ufo_data/bin/ufo600_906_1.md

April 29 — 11:45 p.m. A woman and her daughter are driving north of Oxford, Ohio, when a white light begins pacing their car on the left about 180 feet away. They speed up and pass it after 3 minutes. The mother only sees a light, but the daughter perceives a “saucer with a vertical cone.” (“Case 2-6-34,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): 3)

May — Leonard H. Stringfield’s Situation Red: The UFO Siege! is published, supporting the thesis that the US military has acquired extraterrestrial hardware and possibly bodies. The book immediately prompts dozens of alleged first- hand witnesses of crashed UFOs or alien bodies to contact Stringfield with their stories. One of his informants is a medical doctor (“Doctor X”) who says he has conducted medical tests on alien cadavers at a major medical facility in the eastern US. Stringfield is later able to visit Doctor X and a colleague of his, Doctor Y, who has examined an alien tissue sample under a microscope. The aliens are said to be 3.5–4.5 feet tall, weighing 40 pounds, with large heads. They have slender torsos and long, thin arms. Their skin is tan or gray, elastic, and reminiscent of reptilian skin. A colorless liquid is present in the bodies; there are no red cells. The eyes are slanted without pupils, and they have heavy brow ridges, apertures in place of ears, small noses, and slitlike mouths. They have no teeth. Doctor X avoids Stringfield’s later questions. (Leonard H. Stringfield, Situation Red: The UFO Siege! Doubleday, 1977; UFOEv II 593)

May — A young radio technician is lying in bed during a power blackout in Gloggnitz, Austria. Suddenly a hollow globe about 1.6 feet in diameter and made up of separate red bars of light appears over the bedroom floor. It begins moving slowly and silently toward a glass door. The witness jumps out of bed, bumping into the ball of light with his leg. He feels nothing and there are no aftereffects. The bars of light begin to shrink in diameter, causing the ball to dim and disappear. No traces are left behind. (Michael D. Swords, “A Trick of the Light,” IUR 31, no. 2 (June 2007): 9)

May 1 — 2:00 a.m. Amateur astronomer Lev Boethin sees a red-brown oval object 10 times the size of the moon near Mudeng, Philippines. It moves silently from the southeast to the northwest parallel to the ground 20° above the horizon. He estimates it is only 300 feet away and moving faster than an aircraft. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): 2)

May 1 — The Groupe d’Etude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non Identifiés (GEPAN) is founded as a section of France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales on the initiative of CNES Director Yves Sillard. Its purpose is to quiet public fears about a flurry of UFO sightings, as well as to coordinate reports of the Gendarmerie, civil aviation, the Air Force, and the meteorological service. Its first director is aeronautical engineer Claude Poher. GEPAN sets up a Scientific Council of astronomers and other scientists and professionals to put in place data- collection systems for UFO reports from official agencies and investigate cases already reported. (Jean-Pierre Petit, “The Truth about G.E.P.A.N.,” Flying Saucer Review 35, no. 4 (December 1990): 22–24; Mark Rodeghier, ed., “The 1999 French Report on UFOs and Defense,” IUR 25, no. 2 (Summer 2000): 20–21; Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 11–13; Gildas Bourdais, “The Death and Rebirth of Official French UFO Studies,” IUR 31, no. 2 (June 2007): 12–13: Swords 440–442; Good Above, pp. 135–136; Clark III 546)

May 3 — 3:55 a.m. A caller tells police in Hainault, northeast London, that a strange object is above the small lake in Hainault Forest Country Park. Two policemen are dispatched, and they see a “large bright red light” on the eastern shore. They exit their vehicle and notice an object like a “bell tent” about 900 feet away that continuously pulsates from dull to very bright red for the next 2–3 minutes. The UFO seems to be hovering silently. Then the object appears to “dissolve on the spot.” The officers decide somewhat reluctantly to go across the lake and investigate. Then one of them looks up and briefly sees a thin, large, white crescent hanging in the sky. This also dissolves on the spot. Reaching the location of ground zero, they find nothing except a strong burning smell. They make a report to the local UFO group, the Essex Hotline, and investigator Barry M. King interviews one of the officers that night. The next day, one large bush is found damaged: flattened in the center and slightly burned. A gorse bush appears to have borne a heavy weight, because almost all the limbs are snapped off the central branch and displaced in an outward-radiating splay. No radiation or magnetic anomalies are found. (Barry M. King, “Landing at Hainault Seen by Police,” Flying Saucer Review 23, no. 2 (August 1977): 8–11; Andrew Collins, “Follow-Up at Hainault,” Flying Saucer Review 23, no. 2 (August 1977): 11–12)

May 3 — 6:35 p.m. Several people in the eastern part of Jakarta, Indonesia, are watching the sky with binoculars when they see a round UFO that traverses the sky in one minute. It carries flashing red, green, white, and blue lights located in circles around the rim. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 2)

May 3 — 9:20 p.m. A woman in Wilcox, Pennsylvania, sees a large silver sphere with many blue lights around its equator. The object hovers close to the west side of her house, casting a spotlight on the ground. It begins moving and disappears straight up in one second. Her two dogs refuse to go near the spot afterward and are fussy about eating. (“Case 2-6-53,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): 3)

May 7 — Night. Jenny Nordin and a companion in Undersåker, Jamtland, Sweden, watch a triangular object with its apex pointing downward shining and gleaming above a woods. A string of lights appears around its base and the object changes to a rectangle with a pointed top. The display continues for 2 hours until a spotlight shines down from the right side, illuminating the trees. An enormous object with three large windows rises up in the light; both objects hover and gradually extinguish. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 8)

May 8 — 2:00 p.m. A couple driving west on Interstate 80 in Joliet, Illinois, watch an object like a silver straw hat move silently eastbound over their car. At 2:30 p.m., see a silver sphere with a Saturn ring or halo around it. (“Case 2-6-64” and “Case 2-6-65,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): 8)

May 10 — 5:10 a.m. Phylis Barlow watches a triangular UFO circling slowly in the sky above Rome, Georgia. It is flying at a tilt, and on the bottom is a circle of foggy light surrounding a triangle of intense bright light. She watches it with a friend for 10 minutes as it makes a second pass over the area. It descends silently to 1,000 feet and they can see it has a grayish-silver color and three creamy yellow, honeycombed lights. It moves off to the southeast at great speed. (Rome (Ga.) News-Tribune, May 10, 1977; Marler 97–98)

May 11 — 3:00 a.m. A woman and her son are awakened in their home in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, by a loud humming sound. They see a green, glowing sphere with a dark equator hovering for 30 minutes near the house. It shoots straight up and away and the hum stops. The 11-year-old boy stays home from school for several days because he is scared. (“Case 2-6-77,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): 8)

May 11 — 4:45 a.m. Three witnesses in Fresno, California, see a bright yellow light rise erratically from the northern horizon to a fixed position overhead in one minute. A second light, flashing white 3 times a second, rises from the west to a 50° position above the western horizon. Both are stationary for 3 minutes. The yellow object sways back and forth. The white light disappears and the yellow light fades into the overcast. (“Case 2-6-79,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): 8)

May 11 — 9:45 p.m. An adult couple near Bonner Springs, Kansas, see a silent disc-shaped object with white windows hovering for 70–80 seconds, then fly away slowly. (“Case 2-6-84,” IUR 2, no. 6 (June 1977): wrap)

May 15 — 4:30 a.m. A driver in Clarksville, Tennessee, sees a round object with 7–8 blue-green lights flashing in its center. It appears to drop 7–8 red flares as it is flying southbound in a straight path. (“Case 2-7-1,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): 3)

May 16–17 — 11:00 p.m. Officers M. L. Davidson and F. E. Bartlett of the Memphis Police Tactical Squad spot a triangular UFO near Old Allen Road and Frayser-Raleigh Road in Memphis, Tennessee. At 3:45 a.m., officers T.

L. Todd and J. W. Jeter watch a similar object, 300 feet long, near the Norris Road exit of Interstate 240. It is hovering about 200 feet above the ground near some power line towers and is in the shape of a perfect triangle standing on edge. Later, Jeter watches it through his rifle scope flying horizontally then taking off at great speed. A Tennessee State Highway patrolman has also seen a triangular object in Collierville. (“Triangular Red, Green, Flying Object Sighted,” Brownsville (Tex.) Herald, May 17, 1977, p. 1; Marler 94–96)

May 17 — The Joint Chiefs of Staff re-release JANAP 146 (E), specifying “unidentified flying objects” as something that must be reported by military personnel. It distinguishes UFOs from other types of known aircraft. (Joint Chiefs of Staff, “Change No. 2 to JANAP 146 (E),” May 17, 1977)

May 19 — 10:45 p.m. A travel agent driving in Clayton, New Jersey, watches a blindingly bright round object composed of many small white lights packed together and three main lights in front. It hovers for nearly a minute over telephone wires, then the lights begin flashing and the object ascends in a steep climb. (“Case 2-7-15,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): 3)

May 20 — 11:00 p.m. Three 14-year-old boys are in a field near Bayview Avenue and Willow Pass Road, West Pittsburg [now Bay Point], California, about a half mile from Suisun Bay. They see a saucer-shaped object surrounded by a row of white, rectangular windows that flash on and off. A blue light zigzags near the object. It is hovering near the ground between railroad tracks and the bay, then it shoots across the water in a matter of seconds and returns equally fast, moving silently toward them and stopping about 150–300 feet away. One minute later, they see three figures advancing toward them from near the lights. They are dark human forms, about 5-foot-6 to 6 feet tall, surrounded by mist and moving with a stiff, limping walk. The boys run across the street and look back in time to see the figures fade from view. (“UFO with ‘Dark Figures’ in California,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): 4)

May 21 — 9:30 p.m. A family in St. Louis, Missouri, sees a “comet” with a long tail moving in the northeast. (“Case 2-7- 25,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): 3)

May 21 — 10:20 p.m. Three airmen stationed at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, England, observe a triangular-shaped light moving erratically in the sky. Within minutes the light is tracked on radar at RAF Patrington [now closed], moving in a zigzag pattern. The target registers on radarscopes for 4 minutes until the screens are “partially obliterated by high-powered interference” that returns to normal once the target disappears. (Good Need, p. 305)

May 26 — 1:15 a.m. The crew of an RAF Avro Vulcan B.2 bomber piloted by Flight Lt. David Edwards is flying at 28,000 feet over the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France at a speed of Mach 0.86 when they observe bright lights coming from the west. The lights resemble aircraft landing lights, but they soon blink out leaving a large orange glow with a bright-green fluorescent spot. An object emerges from the glow, moving to the west, climbing at an angle of 45°, and leaving a thin contrail. The radar operator reports jamming-type interference. Camera film from the aircraft’s radar records a “strong response” from the direction of the sighting, consisting of three separate radar returns at varying distances, the third made up of three targets all 600 feet wide. On the film the UFO appears as an “elongated shadow.” (Good Need, pp. 305–307; UFOFiles2, pp. 92–94)

May 26 — 8:45 a.m. Two witnesses in Detroit, Michigan, see three blue teardrop-shaped objects moving in a V- formation. They move from a high angle in the north to a low angle in the northwest, hovering “like helicopters” for one minute. They pull out of formation, swoop low, regroup, and climb again in formation at a 40° angle, fading from view. (“Case 2-7-35,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): 3)

May 26 — 4:10 p.m. A 39-year-old radio announcer and his wife are watching an eastbound jet overhead at Dowagiac, Michigan. Suddenly a brown, cigar-shaped object, distinctly outlined, rushes from the rear left side of the plane to a position “one plane length” behind it. The object is 1.5 times as long as the jet. It follows for about 30 seconds and then rushes ahead of it and is gone in 3 seconds. (“Case 2-7-36,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): 3–4)

Summer — Around 2:00 a.m. Senior Airman James M. Dunn is on K-9 security patrol at the Weapons Storage Area at Loring AFB [now Loring International Airport] near Limestone, Maine, when he gets a call from a sergeant at Entry Control about a bright light above his truck. He sees an intense light, which is directed onto the truck at a 45° angle. The interior of the truck cab seems to glow with a greenish hue. About 5 seconds later the light goes out. Dunn talks to the sergeant, who seems a bit stunned. A few minutes later, two F-106 interceptors shoot above the WSA, apparently looking for a radar target. (Nukes 373–375)

Summer — Physicist Bruce Maccabee uses FOIA requests to obtain some 400 pages of UFO-related documents, mostly from 1947–1955, from the FBI by the end of the year. (Bruce S. Maccabee, “UFO Related Information from the FBI File, Part 1,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 119 (October 1977): 13–15, reprinted in UFO Investigator, November 1977, pp. 1–4)

June 6 — 11:30 p.m. Mark Henshall is riding his motorbike home at Lartington, Teesdale, England, in the pouring rain when he sees two purple lights to his side. He notices he is losing power as he rides up a small hill. A car is just starting to pass him, and it too is slowing down. Suddenly, both bike and car are enveloped in a nearly blinding, fuzzy, ultraviolet light. Henshall feels his bike being pulled up the incline and notices steam pouring off his back and legs, which are getting unbearably hot. The motorcycle and car stop just as the misty violet glow overhead vanishes. The car driver tells Henshall that he lost all engine power for 30 seconds and yet was pulled forward. The metal side of the motorbike is far hotter than normal and impossible to touch without risking serious burns. The brakes are found to be so badly worn that they need a complete resetting. When Henshall returns home, his mother notices that his face is sunburned and hot to the touch. He also experiences nausea for a few days. (Brian Straight, “Vehicle Stop near Barnard Castle,” Flying Saucer Review 23, no. 5 (February 1978): 6–7)

June 10 — A woman in Deerfield, Illinois, watches a gray-white light projecting “dots of color” that are drawn back to the source. It remains stationary in the low southwestern sky for 15 minutes, then shoots off in a slight climb in a matter of seconds. (“Case 2-7-87,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): wrap)

June 14 — President Jimmy Carter is allegedly given a UFO briefing at the White House and bound to secrecy. According to former USAF Capt. Robert M. Collins, an MJ-12 officer meets with Carter. A reconstruction of the conversation is known as “Executive Briefing: Project Aquarius” and later leaked to UFO researcher William Moore. However, there is no hard evidence that such a briefing has taken place. (Robert M. Collins, ed., “Executive Briefing: Project Aquarius”)

June 14 — Prime Minister Eric Gairy of Grenada opens the Organization of American States General Assembly with a call for a n international investigation of UFOs. He says he was asked by participants at the UFO conference in Acapulco, Mexico, to continue his efforts. He asks OAS members to support the issue when it comes up at the United Nations. (“Caribbean Government Calls for UFO Probe,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): wrap)

June 17 — 12:00 noon. José Francisco Rodrigues is flying a Portuguese Air Force Dornier Do 27 light plane over the Castelo de Bode dam in central Portugal. When he emerges from the clouds, he sees a dark object against a backdrop of white stratocumulus clouds, slightly to the right of his plane. Thinking that the object is a cargo plane, he banks to the left and immediately radios to ask if there is any traffic in the vicinity. Air controller Sgt. Jose Vicente Saldanha replies in the negative. As Rodrigues completes a turn to port, the object suddenly appears at his 11 o’clock position no more than 20 feet away. It is definitely not a cargo plane. The upper section, partially concealed by cloud, is black, and on the lower section there are four or five panels. The object is about 42–50 feet

in diameter. Suddenly it accelerates and vanishes from what the pilot believes is an initial stationary position. The Dornier begins to vibrate violently and goes into an uncontrolled dive. Struggling to regain control, Rodrigues pushes the control column forward. Air speed increases to 160 mph then 207 mph as the ground comes nearer. He regains control when almost “touching the tree tops” and the plane lands in one piece with a badly shaken pilot.

During the encounter the directional electric gyroscope (connected to a magnetic compass) rotates wildly, and by the time the plane lands it has deviated by 180° relative to the magnetic compass. (Willy Smith, “Unknown Intruder over Portugal,” IUR 10, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1985): 6–8; Good Above, pp. 154–156)

June 17 — Dusk. Five individuals—Dale Schexnaider and his wife, their two daughters, Jena, 14, and Krissy, 11, and a close family friend—are breaking camp and preparing to go home from the Cotile Lake Recreation Area, Louisiana. Just before they reach the clearing that leads to the road, the male friend begins feeling a “low frequency vibration” in his bones. Looking upward, he sees the outline of a huge, disc-shaped UFO hovering completely still, surrounded with points of light. The friend estimates it is about 75 feet across and 50 feet tall. The two daughters have been talking, but they too notice the humming noise and see the UFO. The object then floats almost directly above them, and the middle of the craft starts to glow. Several rays or beams of blue light shoot from the UFO, striking them in the solar plexus. It is an intense, electric, silver-blue, thin beam. They hear crackling sounds in the air and they can’t move. Slowly they force their heads down to see their arms glowing with electric blue light. Movement is difficult—as in a dream, slow and heavy. After about 10 seconds, all the lights vanished instantly, along with the force field. The craft begins to glide away over the treetops. The children are frantic, and the male friend is inwardly terrified. The parents are back at the camp and see none of this. The case is reported to J. Allen Hynek by a friend, and he later visits the witnesses and speaks to all three. (“A CE-II As a Picnic Guest,” CUFOS Bulletin, Summer 1980, pp. 1, 3; “An Electric-Blue Close Encounter,” CUFOS Bulletin, Spring 1981, pp. 4–5, 10, 12)

June 20 — A committee of advanced workshop participants from the Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale has been tackling the UFO situation for the French government since at least 1976. It produces a report titled Rapport sur les “Phénomènes Aeriens Non Identifiés, which is translated into English by Bonita Samuelson and published by the Center for UFO Studies in 1980 under the title Report on Unidentified Aerial Objects. The committee members are divided about the existence of true UFOs, but they agree that the UFO theme can be used in psychological warfare. (Claude Maugé, “GEPAN and COMETA,” IUR 27, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 26)

June 24–26 —Fate magazine holds an International UFO Congress at the Pick-Congress Hotel [now the Congress Plaza Hotel] across from Grant Park in downtown Chicago, Illinois, in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Kenneth Arnold sighting. Some 1,500 people attend to hear speakers Ted Bloecher, Jerome Clark, Jacques Vallée, Stanton T. Friedman, Kenneth Arnold, Jim and Coral Lorenzen, David M. Jacobs, Frank Salisbury, J. Allen Hynek, Ted Phillips, Dennis Hauck, Betty Hill, and R. Leo Sprinkle. Fate editor Curtis G. Fuller publishes the presentations in paperback format in May 1980. (“Chicago UFO Conference,” IUR 2, no. 7 (July 1977): wrap; Curtis G. Fuller, ed., Proceedings of the First International UFO Congress, Warner, 1980)

June 25 — A man is driving on the A303 with his partially sighted fiancée near Warminster, Wiltshire, England, when they see a triangle of white lights ahead of them. When the lights get near to the car, they break away, one to the side of the road, and the two others on either side of the witnesses. They dance in the air for a while, then an orange globe emerges from the center of each. All the lights move to the rear of the car and disappear behind it. (UFOFiles2, p. 90)

June 25–26 — The Centro Ufologico Nazionale holds its Second National Conference in Toscolano-Moderno, Brescia, Italy, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Kenneth Arnold’s sighting. Speakers include Roberto Pinotti, Antonio Ribera, Ion Hobana, Florin Gheorghiţă, W. Raymond Drake, Ernest Ameglio, Roberto Farabone, Roberto Villamil, Gianni Settimo, Sergio Conti, Francesco Izzo, Renzo Cabassi, Stelio Asso, and Mario Pagni. (“2o Congresso Nazionale di Ufologia,” Notiziario UFO, no. 75/76 (July/Dec. 1977): 1–32)

June 26 — 2:45 a.m. Two witnesses see a flashing light source pass swiftly across the sky twice in about 10 minutes in Greece, New York. (“Case 2-8-26,” IUR 2, no. 8 (August 1977): 3)

June 27 — 11:00 p.m. A woman and three children in Genesee, Wisconsin, drive toward a structure composed of three parallel cylinders until they are underneath it. The hovering object looks as big as the full moon, with two steady white lights in front and a red light on top. When she stops her car, the object moves off to the southeast. (“Case 2-8-36,” IUR 2, no. 8 (August 1977): 3)

June 28 — Night. A man with a flat tire is stopped on the highway between Abadan and Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran, when he suddenly feels heat from a nearby “huge, bright object” that changes from red to green to purple to blue. Its lights go off, and as the witness sits in the car to sleep, the light returns, even closer. When he turns off his car headlights, the UFO extinguishes its lights. (“Review of Iranian UFO Reports,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 15)

July–December — Numerous UFOs are reported in Colares, Pará, Brazil. Residents claim that scars on their bodies are caused by lights in the sky that they call “Chupa Chupa” (literally “sucker-sucker”). Believing it will keep the lights away, residents of Colares organize night vigils, light fires, and ignite fireworks. Mayor José Ildone Favacho Soeiro officially requests help from the Brazilian Air Force. The operation, a historic military operation in the Amazon basin, is commanded by Capt. Uyrangê Bolivar Soares Nogueira de Hollanda Lima. In late 1977, several photos of the lights are recorded, but the military remains skeptical. After approximately four months, the operation is closed after the Air Force can identify no unusual phenomena. The official documents can be seen in the Brazilian National Archives. According to ufologist Jacques Vallée, a number of individuals are reportedly killed as a result of the “lightning” fired at them by the UFOs, and injuries are consistent with radiation effects from microwaves. Other ufologists claim that the lights from UFOs have sucked blood from 400 people. In 1997, two decades after the operation, Capt. Hollanda gives an interview to ufologists Ademar José Gevaerd and Marco Antônio Petit where he recounts his experiences living alongside his men. Three months after the interview, he is found dead in his home “after he seemingly hung himself using the belt of his bathrobe,” attracting the interest of conspiracy theorists. (Wikipedia, “Operação Prato”; Jacques Vallée, Confrontations, Ballantine, 1990, pp. 136– 139, 220–226; Good Need, pp. 367–368; Timothy Good, Unearthly Disclosure, Century, 2000, pp. 187–200; “Caso Chupa-Chupa e Operação Prato: Entrevista com o Coronel Hollanda,” Portal Fenomenum, June 15, 2016; Brazil 442–493; Clark III 838–857; Patrick Gross, “Colares 1977”; Skinwalkers 117–118)

July — Howard Gontovnick begins monthly publication of UFO Canada in Laval, Quebec. It continues until April 1979. (UFO Canada 1, no. 1 (July 1977))

July — Flight Lieutenant A. M. Wood sees two luminous, round objects, 4–5 times the size of the full moon, hovering 5,000 feet in the air over the sea off RAF Boulmer near Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Two other base personnel, a Cpl. Torrington and a Sgt. Graham, watch the objects with Wood for almost 2 hours. They are tracked on base radar and at RRH Staxton Wold. The objects separate, one moving west of the other and “as it maneuvered it changed shape to become body-shaped with projections like arms and legs.” (“RAF Boulmer: Reports of UFO Sightings Were Hushed Up,” Northumberland Today, January 28, 2005)

July 1 — 3:00 a.m. Electronic alarms suddenly sound at NATO’s Aviano Air Base north of Pordenone, Italy. Something has set off the magnetic and motion detectors in the high hurricane-type fence protecting the compound.

