MUFON NW Regional Director, Colorado State Director, member of the Photo Analysis Team, and CMS Coordinator Team Lead.
On May 1, 2023, a Las Vegas family placed a chilling 911 call, reporting “nine- to ten-foot-tall beings” in their backyard. Within hours, local news stations aired police bodycam footage and interviews that ignited public fascination. The unedited broadcast spread rapidly across social media, amassing over 6.5 million views before vanishing without explanation.
That same night, a bright green fireball streaked across the Nevada sky. Many assumed it was connected to the encounter, but later analysis confirmed the meteor landed hundreds of miles away. While it may have diverted attention, the true mystery remained: what did the family witness—and why did the footage disappear?
The 911 Call and Vanishing Evidence
Las Vegas Metro Police bodycam footage captured officers responding to the scene. In the recording, the caller’s voice is heard describing:
“There’s like, an eight-foot person beside it… and another one beside it… it’s got big eyes… and it is looking right at us.”
In the original uncut news broadcast, officers shined a flashlight across the backyard where the figures were reportedly seen. Though the darkness concealed any clear shapes, that moment became the focal point of the investigation.
Weeks later, viewers revisiting the viral video found the backyard sequence blacked out—replaced by a “private property” overlay. Soon after, the segment vanished entirely from all affiliated news stations and social platforms.
Surveillance, Censorship, and Suppression
The family later told 8News Now that unmarked vehicles appeared near their home and that “Men in Black”-style surveillance occurred for several days. Their account was partially corroborated by a retired police officer who told NewsNation he personally monitored the location following the call.
8News Now also confirmed that Las Vegas Metro Police installed a surveillance camera at the property—reportedly at the witness’s request. The quiet removal of the footage, coupled with ongoing monitoring, raised serious questions: What did authorities see? And why was the evidence systematically erased?
A Forensic Review
Before the footage disappeared, I captured a still image from the original broadcast. As a member of MUFON’s Photo Analysis Team, I applied standard forensic enhancement techniques—designed to reveal detail from low-light data without altering the original composition.
Despite the image’s low resolution and sensor noise, the enhanced frame revealed shadowy, humanoid shapes near the backyard pillars—precisely where the witness claimed the beings had stood. Based on the height of a five-foot pillar visible in the frame, the figures appeared to be roughly eight feet tall, consistent with the family’s testimony.
Professional Skepticism and Unanswered Questions
I proposed an independent investigation to MUFON leadership. While there was initial interest, efforts to obtain the original footage from investigative journalist George Knapp were unsuccessful, and no formal inquiry followed. Some colleagues suggested the shapes in my analysis could be pareidolia—the tendency to perceive familiar forms in random patterns. MUFON Photo Analysis Team Lead Marc Dantonio commented:
“I believe it sounded like they were pranking the police and then got in over their heads. My conclusion is that this was a hoax coupled with a real event—and that real event was the meteor seen on the officers’ bodycam.”
While I respect professional skepticism, the complete disappearance of the footage remains, in my view, the most unsettling clue. If nothing unusual appeared, why remove it from every source?
A Chance Encounter and New Validation
In my May 2024 MUFON Journal article, I outlined the evidence supporting the family’s account. I maintained that the green fireball and the backyard sighting were unrelated.
In the weeks following the initial broadcast, the once-public footage was blacked out, then deleted entirely. My findings indicated:
- The police retracted their original video.
- The redaction and removal were comprehensive.
- Surveillance cameras were installed at the witness’s request.
- Police investigators did not consider the 911 call a hoax.
- 8News Now reported “Men in Black”-style monitoring activity at the property.
Since that publication, several conclusions have gained further validation—through an unexpected, in-person conversation with a credible insider whose identity will remain confidential.
At Contact in the Desert 2024, while volunteering at the MUFON booth, I met a retired Las Vegas Metro Police officer. When I mentioned the case, he said:
“Yes—I interviewed the witness.”
After reading my article, he returned the next morning and said:
“It’s all accurate—except for one thing. I didn’t know I was a ‘Man in Black.’ I left my black van at home so as not to attract attention.”
He confirmed he had been a contracted surveillance officer and that the police had indeed pulled their own video—though he did not know why. He also affirmed that Las Vegas Metro Police believed the witnesses were telling the truth.
The Unanswered Truth
Based on witness accounts, law enforcement records, and corroborating media reports, a genuine and unexplained event appears to have occurred in that Las Vegas backyard. Two tall, humanoid figures—one with a distinctly triangular eye—were captured on police camera footage that has since vanished from public record.
Multiple credible sources confirm the 911 call was not classified as a hoax. Unmarked vehicles, surveillance activity, and official redactions all point to a deeper story—one still untold.
Whether the images captured something extraordinary or simply defied interpretation, the public deserves transparency. The quiet erasure of evidence only deepens mistrust and fuels speculation.
In the end, the Las Vegas family stands by what they saw. And in an age when digital truth can vanish with a keystroke, perhaps the real mystery lies not in what we witness—but in what others choose to conceal.
