Chapter 23 - Staten Island's Fireball - UFO

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: vingallagher

To: nickmon1234

Sent: Tue, Dec 13, 2011 6:03 am

Subject: Re: Fwd: CHAPTER 23 - biography UFO 1965 -1972

Hi Nick ...interesting...in June 1950 I graduated from Bryant High School in Astoria which coincided with the attack on S. Korea and the beginning of the Korean War. That Sept I went to college but, with the beginning of 1951 C Btry officers asked me if I would volunteer for an army service school in Ft. Bliss, TX. They felt the outfit would be called soon and it would be an opportunity for me and an asset for the battery to have a school trained NCO. Being bored with college and, concerned about how serious an Italian girl from the Bronx whom I met at college was getting, I welcomed a change, so I jumped on it. I was promoted a rank to S/Sgt, outfitted at the state arsenal in Brooklyn with all new O.D.'s, Khaki's etc., and given a 1st class rail ticket to El Paso, TX. Ft Bliss was the army's AA & Guided Missile center. My address was, The Artillery School, AA & Guided Missile Branch, Ft. Bliss, TX. The Fire Control Electrician course was a 5 month program and during that time on May 1st, 1951 the773rd was activated. The course included all fire control equipment for a 90 outfit from the solenoids that fired the quad mount 50's to the radars. We spent time in a radar park with many radars. We had some first hand experience with the strange blips that appeared on the old SCR- 584 radars then in use. The instructors said this unknown & unusual activity was going on for months and no one came up with an answer, but many had their own ideas. Targets would appear out of no where and in seconds would speed up and disappear...there was a lot of talk about what it could be. Historically the area around Ft. Bliss, TX and nearby White Sands, NM became prominent in UFO activity....adding to the intrigue was the movie " The Thing " that came out around at the same time. You can guess what the consensus of opinions were. If you are interested I will tell you about a G.I. prank that we played on someone that came close to being tragic. It had to do with an extra-terrestrial visit....but you would have to see the old movie "The Thing" to properly appreciate it. Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy 2012 to you and your family. Vinny G.

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: nick

To: vingallagher

Sent: Tue, Dec 13, 2011 9:21 am

Subject: Re: CHAPTER 23 - biography UFO 1965 -1972

Hello Vinny.......Nice hearing from you and I certainly welcome your further comments concerning the extra-terrestrial visit, prank or otherwise.......I did see the original film called "The Thing" several times.....And enjoyed it immensely......I also always thought of Area 51 being near White Sands Proving Grounds where we did training in 1957......At the time that I was at Fort Bliss in 1957 I was not aware of Area 51 until later in years......

From watching the new programs on the History Channel the new thinking about all the amazing 10 ton blocks used for putting together ancient buildings is no longer and probably impossible for mankind to do unless they had out side help from extra-terrestrial visits......this is an amazing new thinking and I for one do believe in that kind of ancient activity.....

Merry Christmas to you and yours also vinny........Nick

PS.....I shall never forget the sight of the sky at night while sleeping outside of our tents in White Sands Proving Ground with the zillions of stars and so many shooting stars....Phenomenal sight to see.........

nickmon4321 on Jul 21, 2013 said:

Short excerpt of the 1951 "The Thing" film can be seen by clicking on this url.. [urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl-Y8ZkUenk[/url]

nickmon4321 on Oct 31, 2013 said:

I'll try this url one more time and hope that it works correctly this time.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl-Y8ZkUenk

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: vingallagher

To: nick

Sent: Wed, Dec 14, 2011 2:11 pm

Subject: THE THING !!!!