Simultaneously a power outage occurs at the Victor Alert facility that houses fighter aircraft, and though a back- up system immediately kicks in, minor power fluxes go on for the next 15 to 20 minutes. An American soldier named James Blake sees a large bright light hovering at a low altitude above a soybean field about 600 feet beyond the fence line of the compound. Many soldiers see the object, which appears to be domed, spinning, and changing colors. It is 150 feet in diameter and making a noise like a “swarm of bees.” USAF security and a unit from the Italian National Police are dispatched, but the object moves away before the units arrive. (Antonio Chiumiento, “UFO Alert at a NATO Base in Italy,” Flying Saucer Review 30, no. 2 (December 1984): 2–5; Good Above, pp. 144–145; Jerry Rowles, “The Mystery of Aviano,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 334 (February 1996): 3–6; John S. Derr, “Quake Light?” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 336 (April 1996): 19–20; Gerald E. Rowles, “Update on Aviano,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 367 (November 1998): 19; 1Pinotti 199–204; Patrick Gross, “Aviano AFB, Italy, July 1st, 1977”)

July 2 — 12:45 p.m. A woman driving her car in Benton Harbor, Michigan, sees a silent silver disc, edge on, with the apparent diameter of the full moon. It is hovering motionless with its left side tilted down. Trees obscure her vision for about one minute; when they clear, the object is gone. (“Case 2-8-51,” IUR 2, no. 8 (August 1977): 3)

July 3 — 7:30 p.m. Jennifer F. Canfield and her husband are sitting on their front porch in Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from Callicoon, New York, when they notice a brilliant light coming slowly and silently up the river from the southeast at 1,000–1,500 feet. Through binoculars, it appears to be a domed elliptical object with two headlights and apparent windows. The object suddenly blinks out. (“1977 Sketch/Sighting and 1981 Sketch Similarity: Another One,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1983): 1, 7)

July 3 — 9:30 p.m. A man in Clarksburg, West Virginia, briefly watches a silver rectangular object fly under a low cloud cover toward the north. It climbs at a 30° angle and is lost in the clouds. (“Case 2-8-54,” IUR 2, no. 8 (August 1977): 3)

July 4 — 9:30 p.m. Ten witnesses in different parts of Rapid City, South Dakota, observe three dark objects moving silently toward the west. Each has a row of closely spaced red lights randomly flashing. Two of them seem to merge in the distance, and the remaining pair disappears into a cloud bank. (“Case 2-8-55,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): wrap)

July 6 — 6:30 p.m. At Bondowoso, East Java, Indonesia, a ham radio operator reports a UFO that moves from west to east in about seven minutes. The object is flat, but positioned directly overhead it appears round in shape and

yellowish-green in color. It hovers for about 5 seconds, then resumes its movement and disappears in the distance. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 2)

July 7 — 8:30 p.m. As some 3,000 people are attending an outdoor screening of a Romanian film in Zhangpu County, Fujian, China, two objects appear in the sky, flying low. They emit an intense orange glow and are only a few feet apart, traveling in complete silence for a few seconds before speeding out of sight. A panic ensues, and allegedly 300 people are injured and two children killed. (Anthony Lee, “UFO Reports from China (2),” Flying Saucer Review 28, no. 4 (March 1983): 24–25)

July 7 — 11:00 p.m. The Russian motor ship Nikolay Ostrovsky is going north through the Strait of Tartary, off the east coast of Russia, when the crew sees a cloud-like formation in the shape of a rectangle, moving at the same speed as the ship, about 980–1,300 feet to the east. Radio operator O. Dereza has an eerie feeling of being watched. It disappears at 11:32 p.m. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p. 115)

July 9 — 2:30 a.m. A 38-year-old singer sees a dull-silver, saucer-shaped UFO hovering on the left side of Telegraph Road in Flat Rock, Michigan. It is only about 200 feet above the ground and 150 feet from the road. It has many red and green lights around its rim, and a beam of light illuminates the ground for 2 minutes. The object floats away over the treetops, moving toward the southwest. (“Case 2-8-72,” IUR 2, no. 8 (August 1977): 3)

July 12 — Night. A man and his daughter in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico, see a small humanoid in a green inflated suit with a pointed helmet that has a light on top. When the daughter switches on an outside light, it seems to be scared and activates a backpack that lets it climb upward over a neighboring farm and trees. The cows react by making a racket. Another person in the area reports an illuminated UFO. (Jenny Randles, “Superman vs. Airbus,” Fortean Times 323 (February 2015): 31)

July 13 — 12:30 a.m. A couple in Dinwiddie, Virginia, see a large silvery star stationary in the sky as rolling storm clouds pass overhead. It “skips” in position slightly once and increases in brightness when lightning flashes. It disappears when another lightning strike occurs. (“Case 2-8-84,” IUR 2, no. 8 (August 1977): wrap)

July 15 — 11:45 p.m. Adult witnesses on a boat on the Colorado River near Blythe, California, watch an oval light, 3–4 times the size of the moon, darting silently above them in all directions and on both sides of the river. It stops abruptly, comes close to the boat, then curves around the river. (“Case 2-9-2,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 3)

July 16 — 11:15 p.m. As Air India Flight 9, piloted by Capt. Dingra, makes its final approach to Dum Dum Airport [now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport] in Kolkata, India, air traffic controllers notice a second object closing in on the Boeing 747. Witnesses on the ground report a saucer-shaped object rushing toward the airliner. When it gets dangerously close, the passengers and crew can see it. It departs 2 miles from the aircraft’s final touch-down. (Good Need, p. 304)

July 16 — Before 12:00 midnight. A bright light in the west above Baton Rouge, Louisiana, moves 10°–15° from its original position and back again. The object remains in the same position, even though the stars have shifted by the time it is last seen at 1:15 a.m. (“Case 2-9-4,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 3)

July 17 — Romanian ufologists Călin Turcu, Valeriu Niculescu, Adrian Pătruţ, and Augustin Moraru establish an informal group called “Romanian UFO Researchers” (RUFOR). It publishes 27 issues of a RUFOR newsletter between 1979 and 1986 and 21 issues of a RUFOR magazine in 1994–1996. (Romania 38–39)

July 18 — 12:05 a.m. An intense blue-white glow hovers 200–300 feet above a creek near Fairview, Pennsylvania. After 4 seconds, it jumps to the north with a hum “like a hair dryer” and is lost to sight. (“Case 2-9-8,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 3)

July 21 — Frank Press, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, writes to Robert A. Frosch, NASA administrator, and explains that the White House is receiving numerous inquiries about UFOs and wonders if NASA could form a small panel to follow up on the Condon report to see if there are any new findings. Press also suggests that NASA become the focal point for further UFO inquiries. (Story, p. 242; Clark III 787; Good Above, pp. 368–369)

July 21 — 10:05 p.m. Witnesses in Glenview, Illinois, watch a light move from the north to the southeast in about 3 seconds. It stops for 1 second, hooks backward, and stops again. When the witnesses look back, it has disappeared. (“Case 2-9-19,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 3)

July 23 — 12:45 a.m. A 26-year old woman and her 13-year-old niece look out their bedroom window in Lindley, New York, before retiring and see 11 or 12 white lights in a dipper-shaped formation that are moving about in the sky. One bright light appears on a hill 900 feet away. They hear a whooshing sound, then two lights rise into the air. They next hear footsteps from Morgan Creek about 300 feet away and see two small figures floating up and down in front of a tree. Then they see several more figures at various spots carrying what seem to be flashlights. They wear tight-fitting, “skin diver” suits with glowing green belts. One of the witnesses sees a luminous red rectangular object that approaches the creek and then backs away. At this point both witnesses develop severe headaches. Then a figure on a distant hill on a neighbor’s farm shines a light on a tombstone there, and the stone

seems to rise up into the air and move back and forth. A figure taller than the others, who are less than four feet tall, stands near the light on the hill and calls out an “ooh, ooh” signal. The others all approach him and, 5 minutes later, deploy back into adjacent fields. One of them approaches the house. He comes under the second-story window and drops to the ground, as if to conceal himself, then approaches the door and rattles the handle. By this time, 3:45 a.m., the older witness has called her mother, who notifies the state police. All of the lights and figures disappear just prior to the arrival of the police, the lights in the sky indistinguishable from stars. Both witnesses believe only an hour has passed but in fact more than three hours has elapsed. They complain of burning eyes and headaches that last for two days. The witnesses find three footprints in the powdery dust of their driveway.

Further incidents occur on July 25 and August 1. (Allan Hendry, “The Lindley Episodes: CE III’s in New York State,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 5–7)

July 26 — 10:10 p.m. Astronomer Zhang Zhousheng and others watch a strange spiral object in the air above a northern suburb of Chengdu, Sichuan, China. At its center is a yellowish light, with the arms of the spiral blue and greenish. The object is 60° in the air and moving in a straight line at a constant speed. It is visible for about 5 minutes before it is covered up by clouds. The object is visible to other witnesses in localities along a 110-mile, north-to-south line, for as long as 10 minutes. (Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, pp. 99–102)

July 30 — Early morning. Airmen on the night shift at RAF Boulmer in Alnwick, Northumberland, England, are alerted by a call from a civilian who is watching two bright objects hovering above the North Sea. Duty controller Flight Lt. A. M. Wood and others on the base can also see them, hovering close to the shore at about 4,000–5,000 feet. They move apart slowly as they climb into the sky. The object on the west side is conical with its apex at the top. It seems to be rotating and changes its shape to an arrowhead. It is apparently 4–5 times the size of a Whirlwind helicopter. After the objects move away out to sea, radar at RAF Boulmer picks up two targets 20–30 miles out, corroborated by radar at RAF Patrington in Yorkshire. (UFOFiles2, p. 92)

July 31 — 6:30 p.m. A university art professor in Normal, Illinois, calls his wife and secretary to see a silver “stretched cigar” three times its apparent diameter in length. The object flies in a slow, straight path from southwest to northeast and is lost in the trees. (“Case 2-9-68,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 3)

August — 9:30 p.m. Graham Niven sees two green objects in the southern sky at Raeford, North Carolina. They are moving swiftly to the north. (“One Reporting Witness: Two Reported Sightings,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 10 (October 1981): 1–2)

August 1 — 9:30 a.m. An 11-year-old boy playing baseball in Springfield, Ohio, sees a white cigar-shaped object flying southbound from low in the western sky for 15 seconds. (“Case 2-9-70,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 8)

August 2 — Marauding UFOs destroy the town of Chester, Illinois, according to a hoax concocted by Official UFO magazine editor Myron Fass. (Allan Hendry, “Sleep Well, Chester, Illinois: It’s Ufology That’s Hurting,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): wrap; Clark III 599)

August 3 — Afternoon. NASA astrophysicist Richard C. Henry is one of several persons asked to attend a meeting to discuss what to do about Frank Press’s recommendation. The group decides to turn the issue over to Space Science Director Noel W. Hinners. At the end of the meeting, Henry lets Hinners know that he has some relevant expertise on UFOs (as a consultant to APRO). (Richard C. Henry, “UFOs and NASA,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 2, no. 2 (1988): 93–142; Clark 787–788)

August 3–18 — Italian researchers Giovanni and Piero Mantero of the Centro Internazionale Richerche e Studi sugli UFO in Genoa hold a 15-day skywatch on Monte Verrugoli west of La Spezia, Italy. The mountain is known for reports of strange phenomena. During the skywatch a total of 108 nocturnal lights are observed, 82 appearing as points of light, 7 oblong in shape, 7 spherical, one like a tilted plate, 3 discoid, one like a half-moon, and 7 other miscellaneous forms. Most are yellow, but some are reddish or blue. Occasionally the unidentified lights seem to increase in luminosity in response to signals made with a flashlight. During their presence, dogs in the neighborhood bark almost constantly. The objects disappear when conventional aircraft appear in the sky. Sounds of breaking tree branches are heard, unidentified voices are registered on a tape recorder, wristwatches malfunction, and areas of flattened grass are found. On one of the last nights of the project, Giovanni Mantero claims to have seen a strange aerial entity with a transparent face. (Margaret Sachs, The UFO Encyclopedia, Putnam, 1980, pp. 232–233)

August 4 — The offices of the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Federal Energy Administration are dissolved and become the cabinet-level US Department of Energy, with the oversight of policies on energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation’s nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the US Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and

domestic energy production. It also directs research in genomics; the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative.(Wikipedia, “United States Department of Energy”)

August 4 — 9:10 p.m. A man in Teddington, southwest London, England, is outside watching the sky when he sees a small light traveling fast to the right of a well known Heathrow Airport flight path. Watching it through binoculars, it looks like a metallic submarine shape with five portholes. It hovers for 20 seconds almost on the flight path. It moves away quickly when an aircraft approaches. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 2)

August 6 — 8:55 p.m. A young woman close to Port Columbus Airport [now John Glenn Columbus International Airport] in Columbus, Ohio, stops her car to watch two cylindrical objects with bulbous ends approach her from the southwest. They are dark gray or green and have bright white lights on opposite ends. They appear to bank and twist for 10–15 seconds. One ascends, stops, and vanishes; the other does the same maneuver one second later, all “too fast for airplanes.” (“Case 2-9-81,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 8)

August 7 — A nearly perfect circular ring, 12 feet in diameter and 8 inches wide is discovered in someone’s backyard on an island in the Mississippi River near Galena, Illinois. The ring is caused by a substance composed of tiny beads that discolors the grass and leaves on the ground. A similar ring is found near Chesterton, Indiana, on August 12. Analysis by the University of Chicago shows that the rings are caused by slime mold. (Allan Hendry, “A Physical Trace Doth Not a CE II Make,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 4)

August 9 — 2:00 p.m. A witness in Wheaton, Illinois, sees 8–16 pinpoints of light “like magnesium burning” silently maneuvering in and out of the overcast clouds. They appear to be approaching very fast from 60° in the north. Looping and swooping, they move apart after about 15 seconds. (“Case 2-9-85,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): 8)

August 10 — 8:50 p.m. Two adult couples in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, watch a bright, blue-green star silently loping from low in the west toward the northeast for 30–45 seconds. (“Case 2-9-87,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): wrap)

August 11 — 8:05 p.m. A 37-year-old police detective in South Brunswick, New Jersey, watches a silent disc-shaped object come over the horizon. Four other witnesses also see it. There is something that looks like a rotating “radar mast” on the object. It rises into the clouds and shoots off toward the north-northeast after 3.5 minutes. (“Case 2- 9-88,” IUR 2, no. 9 (September 1977): wrap)

August 11 — 8:45 p.m. A couple are driving near Hayden, Alabama, when they see an object hovering silently about 150 feet in the air. A blue-gray light in its center turns on and they can see its disc-like shape and size, which is about 65 feet in diameter. The object shoots north like a bullet, then stops a short distance away. Keeping it in view, they drive home and call the police. The woman sees the UFO circle around them three times and land. A second object comes out of the hills to the northeast and stops directly above the first object at about 400 feet. The lower object rises up to join the other briefly, and they can see a blinking red light on top. The objects accelerate to the south and vanish from sight. Total duration is 5 minutes. (“Case 2-9-89,” IUR 2, no. 10 (October 1977): wrap)

August 13 (approximately) — Night. At Nocero Umbra, Perugia, Italy, several witnesses, including Bruno Vitali, see a cone-shaped object “more than a meter high.” Vitali tries unsuccessfully to hit the object with his car because as he speeds forward, the object maintains the same distance. Students who investigate the site later find a stone that is intensely hot 2 days after the encounter. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 12 (November 1977): 2; Mark Rodeghier, “UFO/Vehicle Very Close Encounters,” IUR 27, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 32)

Mid-August — Between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. Canute Jensen, 13, and Kevin Rurka, 12, are in a treehouse on the Chris Jensen farm 27 miles north of Edmonton, Alberta. They are taking photos when they see a large, dark, block- shaped object moving through the sky. Canute snaps three photos before the object disappears upward in the clouds. (“UFO Photographed from a Tree-House in Canada,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 7, no. 8 (August 1981): 1, 6)

August 15 — The Big Ear Radio Telescope in Delaware, Ohio, in searching for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations, detects a strong, intermittent signal lasting for 72 seconds that stands out distinctly from the background noise.

The team quickly rules out a terrestrial origin or a broadcast from a satellite. Nevertheless, the signal is so powerful and unusual that Jerry Ehman, the astronomer who analyzes the data print out, annotates the signal with the word “Wow!” The Big Ear team continued to observe the same part of the sky, as have others, but the Wow! signal never returns. In 2020, using the Gaia 3D star database developed by the European Space Agency, amateur astronomer Alberto Caballero identifies a Sun-like star in the region of the sky where the Wow! signal originated. (Wikipedia, “Wow! Signal”; Daniela Breitman, “Wow! Signal Explained after 40 Years?” EarthSky, June 7, 2017; “Sun-Like Star Identified As the Potential Source of the Wow! Signal,” Physics ArXiv Blog, November 19, 2020)

August 17 — 2:00 p.m. James R. Leming is driving on Interstate 70 westbound about 15 miles west of the Nebraska– Colorado state border. He sees a strange object moving swiftly in the sky and pulls over to watch. It moves to the

north, then veers back to the highway and runs a parallel course along the interstate. Directly over the road it remains stationary for 3 minutes, and Leming is able to take three photographs, only one of which is not blurry because the object began speeding away. He estimates it was 600 feet away, its altitude at about 500 feet above the road, positioned at a 40° angle above the horizon, and 40–45 feet from tip to tip with a downward curve at each end. Ground Saucer Watch explains the photo as a chip in the glass of Leming’s windshield, but Leming contests that. (“1977 Photograph/Sighting and 1982 Sketch Similarity,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 1; Fred Adrian, “Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1983): 2–3; James

R. Leming, “Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 6 (Dec. 1983/Jan. 1984): 2)

August 28 — 12:10 a.m. For more than 20 minutes, police (including PC Ian MacKenzie, PS James Trohear, PC Alexander Inglis, and PC David Wild) and citizens in Windermere, Cumbria, England, watch a large lighted object in the shape of a “stingray fish” (triangular). It flies slowly at 1,500 feet altitude, hovering occasionally. All witnesses describe it as silent, except for one, who hears a “quiet hum.” (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp. 131–133)

August 28 — 12:38 a.m. Two witnesses on a deserted rural boulevard near Hayward, California, see an odd triangular object with red, blue, and white lights. They drive toward it, overtake it, and pass underneath, and they see that it is much larger than the full moon. Then it turns abruptly and follows them, but they accelerate to 65 mph and evade it. (“Case 2-10-35,” IUR 2, no. 10 (October 1977): 3)

August 28 — 8:40 p.m. The same couple in Hayden, Alabama, who saw a UFO on August 11 see a similar bright object 2 miles away from the previous site. It has several beige lights, and it darts toward their car in seconds when they stop to look. All the lights go out and come back on at the same time. (“Case 2-10-37,” IUR 2, no. 10 (October 1977): 3)

August 31 — 12:30–3:15 a.m. A total of seven witnesses see a lighted cylindrical object at the top of a disused quarry on the road between Sturno and Frigento, Avellino, Italy. Near the object is an entity about 7 feet 10 inches tall. It has two red-orange lights in a spot where its eyes might be and is wearing metallic-looking coveralls, a possible helmet, a metallic belt, and a black box on its arm. At one point the entity shines a bright beam of light at them. The duration of the sighting is due to the original two witnesses going back and forth to a nearby village to collect additional observers. A triangle of depressions is found that indicates something as heavy as 40 tons has landed there. Some of the witnesses are regressed hypnotically and recall the same narrative. (Maurizio Verga, “Seven Scared Witnesses and a Humanoid,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no. 1 (May 1979): 17–19, 22; 1Pinotti 205–210)

Fall — 5:20 p.m. A female police constable in Isfield, Sussex, England, sees a silent object flying at 300 feet altitude while waiting for a bus. On an impulse, she waves at the object, which then approaches her. It seems to be made of light greenish-gray metal with a moderately reflective surface. On top of its dome is a blue-green light, and underneath the object is a dense, black, circular section. At its closest approach, it is no further than 50 feet away. Her memory is unclear after this, but when the bus arrives, she feels numb and uncoordinated and seems to have lost 20 minutes of time. (Good Above, pp. 115, 457)

September — Lt. Gen. Akira Hirano, chief of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Forces, admits that UFOs are seen frequently in Japan and that they are quietly investigated. However, the following day his staff denies that he intended to comment on official investigations. (Good Above, p. 430)

September 4 — 3:30 p.m. Farmer Luis Sandoval, 74, is resting in a hammock near Corozal, Puerto Rico, when he decides to get up and move to another spot. He hears some popping noises and sees an object like an elongated, bright blue candle. It moves toward him, making an increasingly loud roaring-engine noise, then drops down beside him. The object abruptly turns into a 3-foot-high dwarf, dressed in jacket and tie, with an ugly face. He speaks encouragingly, says he is an extraterrestrial, and gives Sandoval a complete physical examination. The dwarf steps away to admire the scenery and says, “How nice Puerto Rico is.” He then turns into a flaming blue candle and vanishes upward in a flash. Other dwarf sightings take place in the area. (Gordon Creighton, “A New Medicare?” Flying Saucer Review 24, no. 2 (August 1978): 9)

September 6 — NASA administrator Robert Frosch responds to Frank Press, saying that he is “inclined to agree” with his recommendation on a new UFO panel; however, NASA wants to be assured that an inquiry is “justified,” and that if funding is provided, it could hire a project officer to review reports from the past 10 years. (Clark III 787)

September 7 — 10:24 p.m. A white glow is seen rushing silently three times over a 15-minute period in Tooele, Utah. It first travels to the south but executes a 90° turn toward the west. Five minutes later it returns, moving east. Ten minutes later it reappears, slower and lower, moving to the northeast. (“Case 2-10-58,” IUR 2, no. 10 (October 1977): 3)

September 8 — 12:30 a.m. An ex-pilot sees a dark, bullet-shaped object while walking his dog in New Orleans, Louisiana. It rushes silently to the east and changes course slightly to the southeast. (“Case 2-10-60,” IUR 2, no. 10 (October 1977): 3)

September 9 — Grenada Prime Minister Eric Gairy meets with President Jimmy Carter in the White House for 45 minutes. Carter gives Gairy a copy of the Condon report. (Dolan II 143)

September 14 — Press again asks Frosch for help with Carter’s UFO mail problem and repeats his suggestion for a scientific UFO panel to investigate reports. (presidentialufo.com, “President Jimmy Carter”)

September 15 — 2:15 a.m. A 33-year-old bus driver named Antonio Bogado La Rúbia leaves his home in Paciência, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to catch a bus. As he is walking by a deserted field, he sees a UFO “like an enormous hat.” He takes two steps back and is grabbed by two men. Suddenly he is floating inside the UFO, surrounded by two rows of a dozen men each, about 5 feet 5 inches tall. They are wearing football-shaped helmets with a wide band running across the broad portion and are cut into mirror-like sections from which blue flashes are emitted. They seem like robots, but La Rúbia can hear them breathing. A typical abduction scenario follows. (“Brazilian CE4 Case,” APRO Bulletin 26, no. 4 (October 1977): 1–4; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 2, 8; “Ufonautas Unipedais (Robôs) Seqüestram Motorista de Ônibus no Rio de Janeiro,” SBEDV Boletim, no. 121/125 (March/Dec. 1978): 20–44; Brazil 211–224)

