2009 Indonesia UFO Encounter (Herrera)
The 2009 Indonesia UFO Encounter refers to an incident in which USMC Rifleman Michael Herrera and five other Marines witnessed a large octagonal pyramid-shaped craft being loaded by unmarked US forces during a humanitarian relief mission in Indonesia following the October 2009 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami. The encounter resulted in the Marines being held at gunpoint by armed operators in black fatigues and threatened with death if they disclosed what they witnessed. Herrera remained silent for 14 years before testifying to AARO in April 2023 and speaking at the National Press Club in June 2023.
| Date | 2009-10 |
|---|
Mission Context
In October 2009, 20-year-old Herrera was deployed aboard the USS Denver as part of a humanitarian relief operation following a major earthquake in Indonesia. While assigned to officer's chow detail, Herrera and other Marines were briefed by a female USMC major for a security mission. The briefing included photographs of Barack Obama as a child alongside references to his time in Indonesia.
Herrera and his team were issued M16 rifles (Herrera typically carried a SAW) and transported via CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter first to Tobing Airport, then onward to a hasty landing zone in heavily vegetated terrain. The mission was described as providing security for supply deliveries to remote villages in a region characterized as the "second-largest terrorist capital in the world." However, Herrera's team was dropped at an LZ with no other personnel present, no radio communications, and no clear extraction timeline—highly unusual circumstances for a routine security detail.
The Craft
After landing, Herrera's team of six Marines moved to an elevated position on a hill overlooking the LZ. From this vantage point, they observed what appeared to be a structure changing colors in the distance. Despite abandoning their security post, they decided to investigate.
As they approached, they observed an octagonal pyramid-shaped craft approximately the size of a football field with the following characteristics:
- Surface appearance: The craft appeared to absorb light, described by Herrera as "the blackest, darkest thing" he had ever seen, with a scale-like pattern across its surface
- Color-changing capability: The craft shifted between light matte gray and extremely dark matte black
- Corner vents: Positioned along the edges of the craft
- Elevating platform: Beneath the craft was a raised platform roughly the same length as the craft itself with pointed features. This platform slowly elevated approximately 10 feet off the ground before the craft departed
- Silent operation: The craft emitted only a low hum similar to a guitar amplifier or transformer, with no rotor wash or disturbance to surrounding vegetation
- Colored lights: Upon takeoff, lights at the craft's corners activated in red, yellow, green, and blue
The Transport Operation
Concurrent with observing the craft, Herrera's team witnessed a logistics operation involving:
- Four black up-armored trucks resembling Ford F-350s with aggressive off-road tires and reinforced armor similar to Secret Service vehicles
- Pelican cases (weapons cases) visible in each truck bed
- Trailers with black shipping containers, each bearing a large black cylinder spanning the full width of the container
- Night vision equipment mounted on truck sides, suggesting nighttime operations
- Trucks moving onto the elevating platform beneath the craft for loading
Herrera initially testified to AARO that the cylinders might be humidity control equipment possibly related to drug trafficking. However, he later learned from program insiders that the cylinders were oxygen supply systems and the containers held human beings—allegedly individuals recruited from disaster zones under false pretenses to serve as "pink assets" (biological subjects) in classified programs.
Armed Interception
As Herrera's team broke into the clearing, they were immediately intercepted by eight armed operators in unmarked black uniforms executing a tactical formation. The operators:
- Wore all-black gear with no identifying markings or insignia
- Carried M4-style rifles with ACOGs and PEQ-16 illuminators
- Demonstrated professional tactics consistent with former military training
- Disarmed the Marines methodically, removing magazines and slinging weapons uncomfortably tight on the Marines' backs
- Scanned military IDs using advanced thin devices resembling modern smartphones (more advanced than 2009-era technology)
- Directly threatened the Marines: "We will fucking kill you" and "It's easy to get lost out here"
- Knew exactly where the Marines' IDs were located, suggesting former US military experience
- After searching the team and confiscating camera documentation, returned the Marines' weapons loaded in a deliberately difficult configuration and ordered them to leave without looking back
The operators' knowledge of Marine equipment protocols and tactical proficiency suggested they were former US military personnel operating in an unofficial capacity.
Return and Aftermath
Upon returning to the LZ, Herrera's team encountered an unknown Gunnery Sergeant not wearing red patches indicating ship assignment. A CH-53 helicopter arrived shortly after radio communication and extracted the team back to the USS Denver.
Back at Subic Bay, Herrera asked a fellow Marine if he would tell anyone about the incident. The Marine responded "absolutely not," and the team remained silent. None of the other Marines have come forward publicly, and one later sent a text message stating "leave me out of that" when asked by Senate Intelligence Committee representatives to provide anonymous testimony.
Herrera's account was allegedly threatened further by a USAF Lieutenant Colonel who stated: "You're not allowed to talk about what happened. You will go to prison or you will die."
Significance and Implications
If Herrera's account is accurate, the encounter provides evidence of:
- Operational Alien Reproduction Vehicles (ARVs): A large octagonal craft exhibiting characteristics unlike any known conventional aircraft, potentially representing successfully reverse-engineered non-human technology
- Shadow military operations: Unmarked US forces conducting logistics operations with advanced craft outside official military chains of command
- Human trafficking for classified programs: The alleged use of disaster zones to recruit "pink assets" under false pretenses for classified biological or technological programs
- Advanced weaponization: Herrera later learned from insiders that the programs possess EMP-like weaponry capable of targeting and disabling UAP for crash retrieval purposes
The encounter occurred during the same general timeframe as other alleged ARV sightings, including reports of triangular craft during the 1990 Belgian UFO Wave and Sergeant Roderick Castle's 1997 encounter with a triangular craft at 29 Palms Marine Corps Base.
Connection to Steven Greer's ARV Theory
Herrera's testimony emerged through Steven Greer's disclosure efforts. Greer is known for promoting the theory that most UFOs are Alien Reproduction Vehicles (ARVs)—human-made craft reverse-engineered from non-human technology. However, multiple whistleblowers including Bob Lazar, David Grusch, and Ross Coulthart, as well as the Wilson Davis Memo, suggest that recovered non-human technology is so far beyond human comprehension that successful replication may be impossible, casting doubt on whether the craft Herrera witnessed was truly human-made or of non-human origin.