This story was told to ufologist Frank Joseph by an anonymous eyewitness and described in his book Military Encounters with Extraterrestrials: The Real War of the Worlds, published in 2018.
On the night of October 24 to 25, 1989, the American nuclear submarine USS Memphis was at a depth of 150 meters, approximately 150 miles off the coast of Florida. The exact nature of their mission was not specified, only described as a “training exercise.” Suddenly, something went wrong, and the entire crew immediately realized that this was something serious and unusual.
First, they practically lost control of the vessel, and communications also disappeared. When the captain gave the order to stop, malfunctions began in the nuclear reactor itself. An emergency decision was made to surface, and they managed to do so — at least that part of the submarine’s control was still operational.
The eyewitness (the same one who later told the whole story to the ufologist) immediately ran to his observation post to see what was outside and fainted: the night sky above the submarine was brightly lit “like a neon red night sign.” At the same time, a heavy rain was falling.
After a few moments, the eyewitness saw a huge object in the sky shaped like a boomerang or the letter “V,” moving on the left side of the submarine. Using a laser rangefinder, it was determined that the object was approximately 200 meters away and at least half a mile (about 800 meters) long.
The Memphis was not simply moving through the UFO’s port; it seemed to slowly and deliberately circle directly around the submarine. Immediately, all electronics on board began to “go crazy,” and nothing worked.
The eyewitness observed how a huge red reflection circled synchronously on the water from the UFO, and by that time, he had already reported the unidentified aerial object to the senior officer. That officer ordered him to stay at his post and continue observation. Later, everything was reported to the captain.
Then the UFO suddenly stopped, and the entire sky around it became even more brightly colored red, after which it suddenly surged forward at such speed that it disappeared in the distance in an instant.
When the UFO disappeared, the submarine’s electronics returned to normal, and the reactor also began working normally. The only irreversibly damaged system was communications.
When the submarine continued its course, the eyewitness, the senior officer, and two other officers were called to the wardroom, where they were told that they were the only direct witnesses of the incident and were forbidden to talk about it to anyone. As soon as Memphis reached the port, all eyewitnesses were taken off the submarine and placed in one room “under observation.”
Three hours later, a U.S. Navy officer came and told them that what they had actually seen was a “burst weather satellite” and nothing more, after which they were finally released.
However, the matter did not end there. Over the next few years, for unknown reasons, almost the entire crew of the Memphis was discharged and sent to serve on other submarines. Not a single sailor was ever told the reason for the transfer, which, according to the eyewitness, is an extremely rare violation.
It was also discovered that all main records of the Memphis‘s voyage had been thoroughly cleaned so that only the lines stating it was “sailing with other vessels” remained, and in other records, all events of October 24 and 25 were completely erased.