Late September — 1:00 a.m. A witness working as a receptionist at the Paralela 45 Motel on Highway 1 north of Ploieşti, Romania, sees a large object 3–4 times as large as the Moon, which is visible in another part of the sky. It has an orange-red core with a yellowish-red halo at the edges. It stands motionless for 3–4 minutes, then descends slowly toward the southwest before shooting away at an nicredible speed. (Romania 42–43)

September 17 — 2:00 a.m. A couple driving near Kargowa, Poland, notice two unusual lights in the sky. They drive a half mile further, then the lights approach them at incredible speed and hover above the car. The driver stops to look at them and notices that one light is bigger and whiter than the smaller yellowish light. When he drives away, the lights continue to pace them for 6 miles, keeping 10–30 feet away from the car until they reach Wolsztyn, where they rise up and speed away. (Poland 32–33)

September 20 — 3:00 a.m. The watch officer of an Alfa-class nuclear submarine in the White Sea off Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, notices an object moving swiftly to the southwest. It seems to stretch out, turning into a long, glowing ribbon. As it flies over him, it looks like a cylinder with one of the ends becoming asymmetrical. The cylinder ejects small objects that fly off in different directions. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 13–14)

September 20 — 4:00 a.m. A large “star” sending out beams of light appears moving slowly over Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia. It is last seen as a semicircular glow, bright red in the middle and white on the sides. The total duration is 10–12 minutes. Scientist Mikhail Dimitryev describes it as a “giant jellyfish.” The phenomenon is seen over a vast territory, from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Helsinki, Finland, in the west to Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia, in the east. Government officials from northern European countries send letters to Anatoly Alexandrov, president of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, expressing concern about whether the observed phenomenon is caused by Soviet weapons testing and whether it constitutes a threat to the region’s environment. Col. Boris Sokolov reveals that the phenomenon is observed from 12:00 midnight by military men along the Finnish border; when they try to report it, all their communications fail. All communications are restored after the phenomenon ceases. Since 1977, the phenomenon has often (though not universally) been attributed to the launch of the Soviet satellite Kosmos-955. In the same year, a preliminary report for the Academy of Sciences of the USSR contains an immense body of visual observations, radiolocation reports, physical measurements, and accompanying meteorological data. It concludes that “based on the available data, it is unfeasible to satisfactorily understand the observed phenomenon.” (Wikipedia, “Petrozavodsk phenomenon”; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 10 (October 1977): 2; Gordon Creighton, “A Russian ‘Jellyfish,’” Flying Saucer Review 23, no. 4 (January 1978): 19–20; Good Need, pp. 351; Enrique Vicente, “UFOs in the Soviet Union,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 118–119)

September 21 — Ground Saucer Watch files a complaint, spearheaded by lawyers Peter Gersten and Henry Rothblatt, with the CIA for failure to produce materials on the 1952 Ralph Mayher incident and the Durant report on the 1953 Robertson Panel. (“CIA Sued over UFO ‘Cover-Up,’” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): wrap; “CAUS Picking Up Where GSW and NICAP Left Off,” Just Cause 1, no. 1 (April 1978): 1–4)

September 21 — 8:47 p.m. A student notices a flashing light in the northern sky in Phoenix, Arizona. Suddenly, a formation of 8 triangles with rounded edges appears, 7 of them in a straight line, equally spaced. The eighth is slightly forward. They shoot noiselessly overhead and are lost in the glare of the southern sky. One crosses the face of the Moon. (“Case 2-11-9,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 3)

September 22 — 5:25 a.m. Capt. George Didlake, piloting Continental Airlines Flight 954, is climbing to 33,000 feet out of El Paso, Texas, when he sees an elongated object rapidly overtaking his DC-10. It has a row of brightly illuminated windows running front to rear and is blow the aircraft at roughly 12,000 feet. First Officer Jack Forsythe and Second Officer Russ Goodenough see the object as well. It passes the aircraft at a speed “beyond comprehension,” makes a 90° turn, and shoots up out of sight. (Dave Kenney, “Airline Crew Spots UFO,” APRO Bulletin 26, no. 3 (September 1977): 1, 3)

September 22 — Four FAA radar controllers in Omaha, Nebraska, track a large formation of unidentified objects. They are gone from the scope in less than a minute at an estimated speed of 17,000 mph. (MUFON UFO Journal, March 1983, p. 6)

September 22 — 10:25 p.m. A police detective in Ardmore, Oklahoma, watches a pulsating star rush about erratically. (“Case 2-11-12,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 3)

Late September — 11:00 p.m. Ethel May Field is in her backyard in Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, England, when she hears a humming nose and looks up. A circular object with a dome on top is approaching from the south-southwest. Its surfaces are gray, and a brilliant blue-yellow light is streaming from the underside. It is about 20 feet in diameter, and Field can see two humanoid figures visible almost to the waist inside the dome. The object hovers above her garden, its light so brilliant that she puts her hands up to shield her eyes. She can feel the heat on her hands and a vibration in the ground for a second or two. The occupants have silver suits and headgear. The figure on the right appears to be operating controls, while the one on the left is looking directly at her, making a gesture as if pointing downward. Alarmed, she runs back to the house and the object speeds away to the northwest. In the following week, she develops a skin irritation on the palms of her hands. (Leslie Harris, “Parkstone UFO and Occupants,” Flying Saucer Review 24, no. 2 (August 1978): 6–8)

September 27 — 4:36 a.m. A witness is driving toward Kirksville, Missouri, about 6 miles west of town when he notices a light behind him to the left. It is a yellow-orange object with flashing red lights, as big as the Moon, and is following him about 500 feet away at treetop level. He increases his speed to 120 mph, but the UFO keeps the same pace. As he reaches town the object climbs slightly and shoots off out of sight in 2 seconds. (“Case 2-11- 22,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 3)

September 27 — 12:15 p.m. A dredge master and four crew members see a UFO that remains visible for one minute off the northwest coast of Wowoni Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Consisting of a cone of translucent material with dark spots, the object emits violet, white, and red light from its top. It has a forward, undulating motion against the wind and is spinning on its axis at about 9,000 feet altitude. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 2)

September 28 — 2:45 p.m. A grocery store clerk watches a distant bright light moving west over Burlington, Iowa. A second point of light appears, catches up to the first one, and both weave a figure 8 at least 6 times as they pass nearly overhead to the west. (“Case 2-11-24,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 3)

Early autumn — 5:20 p.m. A woman police constable is waiting at a bus stop near Lewes, East Sussex, England, when she notices a large, silent object at about 300 feet altitude. On impulse, she waves at the object, which then comes closer. It seems to be made of a light greenish-gray metal with a moderately reflective surface. A blue-green light is coming out of its dome, and underneath the object is a dense, black, circular section. At closest approach, the UFO is no more than 50 feet away. She experiences a sense of timelessness, and she later cannot account for about 20 minutes of time. When the bus arrives, she feels a numbness as she fumbles for change. When she gets to the top deck, the object is gone. She develops an acute headache that lasts into the following day. Her eyes burn and water for a week afterward, and she suffers recurring gastric discomfort. (Good Above, pp. 115–116, 457)

October — The Petrozavodsk phenomenon in Russia contributes to the creation of the Setka program—Soviet research into anomalous atmospheric phenomena, proposed by scientist Anatoly Alexandrov. Two research commissions are set up: the Setka-MO, under the orders of the Ministry of Defense and composed mainly of military personnel, and the Setka-AN, under the orders of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and composed of scientists. The first group has the task of studying the military aspects of the problem, such as the possible influences of the UFOs on the malfunctioning of military devices and installations; the ministry names special officers in all military units who are tasked with the responsibility of watching out for unusual phenomena. The second group studies physical effects related to UFOs and tries to understand the causes. The coordination of the first commission is entrusted

to Col. Boris Sokolov, that of the second commission to Prof. Vladimir Migulin, supported by Dr. Yulii Platov as deputy coordinator. According to one of his aides, Igor Sinitsin, it is KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov who initiates these programs. (Wikipedia, “Programma Setka”; Good Above, p. 237; Good Need, pp. 351–352; Nick Paton Walsh, “KGB Chief Ordered 4m Soldiers to Keep Watching the Skies for UFOs,” The Guardian, March 23, 2003)

October 1 — 7:00 p.m. Leo and John Girardeau are hunting 3 miles west of Libau, Manitoba, when they see an object approaching from the west at an altitude of 500 feet. As it approaches, the witnesses go into their truck and turn on the lights. The object, about 75–100 feet wide and 25–30 feet high, reverses direction and moves westward. One of the men fires a shotgun to lure it back; when this fails, they pursue it in their truck. Running out of road a few miles later, they stop and watch it move out of sight. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): 2)

October 4 — 2:45 p.m. A group of 10 children see a strange object hovering between two trees while they are playing at Upton Primary Junior School in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Their teacher, Mrs. Hindmarsh, immediately separates them and asks them to draw what they have seen. Their drawings are consistent, so she passes them on to the Cheshire police, who take the report seriously and check with the Manchester Airport, which reports that nothing unusual was detected on radar. (UFOFiles2, p. 97)

October 5 — 10:40 a.m. TV cameramen Manuel Juarez and Oscar Tobar are videotaping a car commercial in Guatemala City, Guatemala, when a UFO comes into view. Instead, they videotape the UFO, which is in view for 51 seconds moving at about 100 mph. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): 8; “First Photos of Guatemala Videotape,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): 7–8)

October 7 — Prime Minister of Grenada Eric Gairy addresses the UN General Assembly urging the recognition of UFOs as a serious international scientific problem. He says that he has seen a UFO and was “totally overwhelmed” by the experience. (UFOEv II 20)

October 7 — The Soviet submarine repair ship Volga is in the Barents Sea when its radar picks up an unknown target approaching at a distance of 60 miles. Captain Tarankin goes to the bridge and sees 9 bright discs moving in from the northeast. They arrive and circle around the ship’s masts for 18 minutes. During this time, all of the ship’s communications links no longer work. Captain Tarankin tells his men to remember the incident, so that no one will be able to say their captain is drunk or crazy. After the discs depart, communications is restored. The incident raises some concern in the Soviet Navy, and Fleet Admiral Nikolai Ivanovich Smirnov issues a directive on mandatory reporting of UFO sightings by Soviet hydrographic, scientific research, and reconnaissance ships. The directive is written by naval officer and ufologist Vladimir G. Azhazha and signed by Naval Deputy Chief of Staff Petr Nikolayevich Navoytsev. (Jacques Vallée, UFO Chronicles of the Soviet Union: A Cosmic Samizdat, Ballantine, 1992, pp. 29–30; Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 11–13)

October 9 — 8:30 p.m. Holly Prunchak is working as a security guard at the French-Hecht plant east of Walcott, Iowa, when she sees flashing lights rising straight up from distant trees in the northwest. They level off and move toward her. They are blinding in intensity and flash on and off like a beacon, apparently surrounded by a dark oval shape. Her FM radio goes silent, and her walkie-talkie fails. All animal sounds go quiet when the object is in view. The object looms about 300 feet away, passing near a streetlight that extinguishes for at least one minute. The object drops down onto trees of an adjacent farm. At this point she hysterically calls for help on a telephone intercom system, but no one takes her seriously. (“CE II in Iowa,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): 4, 8)

October 11 — 7:55 p.m. A farmer in Fairfield, Vermont, hears an odd noise and looks out his window. He and his family watch a bright light source (a bright red light flashing next to a dimmer white light) hovering above a swamp. The object shines a light beam down into the swamp as if searching for something. A second red light approaches from over a nearby house and comes within several hundred feet of the first object; both continue to hover and circle. One vanishes at 11;30 p.m., while the other persists until 1:30 a.m. when the sky becomes cloudy. (“Case 2-11-53,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): wrap)

October 13 — 3:55 p.m. A retired police officer and ex-pilot in Toledo, Ohio, watches, along with other young men, a “star” in clear daylight rush from south-southeast to north-northeast, passing east of overhead in a straight path without sound or trail. The estimated speed is Mach 1, but it slows down and stops for the last 10–15 seconds before vanishing. (“Case 2-11-60,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): wrap)

October 13 — 10:15 p.m. S/Sgt Steven N. Haidinger is in his backyard at Chanute AFB [now closed] near Rantoul, Illinois, where he is looking at the moon through his telescope. He hears what sounds like wind passing around a building and looks straight up. About 500 feet in the air is an object slowly moving from the west-northwest. He trains his telescope on it and tries to follow it. The object looks rectangular, about 150 feet long, and 10 feet across. It has small, square indentations in patterns along its sides and it rotates as it moves, about once every 2 seconds. It moves out of sight in about 12 minutes. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 1 (January 1981): 2)

October 14 — 7:00 p.m. A physician in Toledo, Ohio, watches a red-orange object moving silently east, passing overhead, and disappearing in the distance. Possible balloon. (“Case 2-11-63,” IUR 2, no. 11 (November 1977): wrap)

October 15 — 6:45 p.m. British diplomat Alan K. Rothnie is driving near Rolvenden, Kent, England, when he sees a glowing bluish object in the sky traveling fast from south to north and shaped “somewhat like a flattened avocado

pear.” The blunt leading end seems to be rimmed with a shining metal, and the back end is trailing sparks. The object moves away in 90 seconds. (UFOFiles2, pp. 87–88)

October 17 — A woman and her children watch a blindingly bright red light from their first-floor porch in Uccle, Belgium. It is stationary and silent for one hour in the southwest at an estimated 1,000 feet altitude. Finally, the object moves toward the west, then north, and disappears in the distance. An independent group of witnesses several streets away also watch the light. A half-hour later, the daughter of the original family sees another pair of similar objects in the south about 400–500 feet off the ground. These circle for 30 minutes and then disappear to the south. One hour later, the family watches another bright light maneuvering in the southwest before disappearing. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 3 (March 1978): 2)

October 20 — Several witnesses in San José, Costa Rica, see lighted objects around Pico Blanco, a mountain to the south of town. One physician sees a “squat, orange object” for 20 minutes until it ascends at great speed and disappears. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no 12 (December 1977): 2)

October 20 — 8:15 p.m. Keith Kilford and Philip Staff watch a small orange triangle over a house in Bromley, Kent, England, that grows to twice its size, shrinks again, and moves rapidly away until it disappears. It reappears about 10 minutes later and disappears again. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 2, no 12 (December 1977): 2)

October 22 — 2:40 a.m. A half-moon-shaped orange cloud, 3 times the size of the Moon, is seen hovering and descending at Irondequoit, New York. Chunks “like teardrops” are seen falling off. (“Case 2-12-16,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): 3)

October 23 — 3:30 a.m. A glowing triangular white cloud is seen in Rochester, New York, receding to the southwest. (“Case 2-12-17,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): 3)

October 24 — 2:00 a.m. A musician watches a saucer-shaped object at Cerrillos, New Mexico, approaching at a low angle from the south. It moves across his view for 15–30 seconds, stops for 15–20 seconds in the southwest, and zooms away. (“Case 2-12-25,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): 3)

October 25 — 5:30 p.m. Three witnesses, including two deaf 14-year-olds, Johny Myhr and Frank Sverre Mandt, view a disc-shaped object some 33 feet in diameter that hovers and then descends behind some bushes at Åsbygda, Ringerinke, Norway. After about 10 seconds it rises into the air again. The boys run to the nearby Alm school.

They notice the object ascending at a 40° angle and see several windows in the craft. What appears to be a

human-looking person is behind one of the windows. Tracks are later found in the newly plowed field. Each track is rectangular with rounded corners, and measures 5.5 inches by 1.2 feet with a depth of 4 inches. The tracks are arranged in a triangular shape. (“Strange Aircraft Spotted in Åsbygda,” Nordic UFO Newsletter 1, no. 1 (1981): 16–18)

October 26 — 12:45 p.m. En route from Dyess AFB near Abilene, Texas, to Dallas, cruising at 15,000 feet in a T-38 jet trainer, 1st Lt Seth Bryant (instructor pilot) and 1st Lt Choate (student pilot) overhear transmissions from Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center to another pilot who has seen a red object he cannot identify. Choate then sees the red object and informs the pilot of its position. The object is flying at 10,000–12,000 feet and seems stationary. The distance is estimated to be about 23 miles away. Initially, the light is brilliant and appears to be closing rapidly. An evasive maneuver is considered but deemed unnecessary. The pilot contacts Fort Worth Center, giving the position of the object and asks if he is tracking anything on radar, but he isn’t. The size of the red light decreases, similar to a very slowly rotating beacon, and is lost to sight. The total duration is less than a minute. Choate recalls static over his headset at the time. (NICAP, “Near Collision with T-33 / Radio Static”)

October 27 — 5:35 p.m. At Cagliari Elmas Airport on Sardinia, Italy, three helicopters of the Italian Army’s Aviazione Leggera dell’Esercito are followed for more than 5 minutes by an orange disc. It is seen and tracked by both military and civilian witnesses and from the airport control tower. Air Force Col. Giomaria orders a jet interceptor to take off but it fails to catch up to the intruder. Maj. Francesco Zoppi and copilot Lt. Riccardelli manage to approach to within 1,000 feet. The sighting causes a feverish exchange of messages between airport personnel, the NATO base at Decimomannu, Sardinia, the USS Saratoga, and several military planes in flight. Col. Mario d’Angelo, commander of the airport’s Air Force base, sends a detailed report to Attilio Ruffini, the Italian Minister of Defense, who orders an investigation. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 4 (April 1978): 2; “Italian Government Report,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 146 (April 1980): 15; Good Above, pp. 145–146; 1Pinotti 211–

October 29 — 7:30 a.m. A patrolman in North East, Pennsylvania, spots a brown, cigar-shaped object moving towards him. He can see a tail fin. It changes direction to the southwest and disappears, (“Case 2-12-37,” IUR 2, no 12 (December 1977): 3)

October 29 — 4:00 p.m. Four men at a gas station in downtown Hagerstown, Maryland, watch a round white object half the size of the Moon. It silently orbits counterclockwise around a cloud, emerging from behind, crossing in front, then disappearing behind. (“Case 2-12-38,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): 3–wrap)

October 29 — 7:45 p.m. Two young teenagers in North East, Pennsylvania, notice a light flashing different colors in the west. They think they see a dark “pancake” body twice the Moon’s diameter attached to the light. They go into their house where they are babysitting, and the object shines a spotlight down to the spot where they were originally standing. It hovers about 10 feet above some grapevines, then swoops toward the house and moves into trees to the north. They call police, but every time one visits the house, all they can see is a distant light. (“Case 2- 12-39,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): wrap)

October 29–November 3 — Police and citizens in the area of Erie, Pennsylvania, report multiple sightings of star-like lights, some flashing. Some are likely aircraft. (“Mini-’Flap’ in Northwestern Pennsylvania: But of IFOs?” IUR 2, no 12 (December 1977): wrap)

October 31 — The National Enquirer sends a series of questions to Secretary of the Air Force John C. Stetson about the 1975 Northern Tier UFO incidents. The Air Force admits they do not know what the objects were. (ClearIntent, pp. 23–24)

October 31 — David Williamson Jr., a NASA assistant administrator for special projects, drafts a memorandum of a proposed letter to be signed by Noel W. Hinners and sent to Robert A. Frosch. The letter mentions a revival of interest in UFOs and paranormal phenomena, as well as new sightings. It mentions a lack of tangible evidence to analyze and a lack of protocols for investigating UFOs as hindrances to NASA setting up an investigatory panel: “All in all, undertaking a formal study at this time appears to be fraught with peril.” Williamson sees two choices: refuse the project, or have NASA review the best cases from civilian UFO organizations and new cases. He foresees problems with workload, peer pressure, and prejudgment—an enormous expenditure of resources.

However, he recommends examining the best cases from the civilian groups. The inquiry will be handled by Hinners, Williamson, and NASA administrator Kenneth D. Chapman. (Clark III 788)

October 31 — 9:35 p.m. Several students in Placentia, California, watch a disc with four lighted portholes hovering and eclipsing the moon for a few seconds. It shoots away toward the north. (“Case 2-12-46,” IUR 2, no. 12 (December 1977): wrap)

November 1 — Afternoon. Students Johnny Myrh and Frank Sverre see a flying object approaching from the north as they are walking home from a school bus station in Nybygda, Ringerike, Norway. The light-green object lands about 300 feet away in a newly ploughed field. They see a human-like figure inside the object behind one of its windows. After 10 seconds, the object lifts off, leaving three equally spaced marks in the ground, 1.2 feet long and 3–7 inches wide. Each imprint is made by something with a curved bottom. The sighting is partially corroborated by one of the attendants at the school who sees a shining object at the same time and place but at a much greater distance. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): 2)

November 2 — Italian Air Force pilots and pilots of two German Air Force F-101G Starfighters, as well as the tower personnel at Cagliari Elmas Airport on Sardinia, Italy, see a circular or elliptical ball of fire flying at tremendous speed. (Good Above, p. 146)

November 10 — 4:31 p.m. UFO researcher Ray Stanford sees a stationary metallic gray object in the southwestern sky as he is walking his dog in Austin, Texas. Its smaller end is at the top and there is a slight variance around the larger, lower end of the object, which seems to be vibrating. After several seconds, it seems to elongate and rotate. After another 10 seconds, it appears in the shape of a Coke bottle, then disappears quickly. (Ray Stanford, “Letter,” IUR 7, no. 3 (May/June 1982): 3–4)

November 12 — Evening. William J. Hermann sees a disc-shaped object chasing a Cessna aircraft over Charleston, South Carolina. (Clark III 570)

November 16 — 10:59 p.m. An alarm sounds at the Ellsworth AFB L-09 missile site 7 miles southwest of Nisland, South Dakota. Two security men, Airmen 1st Class Kenneth Jenkins and Wayne E. Raeke, are dispatched to the scene from Ellsworth. As Raeke is inspecting the rear fence line, he (allegedly) sees a helmeted figure in a glowing green metallic suit. It points a weapon at Raeke’s rifle and causes it to disintegrate, burning his hands and arms. Jenkins helps him back to their security vehicle. When Jenkins goes back to the rear fence line, he sees two of these beings. They ignore his command to halt, so he opens fire on them. His bullets strike one on the shoulder and the other in the helmet. The figures run over a hill and Jenkins pursues them. He sees them entering a 20-foot- diameter saucer-shaped object that shoots away over the horizon. As Raeke is air-evacuated from the scene, investigators discover that the missile’s nuclear components have been stolen. A follow-up investigation by Bob Pratt of the National Enquirer determines that Jenkins and Raeke are real and on active duty, but everything else about the incident is bogus. Raeke has suffered no injuries and does not even know Jenkins. (“Incident/Complaint Report,” November 16, 1977; Clark III 358–359)

November 17 — Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg, premieres in New York City. The plot involves benevolent aliens who make their presence known to selected individuals and world governments

through escalating UFO waves. The film culminates in a spectacular landing and contact hidden from the public by an ingenious cover-up. (Jennifer Henderson and George M. Eberhart, “30 Years of Close Encounters,” IUR 31, no. 3 (October 2007): 16–18, 28; Clark III 259; Internet Movie Database, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”)

November 18 — 5:30 a.m. A hunter sees an object 4–5 times the size of the full moon ascending about 900 feet away in a wooded area near Richmond, Virginia. It is smoky-gray and egg-shaped with one white light at the top and two flashing lights on the bottom. Possible balloon. (“Case 3-1-12,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): 3)

