In the first half of Friday’s show, Jimmy Church (email) welcomed Steve Murillo live in-studio, to discuss his journey to becoming a UFO and paranormal investigator. Murillo recalled his days as a Marine Corps officer and fighter pilot, where his roommate (also a pilot) saw a classic saucer-shaped UFO on a training flight, but was ridiculed by everyone (including Murillo) when he mentioned it. Three months later, the training officer who was on the original flight (but did not witness the UFO then) saw the object and was "white" with shock. In 2001, and many years out of the Marines, Murillo witnessed a nighttime "echelon formation" of five bright, silent objects from the roof of his home in Manhattan Beach, California, which performed maneuvers that he says no known aircraft could have achieved. Soon after, he joined the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON.)
Murillo has fielded many UFO reports and interviewed countless witnesses. He recalled one evening sighting from Malibu of an object that rose out of the ocean in front of two female witnesses, who reported it to the police. They said that in a very short time, a black car arrived, which whisked them away to an interrogation which took hours and left them seriously shaken. Murillo feels that "certain people attract the phenomenon" and that you are more likely to experience a sighting if you are in their company. He also feels that your state of mind will determine if you are likely to experience a UFO.
Murillo stayed in the studio for all of Open Lines and answered questions from listeners. Paul called from Los Angeles to recount a celebrity UFO sighting. In the 1950s, his mother was a famous actress and was having dinner at Jim Backus’ (of Gilligan’s Island fame) home in Malibu. A "pewter"-colored flying saucer approached from the ocean and stopped directly over the house for a few moments before continuing inland and then shooting up out of sight within seconds. He said that actor William Holden was present as well. Jimmy pointed out that the famous Reagan UFO sighting occurred when the future presidential couple were on their way to a party at Holden’s home in Malibu.
Murillo is a hang glider pilot and gave an example of a woman he knows who was flying her glider in the mountains near Ojai, California when she encountered a large white object "the size of a bus" which paced her glider. She tried to get away from the object by performing a steep diving spiral, but the UFO matched her flight path until she leveled off and the strange visitor finally sped away. Josh in Texas told of his experience of a pair of lights near his house that made him feel "a strong presence." He said he had other strange nighttime experiences since then. Murillo said he believes that "the phenomenon presents in a way meant for the observer" meaning that any intelligence behind UFOs may be able to conform to our expectations.