First off this took place at the Enlisted Student Detachment at TAS Ft Bliss..it was about a 5 month course and was only one of many courses having to do with all aspects of AAA gunnery. All the students came from all over the USA & Puerto Rico, from RA, NG units both active and non-active like myself before we were activated, ER's and of course those luckier draftees that were selected and sent after their basic training. Ranks ran from Privates to M/Sgt and an Army Reserve M/Sgt was the barracks Sgt. It was strictly school and more like college than the army..we had only one general inspection in ranks the whole time I was there. We lived in typical wooden 2 story barracks with the latrine on the first floor, two 2 man rooms on the first floor and a 2 man room on the second floor next to a 4 man room. being a S/Sgt I got a bunk in the 4 man room. Everyone had to keep his area GI style ..bunks made floors and latrines clean etc..but, no chicken shit. We even ate in Army/Air Force Cook School Mess halls. My first active duty meal in that mess hall was a Sunday..there were only a few guys at dinner and the fare was cooked salami, cheese various sandwich mixings, coffee & Milk. I did not know at the time the army served what was called "Horse Cock" for dinner on Sundays...I was famished and it was disappointing. The next morning was a revelation. I got on line for chow and there spread out was fresh eggs..any way you wanted them, pancakes, hot and cold cereal....bacon, sausages, toast, SOS, tanks of coffee, juice, milk and all kinds of fruit. There were a bunch of fat mess Sgts drinking coffee out of white soup bowls and dozens of GI's in white cooks garb. I later learned this was an Army & Air Force combined cook school. In a few short weeks the student cooks had to be taught how to cook everything on the Army Master Menu List. Every meal offered a selection of several different meals.....we ate good at FT. Bliss. The first 30 or 45 days of the course was basic electronics which was real hard and having failed math in HS I had to work and study to get a passing grade. Those who failed the Basic Electronics were dropped from the program and returned to their units somewhat disgraced but, for the draftees who were not yet assigned to a unit they were simply pipelined direct to Korea and issued an M1 rifle...they had a big insentive to pass but, some did not. This was end of winter 1951 and many instructors were with the original RA units rushed into Korea in 1950 and now serving as instructors. We got a pretty good insight about what to expect if any of us found ourselves in Korea..the was a million miles from my mind at the time. Once basic was completed it was all practical hands on training, we worked on everything that was powered by electricity in a 90 unit. This was from the quad mount 50 cal machine gun turret that was powered by a Briggs & Stratton gas engine and used solenoid switches to fire, the 90's on board electronics, M9 director, tracking head and the SCR -584 radar. This took place both in indoor sheds that was 110 degrees with 50 or so M9 directors glowing to working in the field and firing at Oro Grande range in New Mexico. The army knew how to teach a subject..I loved it and fell in love with the army. During this time we were hearing about the strange goings on in the radar park where we started training towards the end of the course. The radar park was set up outdoors with about 50 SCR-584 radar vans and we were formed into 5 man crews and one instructor. Being right next to Biggs Air Force base we always had a lot of targets to track from up close to out at the maximum range. Biggs was an important air refueling school at the time so B-29 tankers would fly on long several day refueling training missions so large bomber type aircraft were always flying over head offering abundant targets. Biggs also had a B36 unit, these were huge multi-engined bombers with both propeller and jet engines.. the ground almost shook when they flew over head. It was exciting stuff for a young 18 year old kid from Woodside, but again, I loved it. We heard a lot of talk about targets that appeared on the scope and sped away in seconds and didn't think anything of it until, we started experiencing this ourselves. The instructors just shrugged their shoulders. Major McCracken head of the instructor team and a person I had no direct relation with at the time, but whom I ran into later on in Korea when asked, simply said they were from someplace other than earth...who the hell knew if he had any direct knowledge or not. He said he had no doubts there was UFO activity in the Ft Bliss/ White Sands areas all during his service there.

I hope the lead in was not boring for you but the stage is being prepared for the prank and, the movie "The Thing" precipitated it. We had a good group of guys in our barracks. The night "The Thing " played at the post theater a half dozen or so of us were BS'ing in the latrine it was late and the lights were out in the barracks..between the movie and the strange experiences at the radar park, we were having a conversation about the possibilities of extra- terrestrial beings and, can they now actually be among us. Well, during our discourse, in walks one of our barrack mates an RA soldier named Miller. Miller's bunk was on the second floor right across from the 4 man room I shared with 3 others. Miller was a tall slim fair complected black guy who was likeable and an all around nice guy. He was taking an extended radar repair course and, had more first hand experience with the mysterious tracking than we had. After taking care of his business and over hearing our conversation we asked what he thought about the subject, he replied shuddering, " I'm sorry I saw that movie and I don't want to even think about it, it just gives me the creeps". With that he went upstairs and hit the sack. Hmmmmm......''.The Thing" may make a special visit to our barracks tonight...thought 6 warped and creative minds who immediately started to work out the plan to create and animate "THE THING".