November 18 — 9:17 p.m. A bright white light moving at a high rate of speed comes alongside a small aircraft flying at 13,000 feet between Vichy and Troy, Missouri, and paces the airplane for 3 minutes. The light then moves away at high speed. The pilot reports that while the light is abreast of his aircraft, one of his transponders stops working. After the UFO pulls away, the transponder resumes its normal operation. The object paces the aircraft for 3–4 miles at a distance of 17 miles and is fairly high above the aircraft. The pilot turns on his other transponder and nothing happens, then the object takes off on a 120°–130° heading and shoots out of sight. The second transponder recovers, but the pilot can never get the first one to work again. He has no trouble with the other instruments. (NICAP, “UFO KO’s Transponder”)

November 24 — 10:00 p.m. A polygraph examiner with experience as a pilot and sailor is sitting on her porch in Smyrna, Georgia, when she notices an object the size of a distant aircraft fly out ion front of the moon. The object is white, intensely luminous, and shaped like a hemisphere. It hovers for a few seconds, shoots straight up, hovers again, and then tilts back (showing its bottom portion with two Saturn-like rings of light) and flies back in front of the moon and disappears. (“Case 3-1-20,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): 3)

November 27 — William J. Hermann chases another disc-shaped UFO in Charleston, South Carolina, in his car and takes four photographs. He has other sightings on December 2 and 4 and on January 22, 1978, when he snaps eight photos. (Clark III 570)

November 28 — Wellington Friday, UN ambassador at large for Grenada, addresses the United Nations on the seriousness of the UFO phenomenon and the need for global cooperation in investigating them. He is aided in his statement by ufologist Leonard Stringfield. Friday appeals to UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim to convene UFO hearings. The next two days are focused on preparation of a draft resolution to be presented to the General Assembly on November 30. The United States says that it can “sympathize” with Grenada’s efforts but cannot support the draft resolution. On November 30, the US delegates, Coast Guard Cmdr. John Feigle and John Krindler, meet with Grenada Prime Minister Eric Gairy in a closed-door session to make the resolution more moderate. (Leonard H. Stringfield, “Inside Look at Grenada’s UFO Mission at the United Nations,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 6–7; MUFON UFO Journal, October 1978; Antonio Huneeus, “Rare Footage of Famous 1978 UN UFO Hearing Found,” Open Minds, May 13, 2011)

December — GEPAN’s Scientific Council holds its first meeting. The group is given a two-volume report of 290 pages, including three general presentations, three detailed investigations, an analysis of two UFO photos, and five statistical analyses of samples and cases. The council reaches conclusions and recommendations for further study. (Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000– 2001): 12)

December — Jim and Coral Lorenzen publish Abducted!, a collection of 20 years of UFO abduction cases. Most of the aliens they describe are small with large heads and eyes, no hair, and communicate by telepathy. They suggest that abductions are the latest logical step in an alien information-gathering process. Each abductee, they believe, has specific information of value to the aliens. (Coral and Jim Lorenzen, Abducted! Confrontations with Beings from Outer Space, Berkley, 1977)

Early December — 5:15 p.m. A witness is driving from Falck to Brettnach, Moselle, France, when he notices three lights on a triangular object hovering silently. It disappears abruptly. (Marler 98)

December 1 — The Have Blue HB1001 stealth aircraft is tested for the first time at Area 52 in the Tonopah Test Range by pilot Bill Park. (Wikipedia, “Lockheed Have Blue”)

December 1 — 8:28 p.m. An electrician is driving east out of Elm City, North Carolina, when a large object drifts into view from the north. It has one intense headlight in front, 4–6 blue lights around the edges, and many red and white lights forming portholes along the sides. It is shaped like a torpedo with four swept-back fins at the back with a round band connecting them, and it is making a humming sound. (“Case 3-1-30,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): 3, wrap)

December 2 — Night. A farmer in the Waimata Velley of New Zealand wakes up when his dogs bark loudly in their kennels. He goes to the back door and sees a landed saucer-shaped craft in a paddock about 100 feet away. It is about 50 feet in diameter and bright red with two open doors in the side. By the kennels he sees two humanoid beings about 4 feet 8 inches in height with slim builds. They are carrying one of the dogs, which appears

comatose. The farmer shoots and hits one of the creatures, apparently startling them into dropping the animal. The being that is hit runs off into the bushes, and the other runs into the UFO, which then ascends vertically. The dog remains dazed for a few minutes and then becomes agitated. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 2)

December 6 — 7:30 p.m. Three people in a car near Tatapouri Point, New Zealand, see a red disc coming from the direction of the ocean. It seems to follow their car for about one mile until the driver stops. At that instant, the object veers off into the hills northwest toward the Waimata Valley. They note their car lights are much dimmer than usual, and on arriving at their destination discover that the car battery has no water in it. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 2)

December 6 — 9:05 p.m. A man in Big Sandy, Tennessee, sees an unusual configuration of lights outside his bedroom window in the east-northeast. They are oriented like a telephone pole with a red light on top and many white and blue lights down both sides. He and his wife watch the object for 10 minutes as it hovers, drops down, and glides to another hovering position. Eventually it moves out of sight behind trees. (“Case 3-1-40,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): wrap)

December 7 — The United Nations draft resolution on UFO investigations is shelved until next year’s General Assembly. (“United Nations Shelves UFO Involvement,” IUR 3, no. 1 (January 1978): wrap; Leonard H. Stringfield, “Inside Look at Grenada’s UFO Mission at the United Nations,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 7)

December 8 — 8:00 p.m. Air traffic controllers at Oxnard, California, track 4 UFOs about 3–5 miles north of Laguna Peak. They watch the targets for nearly 3 hours. Around 9:00 p.m., a Golden West commuter aircraft reports two large bright lights maneuvering around it for 15 minutes. The pilot says the object approaches so close that it “scared the hell out of me.” (MUFON UFO Journal, March 1983)

December 13 — The UN General Assembly adopts Decision 32/424, which acknowledges Eric Gairy’s resolution, forwards it to member states, and shelves the matter until the next general assembly one year later. (Leonard H. Stringfield, “My Advisory Role for Grenada’s UFO Mission at the United Nations,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 120 (November 1977): 10–11)

December 13 — The National Enquirer publishes Bob Pratt’s well-researched article, “UFOs Spotted at Nuclear Bases and Missile Sites” about the Northern Tier cases. He lists names and dates that can be used for a FOIA request, which UFO researcher Barry Greenwood promptly files. (ClearIntent, pp. 5–6)

December 17 — 3:34 a.m. Radar facilities in Colorado and South Dakota track two UFOs that give strong returns, moving at more than 1,000 mph. They are tracked for the next 30 minutes, during which time one of the objects makes a close head-on pass at an aircraft. A third radar station is unable to function while the unknowns are in the area.

One of the other facilities is put out of operation when the main shaft holding the radar antenna is severely bent by an unknown force. (MUFON UFO Journal, March 1983)

December 17 — 4:00 p.m. Marguerite Camp is in her pickup truck on State Highway 2 near Kenyon, Rhode Island, when she spots an “ovoid, plate-like” object that is tilted slightly to the west. She stops and gets out to watch the UFO, which is 3–4 times the size of a B-29 in diameter and glowing blue-white. She sees 4–5 dark windows and its bottom half is blurry. Another woman, driving an AMC Gremlin, pulls up behind her. While they are watching the object, the engines of both vehicles stall. The object turns up on its edge and climbs vertically, and hovers for 10 more minutes. The second woman gets back in her car, starts it up, and drives away. The object speeds off to the west, takes on a pinkish glow, and fades in the distance. (Dan Todd, “Large Objects Stalls Autos,” APRO Bulletin 27, no. 1 (July 1978): 4–5)

December 17 — 7:45 p.m. A red, luminous object is seen by Kenny and Carol Drake of Council Bluffs, Iowa, falling to earth near the northern city limits. At the scene, they find an area covered by molten metal that is glowing orange- red, igniting the grass. Police and firemen who arrive 15 minutes later all see the fallen mass, estimated at 35–55 pounds. An investigation concludes that it is not space debris, a meteorite, or a hoax. Two of the 11 witnesses to the fall describe a round object hovering in the sky, edged by blinking red lights. The retrieved material is composed of solid metal and slag with white ash inclusions. (Jacques Vallée, “Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 12, no. 3 (1998): 367–372; Keith Basterfield, “Vallée–Nolan, et al., Peer Reviewed Analysis of Unusual Materials Paper Published,” Unidentified Aerial Phenomena—Scientific Research, December 11, 2021; Garry P. Nolan, Jacques F. Vallée, Sizun Jiang, and Larry G, Lemke, “Improved Instrumental Techniques, Including Isotopic Analysis, Applicable to the Characterization of Unusual Materials with Potential Relevance to Aerospace Forensics,” Progress in Aerospace Sciences 128 (January 2022))

December 21 — NASA administrator Robert A. Frosch sends a response to Frank Press at OSTP, saying that NASA would be willing to continue to answer public inquiries and examine any bona fide new physical evidence that comes in, but declines to set up a panel to investigate cases. (Story, pp. 242–243; Clark III 788–789; ClearIntent,

p. 193; presidentialufo.com, “President Jimmy Carter”; “NASA Letter Declines UFO ‘Research Activity,’”

MUFON UFO Journal, no. 120 (November 1977): 6)

December 27 — A White House press release states that it accepts NASA’s evaluation of the UFO situation and will not pursue its initiative any further. ()

December 27 — 10:54 p.m. Police officers Ron Arey and Howard Dellinger are flying in a Bell Jetranger police helicopter at 1,100 feet in Charlotte, North Carolina, when they see two lights approaching from the northwest. They pass the chopper to the right at an estimated 200 feet. Charlotte FAA air traffic controller Ray Bader confirms two unknown targets on radar. Later on, the object circles the helicopter at an estimated distance of 200 feet. The UFO looks like a globular white light reflecting upward into a silver, parachute-like object with ribs connecting the light to it. Possibly a prank balloon. (“Object over N.C. on Dec. 27, 1977,” APRO Bulletin 26, no. 8 (February 1978): 1, 5; “A Radar-Visual in Charlotte: UFO or Prank Balloon?” IUR 3, no. 3 (March 1978): 7–8)

December 30 — Stanford astrophysicist Peter A. Sturrock writes to Frosch, offering to make available physical evidence “such as films, material samples, etc.” obtained by his Study Group on Anomalous Phenomena. (Clark III 789)

December 30 — A white, oval light about 27 feet in diameter paces a car 90 feet away near Keith, South Australia. The two witnesses, a brother and sister, report that as they slowed their car to 5–10 kph, the engine begins misfiring. They stop, and the light continues on its course. After it is gone, the car can be started again and driven with no difficulties. (Mark Rodeghier, UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference, CUFOS, 1981, p. 72)

1978

1978 — A Gallup survey this year shows that 57% of Americans think UFOs are real, 9% have reported a sighting, and 51% think there is intelligent life on other planets. A Roper Organization survey finds that 7% have seen a UFO. (“A New Gallup Poll on UFOs,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): insert; Robert J. Durant, “Evolution of Public Opinion on UFOs,” IUR 18, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1993): 13)

1978 — Gene Duplantier publishes one issue of Ufolk in Willowdale, Ontario, a compendium of photos of many ufologists active in the mid-1970s. (Ufolk, no. 1 (1978))

1978 — After many years of informal contacts with the Italian military, Centro Ufologico Nazionale succeeds in obtaining from the staff of the Italian Department of Defense the first official dossier of UFO sightings reported by Italian military personnel during 1977. (Story, p. 67)

1978 — Brazilian ufologist Irene Granchi begins publishing a quarterly magazine titled OVNI Documento in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Margaret Sachs, The UFO Encyclopedia, Putnam, 1980, p. 235)

1978 — Timothy Green Beckley begins publishing a somewhat sensational UFO Review in New York City. It runs at least until 1994. (UFO Review, no. 1 (1978))

January — Playboy publishes a “panel discussion” on UFOs that features essays by J. Allen Hynek, R. Leo Sprinkle, James A. Harder, Frank Salisbury, Jacques Vallée, Philip J. Klass, and Ernest H. Taves. (“Playboy Panel: UFOs,” Playboy, January 1978, pp. 67–98, 128, 249–250)

January — The Russian Academy of Sciences releases a report, translated by Richard F. Haines and published by the Center for UFO Studies as Observations of Anomalous Atmospheric Phenomena in the USSR: A Statistical Analysis, written by Lev M. Gindilis of the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute in Moscow. Data processing and bookkeeping is performed by I. G. Petrovskaya and most of the text is written by engineer-physicist D. A. Menkov. Significantly, the report is approved for official publication by Academician Nikolai Kardashev, one of the USSR’s top experts in SETI. Its reports and data come from a sample of 256 Russian cases compiled by Felix Ziegel. According to space historian James Oberg, many of the sightings in the report correspond to Soviet tests and reentries of the Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, a nuclear weapons delivery system developed in the 1960s. (Wikipedia, “Petrozavodsk phenomenon”; L. M. Gindilis, D. A. Men’kov, and I. G. Petrovskaya, Observations of Anomalous Atmospheric Phenomena in the USSR: A Statistical Analysis, CUFOS, June 1980; “Russian Report on UFOs,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 16–17; James E. Oberg, “The Great Soviet UFO Cover-Up,” MUFON UFO Journal, October 1982; Swords 458–460)

January — During the flight of a Yakolev Yak-40 airliner between the Medvezhye gas field and Nadym, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the crew notices a bright round object that approaches rapidly and sometime later appears in front of the aircraft, apparently much larger. A crash appears imminent, but the object soars up in front of the nose of the airliner. (Paul Stonehill, “Pilot and Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich and UFOs,” Open Minds, June 12, 2014)

January — Night. Police Sgt. Tony Dodd and Constable Alan Dale are driving near Cononley, North Yorkshire, England, when the road in front of them lights up. They stop the patrol car, look up, and see an object about 100 feet away and moving silently at 40 mph. It has three large spheres below it, portholes around the perimeter, and a dome on top. The object passes overhead and seems to land in a wood on a distant hillside. (Good Above, pp. 116–117)

January 1 — 12:45–1:00 p.m. Pilots Floyd P. Hallstrom (in a Cessna 170A) and Jim Victor (in a Mustang II 4954) are flying over Santa Monica, California, at 7,500 feet when they see an object approaching at high speed. As the UFO passes about 6,000 feet to his left, Hallstrom is looking down on it an angle of about 30°–45° and its true form suddenly becomes clear to him. He is able to make out the complete form of a saucer and can see the dome, also very vividly clear, including all the windows, about 16–20 evenly spaced around the circumference of the dome, located just above the base. The dome appears to be a perfect hemisphere about 20 feet in diameter resting on the base, which is about 30 feet in diameter. The UFO continues on a course opposite to the pilot’s with no sign of rotation, oscillation, pitch, roll, or yaw. Neither is there any sign of a propulsion system. The sun reflects off the dome as a bright spot when the UFO passes. After about a minute, the object disappears from view behind the Cessna. (NICAP, “Cessna Encounters Disc with Dome and Windows”: “An Air-Visual Sighting of a Daylight Disc in California,” IUR 3, no. 4 (April 1978): insert; UFOEv II 136–138)

January 2 — 11:00 p.m. Four young men are driving through an isolated area known as Simonswood Moss, between Rainsford and Kirkby, West Lancashire, England, when they realize they have taken a wrong turn onto a narrow dirt road bordering a ditch. They suddenly see a 7-foot tall figure with red eyes appear in the glare of the headlights 26 feet ahead. The being is wearing a white fluorescent one-piece suit with boots, it has no discernible facial features, and it has short arms ending in claws. On its chest is a box with two flashing red lights. The figure takes two steps towards the witnesses and suddenly stops. The witnesses panic and leave the area, driving to a nearby farm where they notify the police. A later investigation suggests that they have seen a cow wandering down the lane, the car’s headlights reflecting in its eyes. (Peter Hough, “UFO Occupants,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 129–130; Patrick Gross, URECAT, September 11, 2008)

January 10 — 12:25 a.m. A 31-year-old paramedic is driving to pick up her husband (a policeman) from work in Chicago, Illinois, when her 3-year-old son draws her attention to a “moving star” nearly overhead. At her destination a few seconds later, she notes a silver disc-shaped object (“with teacups on top and bottom of saucer”) as large as a full moon moving forward with yellow-orange trail behind as it moved. The object stops, reverses direction, moves forward again, and moves off behind a building. The trail is only visible while the object is in motion. Duration is 1–2 minutes. (“Case 3-2-39,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 3)

January 14 — 8:30 p.m. Four witnesses inside a house in Delavan, Wisconsin, see an orange ball half the size of the full moon descend into view through a window. They watch the sphere hover for one minute, move 10° to the north, hover, and then move off quickly to the northern horizon. (“Case 3-2-50,” IUR 3, no. 2 (February 1978): 3)

January 17 — As a response to Sturrock’s letter, NASA astrophysicist Richard C. Henry writes to Noel Hinners suggesting that examination of any UFO evidence could be assigned to the Astrophysics Division at Goddard Space Flight Center managed by Program Scientist Frank Martin. He suggests as project scientist Stephen P. Maran at Goddard. Henry gets no response. (Clark III 789)

January 18 — 3:00–5:00 a.m. A security policeman at McGuire AFB [now Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst] in Burlington County, New Jersey, is called to help investigate a low-flying UFO over the neighboring Fort Dix army base. An Army MP pursues the object, but his radio transmission is cut off just as a grayish, 4-foot-tall being with fat head, long arms, and a slender body appears in front of his car. The MP fires five rounds into the being and one round into the object above. The UFO shoots upward and joins 11 others high in the sky, and the being runs into the woods toward the Fort Dix fence line. A security patrol finds its dead body near the McGuire AFB runaway, giving out a foul, ammonia-like stench; then AFOSI arrives and ropes everything off. Retired USAF Maj. George Filer III, who later serves as MUFON New Jersey director, asserts that he was stationed on the base at the time and that the story is true, although he did not see the alien. (UFOEv II 97–98; Leonard H. Stringfield, “The Fatal Encounter at Ft. Dix–McGuire: A Case Study: Status Report IV,” 1985, in MUFON UFO Symposium Proceedings, 1985; Leonard Stringfield, “The Chase for Proof in a Squirrel’s Cage,” UFOs 1947– 1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 153–155; MUFON UFO Journal, June 1987; John L. Guerra, Strange Craft: The True Story of an Air Force Intelligence Officer’s Life with UFOs, The Author, 2018; Erik Larsen, “In New Book, Retired Air Force Major Claims Alien Was Killed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst,” app, September 3, 2019; Clark III 511–513; Keith Basterfield, “NIDS Investigated the Reported Shooting of a Non-Human Entity: Fort Dix/McGuire AFB, 18 January 1978; the NIDS Investigation,” Unidentified Aerial Phenomena—Scientific Research, December 17, 2019)

January 19 — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy files a request with the US State Department for classified UFO documents and includes the date and time information, transmittal numbers, and message serial numbers, but the department replies that it cannot locate the specified information. (ClearIntent, pp. 193–194)

January 23 — 7:40 p.m. A carpenter is standing on his front porch in Toledo, Ohio, when he notices a stationary saucer- shaped object about 30° above the horizon in the eastern sky. It is lit by the reflection of the city lights and the Moon and is slightly larger than a distant aircraft. It has dark, outlined windows and a small structure on top. The object then moves off rapidly to the south and blinks out. (“Case 3-3-14,” IUR 3, no. 3 (March 1978): 3)

January 24 — The Soviet reconnaissance satellite Kosmos 954 reenters the Earth’s atmosphere while traveling on a northeastward track over western Canada. At first the USSR claims that the satellite has been completely destroyed during re-entry, but later searches show debris from the satellite has been deposited on Canadian territory along a 370-mile path from Great Slave Lake to Baker Lake. The effort to recover radioactive material from the satellite is dubbed Operation Morning Light. Covering a total area of 48,000 square miles, the joint Canadian–US team (consisting of the emergency Nuclear Emergency Support Team) sweeps the area on foot and by air through October 15. They are ultimately able to recover 12 large pieces of the satellite, 10 of which are radioactive. (Wikipedia, “Kosmos 954”; Jacobsen, Area 51, pp. 314–316)

January 26 — 12:31 a.m. A policeman in Williamston, North Carolina, watches a round light the size of the full Moon at 60° in the northwest. The light moves quickly toward the south then hovers 10–15 seconds before changing course. A windstorm is in progress and the object is beneath the clouds. Another officer 3 miles away also watches the object for 10–20 seconds before it disappears. (“Case 3-3-19,” IUR 3, no. 3 (March 1978): 3)

January 27 — 12:00 midnight. A flight instructor is flying his Cessna 172 to Opalocka, Florida, when he sees a formation of six objects with no lights over Key West. Each object is disc-shaped and reflects the moonlight. They are flying in a ragged straight line, approximately equidistant, at 7,000 feet, then disappear in the distance. (“Case 3-3-24,” IUR 3, no. 3 (March 1978): 3)

January 27 — Early morning. Four men on the banks of the River Weaver see a silver balloon-shaped object land in a meadow near Frodsham, Cheshire, England. It emits a strong purplish glow that makes it hard to look at. Two entities of normal height emerge. They wear silvery suits and have miners’ lamps on their heads, and these glow purple. Cows on a nearby field seem to become paralyzed, unable to move. Using a metal cage, the entities pen in one cow and seem to measure it. The witnesses become frightened and run from the area, and as they run they feel a strange tingling sensation in their groins. One of the men develops sunburn-like marks on his leg. (Jenny Randles, Alien Abductions: The Mystery Solved, Inner Light, 1988, pp. 66–67)

January 27 — Cheryl DeSanctis sees a blinking red and white light hovering above some trees near Barry Drive in Vineland, New Jersey. She watches it for 5 minutes, then a red ball moves from behind it, descending to just a few feet above the rooftops where its light reflects off the houses. After 10 minutes, the red ball moves to the north and the first light departs to the south. (“Vineland Is Beset by UFO Sitings,” Atlantic City (N.J.) Press, February 3, 1978, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 105 (April 1978): 2)

January 31–February 1 — 6:15 p.m. Four boys are playing on the ice of the Montvale (N.J.) Memorial Elementary School playing field. They notice an “airplane” that passes slowly over the field; moments later, another object arrives, shaped like a square with large yellow lights in each corner, with a slight dome on top and a red light underneath. It emits a red beam of light toward the ground but stops short before touching it. They next notice several humanoid figures moving around the school park, walking stiffly. They are about average height and bald-headed, dressed in bright yellow outfits with boots and gloves. One of them looks different, because he has a larger head that seems “creased” down the middle and has on a brown cape over the yellow suit. As the boys watch, they note an uncanny silence and an unpleasant sulfur-like odor. The figures walk away toward the nearby Public Works Garage. The boys then notice another figure, this one a woman standing in the parking lot. She has medium long brown hair and wears a dark suit with blue fur around her shoulders. She walks in slow motion and sits down on a low fence and raises her arm very slowly, pointing to the sky at another hovering square object. The woman then walks toward the Public Works building and at one point seems to appear and disappear as a police vehicle drives by near her. A similar scenario occurs the next evening. (Ted Bloecher, “CE-III Report from Montvale, N.J.: Preliminary Report,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 123 (February 1978): 4–7; “A Possible Close Encounter of the Third Kind in New Jersey,” IUR 3, no. 4 (April 1978): 3, 7; Patrick Gross, URECAT, December 6, 2008)

