At nine years old, a man witnessed an object crash near his father’s ranch one month after the Trinity atomic blast. He and a friend investigated and saw creatures near the craft, describing them as fire-like and humanoid. They observed military personnel cleaning up the wreckage over ten days. The man removed a small dial from inside the craft and has kept it ever since.

Chemical testing on the dial revealed a mix of aluminum, silicon, and copper, with an isotopic composition that doesn’t rule out an extraterrestrial source. He shared his story with a UFO researcher who connected it to reports of a WWII pilot observing two boys on horseback in the area.

The man is considered an "experiencer" by some, and stories like his are common throughout history, often linked to periods of significant change or crisis. There’s a lack of concrete physical evidence beyond the artifact, but proponents point to compelling circumstantial evidence.

His account contributed to a change in federally funded UFO research, pushing the start date for investigations back to 1945. He maintains the creatures were real and not from this world. Some theorize these encounters are warnings about issues like nuclear weapons or environmental collapse, suggesting humans are essentially warning themselves.