We got some accomplices already in their bunks to recreate the eerie music from the movie once they got the signal. We then went to my room where I put on my helmet liner then draped a white towel over it, made two tiny eye holes so I could see and darkened the eyes with burnt cork...corks were in great abundance in the barracks...almost everyone had booze...no inspections. Wearing an extra large G.I. raincoat and with the towel head tucked into the buttoned up collar my head looked immense. I put on extra large black leather GI gloves and then climbed on the shoulders of Del Orto a former lumber jack , with the raincoat covering both of us we were now in costume. When the signal was given for the sound effect to begin the chorus started very low and steadily built up crescendo, with that I smashed open my door just like in the movie and both me and Del Orto adding to the musical score hovered over Millers bunk until he stirred as we increased the racket and the chorus followed suite. Poor Miller tossed and turned a bit until he opened his eyes and saw us ..he let out with a scream and in a flash jumped out of bed and went halfway through the window behind the head of his bunk. He was half way out on the overhanging eave that kept the rain out of the first floor windows, he just tore right through the screen like it was tissue paper. This was a joke now getting out of hand ....if he fell off the eave he could hurt or even kill himself. Me and Del Orto both panicked and lunged at Miller to hold him back from plunging to the ground, this only further scared the shit out of him. The lights went on as the troops all gathered around Miller apologizing and helping him relax. We were all sorry and said things like, ..".Hey Man it was only a joke"..." Miller are you OK" ...."sorry about that man it was supposed to be a joke"...Miller finally restored to reality and instead of taking a punch at me and Del Orto he just sat there, grinned and said something like..." man you scared the shit out of me..at first I thought it was dream then it was real".

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

On 12/15/11, <nick wrote: Vinny..........This whole writing that you have sent to me is a combination of an actual happening at Fort Bliss, Texas [the strange things are happening area] and a wonderful, exciting story of our younger years for future generations to come.......I thought it was great, even with the, as you said, "I hope the lead in was not boring to you" which in reality had to be inserted in order to see and understand the whole picture.........Loved every minute of it.......Thanks for taking the time to put it together and sending it on to me..........

I, usually at this time of each of the biography segments, include the "responses and comments" received from all recipients into one ball of wax and further distribute these comments to all the recipients [family and close friends] that the original biography segment was disseminated to for further viewing....... It will become a part of the biography stories that my daughter Donna encouraged me to do when I retired several years ago, and I would like to include yours also, providing you feel comfortable with my doing so, so that I may further proceed with this process when you give me the final "go ahead" signal..........Awaiting your reply.......[Loved your story and got my fingers crossed, Nick]

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: vingallagher

To: nick

Sent: Thu, Dec 15, 2011 10:31 am

Subject: Re: THE THING !!!!

Nick, When you have time I would love to hear about your Ft. Bliss experience, were you at The Artillery School AA& GM Branch or were you in training at Logan Heights living in those squad huts..were you there during the 90mm gun era or later for the Nike era. I was there twice ..in 1951 and again for one month in April of 1952 for a 4 week M-33 Operators course. Favorite Juarez eating place was the "Florida Club" on the main drag...strictly good food & drink. A Sirloin Steak hanging over the platter dinner, from soup to nuts cost .75 cents American and a huge Filet Mignon dinner was $1.25...a fifth of real Canadian Club whiskey was $2.45. Our drinking hole was the "Manhattan Club" also on the main street. Any drink in the house with real, not watered down booze was only .15 cents American & a Zombie was the most expensive drink for .25 cents....the entertainment was great Marimba music and no Senoritas were allowed in the place. I don't know where the Senoritas were but, ever hear of the "Lago Blanco"...somewhere off the main drag..or so I was told !!! The picture was taken at the "Manhattan Club" in 1951...that's me on the end, I was only 18 but my army records showed I was 20.

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

<nickmon1234@aol.com> wrote: Vinny......After 2 months of basic training at Fort Dix in New Jersey I received orders to report to Fort Bliss, Texas in August 1957 for an additional 4 months of advance training......