January 31 — 11:00 p.m. Pat Martinelli is outside her home on North Maple Drive in Vineland, New Jersey, when she sees an object silently hovering above the nearby trees. It is a triangle with the point at the back and many red and white lights. (“Vineland Is Beset by UFO Sitings,” Atlantic City (N.J.) Press, February 3, 1978, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 105 (April 1978): 2)

February — 2:00 a.m. A State Police officer is on foot patrol between Ornontowice and Chudów, Poland, when he notices that his dog is acting strangely. He looks up and sees a black cigar-shaped object with small windows moving above him. He hears a slight humming noise like a vacuum cleaner. It moves off to the northeast. (Poland 109– 110)

February 1 — Night. Six teenagers are driving north on Hance Bridge Road in Vineland, New Jersey. They see a series of four large lights low in the sky approaching them. It swerves about 500–600 feet in altitude and a mile distant, and they can see that the object is triangular with a light in each corner. It returns the way it came, so they decide to follow it for 6–7 miles before pulling over and stopping the car. When they turn their headlights off, the object’s lights go out. When they turn the headlights back on, the UFO lights up again. (“Vineland Is Beset by UFO Sitings,” Atlantic City (N.J.) Press, February 3, 1978, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 105 (April 1978): 2)

February 2 — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy supplies the US State Department with more information regarding UFO documents that it knows exist, but are stonewalled for months until they are sent a photocopy of an article in UFO Investigator that includes some of the documents. As Barry Greenwood writes, “the only way to get documents released was to have them in the first place so that one could mail them back to the agency as proof that they existed.” (ClearIntent, p. 194)

February 2 — 9:30 p.m. Brian Mosychuk is walking in a neighborhood of Edmonton, Alberta, when he sees a car-sized object with blue lights on front and back approaching from the northwest. It hovers above him making a rumbling sound, then a beam of light shoots toward him. Mosychuk leans back to avoid the beam, but it shines on his feet in the snow. He runs away, and when the looks back the object is flying away to the northeast, leaving behind a red trail. He tells his father, who goes out and finds a round circle in the snow. They call the police, who find a melted hole about 28 inches in diameter. Samples of snow, including some with carbon spots, are taken to CFB Edmonton for a contamionation check. (Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s UFOs: Declassified, August Night, 2022, p. 191)

February 4 —3:30–4:00 a.m. A weird humming sound awakens Claire Semaza and her two children in Orange, California. The sound increases in volume until it hurts her ears, and the family dog barks frantically, punctuated by an odd pause for several seconds. Outside, they see an oval or cigar-shaped object not far above the trees about one half-mile away. Below and around it is a layer of gray haze. It begins slowly rising, leaving the haze behind. The object has a bright red light at each end that sends shafts of light toward the ground. Several bluish-white lights are visible between the two red ones. It rises higher, flashes a brilliant white light on and off for 3 seconds, then quickly disappears. Meanwhile, the dog has been taking her 7 puppies one by one and hiding them behind the drapes on the second floor. (Idabel Epperson, “Canine Mother Hides Puppies from UFO,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 122 (January 1978): 7; “Unusual Animal Reaction in California NL Case,” IUR 3, no. 4 (April 1978): insert)

February 5 — 6:00 p.m. Two Bradley University security guards in Peoria, Illinois, are making their rounds when their car lights up. An intensely bright object is ahead of them and about 45° up in the east. They drive another two blocks to an open areas and get out of the car to watch two objects, the larger of which is as big as the full Moon. They are both changing colors from green to red to white. The smaller one abruptly disappears as the larger object is flying loops, dropping down behind the houses, moving back up, and maneuvering abruptly. They discuss the UFOs with some passing students. The object remains visible for at least 45 minutes. (“Case 3-3-62,” IUR 3, no. 3 (March 1978): insert)

February 9 — A carbon copy of an apparent USAF incident report is received at the office of the National Enquirer in Lantana, Florida. Accompanying the document is an unsigned letter dated January 29 and “revealing” the Ellsworth AFB incident of November 16, 1977. (Bob Pratt, “The Truth about the ‘Ellsworth Case,’” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 191 (January 1984): 6–9; Clark III 358)

February 10 — WJR-AM radio personality Marc Avery is on his way to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport on I-275 when he and his wife see two lights hovering above their car for 30–50 seconds. He calls the radio station and speaks on air, asking if anyone else has seen the lights. Two men in the area of Merriman Road and Michigan Avenue in Wayne, Michigan, call in to say that 5 minutes earlier they had seen a large UFO traveling east to west at treetop level. (“Forty Years Ago This Weekend, a WJR Radio Personality May Have Encountered a UFO,” Michigan Radio, February 9, 2018)

February 12 — 11:00 p.m. David Mace and his wife are driving on Tennant Way approaching Lake Sacajawea in Longview, Washington, when they see an orange triangle with a hole in it silently hovering above the lake near Washington Way. They watch it for 15 seconds before it takes off to the west. (“Couple Reports UFO above Lake Sacajawea,” Longview (Wash.) News, February 13, 1978, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 104 (March 1978): 6)

February 19 — 1:20 p.m. Radar operators on two separate systems in Minnesota track a large, solid object, which starts ascending rapidly as soon as one operator switches his system to manual. It seems to take evasive action by stopping, starting, and descending. The operator tracks it traveling about one mile in one second (3,600 mph) and moves vertically “instantaneously.” (MUFON UFO Journal, March 1983)

February 19 — The television series Project U.F.O. debuts in the US on NBC-TV. Running for two seasons of 13 episodes each, the show is based loosely on the real-life Project Blue Book. The show is created by Jack Webb, who pores through Air Force files looking for episode ideas. The first season stars William Jordan as Maj. Jake Gatlin alongside William Caskey Swaim as Staff Sgt. Harry Fitz. Former USAF Col. William T. Coleman is a producer. (Wikipedia, “Project U.F.O.”; Internet Movie Database, “Project U.F.O.”)

February 22 — 9:40 p.m. Brian Metcalfe, an FAA air traffic controller, is driving northeast on Interstate 80, approaching Newcastle, California. Seeing two intense lights moving slowly in the sky, he pulls over and gets out to look. The only sound he can hear is a low hum. The object moves southwest along the freeway at about 30–40 mph at an altitude of 2,000–3,000 feet. He notices it is delta-shaped. Other witnesses in the area also see the object over Auburn, California, just before 10:00 p.m. (“More Reports Confirm Sighting Strange Craft in Placer Area,” Auburn (Calif.) Journal, March 1, 1978, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 105 (April 1978): 9)

February 23 — 11:45 p.m. A couple hears interference on their car radio in Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy. When the man gets out to investigate, a warm, violet light envelops him. He sees four shapes and lights all around. After walking around the car, he goes back inside and finds his girlfriend crying. Twenty minutes of missing time has passed. (Paolo Fiorino, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Antonio Chiumiento, “Abductions in Italy,” IUR 14, no. 4 (July/Aug.1989): 14–15)

February 28 — Stanton Friedman has discovered retired Maj. Jesse A. Marcel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and interviews him about the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico, incident. Marcel says the debris was like nothing on earth. Friedman has also interviewed Lydia Sleppy, who worked at Albuquerque radio station KOAT and remembers the military intervention on the story. William L. Moore and Friedman compare notes from two separate interviews Friedman has conducted about the crash. By 1980, Friedman and Bill Moore have interviewed at least 62 witnesses to the Roswell incident. (Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, The Roswell Incident, Grosset & Dunlap, 1980; Kevin

D. Randle and Anthony Bragalia, “Two Roswell Witnesses, Reconsidered,” IUR 32, no. 3 (July 2009): 6–8, 24; Clark III 320)

March 9 — Pilot Luciano Ascione is flying northbound at 2,600 feet 75 miles away from Vicenza, Italy, when a green, rocket-shaped object appears on his right about 1 mile away. Other planes in the area report a green flash. (ClearIntent, pp. 92–93; 1Pinotti 214–215)

March 11 — Sundown. Two men from L’Île-Perrot, Quebec, are camping near the shore of Reservoir Baskatong when they see a comet-like, bright blue object leaving a fiery trail plummeting toward the surface of the lake. It disappears behind trees, and the men jump up, grab their cameras, and run to the lake. The object is hovering silently above the surface, where it remains stationary for 30 seconds before moving to the other side of the lake. One of them starts snapping photos, but after 5 seconds the object rises swiftly and disappears like a flash into the sky. (“UFO Said Photographed,” Tampa (Fla.) Times, March 13, 1978, p. 1; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 4 (April 1978): 2; Wido Hoville and Don Donderi, “RR2 au Lac Baskatong,” UFO-Quebec, no. 16 (December 1978): 8–10, 15–22; Yurko Bondarchuk, UFO Sightings, Landings, and Abductions, Methuen, 1979, pp. 4–9)

March 11 — 10:40 p.m. Four witnesses in the Waimata Valley, New Zealand, watch a red and green object shaped like a top hat. Two of them approach in their car to about 100 feet, but the object shuts off all its lights and disappears. The same object reappears twice more the same evening. (Gisborne (N.Z.) Herald, March 16, 1978; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 5 (May 1978): 2)

March 12 — Early morning. A mill worker at Kawerau, New Zealand, is driving back to Gisborne when a brilliant orange light illuminates the interior of his car. He sees a large oval object floating alongside about 50 feet away. He thinks it is as large as a five-story building and has thousands of small lights on the sides. Slowly it rises to 300– 400 feet and floats away. (Gisborne (N.Z.) Herald, March 16, 1978; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, np. 5 (May 1978):

March 16 — 9:00 p.m. Mayor Mark M. Millis of Arroyo Grande, California, and Mayor Al Dutra of Grover City are leaving a meeting at Arroyo Grande City Hall when they see a triangular-shaped lighted object the size of a Boeing 747 moving slowly to the southwest about one mile in the air. Capt. Antony Wood of the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department also sees the object at Oceano, and other witnesses as far north as Morro Bay report the UFO, which has two bright lights in front and smaller ones in the back. (“Mayors, Police, Others See UFO in South County,” Santa Maria (Calif.) Times, March 17, 1978, p. 12)

March 17 — 11:30 p.m. Service engineer Ken Edwards is driving back from a union meeting in Sale, Greater Manchester, England, on Daten Avenue, Risley, past the UK Atomic Energy Authority site. As he is approaching the roundabout near the Universities Research Reactor building and the UKAEA fire station, he notices a 7-foot-tall silver figure coming down a steep embankment to his left. Stopping his van, Edwards watches the figure descend with an unnatural stiff-legged gait. The figure walks across the road only 15 feet from him. As he passes Edwards, the figure looks at him and two beams of light shoot from its eyes and dazzle him. It continues walking toward the security fence surrounding the UKAEA site. The figure raises an arm (one of two that seem to come out of its chest) and walks through the 10-foot-tall, barbed wire-topped, chain link fence, disappearing into the darkness. He later drives to the Pudgate police station to report the sighting. Police accompany him to the site where they find a group of UKAEA constabulary officers gathered at the spot, but since there is no hole in the fence, they discount his story. However, years later investigator Glen Vaudrey discovers that the tall figure was a 6 foot, 5 inch fireman dressed in a high-temperature fire suit who was trying to scare some students in an isolation building across the road. (Jenny Randles, “Man on the Moss,” Fortean Times 305 (October 2013): 29; Glen Vaudrey, “Atom Age Alien? Solving the Mystery of the Risley Silver Man,” Fortean Times 397 (October 2020): 36–41; Jenny Randles, “Silvery Ships from the Stars,” Fortean Times 403 (March 2021): 30–31)

March 18 — Around 4:00 p.m. Leo Giampietro and his wife are driving 15 miles west of Palm Springs, California. He pulls over when he sees a brown-colored domed disc the size of a distant aircraft moving in a straight path over the mountains in the southwest. It hovers for a few seconds and he can hear a humming sound. He manages to snap tree photos. The noise stops and the object shoots straight up and disappears. (“Case 3-5-18,” IUR 3, no. 5 (May 1978): 3; “Case Update,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 8)

March 18 — 9:15 p.m. William J. Hermann is out looking for UFOs near Charleston, South Carolina, when he sees apparently the same UFO he has photographed frequently before. He starts running toward it when it suddenly swoops toward him and directs a paralyzing blue-white beam at him. Hermann loses consciousness. When he wakes up again, it is 12:05 a.m. and he is in a field in Summerville, 15 miles from his home. He sees the UFO departing in its characteristic zigzag pattern. He calls the police, who drive him home. The next few nights he suffers from nervousness, headaches, and insomnia. Not long afterward, he is hypnotized by James A. Harder, an engineering professor affiliated with APRO. He recalls an abduction/contact experience on board a spacecraft with beings from Zeta Reticuli. The leader tells him that if mankind persists in its warlike ways, civilization will be destroyed. Hermann continues to experience contacts and he begins to channel alien writings. (Wendelle C. Stevens and William J. Hermann, UFO Contact from Reticulum, Wendelle C. Stevens, 1981; Patrick Gross, URECAT, April 18, 2012; Clark III 570–571)

March 22 — 7:00 and 8:45 p.m. Two waves of UFO sightings are reported over a wide area between Cumberland, Wisconsin, and Newport, Minnesota. UFO investigator Robert E. Engberg traces the first wave beginning around Chisago City, Minnesota, and moving east between Dresser and St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. The second wave originates near Cumberland and follows an 85-mile course to St. Paul, Minnesota. Witnesses see formations of red lights, single round objects with red body lights, and orange globes in straight-line and oblique formations.

Some disc-shaped objects are also reported with rows of body lights. (“Valley UFO Sightings of March 22, 1978, Described,” Taylors Falls (Minn.) The Dalles Visitor, May 1979, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 119, pp. 7– 9; “A Mini-Flap in Minnesota: UFO or Helicopters?” IUR 3, no. 5 (May 1978): insert)

March 22 — 11:00 p.m. Gary Oickle, David Oickle, and two friends are sitting around a campfire in Patapsco Valley State Park, Maryland, near the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tunnel. They see a strange object in the southeastern sky that moves around for 10 minutes before it disappears behind a ridge. Another object soon appears over their campsite from behind a ridge to the north; this time it is a triangular shape about 150–200 feet on each side with large windows, three white lights at each corner, and a red light on top. Three of the witnesses think they see the silhouette of a figure in the windows. It moves very slowly, hovering at times, to the southeast. Another star-like object appears in the south after the triangle moves away. It changes colors repeatedly from blue to green to yellow to red. (Joe and Doris Graziano, “Object over State Park,” APRO Bulletin 26, no. 10 (April 1978): 1)

March 24 — In one case documented by New Mexico police and the FBI, an 11-month-old cross Hereford-Charolais bull, belonging to Manuel Gomez of Dulce, New Mexico, is found mutilated. It displays “classic” mutilation signs, including the removal of the rectum and sex organs with what appears to be “a sharp and precise instrument,” and its internal organs are found to be inconsistent with a normal case of death followed by predation. The animal’s heart, as well as bone and muscle samples, are sent to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for microscopic and bacteriological studies, while samples from the animal’s liver are sent to two separate private laboratories. Los Alamos detects the presence of naturally occurring Clostridium bacteria in the heart but is unable to reach any conclusions because of the possibility that the bacteria represent postmortem contamination. They do not directly investigate the heart’s unusual color or texture. Samples from the animal’s liver are found to be completely

devoid of copper and to contain 4 times the normal level of zinc, potassium, and phosphorus. The scientists performing the analysis are unable to explain these anomalies. Blood samples taken at the scene are reported to be “light pink in color” and “did not clot after several days” while the animal’s hide is found to be unusually brittle for a fresh death (the animal was estimated to have been dead for 5 hours) and the flesh underneath is found to be discolored. (Wikipedia, “Cattle mutilation”; Amanda Push, “Underground Aliens and Cattle Mutilations: Dulce, New Mexico, Has Long Been the Site of Strange Activity and Conspiracy Theories,” DGO, February 26, 2019)

March 24 — Just after 12:00 noon. Luis Carlos Serra, 16, is picking guava in the forest just west of Penalva, Maranhão, Brazil, when he hears a sharp noise like a car horn. He looks up and sees a bright white light about 20 inches wide high above the palm trees. Suddenly he falls flat on his back, paralyzed. After a short time, he starts rising in the air toward a round UFO with four balls on the bottom, a dome on top, and three windows. He floats through one of the windows head-first. Inside he drops to the floor, still paralyzed, and sees three entities about 3 feet high and wearing “diving suits.” He is taken somewhere with no trees and tall grass and subjected to an examination. Soon he loses consciousness and wakes up three days later in a scrub forest. A nearby fisherman, José Ribamar dos Santos, hears his cry, finds and recognizes him, and takes him back to town. Serra is examined in the hospital by Dr. Linda Macieira, who finds that he has four teeth missing and is completely bald with his hair burned off. He has a general loss of motor control and a lack of sensitivity to pain. He does not eat, so he is fed intravenously for the 7 days he is hospitalized. On March 30 he is transferred to the Serme Hospital in São Luis, where 6 doctors examine him, including neurologist Antônio Saldanha, who finds that Serra still cannot speak and is generally unresponsive and in shock. Two psychiatrists, Renato Barcelar and Barcelar Viana, examine him after he recovers his ability to speak a few days later. He repeats his story without variation every time. He is discharged on April

7. (Clark III 899–901; “Caso Luis Carlos Serra,” Galáxia Mundo GAEMU, April 2014; Brazil 251–255)

March 27 — Astronaut Gordon Cooper appears on the Merv Griffin Show and discusses UFO stories from government insiders. Merv Griffin asks him about occupant reports, and Cooper thinks they are credible. From what he has heard (although he has never been briefed on the matter), the aliens look no different from ordinary humans. (Thomas O’Toole, “Cooper: UFO Stories from ‘Credible’ Sources,” Washington Post, April 7, 1978)

March 27 — During a 9-hour period near San Diego, California, an F-14 Tomcat aircraft loses control and makes touch- and-go landings; an A-4 Skyhawk crashes into the Pacific 50 miles to the west; and an S-3A Viking anti- submarine aircraft from Naval Air Station North Island explodes and crashes into the ocean 6 miles from the base. On March 28, a college art instructor and a shipping company owner are talking on the phone when they are interrupted by another conversation on the line. Someone is apparently giving a briefing to a general about aircraft losses, instruments going haywire, and something that crashed near Palm Springs that the news media was told was a meteor. A “General Kelley” [Lt. Gen. Robert E. Kelley at Eglin AFB? Lt. Gen. John R. Kelly Jr. at the Pentagon?] is said to be on his way to the site. No agency admits to having such a conversation. (ClearIntent, pp. 194–195)

March 28 — 12:00 midnight–1:30 a.m. Irene Bigelow is outside her home in Denver, Colorado, when she sees three bright-orange UFOs motionless in the air for more than an hour. She estimates they are as large as her garage’s double door. At 1:30, they break formation, with the light on the right moving to the right. The other two remain stationary at first, then all three ascend into the sky in different directions. (Richard Sigismond, “Four Huge Orange Discs and the Case for the UFO,” IUR 8, no. 2 (March/April 1983): 8)

March 29 — 7:30 a.m. Christopher Kloppenborg and Geoffrey Kloppenborg are out mustering sheep near Albury, New South Wales, Australia. They see a very bright, stationary, chrome-colored light that is casting a shadow on a hillside. They use binoculars to watch it for 5–8 minutes. It appears to have black shapes along its side and is shaped like a short cigar. Geoffrey returns to the house to get a camera, and on his return he sees a second, smaller object, traveling over the hills toward the first object. It turns in front of the bigger object, and then both depart over the hills to the east. (Melbourne Herald, April 8, 1978; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 2)

March 31 — 8:30 p.m. A young man is walking his dog in a field in Dublin, Ireland, when he spots a silver cigar-shaped object hovering about 45° above the horizon. For the next 20 minutes, a doorway repeatedly (about 20 times) opens, releasing a red light, the door closes again, the red light returns to the object, and the door opens and readmits it. The object remains motionless another 10 minutes, then shoots upward at fantastic speed. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1989): 2)

April — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy is formed by W. Todd Zechel, Brad Sparks, and Peter Gersten. Its purpose is to uncover UFO data through the Freedom of Information Act, lawsuits against government agencies, and investigation of high-quality UFO reports. It launches a newsletter, Just Cause. The group brings a lawsuit against the CIA using the Freedom of Information Act for release of UFO documents. It receives more than 900 documents from the CIA in 1979 but are refused 57 because of “national security considerations.” Just Cause

lingers on until January 1982 under the title UFOrmant. (Wikipedia, “Citizens Against UFO Secrecy”; “CAUS Picking Up Where GSW and NICAP Left Off,” Just Cause 1, no. 1 (April 1978): 1–4; ClearIntent, p. 192; Clark III 240)

April — An Iranian airline pilot is flying between Ahvaz and Tehran, Iran, when he sees a glittering flying object. He manages to photograph it, but civil aviation authorities prohibit its release. Radar controllers at Mehrabad Airport track a target 20 times the size of a jumbo jet on their screens. (ClearIntent, p. 89)

April 2 — Morning. A loud explosion on Bell Island, Newfoundland, causes damage to some houses and electrical wiring in the surrounding area. A number of TV sets in Lance Cove and other communities explode at the time of the blast. It is initially thought to be caused by ball lightning. Meteorologists state that atmospheric conditions at the time are not conducive to lightning, although some witnesses report balls of fire and streaks of light in the sky.

The boom is heard 34 miles away in Cape Broyle. The incident is investigated by John Warren and Robert Freyman from Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, New Mexico, as a possible a “superbolt”—an unusually large bolt of lightning. A 2004 documentary on the History Channel about electromagnetic pulse weapons, The Invisible Machine, investigates the possibility that it may have been the result of top-secret experiments.

