United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States armed forces significant in secret space program accounts primarily through Randy Cramer (pen name Captain Kaye), who claimed to have served 17 years on Mars and 3 years aboard Solar Warden fleet ships as part of the alleged Earth Defense Force — a clandestine Marine program he described as operating completely outside the official USMC structure under covert authority. The USMC is also documented in UAP crash retrieval operations through the testimony of Jonathan Weygandt, a former Marine Lance Corporal who claimed direct contact with a downed non-human craft in Peru in 1997.
Randy Cramer and Mars Defense Force
Randy Cramer (born 1970s) claimed to have been recruited under a covert program he called "USMC Special Section" at age 17 and served from approximately 1987 to 2004 in the Earth Defense Force. His 20-year deployment allegedly consisted of 17 years at the Aries Prime colony on Mars — engaged in combat with indigenous Martian reptilian species — and 3 years aboard spacecraft in the Solar Warden fleet. Upon completion, Cramer claimed to have undergone "blank slate" memory suppression before being returned to civilian life, and that his disclosure was authorized by his superiors.
Cramer described being transported to Mars via jump gate to a spaceport in the New Mexico or Texas area, then via TR-3B craft to the Martian surface: "Like from Point A to point Q. There I was in my bedroom, taken via jump gate to a space port somewhere, I want to say, probably New Mexico, Texas area, TR-3B took us to Mars."
On Mars, Cramer described combat operations against indigenous reptoid species that employed psionic warfare: "Certainly when we engaged with the indigenous reptoids on Mars, they were actually a very psionic species, and so their ability to get inside our heads sometimes made us see things." He described the reptoid species as evolved from a rock lizard lineage and non-aggressive toward humans in normal circumstances, but defending their territory against the expanding human colony footprint.
Cramer also claimed that by the time he was deployed, conflict on Mars had already been underway: "That war was already in progress. It wasn't like I got there and then, oh, we're having a war. It was already going full speed."
Who controls the SSP?
Cramer claimed the covert USMC Special Section operated under authority that bypassed the official Marine Corps chain of command, reporting instead to a shadow military structure coordinating the broader secret space program. He described the program's leadership as consisting of contractors and military officers operating entirely outside congressional oversight or the normal defense appropriations system.
Jonathan Weygandt and the 1997 Peru retrieval
Jonathan Weygandt, who joined the USMC in 1995 and served until 1998, was assigned to the 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) Battalion and subsequently transferred to a laser strike section in Iquitos, Peru. Between March and April 1997, Weygandt was directed by his sergeant to secure what was described as a downed "friendly aircraft" in a jungle ravine. Upon arrival, Weygandt discovered a non-human craft embedded in a rock face, emitting a purplish-green liquid: "It was dripping the syrup like substance — this liquid it was everywhere all down everywhere when we went down there."
The craft showed catastrophic damage consistent with being struck by a missile: "There was catastrophic damage, likely leading to the crash of the vehicle; no debris littered the area, but we observed an enormous gash in the rear of the craft." Weygandt reported that a Department of Energy NEST (Nuclear Emergency Support Team) response team in containment suits subsequently arrived and took control of the site, relieving the Marines. Weygandt was isolated from his fellow Marines and flown to an undisclosed location. All three of the other Marines present — Monte Legg, Allen, and Adkins — went on to career USMC service.
UAP researcher UAP Gerb noted that Weygandt's description of the sound the craft emitted closely matched the testimony of former Marine Michael Herrera, who described the same sound emanating from an alien reproduction vehicle (ARV).
Other USMC connections
The USMC's role in conventional UAP retrieval operations is asserted by researchers based on the documented involvement of Marine units in the immediate aftermath of Roswell and other crash recovery events. Philip Corso noted that Marine intelligence channels were used for some of the early Roswell artifact assessments. The USMC's Special Operations Command (MARSOC), established in 2006, is identified by some researchers as a successor structure to earlier classified retrieval units.