Case · 1996–1997 / published 2023
Peru 1997 crash retrieval (Operation Laser Strike)
Marine witness, DOE jackets, missing NEST files
Hume's long-form reconstruction of Jonathan Weygandt's Disclosure Project testimony: a March/April 1997 teardrop/egg craft in the Peruvian jungle during a SOUTHCOM counter-narcotics deployment, recovered by men in DOE rain jackets via Army CH-47. Hume contacted ~50 named Marines; Adkins confirmed a different crash (friendly mapping aircraft, 1996) and denied 1997 presence. DOE first admitted then denied 1997 NEST files after Hume won an appeal.
Findings
Each line is tagged as a FOIA outcome, something someone told Hume, open literature, a leak, or Hume's own reading. Do not treat the last as a document.
- 01On the record
Weygandt: object organic/alive, mother-of-pearl 'gasoline in water' surface, humming that induced fear, fish-gill vents, possible HAWK-missile gash, hitchhiker auditory effects, gel that burned hair.
- 02Hume's reading
Recovery team in black fatigues, hazmat, DOE jackets; 15-hour interrogation; papers signed unread; three weeks segregation. Hume IDs the USAF lieutenant colonel as Gayla Briles (Iquitos).
- 03Hume's reading
Command named: MSgt Chris Diggons, Maj Bob Cole, MACG-28; SOUTHCOM Laser Strike under Wesley Clark from Howard AFB; up to 20 agencies including DEA, USAF, CIA.
- 04On the record
Sgt Adkins replied: Laser Strike yes; crash security yes — October 1996 mapping aircraft, not 1997 UFO. Allen and Montealegre did not engage.
- 05Hume's reading
1996 DOE/Army manual assigns 'high technology devices' to Army + DOE. Hume: UFOs treated as broken arrows via NEST + 52nd/28th EOD.
- 06FOIA outcome
DOE NEST 1997 files: held, then not held. Hume still asks where they went.
- 07Hume's reading
Needles 2008 (DOE, possibly Army S-64) and Kecksburg (possible AEC plainclothes) are, for Hume, the same doctrine.
Files
DOE NEST emergency-response files, 1997
Agency first said it held the 1997 NEST files, then seven months later said it did not. Hume: 'so where are they?'
Open record
1996 DOE/Army emergency manual — 'high technology devices'
Manual assigns US Army and DOE to respond to high-technology devices. Hume maps this onto NEST + 52nd EOD / 28th EOD Airborne and treats UFOs as broken-arrow problems.
Open record
ABDP / CIA over-the-horizon radar, 1990s — suspicious aircraft
Context for Peru radar logs (ROTHR, TPS-43) in Weygandt's account.
Open record
USSOUTHCOM FOIA — Peru 1997 window
No responsive records. Hume called the narrow window a mistake in his own request.
Open record
Names
RG Hume
Independent FOIA researcher
UK researcher who files FOI/FOIA against MOD, DSTL, AARO, NNSA, DOE, FBI, CIA-adjacent holdings, EPA, CBP and police. Publishes as @rgh_ufos. Has said his name is on requests, has appeared in BBC and Mail Online, and was cited by Jesse Michels for the NNSA Starfish Prime response.
Jonathan Weygandt
USMC Stinger/Avenger gunner
Disclosure Project witness. Hume interviewed him for the 2023 Medium reconstruction of a March/April 1997 crash near Pucallpa, Peru: teardrop/egg object, DOE-jacketed recovery team, 15-hour interrogation. Weygandt still stands by the account.
MSgt Chris Diggons
USMC, MACG-28 command, Laser Strike
Named in Weygandt's chain of command at Pucallpa during the 1997 deployment Hume reconstructed.
Maj Bob Cole
USMC, MACG-28, Laser Strike
Named with Diggons as command at Pucallpa in Hume's Peru reconstruction.
Lt Col Gayla Briles
USAF, Iquitos / 'deep in the bush'
Hume identifies the USAF lieutenant colonel who received Weygandt after the CH-47 lift as Gayla Briles, likely at Iquitos.
SSgt Montealegre
USMC E6, Laser Strike
Weygandt named Montealegre, Sgt Allen and Sgt Adkins as the NCOs who took a team to a downed aircraft. Hume reached Montealegre; no reply on the UFO account.
Sgt Adkins
USMC E5, Laser Strike
Replied to Hume: confirmed Peru / Laser Strike and securing a crash — but of a friendly mapping aircraft in Oct/Nov 1996, not a 1997 UFO. Said he was not in-country in 1997.
Sgt Allen
USMC E5, Laser Strike
Contacted by Hume on three platforms; read the message, did not reply.
Lisa Gordon-Hagerty
NEST Director, 1992–1998
Ran NEST in the window of the Peru event. Hume maps NEST composition (LLNL, LANL, Sandia, EG&G, Raytheon, Army/Navy tactical) onto the recovery team Weygandt described.
Gen. Wesley Clark
USSOUTHCOM, Operation Laser Strike
Command context for the 1997 Peru counter-narcotics deployment in Hume's reconstruction.
Cdr Will Miller
US Navy (ret.)
Discussed Weygandt's Peru case with Joe Murgia; named in Hume's source list.
Steven Greer
Disclosure Project
Recorded Weygandt in 2001. Hume used that testimony as the spine of the Peru reconstruction, then tried to verify named Marines.
Teg
Independent researcher
Credited by Hume for a 'massive amount of help' on the Peru 1997 reconstruction. Hume has also said he and Teg submitted FOIAs together (including on later drone incidents).
1stSgt Powell
USMC, Cherry Point (named by Weygandt)
Named in Weygandt's account as the first sergeant at Cherry Point whom Jonathan told after returning from Peru. Listed because Hume's Medium reconstruction treats him as a named Marine in the chain, not as a confirmed interview.
Agencies
Documents & links
Official or archived copies. If Open does nothing, copy the URL into a new tab — the preview cannot leave this window.
- Medium: UFO Crash in Peru 1997
Source posts
Public posts by @rgh_ufos. Open may be blocked inside this preview — copy the URL and paste it in a new tab.
- 2022-07-13
In Jonathan's testimony he mentions the DOE arrived in containment suits in US Army CH-47 helicopters.