When I arrived at Fort Bliss by air transportation, I can recall the tremendous down pours of rain that would occur in Fort Bliss where the streets/roads looked like rivers flowing thru town....I can also recall the taxi transportation of 25 cents to any location in the base.......The sun was so hot as you will recall, that any convertible cars that had their plastic rear windows would turn brown from the baking sun...I can further recall the three story cement block buildings that became our barracks unlike the one story wooden barracks we had at Fort Dix......I can recall the Fort Bliss barracks with the help of the picture hanging in my home, displaying my unit and these barracks in the back ground......

I was there in Fort Bliss during the 90 mm gun era and when we had training with these artillery guns at White Sands Proving Grounds I can recall inserting the shells/projectiles into the 90 mm guns, I believe wearing gloves and pushing them in with our fisted knuckles so as not to lose any fingers such as happened to Max......I don't recall any of the clubs you mentioned in Juarez but i do recall the fantastic steaks in Juarez for only about a buck or so......We went to the bullfights and always bought the cheaper sunny side seats and would always sit at the edge of the border between them and the more expensive shady seats as by the time the bull fights began we would be in the shade as the sun would go down......I always wondered if the steaks we ate were actually from the bulls that were slaughtered in the fights.......I can recall being at one of these steak restaurants one time with a buddy of mine named Steve from the states, who after our meal, would join a group of Italian soldiers at their table that were also training at Fort Bliss and it turns out that they knew his uncle in Italy.......

I can also recall going to a hotel in El Paso where they had great smorgasbords for very little cash...I'm sure it was a losing proposition for the hotel whenever we ate there....

one time it turned out that we [many of the guys from our barracks] ended up renting the whole top floor of the hotel and having a party of a life time......I later met one of these guys in the insurance company I worked at in Manhattan, in the free food cafeteria for its employees, but he was going to embalming school near by and hearing about the free food would always come to the cafeteria to fill up even though he didn't work there......

There was a wealthy kid from Staten Island in our unit that wrote his dad to send him a check so he could buy himself a Porsche' car and he agreed to drive us home to NY with my other state side buddy Steve, but after I saw how he drove I bowed out of the offer.......

By now you must have received the photo I sent you of some of my family members after our Thanksgiving dinner........Also should you like to see two of my army photos you can go to my facebook page and view one in Fort Bliss with my unit with me holding up the flag in the picture...The other picture is of me and a National Guard buddy driving to Long Island to do some practice rifle shooting back in the states...Lee will probably be able to get you into my facebook page............Nick

PS........We never went into Mexico with our army uniform, but instead would wear our civies that we kept in the bus depot for about a 25 cents piece......Every now and than the civies would be confiscated from the bus authorities for overstaying our welcome without paying......We always paid the locals about 10 cents to drive us into Mexico so as not to be stopped by the MP's at the border.......We would never get stopped on our way back into the states.......The MP's always knew who we were from our spit shined shoes and crew cut haircuts.......The Rio Grande river was a joke.......When I was there, there was never any water in it even with the the torrentially rain downpours...

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: vingallagher

To: nick

Sent: Sat, Dec 17, 2011 11:47 am

Subject: Re: Re: THE THING !!!!

Hi Nick...funny you mentioned about possibly driving to NY from Ft. Bliss. When I completed the FC course I connected with a ride to NY with 3 other guys. We loaded a 49 Ford 2 door with 4 guys, 4 duffel bags & 2 Foot lockers. This was before the interstate systems, the roads were all secondary roads through middle America..it was an experience. We were so cramped we would rotate seating because the 2 in the back had to cope with the 2 foot lockers...the car did not stop during the seat changes. We drove non-stop only stopping for gas...I remember stopping only once for hamburgers in a little roadside shack. We dropped off one guy in Washington, Penna then got on the Penna. Tpke which was the only interstate highway in the country..what a difference to be off the old route 66 roads. After only 48 1/2 hours driving from the time we left Ft. Bliss, I was dropped off at my parents home in Woodside. The other 2 soldiers lived in Manhattan.....don't even remember their names..one thing about the army, you share experiences where you depend on each other and then never see or hear from those guys again. After a brief leave at home I was on a train bound for Camp Stewart, GA and return to C Btry. After 5 or so months of school in a post like Ft.Bliss it was quite a let down to see Stewart for the first time. The cab drove me from Savannah to camp through nothing but scrub pine and swamps. I remember driving up to the main gate, the MP's at the gate looked like they could use a shower..their white belts & helmet liners were grey..they looked gray and the air was sooty from what I later discovered was from the soft coal burning in heaters in the squad tents. The entire encampment was under a cloud of gray/black smoke. It was early evening when I got to C Btry and Maxie was on CQ duty...he looked a little sooty too and that same film of black soot was also on all the tents...no barracks at Stewart. Max led me to my squad tent..he said the guys made up my bunk for me..but, when I got in the bunk that night I realized it was Maxie who made my bunk and he short-sheeted me. Couple days later I looked like all the other troops with a film of coal soot. While I got used to the soot, I never did get used to the lousy chow we had at Camp Stewart...soon I was calling it " Swamp Stewart " just like everyone else.....those were the days.

