Support Mario Woods & Michael Johnson: Two Veterans, One Incredible Alien Abduction Story

In November 1977, two young US Air Force Security Policemen — Mario Woods and Michael Johnson — were on duty guarding a nuclear missile site in South Dakota when they experienced something neither of them could explain, and neither of them would ever forget.

Six hours of their lives disappeared. They were found eight miles from their post. Within weeks, the Air Force separated them. They wouldn't see each other again for 49 years.

This summer, we reunited them.

If you've watched our episode, you know their story. But here's what the cameras can't fully capture: who these two men are.

Mario and Michael both served their country with honor. They did exactly what they were trained to do — they responded, they observed, they reported. And for that, they paid a price that followed them for five decades. Careers affected. A story they were ordered to bury. And the loss of the one person on earth who understood what they'd been through — each other.

Today, both men are in their 70s and still working blue-collar jobs. Like so many veterans, they're living paycheck to paycheck. Mario got the call about this reunion in the middle of a workday, hard hat in hand. That's the reality for both of them — decades of service, an extraordinary burden carried in silence, and no cushion to show for it.

We think they've carried enough.

Every dollar raised here goes directly to Mario and Michael — split evenly between them — to help with their retirement.

This isn't about whether you believe their story. It's about two veterans who served their country, were treated poorly by the system they served, found each other again after half a century — and deserve to spend the years they have left in comfort, together in friendship.

The government never gave them answers. Their community can give them something better.

Thank you for anything you can give — and if you can't give, sharing this page helps just as much.

— Jesse, Ammar, and the American Alchemy team