I’d been interested in the UFO topic for years and had watched many YouTube videos on UFOs from hundreds of experiencers, pilots, government officials, police officers, and more.
I was really surprised one time to find the video below of a professor I worked with at Florida International University in Miami in the engineering department.
I had known Dr. Milton Torres was a military pilot in the Air Force. A Major. He’d told me some stories about the war and he always had very interesting things to say.
I literally listened to him talk for an hour or so at a time a few days a week as we talked about all sorts of subjects. There were a couple of subjects he repeatedly brought up that had me howling with laughter, and he knew how to joke and make people laugh!
Never once did he (or I) bring up the topic of UFOs or Aliens. Never. Just never happened. So, weirdly enough, there he is in the video talking about how he was tasked with shooting one down from his F86D Sabre fighter jet while on duty in Europe!
He HAD alluded to the fact that there were some things he couldn’t say about his time as a pilot in the Air Force. He kept his oath though and disclosed absolutely none of it to me. We became friends over the two years of work we did together, and still – never a hint.
Anyway, Dr. Torres has since passed away. His son was part of the Disclosure project with Dr. Steven Greer, as he represented his father’s testimony before the group.
It was super interesting for me because I actually knew him and he was one of very few who were ever told directly to shoot the flying saucer down that he was chasing in his fighter jet.
Video – Major Milton Torres Testimony about Being Ordered to Shoot Down a UFO on May 20, 1957 (Parts 1 & 2)
Here’s another video of Major Torres at the US Disclosure Event in 2011 at the National Press Club – Video
Milton Torres’ Full Transcribed Testimony
Milton Torres’s Narrative from 2007, from ColinAndrews.net.
It was a typical English night in Kent. The 406th Fighter Wing had been designated to a particular ‘Sector’ (RAF) and to have our F-86D’s (Super Sabre jet fighter) stand alert (on QRA) as an operational requirement. The date was May 20th, 1957, and our Squadrons were considered combat-qualified when they committed us to the operational requirement. My recollection seems to indicate that this function was rotated about England between the various RAF and USAF units. On this particular night, the 514th Fighter Interceptor had the Alert duty.
Two F-86D’s were on a 5-minute alert at the south end of the runway at RAF Station
Manston, awaiting the signal to scramble. We had a ‘scramble shack’ assembled on the grass next to the ‘birds.’ The hour was late as memory serves me and the weather was IFR (Instrument Flight Rules).
Looking back at the log book, a total of 30 minutes of Night Weather was logged on a 1 hour and 15-minute flight. Some details, such as exactly what hour the scramble occurred or what we were doing just prior to the scramble, totally escapes me, however, the Auxiliary Power Units (APU) were on and the power was transmitted to the aircraft. (Note: This is normal practice for aircraft on QRA) We were ready for an immediate call to scramble and eager for the flight time hours.
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I can remember the call to scramble quite clearly and we were given a vector of 120 degrees and a flight level of Angel 32. (32,000 ft .altitude.) We were airborne well within the 5 minutes allotted to us and we rapidly climbed upwards and leveled at FL320. Our vector took us out over the North Sea, just east of East Anglia. Normally my ‘wingman,’ the other member of the set of two fighters, would be the lead ship.
I can only suggest that I was now leading due to an ‘in place’ turn of some sort. I remember in quite specific terms, talking as lead ship to the GCI Site, whose call sign I cannot recall.
I was advised of the situation quite clearly! The initial briefing from the ground control (on radar) had been observing for a considerable time, a blip that was orbiting the East Anglia area. (In addition to Bawdsey, the main radar Station plotting the blip would likely be RAF Neatishead Early Warning Radar Station, in Norfolk).
Apparently, there was very little movement and from my conversation with the GCI, all the normal (identifying) procedures of checking with all controlling agencies, revealed that this was an unidentified flying object with very unusual flight patterns. In the initial briefing, it was suggested that the ‘bogey’ was actually motionless for long intervals! (This was over the Ipswich area!)
The instructions came to go ‘gate’ to expedite the intercept. Gate was the term used to use maximum power, in the case of the F-86D, that meant full afterburner and proceed to an initial point keeping at around 32,000 feet. By this time my radar was on and I was looking prematurely for the ‘bogey.’ The instruction came to report any visual observations, to which I replied, ‘I’m in the soup and it is impossible to see anything!’
The weather was probably high altostratus but between over the North Sea and in the weather, no frame of reference was available, i.e. no stars, no lights, no silhouettes, in short nothing. GCI continued the vectoring and their dialogue describing the strange antics of the UFO!
The exact turns and maneuvers they gave me were all predicted to reach some theoretical point for a lead collision course type, to enable any rocket release. I can remember reaching the level off altitude and requested to come out of afterburner, only to be told to stay in afterburner! It wasn’t very much later that I noticed my indicated Mach number was about .92. This is about as fast as the F-86D could go straight and level. Our final vector was toward the North.
I THEN RECEIVED THE ORDER TO FIRE a full salvo of rockets at the UFO! I was only a young Lieutenant at the time (Age 26.) and very much aware of the gravity of the situation. To be candid, I almost shit my pants! At any rate, I had my hands full trying to fly, search for ‘bogeys’ and now selecting a hot load on the switches. I asked for ‘authentication’ of the order to fire and I received it!