However, on April 23, 2019, hundreds of people on the island hear another explosion, which is almost immediately determined to have been a massive section of rock breaking away from the northern part of the island and impacting the ground and sea with extreme force. Large cracks almost two feet across were observed developing in the area in the years prior to the collapse, and signs were placed to warn visitors to stay away from the unstable features. (Wikipedia, “Bell Island (Newfoundland and Labrador)”; ClearIntent, pp. 96–97; Brian Dunning, “The Bell Island Boom,” Skeptoid podcast no. 190 (January 26, 2010); B. Jessee, “The Bell Island Boom,” Medium: The Mysterious Miscellany, December 23, 2019)

April 2 — 1:40 p.m. Warren Smith is 8–9 miles northwest of Calgary, Alberta, when his border collie starts running in circles and looking up. Smith looks out his window and sees a silent, grayish-silver disc slightly larger than the full moon. It moves straight up and down, in and out of the cloud layer three times for about 30 seconds. Each time the object comes out of the clouds it remains visible for about 10 seconds. Smith notices a large number of “lightning rods” that move in and out on its surface. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 5 (May 1978): 2)

April 2 — 8:30 p.m. Lee Robinson is riding her motorcycle on Sunset Road toward Henderson, New Zealand, when she stops to watch floating lights approaching her from the distance. She makes out a wedge-shaped form, broad at the front and narrow at the back, with two red lights, a green light, and a glass front. It stops 600 feet away, hovering. Two figures in dark robes can be seen from the waist up looking down at her. She stares at it petrified for several minutes until a car approaches and the object flies off. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 2)

April 6 — 7:30 p.m. Vicki Burns is standing outside the stable on her farm near Prince George, British Columbia, when a narrow beam of light, 2 inches in diameter, comes from above some trees and shines into her barn for 5 seconds. She hears her horses scream, and inside they seem dazed and frightened. She and her mother notice a bright white light moving in the sky, darting back and forth. Some neighbors come over for 3 hours to watch the light for and attend to the horses. An odd circle is found on either side of the filly’s neck. A veterinarian, Dr. McKee, examines the horses the next day, and they still appear to be in shock. He explains the circle as ringworm, but cannot account for the animals’ fatigue or behavior. (Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s UFOs: Declassified, August Night, 2022, pp. 223–226)

April 6–June 24 — Six cattle are found mutilated on farms near Elsberry, Missouri. Orange lights and “flashing stars” are seen in the vicinity. (“Background on the Elsberry Events: Are UFOs Linked with Cattle Mutilations?” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 5–6; Marler 19–20)

April 9 — 10:10 a.m. A single witness looking out his bedroom window in Toronto, Ontario, watches a silver shiny cigar traveling eastbound for 10 seconds. The object is brighter than the moon. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 5 (May 1978): 2)

April 11 — The crew of the HMAS Adroit, operating out of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, in the Timor Sea, watches a UFO hover and sink to the horizon several times before disappearing. It is large and bathed in bright red lights. At one point it seems to be close to the ship and at another point it flickers on and off. (Swords 406)

Mid-April — Many residents of Mumbai, India, sight a bright white, streak-like light moving at several hundred miles per hour from north to south at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. A similar object is seen the following day, moving south to north. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 2)

April 19 — Day. Police officer Mark Coltrane is on patrol in Colfax, Wisconsin, and stops by the side of the road to eat lunch. His radio has some static. He then notices a metallic-looking disc rising into the sky a short distance from the parking space. While the object seems to move toward him, Coltrane picks up his Polaroid camera, comes out of the car, and snaps some photographs. The object is so close in one of the images that some details of its lower

surface are visible. The total observation lasts a few minutes, the object soon accelerating and fading into the distance. (Patrick Gross, “Colfax, Wisconsin, USA, April 9, 1978”)

April 26 — 11:00 p.m. Debra Gairns, her husband, and a friend are driving in Welland, Ontario, when a triangular object with red, blue, and white blinking lights hovers briefly and silently above their car. It moves away and stops above a grove of trees. (Marler 102)

April 27 —Two witnesses near the Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport in Rome, Italy, watch a small green object shoot out of a larger green object. The display moves smoothly from directly overhead to about 45° in 15 minutes. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 2)

Late April — 10:00 p.m. A dog staying with a couple living on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, Michigan, near the Ford Motor plant lets out an awful howl. The woman goes outside to see what the matter is and notices a large round object, perfectly silent, about 500 feet above the garden. It hovers a minute or two then moves toward the Ford plant. It is about 125 feet in diameter and has a row of windows circling the bottom that emit colored light. It stops every 2–3 minutes and never travels more than 25 mph. They watch it for a total of 15 minutes, and their landlady sees it as well. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 1 (May 1980): 4)

April 29 — Night. Ten persons call the Aurora, Illinois, police department to report a UFO. One couple believes they have had a close encounter with the object, which they describe as a domed disc the size of a football field. The police alert the Center for UFO Studies and Allan Hendry interviews some of the witnesses. He learns that some connect TV interference and power failures with the UFO’s appearance. An 11-year-old boy is so frightened that he hides behind the back seat of the family car. However, Hendry identifies the source of the sighting as an advertising plane owned and operated by a Chicago firm. (Allan Hendry, “The Case for IFO Study: A Recent Example,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 6–7; Clark III 568)

May — Red Army officer Anatoly Malishev is allegedly confronted near Pirogovskoye Reservoir, Mytishchinsky District, north of Moscow, Russia, by two entities wearing dark suits who communicate with him by telepathy and take him on board their craft. He is given a salty-tasting drink, but requests an alcoholic drink, only to find that the entities do not imbibe. He asks why, and they reply, “Perhaps if we did, we would not be such an advanced civilization.” They take him on a trip to the dark side of the Moon (where they have a base) and to their home planet 3 light years away then back to Earth, all taking about 40 minutes. Malishev reports his experience to his superior officers, who threaten a court martial. However, he is subjected to hypnosis and passes a lie detector test and apparently does not go through a trial. (Nikita A. Schnee, “Contact Reported near Pyrogovskoye Lake,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 6 (March 1981): 6–8; Heikki Vertanen, “Soviet Contact Case near Pyrogovskoe Lake: The Missing Pages,” Flying Saucer Review 28, no. 3 (January 1983): 20)

May 6 — 4:15 p.m. An object crashes into the southern slope of El Taire mountain on the Rio Bermejo along the border of Bolivia and Argentina. It produces a sonic boom that is heard 120 miles away and shatters windows in villages 30 miles away. Argentinian border police search for wreckage, while reporters visit the town of Aguas Blancas, Bolivia, to interview witnesses. Velez Orozco is one of the witnesses to the fall, and he thinks the object was 15 feet in diameter and conical. Border Patrol Cpl. Natalio Farfan Ruiz says the object “made the earth tremble” as it passed over. The Bolivian Air Force dispatches three airplanes and discovers the crash site on its side of the border. One of the flights includes a Bolivian astronomer, who sees a rockslide that may have been caused by the crash. On May 14, police from Tarija, Bolivia, find the object, a dull metallic cylinder 12 feet long with a few dents. A telex sent by US Ambassador Paul H. Boeker to the State Department requesting an explanation. In a secret telex on May 18, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance replies that “appropriate government agencies” have been consulted, but there is no correlation with known re-entries. He refers Boeker to the 1973 Project Moondust order. The US military attaché in La Paz sends a message to Wright-Patterson AFB and USAF headquarters at the Pentagon, claiming that the Bolvian Army has found nothing, but would send two USAF officers to Tarija to investigate. Col. Robert Simmons and Maj. John Heise arrive with a Bolivian Air Force officer. On May 23, three Bolivian Air Force officers and a guide set out on horseback to the mountain, locating the rockslide on May 25.

Parallel to the slide is a 325-foot trench, 10–12 feet wide at the top. Some of the large rocks appear burned, and the grass around it is brown and withered. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 2; ClearIntent, pp. 201– 205; Kevin Randle, The Government UFO Files, Visible Ink, 2014, pp. 279–280; Michael Hesemann, “UFO Crash in Bolivia Witnessed by Thousands of People”)

May 7 — A squadron of 40 UFOs circle dozens of times in formation over San Luis province, Argentina, in the midst of a luminous bluish-green light. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 2)

May 10 — Early morning. Farmer Jan Wolski is out driving a horse-drawn cart in Emilcin, Poland, when he is jumped by two “short, green-faced humanoid entities” about 5 feet tall. They jump onto Wolski’s cart, sit next to him, and start to speak in a strange language. At first, he mistakes them for foreigners because of their “slanted eyes and

prominent cheekbones.” Wolski drives his cart, with the two beings aboard, to a clearing where a large white object is hovering about 16 feet in the air. It is about 15–16 feet high and as long as a bus. Four black objects on the surface generate a humming sound. A platform descends to the ground, and he is taken on board by the two entities, along with two additional ones. There are about 8–10 benches situated around the craft, each for one person to sit in. There are some rooks in front of the door, one of which is moving its legs and wings but seems to be immobilized. Wolski is then examined with a tool that resembles two dishes or “saucers.” After this, he is ordered to get dressed again, and then he notices there are no lights or windows on the craft, only the daylight coming through the door. The entities eat and offer him something like icicles, but he refuses them. The UFO’s interior is black with a grayish tint, similar to that of the creatures’ outfits. Wolski returns home to his family and notifies them of what has happened, urging them to come see the floating craft. He tells his sons, who call to other neighbors, and together they go to investigate the site. The grass where the craft had been shows signs of usage, trodden down and “covered with dew and paths coming in all directions.” Wolski goes home, leaving the rest of the neighbors and family at the site. His sons claim there are footprints left behind by the beings, though they do not describe them well. (Wikipedia, “Emilcin Abduction”; “Story of a Polish CE-III,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec.

1983): 13–14; Poland 35–40; “The Jan Wolski Case: An Amazing Close Encounter (Poland, 1978),” History Disclosure, May 25, 2019)

May 10 — Evening. Numerous people watch a moon-sized oval object with clearly delineated edges, no trail, and an intense white light in Clavarazza, Genoa, Italy. It remains stationary high in the sky for three minutes, pulsates for 7 minutes, then blinks out. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1989): 2)

May 13 — 3:32 a.m. Police officer Manuel J. Amparano is on the outskirts of Kerman, California, when he sees a reddish glow ahead. Getting closer, he observes an oval-shaped object, smaller in apparent size than the full moon, hanging silently in the sky. It is a very bright crimson-red color, which despite its brightness does not hurt his eyes. It shoots out a beam of blue light similar to a camera flash, then recedes and is gone. Amparano feels “a tingling sensation” in his body as he drives to the station, but he is not concerned. When he gets out, the 6 witnesses at the station note that he is sunburned “as red as a lobster.” His skin shows this condition for about 4 hours before returning to normal, even in areas underneath his uniform. However, no burn is present where the car door is between him and the flash. Also, he has no burn on his back, which is away from the car window as he peers out. Although the redness fades, there are areas where the skin is actually burned (arms, face, neck). These are noted on a visit to Fresno Community Hospital. These burns are visible for 2 days. The day following the encounter, “fever blisters” break out on his face and in places on his arms, and these last a week. Allegedly, doctors at the hospital tell the officer that the burns look like they are caused by microwave radiation. (“California Policeman Burned by UFO,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 10–11; “A Classic CE2P: Kerman, California, 1978,” IUR 33, no. 4 (May 2011): 11–12; Jason Marzak, “1978 Kerman UFO Burning: 061401,” Fringe Republic, June 11, 2014; Kevin D. Randle, “May 13, 1978: Kerman, California,” A Different Perspective, June 15, 2015; Kevin D. Randle, “Kerman, California UFO Case: An Update,” A Different Perspective, June 20, 2015; Kevin D. Randle, “Kerman Police Officer Adds His Perspective,” A Different Perspective, August 26, 2015)

May 13 — 4:00 a.m. A 16-year-old student, Jamshid Saiadipour, is staying up late studying for exams in Shiraz, Iran. He looks through his window and sees a glowing, hat-shaped UFO, hovering motionless. He takes a photo of it, which appears in the May 18 issue of Tehran Magazine. The article winds up in US Defense Intelligence Agency files and is released through FOIA in 1980. (“Matching Photo from Iran Found in CUFOS Files,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 8 (August 1981): 4; “Sheraz, Iran, October 8, 1978,” Popular Mechanics, July 1998,

p. 64)

May 13 — 10:45 p.m. A teen couple are sitting on a porch in Northport, Alabama, when they see an intensely bright pale- yellow light. It is oblong in shape and the size of the full moon. It hovers in the east for about 15 minutes, rocking slightly black and forth. They see three tripod legs on the underside. The girl’s mother comes out and notices her daughter is pale and shaking with fear. The object falls a short distance and remains stationary again for a few seconds before moving slowly away beyond trees on the horizon. (“Case 3-6-29,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 3)

May 14 — 10:00 p.m. SK-1 Robert J. Clark, the duty officer at the US Navy Pinecastle Electronic Warfare Range in Ocala National Forest, Florida, receives a call from Rocky Morgan reporting an oblong-shaped UFO with an intensely bright, flashing light near Silver Glen Springs. Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center reports no aircraft in the area. Clark and the base air controller, Gary Collison, climb an observation tower and contact external security to alert radar technician Timothy Collins. They watch a cluster of stationary lights at an estimated altitude of 1,600 feet to the west-northwest perhaps 3 miles away. Collins activates the MSQ-102 Radar. After a 20-minute warmup, the radar detects an unidentified blip fluttering over the tower. The tracking computer is put on the target, which is showing very little movement. At 11:20 p.m., his radar locks on to it at treetop level. It seems to be as large as a jetliner. 10–15 minutes later it vanishes from both sight and radar, but at

11:40 p.m. he sees a similar object 15° to the north. Collins tries to train the radar on the object, but it disappears suddenly. Around midnight, another object is seen 3 miles to the northwest. For 5 seconds it moves at 575 mph, then accelerates for 2 seconds, and executes a hairpin turn in one second—a radical reversal of direction. Now the UFO is shooting northward toward the base, slowing to a mere 3 mph. Collins finally locks on this object. Shortly afterward, the target vanishes. A dozen naval personnel visually observe red, green, and white lights from the control tower for more than an hour. The captain of the Lisa C on the Apalachicola River also witnesses the lights at 10:30 p.m. (or 1:00 a.m.). (NICAP, “Radar Confirms Unidentified Lights”; “Flying Object Baffles Computer with Maneuvers in Florida Sky,” International Herald Tribune, May 18, 1978; “Navy Says Unusual Sighting Was Just an Object Flying Unidentified,” Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, May 18, 1978, p. 4-C; “Navy Radar-Visual in Florida, Part I,” IUR 3, no. 6 (June 1978): 4–5; “Case 3-7-1,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 3; “UFO Sighting at Pinecastle Elecytronic Warfare Range,” UFO Investigator, September 1978, pp. 1–2; Second Look, April, May, June, October 1979; Clark III 829–830)

May 15 — Evening. Ignacio Sanchez Munoz, 19, is walking along the road between Cuajimalpa borough and Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, Mexico, after finishing work at a nearby restaurant. He observes a hovering, multicolored, luminous, cube-shaped object that is making a buzzing sound and emitting a yellow beam. He then receives telepathic thoughts telling him that the cube is not occupied, but soon human-like beings will arrive on Earth.

After conversing with the voice for about an hour he is told, “soon we shall return to chat with you.” (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 2; Patrick Gross, URECAT, April 30, 2010)

May 17 — 8:00 a.m. A 71-year-old farmer is driving his horse-drawn carriage through a wooded area about 37 miles outside Lublin, Poland. By the roadside he sees 2–4 men about 5 feet tall wearing tightly fitting black “diver suits.” The men have green faces, slanting eyes, and webbed fingers; they move in a jumping motion and invite him into a “bus-shaped” white rectangular vehicle hovering nearby. The interior looks like a completely black room outfitted only in benches. He is examined by an apparatus that looks like an X-ray machine, and the men offer to share with him a transparent substance that they are eating, but he declines. The farmer later returns to the site with some villagers and finds rectangular footprints in the muddy road bank. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 2)

May 30 — 11:00 p.m. Two witnesses are stargazing with a telescope 5 miles west of Tulsa, Oklahoma, when they see four gray-white ovals in a fixed sword-like formation pass silently overhead in a straight line from the southwest. They are lost behind trees above the northeast horizon. Each oval is about the size of the moon and flying in a 45° angle to the direction of travel. (“Case 3-7-54,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 3–4)

Summer — Day. Eligio Macchini is taking photos from the rail of a river excursion boat on the Rhine River, Germany. When the film is developed, he notices a dark spot on one print. Years later, he sends it to the Center for UFO Studies, which determines it is not an emulsion defect or processing flaw. (“Möglicher UFO ist über dem Rhein photographieren,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 2 (April 1982): 1)

June — Peter Gersten, on behalf of Ground Saucer Watch, files a discovery motion requesting UFO files from the CIA. His motion consists of 635 interrogatory questions, nearly 300 requests for documents, and includes 60 CIA documents attached as exhibits. (Richard Hall, “Lawsuit Filed against CIA,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 126 (May 1978): 9)

June — GEPAN’s Scientific Council meets for the second time. This time, a five-volume report totaling 670 pages is prepared. The first volume is a synthesis written by Claude Poher. Volumes 2–4 contain 10 detailed field investigations and the fifth volume gathers other studies and less detailed cases. The reports are never published. According to Jean-Jacques Velasco, Poher’s assistant, the statistical study evaluates 678 reports and classifies them into four categories: perfectly or probably identified (26%), insufficient information (36%), and unidentified (38%). The council asks for a deeper study on statistical methodology, models of propulsion, and the psychology of perception. (“First Summary of the Work of the French Government’s ‘GEPAN’ UFO Organization,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 22; Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 12)

June or July — 10:15 p.m. Graham Niven and friends are listening to the radio in Raeford, North Carolina, when it picks up some strange interference for about 10 minutes, They see a rectangular UFO with rounded edges coming toward them from the south. (“One Reporting Witness: Two Reported Sightings,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 10 (October 1981): 2–3)

June 2 — 10:00 p.m. A married couple driving toward Hameenlinna, Finland, watch a formation of 7–9 bright lights in the eastern sky. After 8 seconds, they disappear behind trees. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 5 (May 1978): 2)

June 10 — 9:30 p.m. A dark, silent wedge-shaped object with a square formation of white lights in the back and a triangular formation of red and white lights in the front paces a car driven by two students, ages 21 and 19, as they

travel east on State Highway 299 near New Paltz, New York. The UFO turns south toward them and passes over their car. The male student gets out and runs underneath it, noting it is as large as his outstretched hand at arm’s length. It shoots off toward the southwest horizon in a few seconds. (“Case 3-7-121,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 4)

June 11 — 10:30 p.m. Capt. Namdar, the pilot of a Boeing 707 flying from Shiraz to Tehran, Iran, is descending to 25,000 feet over Isfahan. He sees a huge, purple form passing below him at amazing speed. The Tehran airport cannot confirm a radar tracking. Suddenly the plane’s cabin is flooded with brilliant yellow light radiating from two sources. It feels as hot as “a sunny day in summer in Spain.” The purple light continues to follow the plane until a portion of the UFO separates from it and moves toward the southeast side of the witnesses. Then the original object vanishes. (“Review of Iranian UFO Reports,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 15)

June 11 — 11:28 p.m. After hearing reports of unidentified aircraft from two previous sentries, Gunnery Sgt. Brininger and PFC Johnny Johnson, go on sentry patrol at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Standing outside on an 80-foot tower, the two men watch a distinctly outlined, illuminated white ball with a short conical tail approach from the south. Within 5 seconds, the object moves west of their position and 20°–30° up Briniger estimates that the ice-cream cone shaped UFO is as close as 300 feet away and 200 feet in the air, flying parallel to the fence line. He directs a spotlight at the object, which abruptly makes a sharp turn to the west. It is in sight for 8–10 seconds. (“Case 3-7-130: Three UFOs over High Security Military Base?” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 4–5)

June 15 — Before 3:00 a.m. The Russian motor ship Novokuznetsk is departing from the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador. The crew sees from the bow four rapidly departing bright white trails about 66 feet in length. At the same time, two other trails 33 feet long approach the vessel. Later, straight ahead of the ship, a white luminescent sphere rises up from the water, flies around the ship, hovers for a few seconds at an altitude of 60 feet, flies higher, zigzags, and dives back into the water, (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 66–67)

June 17 — 4:30 a.m. Patrolmen Robert Fiorentino and Amthony Puglio of the Maplewood (New Jersey) Police Department see a soundless triangular UFO, twice the size of the full moon, while on patrol. It has a white light on each tip and red lights in the center. The object circles them twice and shines bright lights down on them. (“It’s Unidentified, Flies, But Doesn’t Scare Cops,” New York Daily News, June 24, 1978, p. 4JL)

June 17 — 1:20 p.m. Photographer Linda Arosemena is taking photos of President Jimmy Carter’s helicopter taking off from Fort Clayton [now closed] near Balboa, Panama. Her final frame shows an oval object that she has not visually noticed. Arosemena, who works for the Defense Mapping Agency at Fort Clayton, sends the photo to Carter with an explanation of the circumstances. Brenda Reilly and Sandra Chandler report seeing a similar object on June 16 while fishing at nearby Fuerte Amador. (“UFOs Breach Presidential Security!” UFO Update! no. 2 (Winter 1979): 15, 56; Margaret Sachs, The UFO Encyclopedia, Putnam, 1980, p. 50)

June 18 — 10:45 p.m. Manford Hammond, a water superintendent in Elsberry, Missouri, watches an object “like two hubcaps put together” that alternately hovers and maneuvers slowly and silently from the vantage point of his home on Black Street. (“Case 3-8-12,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 3)

June 19 — 1:30 a.m. Franck Pavia and Jean-Marc Guitard are stopped on the side of a road in Gujan-Mestras, Gironde, France, to repair a turn signal when suddenly all the lights in the town go out. A powerful rumble startles them, and they notice an oval, red object surrounded by white flames flying toward them at an altitude of 11,000 feet. Jean-Marc is unable to breathe and faints. The object then changes direction and shoots away. They knock on the door of a baker named Varisse to tell their story, visibly terrified. At about the same time, a restaurant manager named Bachère is driving toward Bordeaux when he sees a large orange ball, very bright, hovering above La Réole at about 1,000 feet before disappearing. It reappears at the same spot one minute later. (Jacques Vallée, “Estimates of Power Optical Output in Six Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Defined Luminosity Characteristics,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 12, no. 3 (1998): 354–356)

June 22 — 1:30 a.m. A woman in Pacific Palisades, California, watches an irregularly shaped oval glow with shifting green-yellow-gray colors like a “TV glow.” Moving slowly eastward at first, it speeds up until it recedes to a star size, then arcs back in two minutes and disappears in the northwest. Two other witnesses also see the UFO. (“Case 3-18-18,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978):3)

June 24 — 10:48 p.m. The pilot and passenger of a commercial charter plane flying northwest between Madison and New Lisbon, Wisconsin, see a distant bright light making extremely fast back-and-forth motions. At one point it passes above the plane. The object is tracked on radar by air traffic controllers Glen Wonnacott and Wayne Nurenberg at the Aurora (Ill.) Air Route Traffic Control Center. (“Radar-Visual in Wisconsin,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 11–15)

June 26 or 27 — 11:00 p.m. The 77-year-old mother of a prominent TV commentator is dazzled by a white, rotating globe of light on a rooftop terrace across from her inner house court in Vienna, Austria. The light appears to be breaking

into pieces that fall down. Then a spotlight cone moves along the gutter of the terrace from left to right toward the light, and both lights go out. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 2)

July — 7:30 a.m. Seamen on the Russian vessel Yargora in the Mediterranean not far off the coast from Algiers, Algeria, observe a pearly white flattened sphere moving to the west. On its underside it has three antenna. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p. 52)

July — 1:00 p.m. A witness and his father are driving a U-Haul truck north on Interstate 65 near Ardmore, Alabama. Just after passing the welcome center, they look up and see a large silver ball on the tree line to the east. After disagreeing on whether it is a weather balloon, they stop the truck and get out to look. A door slides open in the bottom of the object and a smaller silver ball emerges and moves to their right, and a second comes out and moves to the left. They both hover for about 5 minutes, then return one at a time to the larger object, which stands motionless a few more minutes before slowly moving away to the northeast. Suddenly it shoots away at great speed. (Herbert S. Taylor, “Satellite Objects: A Further Look,” IUR 29, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 6–7)

July 2 — 8:00 a.m. Verlee Carson is sitting in her house in Ely, Nevada, and notices two jets flying overhead to the south. One is followed closely by four white balls and the other is followed by three balls. (Viril Staff, “Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 2)