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: nick

To: vingallagher

Sent: Sun, Dec 18, 2011 1:10 am

Subject: Re: THE THING !!!!

Funny...Diddo....You mentioned driving back to NY with your buddies in 48 1/2 hours [2 days].......I'm sure you remembered my brother Vito......When Max passed away, Vito wanted to do something kind and helpful for Angie and her 5 very young children, so he drove them to California and back in 2 weeks on those back roads known as route 66 and the Penna tpke.........Like yours a trip one will never forget........I don't recollect Maxie's and your stay in Camp Stewart, Ga..........Must have been fun though...........Yes, those certainly were the days.......

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: Roseann

To: nick

Sent: Tue, Dec 13, 2011 5:26 pm

Subject: Re: CHAPTER 23 - biography UFO 1965 -1972

Wow Nick that was really interesting. Sounds like a cover up to me, just like I think Roswell was a cover up. Just think you are one of the few who remembers seeing it.

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: nick

To: roseann

Sent: Wed, Dec 14, 2011 7:13 am

Subject: Re: CHAPTER 23 - biography UFO 1965 -1972

Roseann.......I have not heard from the other possible party that I thought may have been the neighbor I was speaking to when I witnessed this FIREBALL back in the late '60s or early '70s........If i don't hear directly from him soon I will eliminate him as the possible other witness to this scene on that day.......The other possible witness I was talking to on that day may have been my attached next door neighbor, you may remember him, called Mark.....He and his wife are the original owners and she still lives there just as Liz and I do.....I was mistaken about the date of his death being 20 years ago as I first reported it in this segment, but it was more like 32 years ago when I think of my daughter Donna's age and his daughters age at the time that he died.......My daughter Donna was about 12 or 13 years old when he passed away and that would put that period of time in the late '70s when he died.........

Funny thing though, when the FIREBALL continued passed the house on the corner of Tysens Lane didn't anyone else see it....? [i'm actually asking this question to myself]...As I recall there was no sound coming from it nor did I hear a crash from it after it passed Tysens Lane.......Thinking back more though to that time period Reidel Ave was non-existing as the builder or city had not yet put in the street until years later.....I don't recall when the street was actually put in and named Reidel Ave.......It was merely a dirt road at that time period......... If it happened in the late '60s, I probably would not have yet subscribed to the local newspaper called the "Staten Island Advance"......And I don't recall reading about it in any newspaper.....I don't recall if Ray and Barber Celano were yet living on Hitchcock Ave when I witness the scene or if their house was even built yet?.......Too may questions but no answers.........Too many pieces to this puzzle to bring together.......Sorry to have to lay all this stuff on you but thanks for listening.........Nick

PS......One more thought though on this subject.....Back than any trees that may have been planted on the block by home owners would have been much smaller and not have blocked my view of Reidel Ave from my home as it now shows in the "vpike" attachment to the original biography email......(VPike has recently been removed from this Chapter for security reasons)

PS.....PS.....I was stationed in Fort Bliss, El Paso Texas in 1957 and did military training in White Sands Proving Grounds for several weeks, about 50 miles away from Roswell.....

Also a friend on mine who got in touch with me after he received this UFO email from me was also training in that area back in 1951.......He is a retired military officer in the army and served time with my brother-in-law in Korea during the Korean War....He was there with my brother-in-law Max when Max's truck that he was driving across railroad tracks got hit by a locomotive train and he ended up in the hospital........the Roswell incident happened in 1947.........

