excitement, Rodney shouted out to send the controllers of the craft their love, which they did through prayer.As they were sending out the prayer, they were shocked again as the craft suddenly sent out a flash of fiery white light from inside, as if to acknowledge their presence! They continued the prayer, and it flashed again! With all the feelings they could muster they continued, and finally it flashed for a third time, and as it did so, rose vertically at terrific speed and disappeared into space.

If anyone had been driving past that night, they would have seen three overjoyed people dancing up and down in a circle and shouting at the top of their heads! They drove towards the desert and early on Monday morning, after a light breakfast, found a secluded hilltop in the foothills of the Mojave desert, about ten miles northwest of the Holy Mountain, Mount Baldy. With the rising sun at dawn they joined in a Twelve Blessings Service-a fitting end to a most unusual and memorable night.