Cisco Grove, California where the UFO encounter took place.

In 1964, Donald Shrum went hunting with friends in California and got lost in rugged terrain. As darkness fell, he climbed a tree to protect himself from predators and saw what he thought was a search helicopter. It turned out to be something more sinister.

Donald Shrum and Friends go Camping at Cisco Grove

A Map of Cisco Grove, California

In September 1964, Donald Shrum, a welder and painter at Aerojet General Corporation, went on a bow hunting trip with his friends in an area located slightly over an hour northeast of Sacramento, California.

Shrum was skilled in using a bow and arrow for hunting, and he preferred it over firearms, which were prohibited during that time of the year. Despite being from Arkansas originally, Shrum had been working in the Sacramento area on various missile-related projects.

On a Friday in September 1964, Donald Shrum, along with his two friends Vincent Alvarez and Tim Trueblood, left Sacramento and headed towards Cisco Grove, which is located approximately three-quarters of the way to Lake Tahoe.

Everyone was in high spirits and looking forward to the hunting weekend. Since they didn’t have any electronic communication devices, they stayed close enough to shout to each other.

At some point, Shrum ended up on a ridge, while his friends were down below, prompting them to suggest that he walk around and come down. On his way down, Shrum ventured too far from them and became a bit lost.

From what he recounted, it didn’t initially seem like a life-threatening situation for Donald Shrum. However, as darkness set in, he realized that he was unlikely to find his way back to the campsite.

Although it was only one or two miles away in a straight line, it required navigating over rugged terrain and several peaks, which made it challenging. As an experienced hunter, he knew that it was not safe to wander around the isolated area, especially with potential predators such as bears, mountain lions, coyotes, and cougars.

Shrum needed to find shelter to spend the night safely. He decided to climb a tree, which is what many hunters would do in a similar scenario. The tree he found wasn’t very large, but it was suitable. Although the first branch was about 12 feet off the ground, he was able to use the cliffside rocks to climb up to it. The higher he climbed, the weaker the branches became, but he hoped that if anything were to come after him, he would have a chance to defend himself until morning.

Donald Shrum’s UFO Encounter at Cisco Grove

The Astonishing Legends Podcast have covered the story of the Battle at Cisco Grove in a very in depth and informative podcast episode.

Don saw a light in the sky to the north around 9:00-9:30 PM, which appeared to be moving up and down like a flashlight but eventually went above the treeline. Don thought his friends must have alerted the Forest Service, who sent a helicopter to search for him.

Don knew he needed to signal the helicopter for help, so he climbed down from the tree and used matches to light signal fires on top of three large rocks close together, spaced about 10 feet apart. The three fires would indicate that they were intentionally created and would be more visible from a distance.

He waved and shouted towards the light, fearing that the pilots might not see the fires. Eventually, he managed to catch the attention of the approaching aircraft. However, something seemed off. The aircraft was coming towards him at an unusually high speed and without making any noise.

The situation was perplexing since the aircraft had a bright light on the front, perhaps a landing light or headlight, but it appeared smaller than it should be.

The aircraft was black, an extremely dark shade that almost seemed to absorb light. It was difficult for him to determine the full size of the aircraft at that moment, as he could only see a small point of light at the front.

Don realized that something was amiss and began to feel afraid. He was well aware of the capabilities of modern science, having worked on advanced missile technology at Aerojet. He knew that the object he was witnessing that night was not of human origin.

The object was both speedy and soundless, and it seemed to be intrigued by Don or the signal fires he had lit. Realizing that he needed cover, Don remembered the tree and decided to make his way back to it. He hoped that by hiding in the tree, he could avoid drawing any further attention from whatever was piloting the mysterious object.

Once he reached the tree, Don threw his bow into it and began to climb. Although he knew that climbing the tree wasn’t the best form of defense, it was still better than having no cover at all. Don was dressed in full camouflage attire, and he climbed up and remained motionless, hoping to remain unnoticed in the dark branches. He wasn’t entirely sure if the object had spotted him.

As the object looped around, it drew closer to Don, and he was able to observe it more closely. At this point, he noticed what he described as three windows on the side of the craft.

The windows were staggered and arranged in a checkerboard pattern, without touching.

Don realized that the distance between the small light he initially saw and the first of the three windows was approximately 50 feet. This indicated that the entire craft was up to 150 feet in length.

The windows themselves were not typical windows; they shimmered like aluminum foil, according to Shrum. Although Don could not discern the overall shape of the object clearly, he did notice that something oval was blocking the stars in the sky.

