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1997 · Peruvian Andes near the Colombian/Brazilian border (radar site per Gerb: Iquitos), during Operation Laser Strike

The crashed egg in Peru (Weygandt, 1997)

Sourced, unconfirmed
Strength D · 4/10
Evidence 1/4 · Witnesses 2/3 · Backing 1/3

One named firsthand witness with a detailed, consistent account since 2000 inside a documented operation; a named sergeant denies it.

Plausibility High
Score 14 · 10 factors for, 2 against

A Marine in the right unit and operation, telling the same core story for 25 years at real cost and for no gain, with details that check out. One sergeant he named denies it.

See the factors ↓

Unexplained
Part ofThe legacy program, The recovery teams, Split by service
An egg-shaped craft embedded in a jungle ridge in Peru, as Jonathan Weygandt describes it (1997). · Illustration for uaptrail.com
  • The witness: Lance Cpl Jonathan Weygandt, USMC, firsthand and named, telling the same story since 2000.
  • What he saw: an egg-shaped craft crashed into a ridge in Peru, a four-fingered arm, then an unmarked team and people in DOE jackets who seized him.
  • Against it: one of the sergeants he named says no such incident happened. Gerb's NEST reconstruction is labelled as his hypothesis.
WhenMarch–April 1997
WherePeruvian Andes near the Colombian/Brazilian border (radar site per Gerb: Iquitos), during Operation Laser Strike

In spring 1997 Lance Cpl Jonathan Weygandt, a Marine Stinger gunner guarding a US radar site in Peru for the counter-drug Operation Laser Strike, was sent to secure a downed aircraft and found an egg-shaped craft embedded in a ridge, leaking fluid, with an arm hanging from a hatch. An unmarked team and people in DOE jackets seized him, held him for about two days and made him sign forms. He first told it to Steven Greer's Disclosure Project in 2000; UAP Gerb added sessions in 2025, and one of the sergeants he named denies it.

How plausible · High

A Marine in the right unit and operation, telling the same core story for 25 years at real cost and for no gain, with details that check out. One sergeant he named denies it.

  • ●●
    Cost of speaking Discharged in 1998 after admitting drug use to get out; stopped interviews in 2023 because of harassment.
  • ●●
    No gain sought No book, fee or tour found; he has turned interviews down.
  • ●●
    Consistent over time Same core story in his Aug 2000 letter, the 2000 tapes, Martin Willis (2023) and Gerb (2025).
  • ●●
    Checkable details check out Laser Strike, its radar sites, the Hawk phase-out and the sergeants he named all check out.
  • ●●
    Fits the documented skeleton NEST's documented role and its 1996 plan to recover debris in Bolivia fit his account.
  • ●●
    Fits secrecy practice Unmarked team, isolation, two signed forms, threats.
Against
  • −
    Contradicted by an insider A named sergeant denies it while saying the operation is still classified (half weight).
  • −
    Lone source, no corroboration The two sergeants he says were with him haven't confirmed it.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.

Claims

Sent with two sergeants to secure a 'possibly friendly' downed aircraft, he found a 20 m by 10 m egg-shaped craft embedded at 45° in a ridge, iridescent and 'organic', leaking a clear syrup-like fluid that ate his uniform; a four-fingered arm hung from a half-open hatch; compasses spun and radios failed.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedJonathan Weygandt
Men in black fatigues without insignia, then about 30 people in 'DOE' jackets and protective suits from CH-47s, seized him; he was held about two days underground, threatened ('we'll do you and your whole family') and made to sign two forms by a USAF lieutenant colonel.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedJonathan Weygandt
At the radar command center he overheard USAF staff discussing objects flying in and out of the atmosphere at Mach 10+; an Air Force colonel confiscated the log books.1997 Peru UFO Crash Retrieval - the Story of Jonathan WeygandtfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJonathan Weygandt
The operation is still classified; 'no incident involving a unique downed aircraft that I know of'; he says Weygandt never deployed to Laser Strike.1997 Peru UFO Crash Retrieval - the Story of Jonathan WeygandtfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedone of the named sergeants (by email to UAP Gerb; identity withheld)
Operation Laser Strike was a real SOUTHCOM counter-drug operation in Peru (Pucallpa, Andoas, Iquitos), with radar tracking and up to 14 Special Forces deployments in 1997.1997 Peru UFO Crash Retrieval - the Story of Jonathan WeygandtfirsthandOn the recordDTIC, US Military and the Drug War in Peru (cited by UAP Gerb)
The recovery was a DOE NEST team flown from Sandia, with CH-47s from JTF-Bravo or the 160th SOAR, and he was held at NAMRU-6.1997 Peru UFO Crash Retrieval - the Story of Jonathan WeygandtspeculationLeadUAP Gerb (Sam)

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People and organizations

National Nuclear Security Administration (NEST, OST, SRT) orgNational Reconnaissance Office (NRO) orgJonathan Weygandt personMichael Herrera personSteven Greer personUAP Gerb (Sam) person

Sources

Mentioned on (11)

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