Caribbean Island Cruise Missile Recovery USO Encounter
The Caribbean Island Cruise Missile Recovery USO Encounter is a military incident described by Luis Elizondo in a 2022 interview with NASA astronaut Terry Virts. It involves two separate sightings — on consecutive monthly cruise missile recovery operations — of a large unidentified dark circular submerged object rising from the depths of the Puerto Rico Trench near a Caribbean island.
Background
The US Navy routinely conducts cruise missile test launches from Caribbean-based helicopters and subsequently dispatches crews to recover the expended missiles from the ocean surface for telemetry analysis. The recovery site is located above the Puerto Rico Trench, which reaches approximately 22,000 feet in depth — the second deepest body of water on Earth.
First Encounter
During an initial recovery mission, the helicopter crew was pulling the missile up from the ocean surface when a large dark circular object — described as round and circular, approximately the size of a small island, black or dark in color — was observed rising toward the surface from below. The object did not break the water's surface but rose to just below it, remaining submerged. The crew observed it with alarm but completed their mission and departed.
Second Encounter
During the following month's recovery mission, the same or similar object appeared again as the crew deployed a Navy frogman on a rope to attach to the missile. As the frogman descended, the object began rising from below. The frogman immediately initiated an emergency ascent, climbing the rope as the crew executed an emergency departure. The object continued rising and ultimately pulled the missile back down into the ocean. The missile was never recovered.
Elizondo described the crew's reaction as panic: "everybody is absolutely Panic at the Disco freaking out."
Implicit Confirmation
Elizondo noted that when he subsequently asked a senior naval official about "the fast mover program," the official acknowledged the program existed but declined to discuss it — implicitly confirming that such encounters are known, tracked, and classified within the Navy.
Significance
The encounter is notable for several reasons: the object's estimated size (comparable to a small island) is among the largest USO dimensions claimed in witness accounts; the Puerto Rico Trench setting is consistent with other USO accounts in the same geographic area; the physical interaction between the USO and the missile — the object pulling it 22,000 feet below the surface — is a form of encounter different from simple observation; and the event occurred across two consecutive months at the same location, suggesting a resident phenomenon rather than a chance encounter.
UAP Gerb notes that as unverified testimonial evidence, this account should be treated with appropriate skepticism.