I did try and get in touch with him a few years later but couldn't locate him. Funnily enough I now live in the approximate district that he used to live. Actually I might ask a couple of the old timers down the local pub if they know anything about if he is still alive. I hadn't thought about any of this really until I saw this thread.
As for what they were doing, it was a long time ago now but my recollection was that they were just there. I don't think any of them saw any beings of any sort. As far as i remember it was much the same as the conspiracy theory story we have all read, there were just a number of craft lined up...I was going to say on the rim of a crater, but I don't know if he said that or that come from the stories I have read since? Too long ago. All i can say for sure is that he said they were there, by they he meant that Armstrong was referring to craft, not aliens. As for the number, if he told me I don't remember but I am sure he said "they" my impression was more than 1 or 2.
The cylinder, hell now your stretching my memory. I don't think he said anything about the Apollo crew keeping it quiet, or asking about debris or other parts of the rocket. I think that part for me has come from Auldrins interviews on TV and you tube. On the clips and interviews I have seen Auldrin is a little non committal about what they thought it was. The part the old guy told me however was only a little different but with some significance. He said they all had some concern that this thing was pretty much flanking them from a distance for a long time, and that they used a camera..I think a hand held camera? to zoom in and look and that's where they identified it as a cylinder. Size? don't recall if he said, but I know it was a distance away as they needed the zoom on the camera to get a good look. But the difference was that like I said in the clips we see Auldrin is very non committal as to what it was, the old guy indicated that in person he had no such doubts and that he well and truly considered it to be not debris, but a manned craft of some nature. He did say that he saw the original, or copies of the original photo's, that he was shown them by the crew, (he didn't say which one I don't think) and that he held them in his hand to look at them. As for the other things he was going to show me, had I visited, he never said but did a lot of grinning to say, it was pretty amazing stuff he had.
Ummm..what else? I can''t remember if it is the conspiracy stories or his stories that say they were never alone up there. Time and so many stories have blurred what he said to the many things we have all read. But I know he did say that at least several occasions they were most definitely not alone.
The photos he was referring to that NASA released before realizing, I am assuming now years later as this was told to me in the really early days of the internet, I suspect he is talking about books. He did say (grinning profusely) something along the lines of, " You know that famous photo of Armstrong with??..or near the US flag..behind?? or beside him. (Sorry it was a long time ago and I don't want to embellish) anyway he said that is the photo your looking for. It is that photo, or a certain release of that photo that you can see things you shouldn't in the reflections of his visor. However I have looked many times and never seen anything out of the ordinary.
He just grinned and said, you just have to know where to look for the original releases?? So anything more than that I am making up or guessing. But like I said, as we are almost predating the internet, I am assuming now he was referring to a book or books. Sorry that's all about the best I can do. it was a long time ago, and he said a little bit about a lot, not a lot about a little bit, if that makes sense.
Cheers