Joe Banks

The night shift wasn’t glamorous, but it paid the bills. Five years on the job with the security company had taught me to expect nothing but quiet nights and tired mornings. That’s why guarding an industrial building on the edge of Liverpool, UK, sounded like more of the same—a few patrols, a lot of waiting. I didn’t mind the stillness, usually. But a few nights ago, something happened that still has my head spinning.

It started just after midnight. I was gearing up for my second patrol, sipping lukewarm tea from my thermos, when a light caught my eye through the high windows. At first, I thought it was a low-flying plane or maybe a drone. But as I stepped outside for a clearer view, I froze. A triangular object with three red lights at its corners hovered silently in the sky. It wasn’t massive, but big enough to dominate my field of vision. It rotated slowly, almost lazily, as if surveying the ground below.

I was terrified, but instinct took over. My phone was in my pocket, and I fumbled to start filming. The thing drifted closer—close enough to feel real—before suddenly darting away at a speed I couldn’t comprehend. One second it was there, and the next, it was gone.

When I sent the video to my boss, his reply was a laugh emoji. He didn’t even bother to call back. Frustrated, I reached out to a local news station. The journalist seemed interested at first, but when we met in person, something shifted. I noticed the skepticism in their eyes deepen after they saw me—an ordinary Black guy in a security uniform. They barely glanced at the video before dismissing it as AI-generated nonsense.

Feeling brushed off, I posted the clip online. Within hours, it was everywhere—millions of views, thousands of comments. Some people believed me, but most called it a hoax. In a way, the clarity of the footage worked against me. “Too perfect to be real,” they said.

I’ve thought about that night a lot since. Thirty-six years on this planet, and I’ve never doubted my senses as much as I do now. I know what I saw. But does it even matter if no one else believes me?