The craft exhibited movement that defied the laws of physics, covering great distances silently and instantaneously without being affected by fluid dynamics. Don felt safe in the tree for the time being, until a smaller craft emerged from the middle of the three windows, which he called a module. Don lost track of it as it shot out of the larger craft into the darkness, but eventually, it settled on a hill a short distance away from him.

Aliens emerge from the Craft at Cisco Grove

The smaller craft landed about half a mile away from Don, settling into some bushes. Shortly after, Don heard the sound of something, or several things, moving through the dense brush towards him, getting closer and closer.

Eventually, a being emerged from the brush, appearing short and stocky, dressed in a silver or white uniform or suit. The being had a black void for a face, but Don could make out their large, dark, round eyes, which resembled welders’ goggles.

Although the beings appeared to be moving towards Don, they also seemed to be easily diverted by their surroundings and were curious, often stopping to investigate the flora and fauna.

Eventually, the two beings approached him, causing Don to feel a sense of intense panic. It was now undeniable that whatever was happening, it was not of this world.

At this point, Don heard the beings communicating with each other in a way that sounded like doves cooing or owls hooting. He realized that they were likely receiving messages from the mothership because they would take new actions after hearing the sounds.

Despite being initially distracted by their surroundings, more of them appeared, totaling around six. Don wondered if this was all they were doing – collecting samples and leaving.

Before long, a new visitor arrived, a larger being with bright red eyes resembling flashlights. Don called it the robot and described it as metallic in appearance with a different face, featuring a large mouth and hinged jaw.

It moved mechanically and stopped under the tree where Don was hiding. The robot didn’t seem to care for Don’s signal fires, so it scattered the ashes with its arm. Don saw the robot’s hand in the light of the embers, describing it as looking like a medieval metal gauntlet. Then, the robot went over to Don’s tree, stood under it, and raised its hand to its mouth, causing a white vapor to come out and rise up through the tree to Don. Although the vapor had no smell, it knocked Don unconscious.

Don slumped over, but luckily he didn’t fall from the tree. When he came to, he felt nauseous and started to dry heave. The robot approached him and repeated the action that had caused him to pass out multiple times. Don interpreted this as an escalation and decided he needed to take action to defend himself.

Don decided to take action and aimed his bow at the robot. His arrow hit the center of the robot’s chest, causing it to recoil a few feet.

The arrow bounced off its chest, producing a bright light similar to an arc welder. The robot moved back about 10 to 20 feet, but eventually returned. Don fired his remaining arrows at the robot, and the same reaction occurred each time.

Don was exhausted. He’d fired arrows, thrown things, shaking the tree, been gassed unconscious over and over, and hadn’t gotten any sleep.

As the dawn approached, Don noticed the faint signs of daylight emerging, and wondered how much longer he could withstand the attack.

With the temperature dropping just above freezing, he had already burned most of his clothes and was left with limited options. Suddenly, he spotted two robots standing at the base of his tree, facing each other. He watched in amazement as bright white arcs of light flashed between them, appearing to share information in a plasma-like form.

Don was curious about what they were doing. It turned out that they were pooling their power to release a larger amount of knockout gas, which was colder and more potent this time. Don was knocked out completely for a long period, but fortunately, he had used his belt to secure himself to the tree which prevented him from falling out. When he eventually regained consciousness, he found himself alone, with the sun finally rising.

In the morning Don found his way back to his friends and told them what had happened. They were all understandably confused and afraid and decided to leave.

Donald Shrum is Interviewed by the Airforce

Wanting to get to the bottom of what had happened to him, Donald Shrum contacted the airforce and told them his story. They conducted an interview with Don and told him they though he was probably just pranked by teenagers. They took one of his arrows that had been bent after hitting the robot and sent it to the University of Colorado for analysis.

Two to three weeks following the encounter, Don returned to the site of the incident with his brother, Bill, Vincent Alvarez, and a friend named Bill Adams. Upon arriving, they discovered that the area had been thoroughly searched. All evidence of the encounter was gone, and they found cigarette butts and tire tracks leading to the site. The ground was littered with rake marks.

It seemed the Airforce was far more interested in the site of the incident than they conveyed to Donald.

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You can read more about Donald Shrum’s alien encounter at Cisco Grove in his book Aliens in the Forest: The Cisco Grove UFO Encounter by Noe Torres, Ruben Uriarte, and Donald R. Shrum.

What do you think really happened at Cisco Grove? Let us know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this article about the UFO Encounter at Cisco Grove you might also be interested in the Petrozavodsk Jellyfish UFOs or the Falkville Metal Man.