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: Roseann

To: nick

Sent: Wed, Dec 14, 2011 12:37 pm

Subject: Re: CHAPTER 23 - biography UFO 1965 -1972

I am glad you cleared up the Reidel Avenue part of this for me. I was wondering when Reidel was put in cause I moved in April of 1969 and it wasn't there yet

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: Lee

To: nick

Sent: Wed, Dec 14, 2011 1:04 pm

Subject: Re: CHAPTER 23 - biography UFO 1965 -1972

Nick, This is a very interesting story...Its. great.. Lee

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

To: All my friends and family

Sent: Mon, Dec 19, 2011 3:06 am

Subject: CHAPTER 23 - biography - COMMENTS - UFO 1965 -1972

CHAPTER -- 23

AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- COMMENTS - UFO 1965 -1972

The very first comment I had received to this biography segment was from Dora, my High School classmate of 1953, but unfortunately that comment became lost in cyber space.......To the best of my recollection, her comment was that she was "a believer" and my reply to her was "it was tuff doing this one"..........The rest of the comments above are actual comments received from those receipients of this Chapter 23 that wished to express their thoughts and at this point, I would like to thank each and every one of you for being a part of this segment and certainly thank you for your support and encouragement..........I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.............

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: nick

To: itsme

Sent: Mon, Mar 26, 2012 11:57 am

Subject: CHAPTER 23 - biography - COMMENTS - UFO 1965 -1972

Maryellen......Above at the very top of this website is "chapter 23"

that I spoke to you about in an earlier email today......There is a lot of

reading involved here but if you have the time to read this story/comments

throughly please do so as it still amazes me every time I read it and think

about it.........Nick

nickmon4321 on Jan 12, 2013 said:

-----Original Message-----

From: itsme

To: nick

Sent: Mon, Mar 26, 2012 1:05 pm

Subject: Re: CHAPTER 23 - biography - COMMENTS - UFO 1965 -1972

OK and yes I am a believer. How can anyone be so confident that the earth is the only inhabited planet in the universe. That we are the only intelligent beings, no there has to be more.

Anonymous on Jan 15, 2013 said:

enjoyed reading this story........and yes I'm a beliver Dora

nickmon4321 on Jan 15, 2013 said:

Thanks Dora.....Your a sweetheart, back in 1953 and still are today.....Your high school classmate of '53......Nick

nickmon4321 on Dec 16, 2013 said:

-----Original Message----- From: <nick To: checchi siadvance Sent: Sat, May 4, 2013 12:04 pm Subject: Reidel Avenue repaving

Tom checchi Staten Island Advance

I read with great interest the Saturday May 4th news material concerning the re paving of Reidel Avenue (Richmond Town) on Wednesday of this coming week.....The Staten Island Advance may or may not know of an event that occurred on this dirt road back in the 60's and before it was ever paved....The following web site will explain the details of this phenomenal event that I had put together several years ago at the request of family members...

For your reading and viewing Pleasure... http://www.americantorque.com/page/0/2616/

Nick Mondelli (Tysens Lane off Reidel Avenue)

nickmon4321 on Mar 6, 2014 said:

-----Original Message----- From: LEE Gallagher To: NICK

Sent: Tue, Mar 4, 2014 10:22 pm

Hi Nick John told me you contributed to his fund...I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generous contribution.It is much appreciated...thank you so much..John is recovering miraculously but it will still be awhile , he is at a nursing home in the Bronx, doing physical therapy..We thank god he is alive after what he went thru. Thanks again, Sincerely Lee

nickmon4321 on Mar 6, 2014 said:

-----Original Message----- From: Nick To: lee

Sent: Wed, Mar 5, 2014 9:58 am

Just so glad that John is doing so well after the devastation involved.....My prayers go with him for his continued recovery.......I can't imagine the heart ache you guys all had.....Stay well to you, John, Vinnie and the rest of the family.......Nick

nickmon4321 on Mar 14, 2014 said:

Update on John, still in the nursing Home, complaining about the food, so he must be feeling better..His skin graft on his right arm and both hands is healing well, he says like it never happened. The physical therapy is mainly for his hands, to use his fingers again..etc. Thank god is face was not touched. We are really fortunate that he survived, now I hear he had only a 20% chance of survival, so he is really a miracle man, as the nurses called him..The fund that his friends started is doing very well, check it out..and again, thank you so much for your contribution..Take care Lee

nickmon4321 on Mar 14, 2014 said:

Hi Lee.....Thanks for your comment and update on John.....I"m so glad that he is doing so well.....When I was in the hospital several months ago, I too also found the food to be not the type that I normally enjoy so much, that I ended up losing 25 pounds in only 5 days.....But I'm now on the mend and feeling like it never happened just as I expect John to do also......

