Encounters: The UFO Phenomenon, Exposed!/Encounters - The UFO Phenomenon, Exposed (1995).iso/misc3/misc115.txt

Text File | 1995-10-20 | 10KB | 218 lines

With the ongoing interest in triangular-shaped UFOs, I thought that
I would upload a case that I worked on in 1988 along with a fellow
investigator.

With the continuing interest over triangular shaped UFOs, I
am uploading an article on an incident that both Dale B.
Wedge and Rick Dell'Aquila worked on in 1988.  The investi-
gation received an award from MUFON.  The event remains un-
solved, but is still interesting.

Rick Dell'Aquilla (co-Sysop) of this system wrote an
article on our involvement with the Eastlake, Ohio case.
The following is the text concerning our investigation:

Richard P. Dell'Aquila and Dale Wedge, Ohio State Section
Directors for Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula
Counties (note:  Dale B. Wedge no longer is associated
with MUFON) investigated a series of sightings beginning
around March 4, 1988 and seemingly centered around sever-
Power Plants around Eastlake, Ohio.

March 4, 1988 was a clear, crisp night.  The stars were
clearly visible, especially to the north over the lake where
there are no city lights.  Venus and Jupiter were bright and
in close proximity to each other in the western sky.  At
about 6:30 P.M., S.B. (name withheld) and her children were
driving home to Eastlake along the lake shore when they
observed a large blimp-like object with lights at each end,
hovering over the lake and rocking up and down like a
"teeter totter."

One light was brighter than the other and was strobing.
On arriving home, she asked her husband to accompany her to
the beach about 200 yards north for a closer view of the
object which she described as "larger than a football field
at arm's length."

She and her husband walked onto the beach.  The noiseless
object was gun metal gray and seemed to cause the ice on
the lake to rumble and crack loudly in an unusual way which
frightened her.  The witnesses had to shout to be heard
by each other, and were surprised that no dogs were out
barking as would have been expected.

After observing the object for a while, the couple became
concerned for the safety of their children in the car when
the object revolved slowly about 90 degrees, coming almost
overhead (about 1/4 mile high) and pointing it's "front"
end down toward them.  They drove the children home (which
was only one street up from the lake) and continued
watching the object from their living room window which
faces the lake.  A neighbor was phoned and she and her son
went to the beach, reporting the same thing.  They took
photographs which did not turn out (others from elsewhere
would).






The object began to descend and the witnesses returned to
the beach, where it was now observed to have red and blue
blinking lights.  It emitted 5 or 6 noiseless, intensly
bright yellow triangular lights from its side.  Mr. B.
noticed a brighter light at the apex of the triangles.
They intermittently hovered around the larger object,
darted and zig-zagged into the night sky at velocities far
in excess of known aircraft.

Mr. B stated the noiseless triangular objects were
smaller than a one-seat Cessna and travelled 50 mile
stretches low over the ice in the "snap of a finger."
They were said to be able to approach the shore, turn abrupt
right angles due east toward a Power Plant about 12
miles away, climbing rapidly and returning again, all within
several seconds.  By this time, a Coast Guard patrol
vehicle had arrived on the beach in response to S.B.'s
several phone calls.

The triangular objects came closer to the shore, causing
the witnesses to become concerned that the lights on
the Coast Guard vehicle would attract the objects and the
lights were turned off.  The triangles continued to fly
off at high speed northward over the lake and eastward
toward the Power Plant.  About an hour later, they
returned one at a time into the large ship, which then
landed on the ice.  Several multi-colored lights now came
on for about 5 minutes on the bottom of the object "in a
wave like a movie theater sign."  When these went off, the
ice stopped making noise and everthing became "dead
silent."

The object could no longer be seen within about a half hour
and it was assumed to have gone below the surface.  The
next day, huge pieces of broken ice were observed in the
area of the landing.

The Coast Guard informed Mr. and Mrs. B the following day
that the Army and NASA had instructed them not to inves-
tigate the matter further or go out on the lake in their
cutter to observe the ice in the area of the landing, since
the matter was "out of their league and out of their hands."
They informed the couple that all information was being
forwarded to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and a facility
in Detroit, Michigan.

