Szymanski will be discussing what he saw and heard over his 40-year career at the base Jan. 17 when he presents “E.T., Spirits, & Men In Black: The ‘Spooky’ Side of Wright Patterson Air Force Base” at the Winters-Bellbrook Community Library.
His first encounter with the mysteries of Wright-Patterson came on his first day at work, in January 1973, when a co-worker he referred to as “Al” was showing him around and nonchalantly asked if he’d heard about the aliens.
“That was my introduction to the club,” Szymanski said.
Over the next 40 years, the engineer watched and listened to what was happening around him on the base. Who was talking to whom. Who was entering what building and when. Listening to the hints people would make about what went on in Wright-Patterson’s restricted areas.
“Nobody marched me in front of an alien and said ‘Hey’,” Szymanski said.
Shortly before retiring in 2011, Szymanski “started to go hardcore” into his research about what was happening at Wright-Patterson and in the world of UFOs.
He penned three books about his research - “50 Shades of Grey: Evidence of Extraterrestrial Visitation to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Beyond,” “Alien Shades of Greys: Victoria’s Secret Truth,” and “Swamp Gas My Ass” - and been featured on numerous television shows including “Expedition X”, “Ancient Aliens” and “Ghost Hunters”.
His “Ghost Hunters” appearance will be a focus of Szymanski’s Jan. 17 presentation.
In 2008, The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) filmed an episode at the base. The final broadcast only presented a fraction of the paranormal activities witnessed by civilian and military employees since the early 1940s.
Szymanski said he will talk at length about what was left of the cutting room floor and present never-before-shared accounts from people he’s interviewed over the years who had encounters.
He admits it’s new territory for him, one he’s eager to share.
Szymanski had offices in some of the reportedly haunted buildings during his career at Wright-Patterson, and plans to share stories and photos collected through the years.
He will show where aliens from crashed extraterrestrial craft would have been taken for examination and why this activity may have spawned paranormal events.
Szymanski also plans to touch on Wright-Patterson’s connection to the 1947 Roswell Crash, his investigations into the 1966 Michigan ‘swamp gas’ UFO, and his personal run-ins with the infamous “Men in Black.”
“I’m not a ‘ghostly’ person. Not an alien proponent,” he said. “But we’re literally going to blow the freaking lid off.”
How to go
“E.T., Spirits, & Men in Black: The ’Spooky’ Side of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base” is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Winters-Bellbrook Community Library, 57 West Franklin St. The event is free. Copies of Szymanski’s books will be available for purchase and signing.
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