Lillie Leonardi arrived on the scene of the United Airlines Flight 93 crash about three hours after it occurred on Sept. 11. The former FBI employee remembers smelling burning pine and jet fuel, taking in the debris-filled crater, and seeing ... angels? Apparently. Leonardi shares her visions in a new book titled In the Shadow of a Badge: A Spiritual Memoir, explaining that, "I started seeing like shimmery lights ... and it was kind of misty and that's when I first saw, like, the angels there" guarding the site.
She says she stayed mum for two years, worried that her co-workers would think she lost her mind, reports the AP. But she then began realizing she was suffering from PTSD, and started telling a few people what she had seen, including her former supervisor. "I believe her," he says. "I read the whole book. I know she believes 100% that's what she saw. I know she's a sane person so I'm not going to discount what she says she saw." (More United Flight 93 stories.)