A former FBI community liaison has revealed that she believes she saw legions of angels in the mist at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2011.
Lillie Leonardi is a former police officer who later retired from the FBI due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Leonardi arrived outside of Shanksville, Pa., about three hours after the hijacked airliner crashed and served as a liaison between the agency and the families of crash victims.
Leonardi's book, "In the Shadow of a Badge: A Spiritual Memoir," features descriptions of how the plane was seemingly swallowed up by a smoldering crater and only small pieces of debris littered the crash site.
"That's when I started seeing like shimmery lights ... and it was kind of misty and that's when I first saw, like, the angels there," Leonardi said in an Associated Press interview. "And I didn't say anything to the guys because you can imagine if I would have said, 'I just saw angels on the crash site,' they'd have called the office and they'd have said, 'She lost her mind and tell her to go home.'"
Forty passengers and crew died in the crash.
Leonardi's FBI supervisor, Kenneth McCabe, says he has read her book and doesn't discount what she believes she saw.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Leonardi's book will be donated to the National Park Foundation to aid in the construction of the Flight 93 National Memorial.
To make a tax-deductible donation to support the Memorial, go to www.honorflight93.org/donate.