Pensacola NEWS JOURNAL A GANNETT NEWSPAPER PENSACOLA, FLA. THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1990 .............................................................................. FRONT PAGE HEADLINE ARTICLE: 6 SOLDIERS HERE TO KILL ANTICHRIST COPYRIGHTED NEWS STORY BY CHRISTOPHER CLAUSEN .............................................................................. Six soldiers who were arrested in Gulf Breeze last weekend and accused of desertion were in the area to destroy the Antichrist, according to today's edition of the European Stars and Stripes. The six, who were assigned to the 701st Military Intelligence Brigade in Augsburg, West Germany, left their unit less than two weeks ago to locate the Biblical figure who many Christians believe will challenge Jesus Christ's second coming and spread universal evil, the military newspaper said. Stars and Stripes also confirmed a report that the six were members of a little known cult," The End of the World. " Although Army spokesmen in the pentagon said they had never heard of the cult, it is known to soldiers in West Germany, Stars and Stripes reported. The newspaper on Wednesday provided information from its story to the Pensacola News Journal. Stars and Stripes also reported the six gave away possessions to friends, including a $ 3,000.00 stereo system that belonged to Perlock, before they left. They also burned their records and books behind their barracks, the newspaper reported. Other soldiers who are members of End of the World were unhappy that they did not get to come to Pensacola to help destroy the Antichrist, Stars and Stripes stated. The term " End of the World " was written on doodles found in the room of one of the soldiers in Germany, said Maj. Joe Padilla, a spokesman at the Pentagon. He said he didn't know why they left Germany or anything about their religious beliefs. The soldiers had been sought since July 9 after they were discovered missing from West Germany, Robert Hall, an Army spokesman said Tuesday. Authorities don't know how they got to the United States. The soldiers were arrested after Pfc. Michael Hueckstaedt, 19, of Farson Wyo. had no drivers license, and warrants showed he was wanted for desertion from the Army, Gulf Breeze Police Chief Jerry Brown said. After officers called security police from Pensacola Naval Station to pick up Hueckstaedt, the Navy called back to say he was traveling with five other soldiers wanted for desertion or being absent without leave, Brown said. Police learned the five suspects might be at the home of Anna Foster in Gulf Breeze. Officers arrested the four men Saturday. Arrested were: Pfc. Kris Perlock, 20. of Oseola, Wis.; Spec. 4 Kenneth Beason, 26 of Jefferson City, Tenn.; Pfc. William Setterberg, 20, of Pittsburgh; and Spec. 4 Vance Davis, 25 of Valley Center, Kan. Foster apparently had befriended one of the men when he took courses in cryptology -coding and decoding-at Corry Station in Pensacola. Foster has not been charged and is believed to be involved only because she knew one of the men, police said. Police learned at Foster's home that the woman, Sgt. Annette Eccleston, 22, of Connecticut, hometown unavailable, was staying in a campground near Fort Pickens. She was arrested there. On Wednesday, Foster said she had been " advised not to make any comment until the investigation is over." "I don't know what to do. I know it's all real crazy right now. I feel very caught up in this. I was just being a nice person when I opened my house to a friend and his friends, " Foster said. The soldiers are in the stockade at Fort Benning, Columbus, GA. where they are being questioned by the Army, the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency, an Army spokesman said. One of the six also told a Morristown, Tenn., man on July 7 that he was coming to Pensacola for the " Rapture, " a belief by some fundamentalists that all Christians will be taken to heaven seven years before the end of the world. All six of the soldiers held top-secret security clearances and were intelligence analysts assigned to intercepting, identifying and exploiting foreign communications, Padilla said. The six have not yet been charged, but Padilla said he doubted they would return to their unit in Germany. He said they are accused of being absent without authorization which could lead to formal charges of being absent without leave or desertion. When he was told of the Stars and Stripes report Wednesday, Brown said. " I don't believe that. Who is the Antichrist?" If the cult had talked about destroying the Antichrist, that person should have a name, he said. Beason, who bought the van on July 7, was described Wednesday as gullible by a friend who picked him up July 6 at McGee-Tyson Airport in Knoxville. " He was a very nice fellow but very gullible. He was one of these people who believed anything someone would tell him." Stan Johnson said. " The idea that he was arrested, or that he was hanging around with a cult-like group didn't surprise me. He kind of lives in a science fiction fantasy world sometimes." Johnson said he thinks he first met Beason in 1987 when Beason got out of the Army. Beason, he said, would hang around his Morristown photography business which specializes in advertising and industrial photography. Johnson said Beason talked very little about his work, but was very clearly interested in science, science fiction and unidentified flying objects. Johnson said Beason called him several weeks before he left West Germany to ask him to pick him up at the airport and look for a vehicle for him. Beason said he wanted a van, station wagon, or a big car that several people could ride in, Johnson said. When Beason arrived in Knoxville, Hueckstaedt was with him, Johnson said. " I was under the impression they were on leave and they were going to Pensacola to meet some friends," Johnson said. But Beason's interest in the Rapture and UFOs went beyond fake photos and writing, Johnson said. " A couple of years ago before he went back into the Army there was a book floating around the area predicting the end of the world. He really believed that, " Johnson said. " He did mention...about going to Pensacola for a UFO convention." Officials with the Mutual UFO Network, which held its 21st annual symposium in Pensacola July 6-8 could not say whether Beason or Huechstaedt attended any of the symposium sessions. Brown, however, discounted the possibility saying that Beason did not arrive in the area until July 9.