Gulf Breeze Florida - While Sam Sherman, 34, a cruiseline agent, was taking out the trash around 9 p.m. on March 12th 1999, he saw something hovering in the sky over a stretch of nearby woods. He describes it as a cylinder shaped object approx. 100 feet up in the sky with a width of 75 feet or so. "It had blinking lights of red and green at each end and in the middle." Sherman states. "It appeared to be descending and I soon lost sight of it as it went under the tree tops."

Sam Sherman is convinced aliens put a device into his skull

Sherman dropped his trash and ran into the woods to catch sight of it again. His property borders the Gulf Shores Golf Course and as soon as Sam broke out of the woods he saw the UFO sitting on a fairway.

It is here that Sherman lost sense of time. The next thing he remembers is standing next to his garbage can. He had no recollection of the event that had just occurred and went back into his house and then soon went to bed.

The next day Sherman got an intense headache that was to last for the next several days. He had suffered from migraines in his youth and was worried that this signified that they were coming back. Concerned, he went to neurologist Bently Suffolk in Pensacola. Dr. Suffolk found a small scar of recent origin on the back of the patient's head. Sherman could not remember getting injured there recently so as a precaution Dr. Suffolk ordered an x-ray of Mr. Sherman's head. The x-ray showed that a foreign object was imbedded in a section of the brain.

"The object is located in the parietal lobe of Mr. Sherman's brain." states Dr. Suffolk. "It is approx. 5 cm long and 1 cm wide. A CT scan further revealed that the object is made of metal and is embedded in the post central gyrus. No brain functions seem to be disturbed but since the gyrus is responsible for feeling sensations it's possible that the object is causing a feedback loop into the lobe which is causing Mr. Sherman's headaches."

Dr. Suffolk was uncertain how the object got into Mr. Sherman's head and was doubtful that it should be removed.

"Modern medical science could implant an object of that size into the brain but it would require removing a sizable section of the skull. The scar on the exterior of the skin was only approx. 1 1/2 cm wide. This would seem to imply that the object entered Mr. Sherman's head with some force but there was no damage to the brain that would be associated with such a trauma. Medication seems to be controlling the worst aspects of Mr. Sherman's headaches and because of the major surgery involved in removing the object I have recommended against it."

In May Mr. Sherman added yet another twist to the story when he began to recall the strange events of March 12th. Searching for answers he contacted Bob Hill of MUFON (Mutual Unidentified Flying Object Network). Hill listened to the story and then recommended Sherman contact a hypnotist to see if more comprehensive memories could be recovered. While hypnotized Sherman was able to recount most of the encounter with the saucer. He is still unable to remember what happened between the time he saw the object on the fairway and when he came to back on his porch.

"I'm sure they took me aboard the craft and that's when they operated on me and put this device in my head." says Sherman. "Why I don't know but I'm betting that I'll see them again. When I do I'm going to make damn sure they take it out."

UFO sightings in this small town on Florida's panhandle are not new. In 1987 Ed Walters, a building contractor took several photographs of objects he said was flying saucers. Walters later wrote a best-selling book about his experiences. Some critics have dismissed Walters claims as nothing more that a way to make a fast buck.

sources

-meeting with Sam Sherman and Bob Hill in Gulf Breeze Florida on June 5th. 1999

-meeting with Dr. Bently Suffolk on June 6th 1999

-"The Gulf Breeze Sightings" Ed Walters and Frances Walters 1990 Avon Books

photo by Derek Barnes