July 3 — 9:00 p.m. A Mrs. Jenkinson and a friend are playing tennis in Louth, Lincolnshire, England, when they spot a flat, silver oval in the sky reflecting sunlight and moving in a straight line northward in the western sky. They watch it for 5 minutes. Another object is seen a few minutes later in moving north in the eastern sky. (“Case 7887,” Northern UFO News 52 (September 1978): 8)

July 4 — 3:15 p.m. A small domed disc, about 3–4 feet in diameter with rotating parts on top, makes a head-on pass at 800 mph toward Floyd Hallstrom and Keith Sorensen, who are flying a Cessna at 120 mph and 3,500 feet altitude near Santa Paula, California. Its dome is a bright chrome with two protrusions. Hallstrom turns the plane around and the object makes a second pass before disappearing. (“Case 3-8-80,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 4)

July 4 — 3:45 p.m. A 34-year old school principal in Schaumburg, Illinois, watches a distinctly outlined metallic sphere the size of airplane rush in from the east at a speed faster than an aircraft and exceptionally high. The object stops dead over his house and remains stationary for 2–3 minutes. Then it starts rising with a slight veer to the south until it is out of sight. (“Case 3-8-81,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 4)

July 4 — Two Italian Air Force sergeants (Franco Padellero and Attilio di Salvatore), an Italian Navy NCO (Maurizio Esposito), and Antonina di Pietro are driving in the Parco dell’Etna, Sicily, Italy, when they spot a triangular formation of three red pulsating lights above Monte Sona. They stop the car for a better look. One of the lights breaks away from the group and approaches as close as 980 feet before disappearing. They drive in that direction and stop by a ravine to look at a luminous disc that gives off a yellow light about 325 feet away. Five or six very tall entities are standing next to it. Two of them walk up the ravine to within 16 feet of the witnesses. They are dressed in tight-fitting white coveralls and have shoulder-length hair. The two smile, and one points to the disc, which is radiating multicolored lights. The lights go out temporarily when another car drives by. Duration is 35 minutes. All the witnesses feel a euphoria, even 36 hours afterward. Richard Hall notes that the witnesses have satisfied their curiosity and drive away without more concern; he indicates that they have been exposed to the lectures of contactee Eugenio Siragusa, although the witnesses seem to be responsible people. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 2; Good Above, pp. 146–147; Maurizio Verga, “La vague italienne de 1978,” Lumières dans la Nuit, no. 207 (Aug./Sept. 1981): 33; Richard H. Hall, “Italian UFO Wave of 1978,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 153 (November 1980): 12–13; Patrick Gross, URECAT, November 12, 2009; 1Pinotti 216–

July 5 — Many cattle mutilations are occurring on the ranch owned by Manuel Gomez near Dulce, New Mexico. State Police Officer Gabe Valdez, having heard that certain cows might be marked in some way before being mutilated, pens 120 of Gomez’s cattle in a corral and moves them through a squeeze chute under a series of ultraviolet lights. The examination reveals that five of the animals have a “glittery substance on the right side of the neck, the right ear, and the right leg.” Valdez and Gomez remove the substance, along with control samples, and send them to Robert Schoenfeld at the Schoenfeld Clinical Laboratories in Albuquerque. Schoenfeld finds “highly suspicious” deposits of potassium (70 times above normal), magnesium, calcium, and aluminum. (Tommy Roy Blann, “UFO Connection in Dulce and Taos, New Mexico?” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 138 (August 1979): 14; Greg Valdez, Dulce Base: The Truth and Evidence from the Case Files of Gabe Valdez, Levi-Cash, 2013)

July 6 or 7 — Between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. The fiancée of Robert Garbauskas is in Sandwich, Massachusetts, taking photos of a ship in the Cape Cod Canal when she sees a small, rust-colored, apparently solid object hovering about 35° in the sky for 3–4 minutes. She snaps a photo of it, which shows a dark object with a yellow arc of light

above it. (“1978 Object with Arc of Light Photographed,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 1)

July 7 — At the urging of Grenada Prime Minister Eric Gairy, the Grenada delegation to the United Nations issues a statement calling for “open discussions on the very important subject [of UFOs] … a matter of great significance at this time for all mankind.” (“U.N. Background,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 5; Clark III 1189) ()

July 7 — The CIA agrees to let Ground Saucer Watch amend its complaint to include requests for virtually all CIA- related UFO records. The lawsuit opens in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. (“Update on the Ground Saucer Watch (GSW) Lawsuit Against the CIA,” IUR 3, no. 7 (July 1978): 8)

July 11 — 11:20 p.m. A man driving alone in a remote area on State Highway 100 three miles south of Waterbury, Vermont, sees a beam of light descend from the trees. It is about 1.5–2 feet in diameter but spreads out into a cone that covers the entire street and moves toward his car, illuminating the interior like “40 flash cameras.” The reflection off the car hood is dazzling. Petrified for 45 seconds, he finally sticks his head out the door and feels considerable heat. The light shrinks and dims, revealing the silhouette of a saucer darker than the sky and about 80–100 feet in diameter. The object is at treetop level and has small steady white lights on each side and a rib-like structure on the bottom. After hovering above the car a few seconds, it moves southwest about 200 yards and then takes off almost simultaneously. (“Case 3-8-129,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 4)

July 13 — Todd Zechel, research director of Ground Saucer Watch and director of Citizens Against UFO Secrecy, files a FOIA request with the CIA that includes information about a crashed spacecraft. (“GSW + FOIA + CIA = 1,000 Pages of UFO Information,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 9)

July 14 — Dawn. A Spanish Army unit on an exercise in Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain, watches an unfamiliar group of lights for two hours above a road: a red light that vanishes occasionally, two greenish-white lights that shine sporadically, and four white lights that appear irregularly and fly without any specific formation. Their height over the terrain is estimated at 13–100 feet. The lights oscillate and move forward, leaving the road and moving around obstacles like houses and hills, then coming back to the road in front of the group of soldiers. A reconnaissance of the area the following night reveals nothing unusual, except the antenna of a meteorological station that probably was not the source of the lights. (Swords 434)

July 14 — Eric Gairy, accompanied by ufologists J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallée, David R. Saunders, Leonard H. Stringfield, and Claude Poher, meet with UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim to organize a steering committee to develop plans for possible UN involvement in UFO research. (Clark III 1189; “UFOs in the U.N.,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 9)

July 16 — Residents sleeping on their terraces in the northern pat of Tehran, Iran, spot a “strange glowing object” floating southwest toward Saveh. One witness claims it is hovering directly above him. The control tower at Mehrabad Airport confirms the existence of the light. An air crew reports unusual readings on their instruments. (Tehran Journal, July 18, 1978; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 2; Good Above, pp. 321–322, 501–

502)

July 19 — 9:30 p.m. A teacher is driving with his wife through Hudson, New York, when they spot a motionless, amber- colored, curved object in the sky as wide as a full moon. It remains behind them as they drive to a friend’s house, where they join another couple to watch it. The light suddenly goes out, and 30 seconds later they hear a roar that moves off to the southeast. (“Case 3-9-19,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 6)

July 20 — 1:20 a.m. A soldier on duty at the main gate of the military section of the Logroño-Agoncillo Airport in La Rioja, Spain, sees a strange object in the air. A second lieutenant and a corporal get to the gate in time to watch for 5 minutes an object moving slowly and noiselessly east to west some 3,300 feet above the ground. Two of the witnesses describe it as lozenge-shaped, while the other two say it has the shape of a triangle. All agree that there is an intense white light flashing at one-second intervals in the center, while other lights appear in various parts of the dark object. It continues to fly steadily until it disappears from sight. (Swords 434)

July 21 — 9:30 p.m. Chloene Bechdolt notices a bright red light near the ground in the north field of her farm near Uniopolis, Ohio. She goes inside and around 10:00 p.m. notices that the light is still there and larger in size. She goes back outside and approaches the light, thinking it might be poachers. She thinks she hears someone talking, so she shouts a warning at it. The object makes a hum and shoots straight up. On July 23, she and her nephew find a 100-foot circular area of cut beans in the field, and the timothy stubble looks like it has been scorched about one inch from the ground. (“Large Circular Physical Trace: Is It Common?” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1982): 1–2)

July 21 — 10:15 p.m. A couple in Davyhulme, Greater Manchester, England, observes a dark disc hovering in the twilight sky. It is surrounded by an aura, from which 30–40 beautiful purple rays shoot out at various angles like spokes from a wheel, extending to about 12 times the diameter of the central disc. After about 90 seconds, the “rays” collapse inward in sequence, and the object slowly extinguishes itself. During the sighting, the couple notice with

some puzzlement that the normally busy street is strangely quiet and devoid of people and traffic. (Clark III 866; Jenny Randles, UFO Reality, R. Hale, 1983)

July 22 — 1:15 p.m. A retired couple in Ventura, California, is attracted outdoors by an odd noise and see a silver form moving overhead. It has lines across its surface and is making a noise like a card flapping against bicycle spokes. It flies straight away and disappears in the northeast. (“Case 3-9-28,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 6)

July 26 — 9:40 p.m. Chinese Air Force flying instructor Sha Yongkao is piloting a plane with a student at an airfield in Shangxi province, China. They are flying at 9,800 feet when they see two glowing objects circle the airport twice before moving off. Yongkao attempts to pursue the objects unsuccessfully and is told no other aircraft are being tracked in the vicinity. (Paul Dong, “Extracts from Paul Dong’s Feidie Bai Wen Bai Da (Questions and Answers on UFOs),” Flying Saucer Review 29, no. 6 (August 1984): 14)

July 27 — 12:45 a.m. Clora E. Winscher is driving a 1974 Mercury Comet east on US Highway 50 on the east side of Union, Missouri, at about 45 mph. She notices in her rearview mirror a brilliant light approaching from behind at high speed. She feels a “terrific shove” and the rear end of the car lifts up and gets moved along the road for 300 feet, completely out of control. As she approaches a bridge, the car drops down again, and she sees the light rise over the roof and disappear upward to the left. Two dents, 22 inches apart, are found in the upper edge of the trunk, but the paint is not fractured. About the same time, 12 miles west in Beaufort, Missouri, Velma Clines watches a dull red-orange, round UFO fly toward her house before it speeds away. (UFOEv II p. 278; “Case 3-9- 59,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 7)

July 27 — 7:46 p.m. Three men are flying a radio-controlled model airplane in a field in Marshall, Michigan, when they spot a silver cylindrical object with black lines across its surface. It moves eastward from directly overhead to a position 45° up in the east and vanishes. (“Case 3-9-68,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 8)

July 27 — 10:45 p.m. Two witnesses in Sheffield, Ohio, watch a “silver banana” with a red and blue flashing light about a half-mile away, low in the east. They hear a wavering hum. It approaches their car to within 600 feet; the car’s electrical system fails, and the engine stops and cannot be restarted for another 90 minutes. After about 15 minutes the light shoots away to the west. (“Case 3-9-65,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 7)

July 28 — 8:28 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Gruss of Benton Harbor, Michigan, see a long, brightly lit, silver cylinder at about 6,000 feet altitude. It stays stationary for 30 minutes, then moves southwest. (“Complete Details on the Michigan- Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 14)

July 28 — 11:45 p.m. The Ludington, Michigan, Coast Guard station gets a phone call from a man whose daughter and boyfriend have seen a strange object over Lake Michigan. Coast Guardsman Don Clark and others see a cluster of white lights, one flashing, and one steady green light near the shoreline. It is very bright, proceeds westerly past the Big Sable Point Lighthouse, and then accelerates silently over the horizon “faster than a plane.” Clark radios the Coast Guard station at Two Rivers, Wisconsin, about the light. (“Complete Details on the Michigan- Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 14)

July 28 — 11:57 p.m. Six members of the Two Rivers, Wisconsin, Coast Guard station, including Doug Wangen and Seaman Gary Randall, see a lighted object with flashing white, red, green, orange, and blue lights coming from Lake Michigan and moving toward Rawley Point. It stops abruptly, and Randall snaps 10 photos. The object then “slingshots” to the northwest in seconds. (“Complete Details on the Michigan-Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 14)

July 28 — 12:00 midnight. Personnel at the Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, Coast Guard station watch a similar light for 4 minutes moving swiftly from west to northwest. (“Complete Details on the Michigan-Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 14)

July 29 — 12:01 a.m. A second westbound light is seen by Coast Guard at the Ludington, Michigan, station. It has red lights and very bright strobes flashing erratically. The Two Rivers, Wisconsin, station spots an object 3 minutes later, but it is moving north. (“Complete Details on the Michigan-Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 14)

July 29 — 12:25 a.m. Coast Guard observers at the Grassy Island Range Lighthouse in Green Bay, Wisconsin, report to Two Rivers that they are seeing a UFO heading to the west at high speed with white and red flashing lights. (“Complete Details on the Michigan-Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 14–15)

July 29 — 12:45 a.m. Seaman Gary Randall and another witness at the Two Rivers Coast Guard station see another UFO closing in from the southwest. It approaches for 40 seconds then stops for 1 minute. Then it flies northeast and shoots straight up and out of sight in 20 seconds. (“Complete Details on the Michigan-Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 15)

July 29 — 2:40 a.m. A Coast Guard vessel in Lake Superior among the Apostle Islands, Wisconsin, sees a large, yellow- white, oblong object that appears and reappears briefly in a slightly different position each time. (“Complete Details on the Michigan-Wisconsin Coast Guard Sightings,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 15)

July 29–30 — The 1978 MUFON UFO Symposium takes place in Dayton, Ohio. Ufologist Leonard Stringfield announces that he has collected more than 50 sources with “information relative to the subject of retrievals or storage of alien craft, and/or deceased alien humanoids recovered from the craft.” He presents 17 witness testimonies to the audience as evidence of some 9–10 possible retrievals of crashed or downed UFOs, although his refusal to provide their names embroils him in controversy. This is the first of his seven “status reports” on accounts and rumors about UFO crash/retrievals. (Leonard H. Stringfield, “Retrievals of the Third Kind,” 1978 MUFON UFO Symposium Proceedings, MUFON, 1978, pp. 77–105; Richard H. Hall, Uninvited Guests, Aurora, 1988, pp. 75–76; Leonard Stringfield, “The Chase for Proof in a Squirrel’s Cage,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 145–147)

August — Bank manager Serrano Silva and a Columbian Navy officer suffer temporary paralysis when a flying object buzzes their car on a highway between Tunja and Bogotá, Columbia. The car’s engine and headlights die. (“South America: Hotbed of Bizarre UFO Sightings,” Windsor (Ont.) Star, November 14, 1978, p. 20)

August 3 — 7:20 p.m. An engineer, his wife, and his daughter are driving toward Nurmijärvi, Finland, when a 6-foot oval with clear black contours and a light-colored center flies silently in front of them, moving from right to left in 5– 10 seconds before vanishing. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 2)

August 3 — 10:50 p.m. During a mini-flap of UFO sightings in Lowell, Massachusetts, a couple watch an oval light that has rising bands of shifting colors hovering above trees to the northwest. The man jumps in the car to drive to it as the woman continues watching and sees a smaller light appear to its right. A third light appears to the left, which swings above the first light and joins the second one. All of the lights vanish. (“Case 3-9-104,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 8)

August 4 — 9:30 p.m. A 12-year-old boy in East Leroy, Michigan, hears a noise and looks out his window to watch a silver cigar drop vertically downward to a position 100 feet away and 15 feet up. It snaps into a horizontal position and hovers for 5–10 seconds. A white, steam-like exhaust emits from a funnel at its rear and steams up the boy’s window. After a few more seconds it zooms off into the sky. (“Case 3-9-107,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 8)

August 5 — 9:50 p.m. A family on the shore of Lake Sorell, Tasmania, watch a glow behind a hill to the south. Within minutes, the whole area lights up and a small white light appears, moving back and forth at tree level. It remains visible 20–30 minutes, then disappears suddenly. Earlier in the day, another group had reported a brown, cigar- shaped object over nearby Lake Crescent. (Launceston Examiner, August 12, 1978; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 2)

August 5 — 11:15 p.m. A TV director is driving northwest on State Highway 5 about 2 miles southeast of Laurie, Missouri. He and his son watch two red lights rise up about 25 feet off the road to their left to an altitude of 30 feet. They are attached to a triangular object that flies over their car to their right, cut back to the top of a hill, turn around, and approach them again, only to descend behind trees. The rear dimension of the triangle is about 10–15 feet across. (“Case 3-9-120,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 8)

August 7 — 10:00 p.m. A couple is driving west on War Memorial Drive to a First Assembly of God church in Peoria, Illinois when they see a shooting star fly across their view. Five minutes later, they arrive at church and, walking behind it, see a bright white light with flashing red and blue lights hovering about 40 feet in the air for 5–7 minutes. It shoots off to the east in a split second. (“Case 3-9-132,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 9)

August 8 — A group of tourists along the shore of the Sea of Azov near Henichesk, Ukraine, see a flying disc three times larger than the moon. It has protrusions on the top and bottom, two rows of portholes, and is surrounded by a bright orange glow. Every 15 seconds, smaller discs (a total of 15–20) fly out from the lower protrusion, accompanied by a blinding explosion. They hover for a few seconds then depart rapidly to the south. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p. 176)

August 8 — 9:40 p.m. Witnesses in Belton, Missouri, and several military personnel at nearby Richards-Gebaur Air Reserve Station [now closed] witness the flyover of a UFO that is also briefly tracked on radar. Joseph Staudinger Jr. sees the object at about 2,800 feet in altitude and looking like two white strobe lights in front and back with three rows of red lights that are rotating around its middle. The encounter lasts 45 minutes. A cattle mutilation has been discovered earlier that day in Elsberry, Missouri. (“Heavily-Witnessed Radar-Visual Case near Kansas City,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 3–6)

August 10 — CIA Information and Privacy Coordinator Gene F. Wilson asks Todd Zechel of CAUS to suspend his FOIA request until he has a chance to look at the 1,000 pages of documents that are currently under review for release. Most of these files are from the Office of Scientific Intelligence in the 1950s, leading CAUS to suspect that they will mostly consist of Air Force and Navy UFO reports, plus some records of unauthorized CIA investigations. ((“GSW + FOIA + CIA = 1,000 Pages of UFO Information,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 9)

August 11 — 11:59 p.m. A deputy sheriff and four youngsters are driving on Chancellors Run Road in Great Mills, Maryland, when they see a silvery, blimp-shaped light hovering at treetop level above some trailers. It appears larger than a full moon. The deputy shines the cruiser’s spotlight toward it and scans the length of the object, yet the beam does not light up the large shape. She drives closer, but the UFO begins to get cloudy on its underside and moves slowly behind the trees. (“Case 3-9-184,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 9)

August 12 — 9:25 p.m. A young couple in Niceville, Florida, are driving on a dirt road when a lighted object that looks like an eye moves toward them. The center part is like shiny black glass and the body is metallic silver with two antennae on top. It fills half the windshield in angular size as it moves over the roof of the car. They hear no noise and feel no rush of wind. (“Case 3-9-187,” IUR 3, no. 8 (September 1978): 9)

August 16 — Air traffic controllers at Gatwick Airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, see a UFO but decline to say exactly what it is. (Good Above, p. 72)

August 17 — Assistant US Attorney for the District of Columbia William Briggs asks Peter Gersten of Ground Saucer Watch to identify broadly all categories of UFO documents to enable the CIA to search for all its UFO records. Based on a draft by Brad Sparks, Gersten prepares a stipulation that requests the CIA to conduct a reasonable search of 22 CIA component branches. US District Court Judge John H. Pratt makes the order a binding one, giving the CIA until mid-December to complete the task. (“GSW + FOIA + CIA = 1,000 Pages of UFO Information,” IUR 3, no. 8 (August 1978): 9–10)

August 17 — 10:30 p.m. Radars of the Air Self-Defense Corps at Nemuro Radar Site on Hokkaido, Japan, pick up a target flying from the north to south-southwest at about 40 mph more than a half-mile above Nemuro Channel south of Kunashir Island. It approaches the eastern end of Hokkaido and is later picked up by radars at Cape Erimo. Two

F-4EJ Phantom jets are scrambled from Chitose Air Base about 10 minutes later and are guided to the targets, now in the vicinity of Nakashibetsu. But the pilots can see nothing on their airborne radars and return empty- handed. The target persists on ground scopes, moving south toward Kushiro. Twice more, jets are sent up but fail to detect a blip. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 9 (September 1978): 2)

August 18 — 11:20 p.m. A relative staying at the home of UFO researcher Douglas Dains in Port Crane, New York, notices the reception on the television is disrupted shortly before a UFO detector (a magnetic field instrument) starts buzzing. Dains himself is not at home. The relative steps outside and sees a domed UFO with a red light on top of an antenna approach from the northwest to a position 50 feet behind a tree and 45 feet in the air. It hovers there for 30 seconds. It then departs to the southwest, disappearing behind a mountain. (“The Absent UFO Researcher,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 13)

August 20 — 1:30 a.m. A nurse is sitting in her car on Oberlin Street in Maplewood, New Jersey, when she sees an object shaped like a car fender with four blue lights moving toward her from the east. She gets out of her car as it flies overhead. Then it stays in place, rocking silently back and forth, before taking off to the northeast, making a machine-like noise. (“A Huge ‘Car Fender,’” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 13–14)

August 20 — 7:30 p.m. A 64-year old security guard is on patrol in downtown Toledo, Ohio, looking at a “large plane” approaching from the north. As it passes overhead at a uniform speed, about 1,500–2,000 feet up, it is seen as a cigar with small brackets. It is dull silver, distinctly outlined, and twice the angular size of the full moon. It then continues its straight path southbound to the horizon. (“A Daylight Urban ‘Cigar,’” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 14)

August 21 — 5:00 p.m. A witness sketches an oblong UFO over an open area near Banksville, New York. It is at least 150–200 feet long with while and blue colors, two lights in front, and silent. It disappears over a golf course t the northeast. (“Long Rectangular UFOs: Five Different Cases of Similarly Shaped Objects,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 9 (September 1981): 1)

August 21 — 5:30 p.m. A 33-year old housewife, in the company of her children, 8 and 10, watches a silver Frisbee-like object from their front porch 3 miles north of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Standing outdoors, they see the saucer in the southeast, much larger than a full moon would look, perhaps as large as a car. The Frisbee has a sharp outline and metallic appearance. No sound can be heard over the heavy traffic noise. According to the children, it then shoots over to the southwest in two seconds. Finally, it moves straight up out of sight in an instant. Duration is 5–8 minutes. (“A Daylight ‘Frisbee,’” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 14)

August 21 — Night. The Madagascar Interior Ministry announces that a UFO has crashed and exploded in the marketplace at Fort-Dauphin. Radio Madagascar says that the cigar-shaped object had lit up the ground before plunging downward. Locals rush out of bed to put out the flames. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 2)

August 22 — 7:03 a.m. Four men are driving in a carpool from Moscow, Pennsylvania, to work at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Coolbaugh Township on I-380. They watch a small circular “cloud” descend suddenly in the south. It changes to a bright silver and hovers, rocking from side to side. It now looks solid and metallic. It rises slightly

and flies off to the southeast at an estimated 800–900 mph. (“A Daylight ‘Cloud,’” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 14)

