From UFO ROUNDUP
October 28, 1996
Masinaigan@aol.com
On Tuesday, October 15, 1996, just past 11 p.m., a man driving between Kenton and Bellefontaine on Ohio Highway 68 spied a triangular UFO in the sky. The UFO was three miles (5 kilometers) north of Bellefontaine and described as "a bright red light centered between two white lights...an additional white light was close by, which made a triangle shape...The red light was centered in the triangular pattern and detached from the main object." The witness had it in view for five minutes before the light "extinguished." At 11:30 p.m., he phoned the group Tri-States Advocates for Scientific Knowledge. Both T.A.S.K. and the Hardin County Sheriff's Department investigated the incident.
Four separate UFO incidents took place the following night, October 16. At 8:30 p.m., a couple on Flaugher Hill Road in Aberdeen, Ohio, a town on the Ohio River 48 miles (77 kilometers) southeast of Cincinnati, saw "an orange light" to their immediate north. The UFO "appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared in a different part of the sky. I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the man said, adding that his wife was "near hysteria." He phoned both the Brown County Sheriff's Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Police dispatchers, however, deny that any UFO calls were received that night.
At 8:37 p.m., another couple saw "a bright orangish red" UFO "appear and disappear...in the direction of Manchester" (population 2,400), another Ohio River town 12 miles east of Aberdeen. The husband phoned a friend in Bethel (population 2,231), forty miles (64 kilometers) to the northwest, who looked outdoors and saw "three or four lights moving in a straight line, and two or three lights in a diagonal line, forming a T shape."
At 8:45 p.m., in rural Ross County outside of Chillicothe (population 23,240), a city 64 miles (102 kilometers) northeast of Manchester, residents spotted "appearing and disappearing lights." One man videotaped "an object with lights rotating around it in a circle." Radio station WKKJ 93.3 FM in Chillicothe drew several calls from listeners describing the UFOs. The UFO tape was broadcast on TV Channel 10 in Columbus, Ohio the next day, October 17.
In Jackson, Ohio (population 6,675), located 31 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Chillicothe, a resident reported seeing "a bright red fireball traversing the sky just after dark (6 p.m.) heading west."
On Thursday, October 17, at 11 p.m., Melissa M., 22, of Lima, Ohio was outdoors walking her dog. The canine needed to answer a call of nature. All at once, she saw "a bright light moving from the south." At first glance, Melissa thought it was a medical emergency helicopter but changed her mind when "the light went over me at high speed without making any noise." Minutes later, three military jets roared over her head. "They were so low I could see the red of their afterburners." (Email Interview)
Melissa's hometown of Lima (population 43,400) is 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and 37 miles (59 kilometers) northwest of Bellefontaine.
(Many thanks to Kenneth Young of T.A.S.K. for the Ohio River UFO reports)
On Thursday, October 17, Jack Kelliher, who lives near Wausau, Wisconsin, was driving on Highway 61 just outside Red Wing, Minnesota, a town on the Mississippi River 57 miles (91 kilometers) southeast of Minneapolis, when he saw a domed saucer or daylight disc hovering in the sky.
"I couldn't believe my eyes," Kelliher said, "but I think I actually saw a flying disc motionless in the sky, reflecting sunlight, almost as if they were watching me. At first I thought it was a reflection, so I got out of my car. And it was still there. The object had a straight flat bottom. It domed-out on the top. It might have been a reflection, but I seriously doubt it. Basically, it looked like a peripheral view of a cookie. It sat there for a good ten seconds, as I ran up to the fence post to double check to see if it was a reflection. But by the time I got to the fence, it was gone. I don't think it was a reflection. The object appeared truly metallic." (Email Interview)
The following day, Friday, October 18, at 7:50 p.m., Maureen Nickerson was driving on Interstate Highway 94, just west of Fergus Falls, near the North Dakota state line, when she spied something unusual in the sky. "It appeared to be a medium- sized pulsating star. As I watched it, it began to move, but keeping pace with me, then speeding up. It crossed the highway in front of me, then stopped and hovered by the side of the road. I could see distinctly green and red spot-light lights at the top. They were moving around, not just stationary. I could see no structure at all, just the lights. There was one main large white circular light and the red and green lights at the top. While it was hovering, it appeared to flip upside down. The (colored) lights appeared at the bottom. I had my videocam along and could have gotten it on video except it didn't seem safe to stop. The craft meandered slowly over the countryside until it disappeared from my view on the horizon." (Email Interview)
(Editor's Note: Pamplona, Spain has the running of the bulls. But, every summer, Fergus Falls has the running of the geese, also known as the Fergus Falls Goose Gallop. It's lots of fun, so if you happen to be in Otter Tail County, drop on in.)
Sunday, October 20, 1996, at 3 p.m., found Dan Jensen and his wife driving south on Wisconsin Highway 41 just outside the city of Appleton (population 59,032). "As we were driving," Jensen recalls, "we happened to look to the southwest and saw a very shiny object. From the horizon there was blue sky, then a cloud bank, then more blue sky. This object was in the center of (below) the cloud bank. I thought it was an airplane with the sun glaring off the body. But below the shining or gleaming object and to our right was an airplane. You could see the shape of the plane and that it only showed glare off the top of it. The other object's whole body glowed brilliantly and had the distinct (saucer) shape of a UFO. It seemed to be somewhat larger than the plane even though it was farther away. It was visible for about two minutes, then disappeared into the clouds. As we were passing others on the highway, we saw at least two other drivers looking in that direction. We would like to know if anyone else saw it." (Email Interview)
Mrs. Pamela McIlvaine of Illinois reports a sighting from July 3. On that day, Mrs. M and her grown son were driving out of Chicago, heading to Maryland on vacation, when they spotted an unusual object in the sky. It was 12:30 p.m., Mrs. M recalls, and her son "pointed toward the sky and told me to look...My first impression was that it was a 'flying wing' but, of course, there was nothing attached to it. It was bluer than the sky, metallic, but not especially shiny, not reflecting the sun which was very bright. The object remained stationary for a few minutes, then appeared to turn at a 90-degree angle and disappear away from us. We were driving south, so it was also headed south. I am very much interested to know if anyone else saw this object." (Email Interview)