By ANGELIA JOINER - Stephenville Lights Reporter
ajoiner@stephenvillelights.com
Mike Zimmerman, 62, retired from the Texas Department of Public Safety after 25 years but not before he was on Protective Detail for five Texas Governors. Zimmerman was assigned to protect Governors Briscoe, Clements, White, Richards and Bush for a period spanning 19 years.
"Clements was governor twice," he said.
To date, Zimmerman may be the most credible witness to come forward to report what Erath County residents have been coming forward in droves to report since January 8 -- another unidentified flying object.
He said it was 6:05 a.m. on January 31 when he awoke from a peaceful slumber for a Mother Nature call. As he was returning to bed, something caught his eye through the bedroom window of his home located just past the city limits on U.S. Highway 281 South in Stephenville, Texas.
"I saw three bright lights," Zimmerman said. "Two white lights were grouped closer together and higher and the third one was closer to the horizon. That one was a was a reddish orange color."
Zimmerman shared a sketch and notes he had jotted down. But, there is more to this story...
The two white lights also were shooting out beams of white light in a pulsating strobe light effect. The reddish orange light closer to the horizon did not have beams shooting from it.
"At first I thought it might be three helicopters with really bright search lights until I noticed the beams of white lights shooting out to the side of the bright lights," Zimmerman said.
He said he awoke his fianc'ee to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. The couple watched for approximately three minutes he said.
"What I saw is completely different from what Lee Roy (Gaitan) saw," Zimmerman said. "The beams from the side weren't as obvious as the bright big lights and they were just real quick. The whole beam would just shoot out there and just disappear. If anyone had taken a picture with a timed exposure they would have caught all of them (shooting beams) at one time. It was strange. I have never seen anything like this before at all."
Zimmerman said the sun was rising and he's not sure how the lights disappeared. He said he didn't know if they became less obvious because of the sun's light or if they just left.
"I could have turned away for a minute and they left," Zimmerman said. "I'm not sure what happened, but I remembered looking and they just weren't there anymore."
Zimmerman said his home faces the northwest and his bedroom is on the back of the structure.
"I got out my compass and it indicated 115 degrees," Zimmerman said. "So the objects would have been more to the east."
Zimmerman said he had talked with Gaitan on January 9 so he was aware of the object Gaitan and his son had viewed on the evening of January 8.
When asked if he was able to ascertain if the objects appeared to be under intelligent control, he said he could not say because he didn't see them move.
"I hope it's military," Zimmerman said. "I know they've got things. I could go either way (opinion of military or alien) but it was out of the ordinary and I have never seen anything like it before."
Zimmerman said as he was watching the shooting beams he at first wondered if something could be going on at Fort Hood.
"That's the first thought I had, but that's a long way off and it appeared to be closer than that," Zimmerman said.
Zimmerman estimated that with a dime held out with his arm fully extended, the objects would have been slightly larger than the dime.
He is currently employed as an officer with the Tarleton State University Police and he said he has not had another sighting, but openly confessed, "I pay more attention now and I'm watching for it."
When asked why he waited so long to come forward, he looked thoughtful and then he said, "It was something I had to think about and it didn't seem the same as what Lee Roy (Gaitan) saw."
The Stephenville UFO saga continues with Zimmerman being the third officer to come forward after Erath County Constable Lee Roy Gaitan and Sheriff's Deputy Jim Clifton.
