SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Whether you believe in aliens or not, some Valley law enforcement officers came forward with their own stories of the unexplainable.
On Thursday night in Scottsdale, former Gilbert Police officers Marianne Robb and Dave Rich held a presentation called "Real Encounters: When Law Enforcement Meets the Unknown" where each discussed cases that law enforcement agencies across the country experienced that seem out of this world.
Arizona is known for being one of the top states for unidentified anomalous phenomenon. For those who have lived in the Valley for awhile, they may remember in 1997 when a string of lights shaped in a 'V' were seen hovering in the sky above central Phoenix. The former officers both said these situations witnessed by officers and deputies are more common than people may think.
“It’s heavily prevalent,” Robb said.
However, Thursday's presentation wasn't just about aliens and UFO's. Officers talked about seeing cryptids, monsters, and ghosts in the remote parts of Arizona.
Some of the cases had photos and audio recordings involved. Rich went over a case that he claims remains unsolved to this day -- a possible ghost encounter at a Gilbert High School in 2017.
“So my actual encounter was something we think might have been a ghost that called 911,” he said.
He claims that it was a Saturday when a 911 operator received a call from someone inside the school that came from the reception desk. Rich claims he was tasked to investigate the situation but when he looked at the security footage showing the phone where the call was made, no one was there. Rich said he spoke to his supervisors about this and he claims they accused him of lying.
Rich said he investigated every possible avenue for this case but couldn't come up with any definite answers. After speaking with his supervisors, he said he didn't tell anyone about it for six years until after he retired from the department.
He and Robb said this is common for those in law enforcement who experience similar phenomena. They fear if they do tell co-workers or superiors about what they claim to have seen, it could hurt their careers.
"I came into this being skeptical," Rich said. "I didn't believe anything and it wasn’t until I encountered something that I finally after a full investigation I couldn't explain.”
“When [officers] do see something they are afraid to be ridiculed so they don’t say anything," Robb said.
Which is why she and Rich are part of an organization called UAP-PD where former and present law enforcement workers can come forward and share their paranormal experiences without fear of being ridiculed.
“We are really trying to get officers all over the world to talk to us and share their stories because it’s bottled up inside them right now," she said.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: El fantasma en una High School en Gilbert y otras cosas raras que los policías del valle han encontrado
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