In response to a Coast Guard inquiry, Wright-Patterson re-
fused to confirm or deny any interest in these activities.






On March 7, 1988, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Lake
County News-Herald carried articles which attributed a
series of reports of large brightly lit objects over Lake
Erie on the prior weekend to several witnesses'
misidentification of the planets Venus and Jupiter.  The
newspaper accounts indicated that the Fairport Harbor Coast
Guard went to the area and saw a large bright object that
seemed to dispurse smaller, briight multi-colored objects.
But when they called the local air traffic controllers, they
were "informed" that Jupiter and Venus were in alignment and
that the colors were the result of "spontaneous gas
emissions from the two planets."  One article even
attributed this amazing explanation to a professor of
astronomy at a local university.

On reading the articles, Dell'Aquila felt it was unlikely
that U.S. Coast Guard personnel, trained in navigation
and identification of basic celestial objects such as the
planets, could have made such a gross misidentification.
Likewise, the statement attributed to the professor of
astronomy was equally unacceptable, in that no other similar
"spontaneous gas emission" from the planets cited, of the
necessary magnitude, had ever been noted, particularly on
this weekend.

In the course of the follow-up investigation by
Dell'Aquila and Wedge, a Coast Guard incident report was
found which states that Coast Guard personnel responded to
several calls reporting UFOs over Lake Erie on the night of
March 4, 1988.  When the Coast Guard arrived, the report
confirms that a large object "dispersed 3-5 smaller flying
objects that were zipping around on them rather quickly.
These objects had red, green white, and yellow lights on
them and strobed intermittently.  They also had the ability
to stop and hover in mid-flight."  The incident report
confirms Mr. and Mrs. B's reports, including the abnormal
cracking of the ice as the object came closer to it and
apparently landed.  "The smaller objects began hovering in
the area where thee object landed (about 1/4 mile east of
the power plant) and after a few minutes they began flying
around again."  The report states that, "One of the small
objects turned on a spotlight where the large object had
been, but the Coast Guard personnel could not see anything,
and then the object seemed to disappear.  Another object
approached these personnel approximately 500 yards offshore
about 20 feet above the ice, and it began moving closer as
the Coast Guard began flashing its headlights, then it moved
off to the west."






By the next night, a subsequent report states that the
sightings are misidentifications of the planets Venus and
Jupiter and that "the flashing lights are gases in the
atmosphere....

Request incident closed this unit."

In response to a classified advertisement placed by the
investigators, other witnesses contacted Dell'Aquila and
Wedge, and were interviewed as the investigation
continued.  At about 10:30 P.M. that night T.K. (name
withheld) took a photograph in his back yard, within a few
miles of the Power Plant, showing a portion of a brightly
lit triangular object travelling across the sky.  This
object was later confirmed by Mr. and Mrs. B and another
witness to be identical to the triangular objects they were
also observing about the same time a few miles away.

T.K. and his friend were outdoors on the night of March
4, observing the stars through his telescope.  Venus and
Jupiter were reported to be in the western sky behind a
stand of trees.  While looking southward through the
telescope, out of the corner of his left eye, T.K. noticed
a bright, moving object in the sky.  He and his friend were
awe-struck by the triangular object, but he did have the
presence of mind to take 3 photographs with a small
"snapshot" type camera loaded with Kodak 110 film, with
which they had intended to photograph stars through the
telescope.  Only one photograph turned out. It is the last
in the series, taken while panning ahead of the object, and
shows the front portion of the triangle.  The object was
described as about 3 - 4 inches tall at arm's length
and glowing an intense yellow/orange to white, with a
bright orange/red glow behind it.  It seemed to pulse
brighter and dimmer, moving in a roughly southwesterly
direction until it was obscured by trees.  As it moved, it
accelerated, slowed and accelerated again.  No sound or
smell was noted, although his dog had a strong reaction,
running in circles and tugging on T.K.'s sleeve, apparently
in an attempt to urge him away from the object.

PLEASE NOTE:  The information contained on this system is
not intended to supplant individual professional
consultation, but is offered as a community education
service.  Advice on individual problems should be obtained
directly from a professional.