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This is another interesting tale that deals with this topic;
On July 9, 1990, six US military intelligence analysts from the 701st Military Intelligence Brigade at Augsburg, West Germany, at that time the biggest NSA (National Security Agency) listening post in the world outside the United States, deserted their posts, somehow convinced that the end of the world was nigh. It is one of the most extra-ordinary stories…
Philip Coppens
On July 20, 1990, the Northwest Florida Daily News ran “6 AWOL SOLDIERS SAY THEY AIMED TO KILL ANTICHRIST”, continuing: “Gulf Breeze – Six soldiers, reported by an unofficial military newspaper to be on a mission to kill the Antichrist, were charged Thursday with desertion from their intelligence unit in West Germany, Pentagon spokesman said.” It was a most bizarre headline and one of the most bizarre stories… ever.
Eleven days earlier, Spc. Kenneth Beason, Spc. Vance Davis, Sgt. Annette Eccleston, Pfc. Michael Hueckstaedt, Pfc. Kris Perlock and Pfc. William Setterberg went AWOL – absent without leave from the 701st Military Intelligence Brigade. The group left their station in Germany, travelled to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where they bought a van, and drove to Gulf Breeze, Florida, at the time a noted UFO hotspot. Still, it was not initially clear whether the UFO sightings in the area were linked with their desertion, if only because most of these men had done their basic training at Curtiss Station in nearby NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola, which meant that they were familiar with the area.
Five days after their flight, on Saturday July 14, a broken taillight on the van resulted in a routine traffic stop, and Hueckstaedt, the driver of the van, was detained by police when a computer check indicated that he was wanted for desertion. The remaining five were later rounded up and taken to Fort Benning, Georgia, where they were kept in solitary confinement, incommunicado. Their fate – a possible execution – hung in the balance, until their families leaked their predicament to the press, resulting in reactions from Senators Casman and Dole. Surprisingly enough, three weeks after their arrest, instead of being severely punished by a military tribunal, they were discharged from Fort Knox – with full honours! Following Colin Powell’s dissent to this incredible verdict – after all, they were deserters – this was withdrawn. Instead, they were reduced to the lowest rank and forfeited half a month’s pay. Since, military officials have refused to discuss the investigation.