This further complicated my difficulty, as the matrix of letters and numbers to find the correct (matching) authentication was on a piece of printed paper about 5 by 8 inches and with the print not much bigger than the normal type. It was totally black and the lights were down for night flying. I used my flashlight, still trying to fly and watch my radar. To put it quite candidly, I felt much like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest!
The authentication/verification to fire was valid. They weren’t kidding! I then selected my 24 rockets to salvo. They further told me we were in a teardrop climb, to be positioned to fire at a UFO at 32,000 feet! I wasn’t paying too much attention to my wingman but I clearly remember him giving a ‘Roger’ to all the transmissions. I can only suppose he was as busy as I was!
My final turn was given and instructions were given to look 30 degrees to the Port for my ‘bogey.’ I did not have a hard time at all. There it was exactly where I was told it would be at 30 degrees and at 15 miles. The ‘blip’ was burning a hole in the radar scope with its incredible intensity. It was similar to a ‘blip’ I had received from B-52’s and seemed to be a magnet of light. These things I remember quite very clearly.
I ran the range gate marker over the blip and the jizzle band faded as the marker superimposed over the blip. I had a ‘lock on’ that had the proportions of a flying aircraft carrier! By that, I mean the ‘return’ on the radar was so strong, that it could not be overlooked by the fire control system on the F-86D I use in comparison other fighter aircraft and airliners. The airliner is easy to get a lock- on, while the fighter, not being a good ‘return’, is very difficult.
On that type of smaller aircraft, a lock-on was only possible under a ten-mile range. The larger the airplane, the easier the lock-on. This ‘blip,’ almost locked itself! I cannot explain to the layperson exactly what I mean, save to say that it was the best target I could ever remember locking on to! I had locked on in just a few seconds and I locked on at exactly 15 miles, which was the maximum range for a lock on. I then called to the GCI, ‘Judy,’ which signifies that I would take all further steering information from my own radar computer.
As I said, I had an ‘overtake’ of 800 knots and my radar was rock stable. The dot was centered and only the slightest corrections were necessary. This was a very fast intercept and the circle started to shrink. I called ’20 seconds’ and the GCI indicated he was standing by. The ‘overtake’ was still indicating in the 7 or 8 o’clock position.
At about 10 seconds to go, (to fire) I noticed that the overtake position was changing its position on the scope. It moved rapidly to the 6 o’clock, then 3 o’clock, then 12 o ‘clock and finally rested about the 11 o ‘clock position. This indicated a negative overtake of 200 knots (the maximum negative overtake displayed)
There was no way of knowing of what the actual speed of the UFO was, as he could be traveling at very high Mach numbers and I could only see the 200 knot negative overtake. The circle, which was down to about an inch and a half in diameter, started to open up rapidly. Within seconds it was back to 3 inches in diameter and the ‘blip’ was visible in the blackened jizzle band, moving up the scope!
This meant that it was going away from me fast! I reported this to the GCI Site and they replied by asking ‘Do you have a ‘Tally Ho?’ I reported that I was still in the soup and could see nothing. By this time the UFO had ‘broke lock’ and I saw him leaving my 30-mile range.
Again I reported that he was gone, only to be told that he was now off their scope as well.
With the loss of the blip off their scope, the mission was over. We were vectored back to ‘home plate’ (Manston) and secured our switches. My last instructions were that they would contact me on the ground by landline.’
‘Back in the alert tent, I talked to Met Sector.’
They advised me that blip had gone off the scope in two sweeps at the GCI site and they had instructions to tell me that the mission was considered ‘classified.’ They also advised me that I would be contacted by some investigator. It was the next day before anyone showed up.
I had not the foggiest idea what had actually occurred, nor would anyone explain anything to me. In the Squadron Operations area, one of the sergeants came to me and brought me into the hallway around the side of the pilots’ briefing room. He approached a civilian, who appeared from nowhere. The civilian looked like a well-dressed IBM salesman, with a dark blue trench coat. I cannot remember his facial features, only to say he was in his 30s or early forties.
He immediately jumped into asking questions about the previous day’s mission. I got the impression that he operated out of the States. After my debriefing of the events, he advised me that this would be considered highly classified and should not discuss it with anybody, not even my Commander!
He then threatened me with a national security breach, if I breathed a word of it to anyone. He disappeared without so much as a goodbye and that was that as far as I was concerned. I was significantly impressed by the action of the ‘cloak and dagger’ people and I have not spoken of this to anyone until recent years.
My impression was, that whatever the aircraft or spacecraft was, it must have been traveling in 2 digit Mach numbers, at least Mach 10, to have done what I witnessed!
My Unit had been ‘declared combat ready’ about two months preceding this intercept. Therefore, we would have certainly been under ‘control’ of the British GCI/Met Centres for all such actions! (This would be via the RAF’s ‘ROTOR C&R’ System, Unit rotational control and reporting system.)
Perhaps the cloak of secrecy can be lifted in these days of enlightenment and all of us can have all the facts.
This is my account to the best of my memory. Major Milton Torres, 2007.