I have again dedicated Chapter 23 http://www.americantorque.com/page/0/2616/ to John as his dad Vincent added so much to this story....

Basically, the items that I added to this Chapter is your comment above, my reply to you, John's Fund that was started by his friends and John's photo in his directional Chair just as it was shown in his fund.....Please keep in mind that if you, John, Vinnie or any family members feel uncomfortable with this inclusion please, please let me know immediately and I will understand and remove it with all deepest and sincere respect........Nick

nickmon4321 on Mar 23, 2014 said:

After viewing the History 2 Channel on the evening of March 21, 2014 concerning a new premier UFO program called Hanger 1 that contained several UFO stories including the UFO sighting on December 9, 1965 in Kecksburg, Pa.,I have forwarded a copy of this Chapter 23 to MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) for their recording of the events as described in this Chapter....As MUFON was mentioned in the Hanger 1 program I was compelled to google this data and forwarded the Chapter on the next day of March 22, 2014......

nickmon4321 on Sep 28, 2014 said:

Several days ago while browsing the 'Linkedin' website I came across two names that interested me....The first name was Scott Wolter who contributed to History's Channels 'American Unearthed' program and the second name was Giorgio A Tsoukalos who contributed to History's Channels 'In Search For Aliens' program...I requested to be connected to both individuals in order to further communicate with each of them and was accepted by Scott Walter but was not able to send my request to Georgio due to a privacy policy that was inserted by him....

nickmon4321 on May 19, 2015 said:

This UFO chapter discussed with Louis on May 15, 2015 and all stories and chapters were given to him for his pleasurable reading consumption....

nickmon4321 on Nov 21, 2015 said:

This UFO chapter has recently been discussed with two other close neighbors Eugene and Frank in the later part of November 2015...

nickmon4321 on Jan 13, 2016 said:

~ From Connie Asbury Evans ~ Read chapter 23...amazing...my late Husband was a non-believer until he had an encounter at his strip mining job...1985...

nickmon4321 on Jan 13, 2016 said:

~ From Nick Mondelli ~ I would certainly like to hear it Connie either on public FB or a private message if you so like ~

nickmon4321 on Jan 13, 2016 said:

~ From Connie Asbury Evans ~ Thank you Nick..did not want to bore you with details at first ,thanks for asking ....he worked night shift at a strip mining job on a very high hill ...he was running some heavy equipment when he said he heard a " whirling" noise...he shut down equipment and said it was a very quiet night on top that mountain... I can't remember every detail as it was so long ago and age has dulled the memory... He stated he looked up and saw a light not extremely bright,but became so later...it hovered and moved closer...he told himself the usual,plane,helicopter, weather balloon,etc...it had revolving lights as he put it...them quickly streaked across the sky.. When he came home he tried to go about his usual after work routine...if you had known my late husband he was a stickler for routine and one not to be easily shaken... He had a no nonsense belief of everything has a " normal" explanation When pressed he told me the story.. He was convinced it was not of this world.. Did not discuss it again...went to a different section in the company...but years later when I brought it up,he assured me he knew it to be a UFO...long story ...sorry...smile emoticon

nickmon4321 on Jan 13, 2016 said:

~ From Nick Mondelli ~ No true story is ever too long Connie especially one of this nature ~ If you don't mind I or you can copy and paste your comment/story to the comment section of Chapter 23 ~ This story makes me feel better as some times I wonder if I'm just not losing my mind over the happenings of my strange event...Thanks for revealing your story to me ~

nickmon4321 on Jan 13, 2016 said:

~ From Connie Asbury Evans ~ You absolutely are not losing your mind dear friend... Please feel free to use it in any way you wish...thanks