USS Tiru UFO sighting
During the June 1966 transit of the United States Navy submarine USS Tiru (SS-416) from Pearl Harbor to Seattle, multiple crewmembers reportedly observed a large metallic craft repeatedly emerging from and re-entering the Pacific Ocean, with simultaneous radar and sonar contacts and Chief Quartermaster photography of the object. The account was first disclosed publicly by Bill Cooper via the ParaNet bulletin board system — introduced by system administrator Jim Speiser as "the first known report of a multiple military witness sighting" — and later reprinted with expanded detail in Behold a Pale Horse (1991).
During the afternoon watch, the port lookout first observed the craft tumbling downward from cloud cover into the ocean at a range of approximately two nautical miles; he then reported to the Officer of the Deck (Ensign Ball) that he had previously seen it rise from the ocean into the clouds, and within minutes it emerged from the water again, witnessed by the port lookout, starboard lookout ("Geronimo"), and Ensign Ball simultaneously. A crew member below reported a radar contact at the same bearing, and sonar reported strange echoes. The Captain came to the bridge and the Chief Quartermaster photographed the craft as it continued to cycle between ocean and clouds; the episode lasted approximately ten minutes.
The craft was metallic, larger than a football field, saucer-shaped "with a bowl inverted in the saucer," with visible machinery on the exterior and what appeared to be windows or lenses around its perimeter; it produced no audible sound and did not affect the submarine's electrical systems or gyrocompass. Cooper wrote: "When I first saw this craft I believe that my heart literally stopped beating and I was terrified."
The Captain classified the incident and ordered witnesses never to discuss it. Upon returning to Pearl Harbor, witnesses were confined aboard and individually debriefed by a commander from the Office of Naval Intelligence; witnesses were threatened with imprisonment when they described "a flying saucer," and Cooper signed a non-disclosure agreement specifying fines of up to $10,000 and imprisonment of up to ten years. Cooper subsequently devolunteered from submarines and transferred to the USS Tombigbee (AOG-11).
Cooper first disclosed the incident publicly via the ParaNet bulletin board system, in what introducer Jim Speiser described as "the first known report of a multiple military witness sighting" of its kind; military witnesses are effectively silenced by regulations such as JANAP 146-E, which provides for fines and prison sentences for disclosing classified UFO information. He later gave a fuller account in Behold a Pale Horse (1991).
Background: USS Tiru
The USS Tiru (SS-416) was a Tench-class submarine commissioned by the United States Navy. In June 1966 — specifically during the month of Seattle's Rose Festival — the Tiru departed Pearl Harbor bound for Seattle, where it moored to a civilian pier for public tours before proceeding to Dabob Bay in Hood Canal, Washington, for torpedo trials. The sighting occurred during the surface transit from Pearl Harbor, before the vessel's showboat duties in the city.
Sequence of events
The submarine was cruising on the surface at approximately 10 knots during a late afternoon watch. The port lookout — Cooper himself — reported a strange contact at approximately two nautical miles bearing 315 degrees relative, but refused to describe the object to the Officer of the Deck before both the OOD and the starboard lookout had looked at the bearing through their binoculars.
When Ensign Ball and the starboard lookout "Geronimo" turned their binoculars to the bearing, all three witnesses saw a metallic craft larger than a football field tumble from the clouds into the ocean, hitting the water with geysers rising into the air. Cooper then told them he had previously watched the same object rise from the ocean into the clouds — meaning it had already completed at least one ocean-to-cloud transit before his initial report. Within a few minutes the craft rose from the water again, observed by all three simultaneously.
A crew member below queried the bridge about a radar contact at the same range and bearing; sonar simultaneously reported strange echoes. The OOD called for the Captain and camera. The Captain arrived within two minutes, accompanied by the Chief Quartermaster with the camera. The craft emerged from the clouds and fell into the ocean; all five witnesses saw this. The Chief Quartermaster photographed the craft as it cycled between ocean and cloud cover once more. After continued watching with no further activity, the submarine moved out of visual range. The total incident lasted approximately ten minutes.
Description of the craft
The craft was metallic with machinery visible on and around the exterior. Windows or lenses were arrayed around its perimeter. Its shape was a saucer with a bowl inverted within the saucer — a compound form distinct from a simple disc profile. In scale it was substantially larger than a football field — consistent with the anomalous size frequently reported in USO encounters. It produced no audible sound whatsoever and did not disturb the submarine's electrical systems or gyrocompass — no electromagnetic effects consistent with known propulsion.
The craft repeatedly transited between ocean and clouds, entering the water with geysers suggesting solid mass displacement. The radar return confirmed a physically solid contact; the sonar echoes confirmed underwater presence at the same bearing.
Classification and suppression
Immediately after the sighting, the Captain ordered all witnesses never to discuss the incident and classified the event. He then transmitted a radio message from below deck. On return to Pearl Harbor, all witnesses were confined aboard the submarine and individually debriefed by a commander from the Office of Naval Intelligence. Witnesses who described "a flying saucer" were threatened with imprisonment. Cooper signed a non-disclosure agreement with penalty provisions of up to $10,000 in fines and up to ten years imprisonment.
Cooper subsequently devolunteered from submarines and transferred to the USS Tombigbee (AOG-11). He stated: "This is the first time I have ever mentioned it since the moment that the Captain told me that it was classified. As far as I know it has never been reported to the public before this instant."
Cooper's later disclosures
Cooper's submarine experience formed one pillar of his broader claim to have encountered classified UFO material firsthand. In his lectures, he described his knowledge as deriving "directly from or is a result of my own research into the top secret magic spelled MJ material which I saw and read between the years 1970 and 1973 as a member of the intelligence briefing team of the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet" — a role he assumed after his submarine service. Historian Richard Dolan noted that Cooper first posted his submarine account on the ParaNet bulletin board system, and that "a few days after posting his submarine story, Cooper claimed on Paranet that he had been fired from a high paying job because of his previous communication."
Cooper continued to reference his submarine service and the Tiru incident in subsequent public appearances as evidence that the military possessed systematic knowledge of non-human craft. In a filmed lecture on Project Redlight and the craft designs he had encountered, Cooper noted the airtight, watertight door visible in a classified drawing of a recovered craft — comparing it explicitly to "the doors that we used on board the submarine that I was on, the USS Tiru SS-416" — drawing a direct technological comparison between the recovered craft's internal fittings and US Navy submarine-grade pressure seals. This observation — made years after his initial disclosure via ParaNet — reinforced Cooper's claim that his submarine assignment gave him direct comparative knowledge of both recovered craft interiors and classified UFO documentation.
USO context
Cooper's broader claims about the institutional architecture of UFO secrecy — which he developed from his Navy intelligence career following the Tiru incident — included the assertion that "each president in turn has bought the story or no story at all, hook, line and sinker" and that "in some cases, the president was told nothing," describing a system in which the same classification structures that silenced the Tiru witnesses extended upward to exclude even the executive branch from knowledge of the programs managing recovered materials.