August 22 — An oval-shaped translucent object ringed by a halo of light flies silently over the Andes Mountains in Neuquen province, Argentina, in a 300-mile path. (“Close Encounters Thrill Latins,” Detroit (Mich.) Free Press, November 22, 1978, p. 6C)

August 23 — 8:04 p.m. P. A. Hadden is on board the tanker MV Ficus in the Indian Ocean [or the South China Sea] 260 miles from the Malacca Strait. He watches an elongated triangle formation of three lights moving in from 60° above the northeast horizon. When they reach 75°, nearly overhead, the lights suddenly stop. He estimates them to be 100 miles high. The light in the right rear continues moving in the opposite direction of the ship and off to its left at great speed, disappearing in the distance; the light in the left rear shifts over to occupy the position in the formation it had occupied. After 5 seconds of remaining still, it shoots back to the left again and departs at high speed. The remaining light rushes forward, following the same path as the first light. Total duration of the sighting is 1 minute 20 seconds. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 2)

August 24 — 10:00 p.m. A 54-year old cook is driving north from her brother’s house about 10 miles south of Ottumwa, Iowa. She is on Cliffland Road alongside the Des Moines River in a wooded, rural area. A full-moon-sized red- orange light shoots silently from the east to the west in several seconds. As it flies across the front of her car, her windshield fogs up and the car stalls out to a stop. The interference lasts only a few seconds, and the car restarts without her turning the key; the window defogs as quickly as it had steamed up. She last sees the light against a background of trees up ahead, lower than the treetops. (“Car Interference in Iowa,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 14)

August 24 — 11:40 p.m. Two 19-year old girls, driving west near tiny Ginghamsburg, Ohio, watch two oddly colored orange lights twice the size of aircraft landing lights. A humming sound can be heard both from the lights and from the car radio. The driver can’t get the car to go faster than about 20 mph. The lights are coming from the left, one directly over the other. They look away momentarily and the lights are gone; they look again, and the lights are moving above the car. From the south they have moved to the northwest over a field. A rod or a light beam comes down from one ball of light and shines a light at the witnesses for one second. The driver tries to flash the car lights at it, to no avail. They look away briefly and do not notice how the lights vanish. (“Car Interference in Ohio?” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 14)

August 27 — 1:40 p.m. Arthur Silva is flying a Cessna 150 about 10 miles north of Provincetown, Massachusetts, with Harold Johnson as passenger. Johnson sees a bright reflective object at the same altitude (2,500 feet) directly ahead about 4 miles away. It moves closer, picking up speed and shooting by them at about 600 mph, apparently missing the plane by 1,000 feet. It is a silvery-white, metallic sphere with no wings and about 18 feet in diameter. (“Daylight Sphere over Massachusetts,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 15)

August 27 — 4:45 p.m. A Korean War veteran in Gloucester, Massachusetts, watches a bright yellow cylinder approaching him from low in the north. At an altitude of 2,000 feet, it appears smaller than an F-100 fighter. It moves off to the south, flying faster than a jet. (“And Then, 3 Hours Later,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 15)

August 28 —Six papers are presented at the American Psychological Association Symposium in Toronto, Ontario, relating to the topic of using hypnosis to investigate UFO experiences. The presenters are H. Kent Newman, R. Leo Sprinkle, James Harder, Alvin Lawson, W. C. McCall, and Michael Persinger. (“Ufologists Meet the Social Scientists,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 19–21)

August 30 — 8:45 p.m. A witness is standing outdoors at a suburban shopping center in Nashua, New Hampshire, when she spots a formation of 6–8 white lights arranged in a circle and moving from southeast to north. (“Meanwhile, a Little Ways North,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 15)

August 30 — Late night. Residents of Lisbon, Portugal, see a large round object with bright red and white lights flying about 600 feet above the ground. (“Portuguese Welcome UFO,” Oshkosh (Wis.) Daily Northwestern, August 31, 1978, p. 2)

August 30 — 11:00 p.m.–midnight. A 38-year-old man is driving a pickup on State Highway 38 a half-mile west of Nisula, Michigan, when a cone-shaped object flies toward him from the east. It has two steady red lights at the ends and one steady white light in the middle. It flies low and silently over the truck, which then stalls for one second. He gets home and he and his wife watch the red lights in the distance, still moving slowly up and down from east to south. (“Another Vehicle Stalled,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 15–16)

August 30 — 11:10 p.m. A man in Gloucester, Massachusetts, looks out his window to see what is causing a loud sound in 5-second bursts. He sees over Ipswich Bay an elongated, fiery red rectangle moving north to south at around 100 mph. One end is dipped down 45°. It stops, hovers for 10 seconds, and moves out of sight behind trees. (“Again, 3 Hours Later,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 15)

September — GEPAN organizes a large gathering of about 100 people from more than 40 civilian UFO groups, but cooperation does not last. Criticism comes from both skeptics and the conspiratorial-minded. (Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 12)

September — Chris Rutkowski begins publishing the Swamp Gas Journal newsletter in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It continues until summer 1997, with six special issues thrown in. (Swamp Gas Journal, no. 1 (September 1978)

September — UFOs are reported around Heathrow Airport in London, England. A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority denies that any are tracked on radar, but adds, “It’s in the interest of national security that not too much fuss is made about this sort of thing.” (Good Above, p. 72)

September 1 — After 8:00 p.m. Several villagers in Llanerchymedd, Anglesey, Wales, including some teenagers and a man hunting rabbits, watch a bright white light descend slowly behind a new housing estate. An egg-shaped object is seen hovering and illuminating the trees. Other independent witnesses see a large silvery sphere above a field and watch the cows panic and hear neighborhood dogs start barking furiously. A Mrs. Parry and her young daughter look out from an upstairs bedroom and see three tall men in gray uniforms with caps or helmets attached to their suits walking across a field. Some of the teens run to the village to alert the police, who upon their arrival find the village in an uproar, thinking it has been invaded. At 10:00 p.m., Vivienne Roberts sees a purplish object with a mass of yellow lights above the vicarage. Her horses begin to panic and sweat profusely. Later, UFO investigators triangulate the position of the supposed landing site and find a circular patch of flattened barley and a path leading up to it. (Martin Keatman, “The Llanerchymedd UFO,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no. 5 (March 1980): 16–23; Story, p. 211)

September 2 — 8:00–8:15 a.m. Roberto Pozzi, 14, hears a noise like ducks and hissing combined in a western suburb of Alessandrio, Piedmont, Italy. He sees an object over a nearby cornfield. It stops making noise, swings laterally, and shoots up into the air. He finds a 22-by-10-foot depressed area of cornstalks bent down halfway up the stalk. Two rows of stalks are bent to the east, a third row to the west. Other sightings take place in the same area around Alessandrio on September 3, 6, 7, and 13. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 14;

1Pinotti 217)

September 3 — David W. Swift of the University of Hawaii Department of Sociology presents a paper prior to the American Sociological Association meeting in San Francisco, California, on the disconnect among scientists’ support for SETI research and their disdain for UFO research. (“Scientists’ Selection of New Areas for Investigation: UFOs or ETI?” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 21–22)

September 3 — 10:00 p.m. Edilia Cresta Gallo and three other women see a strip of white light descend between a road and a maize field in Alessandrio, Piedmont, Italy. The strip morphs into a bright fireball about 5 feet wide. It disappears and reappears twice more. The women complain of a burning sensation in their eyes. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 14–15)

September 4 — 12:15 a.m. A university professor in Gordon, Wisconsin, sees a flashing, pale-yellow ball of light as he is driving north on US Highway 53. It crosses the road in front of him only 50 feet away at an estimated 160 mph. It makes a sharp 90° turn parallel to the road, descending to about 15 feet, and travels parallel to his car at 60 mph about 150 feet west of the road. As he slows down to 20 mph for a better look, the light also slows down. When the light is 250 feet ahead, it goes out. (“A Professorial Witness,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 11)

September 6 — 6:45 a.m. Juan O. Perez, 12, goes to gather a herd of horses near Venado Tuerto, Argentina. As he rides his horse, he senses something flying overhead. Several objects appear and begin maneuvering and shooting out beams of multicolored light. His horse panics, and Perez manages to ride home. His father berates him and tells him to go back. When he returns, he finds a large domed object with windows on the ground. A door opens and a 7-foot-tall being wearing gloves and a cylindrical helmet appears. It seems to be attached to the object by some type of breathing apparatus. It invites Perez inside the craft, so he ties his horse to a ladder protruding from the bottom of the object and climbs in. His horse is panicked again and keeps kicking the object, injuring its leg.

Inside, he sees a panel with buttons and some tables. A robot-like entity is cutting some animal bones into pieces. Perez tries touching the tall being and objects inside but is prevented by an invisible barrier. Perez jumps out the door and back to the ground. The tall being follows him outside. Perez asks for one of the giant’s gloves as proof of his experience. When it takes off the glove, Perez sees a green, claw-like hand with blue metallic nails. The tall being then pricks Perez’s right arm and apparently extracts some blood. As Perez rides home with the glove, two flying objects catch up to him and emit a small slab and sphere that descend and brush by the horse. They pull the glove up with a magnetic force. The wound on Perez’s arm stays open for many years and seeps a transparent liquid. A scar remains six years later when Perez has a medical check-up for military service; he is declared unfit because of the story he tells about its origin. After the event, Perez begins having premonitory dreams about unfortunate events. (Jacques Vallée, Confrontations: A Scientist’s Search for Alien Contact, Ballantine, 1990, pp. 153–156; “Jacques Vallée: The Juan Perez UFO Case,” Above Top Secret, October 20, 2019; David Metcalfe,

“Witness of Another World: Exploring the Soul of a Phenomenon,” Exploring the Outer Edges of Society and Mind, October 21, 2019; Mark Pilkington, “The Gaucho Also Cries,” Fortean Times 391 (April 2020): 38–40; Internet Movie Database, “Witness of Another World”)

September 6 — Late evening. Two witnesses at the San Michele boarding house in Sassello, Savona, Italy, see two round black objects close enough to form a figure 8. The are making sounds like incomprehensible radio chatter. They depart at great speed, leaving circular imprints behind. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 15)

September 7 — 1:00 a.m. A college student in Dayton, Ohio, sees two bright orange lights, closely spaced horizontally. They remain stationary for 2 minutes, then dim and begin to move for 2–3 minutes. (“This One’s 50-50,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 11)

September 7 — 8:40 p.m. Many people in the San Michele boarding house in Sassello, Savona, Italy, see a large luminous object hovering above La Carta to the east. The boarding house owner, Piera Viacava, switches on the TV, but the picture is distorted. The light moves south for a few minutes. Franco Viacava drives off in a Fiat with two friends toward the light, but their engine loses power and slows down. The radio and tape player also malfunction briefly. A French woman driving in the area has her car stopped as the object hovers suddenly above her. Her dog barks until the light goes away and the car resumes working. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Oct./Nov. 1979): 15)

September 9 — 8:35 p.m. Airline pilots flying over the Mediterranean about 88 miles east of Barcelona, Spain, watch some unidentified lights for 35 minutes. Personnel from Barcelona Air Control Center maintain a conversation with the pilots but detect no targets on their radar screens. (Swords 434–435)

September 10 — 8:30 p.m. Richard Renne is flying his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza at 9,500 feet southeast at 170 mph near Bakersfield, Missouri, when he sees a yellowish-white light descending from 15,000 feet. It follows him behind his right wing, then shoots up to 20,000 feet in a perfectly straight trajectory. It moves back to his 3 o’clock position before it shoots off upward. (“But This One’s Good,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 11)

September 10 — 10:15 p.m. A stationary formation of several dozen lights is seen at Dearborn Heights, Michigan, for 15 minutes before it disappears. (“Michigan NL,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 11–12)

September 13 — 9:30 p.m. Angelo Ciompi watches a reddish disc moving in the eastern sky above Spinetta Marengo, Italy. It stops abruptly, drops down, and is lost to sight behind some houses. A column of flames rises up from the spot. Ciompi and others rush to the area and see a fire burning in the brushwood-covered wasteland. Firemen put out the blaze, but the area is overflown by lights in the evening that descend and ascend at the site. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Oct./Nov. 1979): 15)

September 14 — 6:00 a.m. Hundreds of witnesses all over Italy, from Sicily to Florence, watch a luminous projectile moving northward. Italian ufologists are calling it a UFO rather than a meteor because a few accounts have it moving in a different direction or appearing to stop briefly. Probable meteor. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Oct./Nov. 1979): 15)

September 15 — 2:30 a.m. A 31-year-old woman is lying in bed awake for 30 minutes at her home in Delano, Tennessee, when a funny feeling makes her look outside. She stands at the south window looking out at fields and sees a bright moon and an object with lights in a long shape, red and pink as if on fire, in the southwest. Two “normal” men dressed in white suits can be seen about 300 feet from the window, but it is too dark for details. They start moving toward the house, but then stop and turn back. The UFO comes in fast at this point very close to the ground, then leaves quickly, climbing to the west. (“Tennessee Humanoids?” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 12; Patrick Gross, URECAT, May 15, 2010)

September 15 — 4:00 a.m. A 26-year-old secretary is awakened in Carpentersville, Illinois, by a whirring sound. She goes to the bedroom window to look outside. The noise stops, but then she sees the figure of a 6-foot tall man. He is dressed in a silvery suit. Several feet away from him she sees a small, silver, domed disc (about 3 feet wide by 2 feet tall) sitting on the edge of the grass. It is opaque and smooth and the source of the whirring sound. The witness then screams at her husband to wake up, and her dog starts barking furiously. They both try to phone the police but the phone is not working. When the police arrive 15 minutes later, both the visitor and the UFO are gone. (“Stuffing a 6-Foot Ufonaut into a 2-Foot UFO,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 12; Patrick Gross, URECAT, October 27, 2009)

September 16 — 1:30 a.m. Stephen Colclough and his girlfriend are driving through Dilhorne, Staffordshire, England, when they notice a red and white light moving across the sky. Suddenly an enormous black object looms up in front of them, completely silent, and shoots a powerful searchlight beam for at least 3 seconds. (“UFO Shot a Beam of Light at Our Car: Claim,” Stoke-on-Trent (UK) Evening Sentinel, September 16, 1978; Marler 102)

September 17 — 8:00 p.m. Hairdresser Rivo Faralli hears an explosion like a rifle shot at Torrita di Siena, Italy. He goes to visit his mother on the other side of town, who has also heard the noise and seen a flash of light that causes the

lights and TV to go out. When Faralli is driving home at 9:00 p.m. on the Via Pié agli Orti, the engine and lights of his car die. He feels paralyzed as he watches a domed disc come near and float inches from the ground. The dome opens up and two 3.5-foot-tall beings emerge, floating 4 inches from the ground. They are wearing green one-piece suits; their helmets have clear visors and two small spiraling antennas. Their faces look like green- skinned skulls through the visors. Faralli watches them make a full circle around the car without noise or gesture, then return to the UFO, which rises up several yards, seemingly propelled by three red, orange, and blue-colored beams, and shoots off vertically. The car starts on its own. He returns to the site the following day and finds three burn marks in the unpaved road. Digging into the ground, he finds the earth carbonized to a depth of 8 inches.

Soil samples are taken to the European Atomic Energy Community labs at Ispra, which finds that the road material has been burned by a temperature less than 500° Celsius, and not by a bonfire or hydrocarbon fuels. (Roberto Pinotti, “Landing, E.M. Effects, and Entities at Torrita di Siena,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1979): 3–6; Maurizio Verga, “Another CEIII Report from Italy,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1979): 6–7; “UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 15–16; Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part Two,” IUR 34, no. 1 (Sept. 2011): 18; UFOEv II 495– 496; 1Pinotti 220–223; Patrick Gross, URECAT, January 15, 2012)

September 18 — 3:30 p.m. Giorgio Filiputti is fishing in the Corno river at the point where the Zumiel irrigation canal runs into it south of San Giorgio di Nogaro, Udine, Italy, when he hears a whistling sound, sees vegetation rustling, and feels a blast of air. Climbing up the riverbank to investigate, he sees a domed disc about 13–16 feet in diameter that is resting on a mudflat 66 feet away. The object is brassy or yellowish metallic with telescopic legs that terminate in flat pads. A figure about 3.5 feet tall appears from behind the dome, walking around the rim. It wears tight-fitting coveralls of scaly, silvery material that sparkles in the sunlight. It wears boots, has two containers at waist level, and white gloves. Its face is dark bronze with almond-shaped eyes and large pupils. The entity stares at the shocked Filiputti. After a few minutes it begins walking again, stoops down, and works on a horseshoe-shaped protrusion on the dome. Finally, it continues walking around to the other side. Filiputti hears a rumbling sound and a piercing whistle as the object begins to rise, withdrawing its landing gear. The underside looks like it has a grid pattern, and it emits a bluish glow like a tongue of flame. When it reaches an altitude of 33 feet, it turns on edge and speeds out of sight to the southwest. He has been watching it for about 6 minutes. Three circular imprints about 20 inches in diameter are found in the dry mud and sand. (Antonio Chiumiento, “‘The Little Oriental Airman’: Another Remarkable C.E.III Case in Italy,” Flying Saucer Review 28, no. 5 (June 1983): 3–8; UFOEv II 497–498; 1Pinotti 223–230)

September 20 — 3:40 p.m. G. W. Schoen is spreading fertilizer on a farm near Westminster, Maryland, when he notices a gray, pear-shaped object tilted at an angle and flying above the edge of a wooded area. He can see plates, girders, cylinders, and other structures on it. Schoen senses that it is exerting a mild “pulling” force on him. It is visible for 30–35 seconds before it passes behind a cloud. He estimates it is 340–350 feet long. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1982): 4)

September 20 — 5:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. Hundreds of people watch a white, roughly triangular object over Tuscany, Italy. It moves northeast and turns red. Probable balloon. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Oct./Nov.

1979): 16–17)

September 21 — 8:00 p.m. A young man walking near a yard in Cosenza, Calabria, Italy, sees the area illuminated as if by daylight. The surrounding blocks are lost to view. On a hill he sees an oval object and a human shape with two antennae. Frightened, he runs away but falls as four humanoids come closer to him by jumps. He faints, and when he comes to he is surrounded by four entities wearing buttoned jackets, a rucksack, and helmets with antennae.

Their hands look like pincers. He faints again and walks up at 8:30 p.m., but the UFO and entities are gone. (Paolo Fiorino, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Antonio Chiumiento, “Abductions in Italy,” IUR 14, no. 4 (July/Aug.1989): 15)

September 23 — 4:30 a.m. Carlos Acevedo and Angel Moya are driving a Citroën CG on the flat pampas south of Buenos Aires, Argentina, stragglers on the final leg of a 39-day stock car race. They notice a yellow and violet light shining in their rear-view mirror, approaching fast. Suddenly, the engine and headlights quit, then the car is lifted 15 feet off the road and set down again one minute later 75 miles north. The gasoline tank is also allegedly drained. (San Diego (Calif.) Union, November 14, 1978; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 2)

September 23 — 1:28 p.m. A man is driving past a cattle lot 2 miles north of Dexter, Iowa, when he sees a silver cigar- shaped object 150 feet above the ground. He jumps out of his truck and tries to get underneath it as it hovers, but it moves off to the northeast and is gone in less than a minute. (“Another Daylight Cigar,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 12)

September 23–24 — Around 12:00 midnight. Two cable car technicians at the Bâlea Lake resort, Romania, are awakened by a red light visible through dense fog. It is apparently coming from an object some 30 feet outside their

window. The light disappears. At the same time, at a military barracks on the site where soldiers have been assigne dwork duties, Cpl. Ioan Dörr gets up and goes outside for a drink of water from a tap at the corner of the building and sees a dark, motionless silhouette only a few feet away. It persists for at least another 5 minutes. The next evening at 11:45 p.m., Sgt. Ion Radu notices a dark figure about 8 feet tall moving slowly on a mound some 65 feet away. Noticing that something had broken open the shutters of their barracks windows, some of the soldiers begin throwing stones at it. Radu approaches to within 4 feet of the figure and raises a club to hit it, but he feels a hot blast and falls backward into the snow. Two other soldiers with him remain paralyzed for a few seconds. The entity moves away with kind of a floating motion. Radu remains unconscious for about 10 minutes as the soldiers try to resuscitate him. Five soldiers see a “wreath of lights” at the spot where the figure had stood and others hear mysterious scratching at the window shutters. The next morning they find four parallel scratches on the shutters about 4 inches apart. The soldiers all decide to spend the next night at a nearby resort. (Romania 130–132)

September 24 — 5:30 p.m. Two witnesses see a silver oval moving from east to west in Vineland, New Jersey. (“Daylight Oval,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 13)

September 26 — 12:05 a.m. A 19-year-old grocery worker is driving on Lunn Road in Strongsville, Ohio, when she sees on her left a flat-domed disc edge on. She stops her car, and the object moves closer. When it is right in front of her car over the road, her FM radio gets lost in static for 10–15 seconds and her headlights flash off for one second. Then the object slowly rises up and flies off out of sight to her right. (“Another EM Story,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 13)

September 27 — 8:00 a.m. Katarzyna Kolińska is on her way to school in Przyrownica from Magnusy, Poland, when she sees a bright flash of light near a mountain. The children who arrive at the school before classes go to a small nearby grove of trees to play. There they encounter a strange man, 5.5 feet tall with a green face and dark costume, who is walking through the forest 30 feet away. He turns to face the children, and they panic and run back to school, one child losing his shoe in the rush. The teacher returns with some of the children to the spot, but student Anna Jarocińska goes in the wrong direction and meets only 480 feet from the school a being whose face is a “featureless mask.” (Poland 43–45)

September 27 — 1:00 p.m. Henryk Marciniak is picking mushrooms in the forest near Golina, Poland. He notices a strange landed object standing on four legs about 330 feet away in a clearing. When he rides over to investigate, a door opens and two small beings with unpleasant faces and greenish skin emerge, walking down some steps that have appeared. They approach him, one poking at the motorcycle and the other holding a device like a camera.

The first one takes his bag of mushrooms. Marciniak shakes hands with them and tries to indicate the mushrooms are edible and the bike is for riding. Suddenly a buzzing sound comes from the object. The two entities go back inside and the object takes off and disappears. Many years later Marciniak denies the story, possibly because he wants to be left alone. (Poland 45–46)

September 27 — 7:25 p.m. Two witnesses see a formation of lights above a suburban forest preserve in Gurnee, Illinois. One steady red light is on top, two steady yellow lights are below them, and one blue flashing light is seen briefly. It suddenly drops halfway to the ground and back up again in 5 seconds before moving off to the north. (“Illinois NL,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 13)

September 28 — 2:00 a.m. Two women driving south through a residential area of Omaha, Nebraska, sees a dark cone- shaped object approaching her from the right. It has three bright white lights on the bottom. The object slows down, flying low, and the witnesses pass by it. A pre-recorded tape in the car’s player gets completely erased as this happens, even though other tapes in a box are not affected. (“A ‘Zapped’ Cassette,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 13)

September 28 — 7:20 p.m. A man in Kettering, Ohio, spots a grayish cigar reflecting the light of the setting sun. Flying silently with its long dimension in the direction of travel, it seems to be 10,000 feet or lower. (“What’s Going on in Ohio? Another Daylight Cigar!” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 13)

September 29 — A resident Indian woman sees a disc-shaped object take off from the Groendal Nature Reserve near Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, South Africa. (MUFON UFO Journal, October 1978)

October — John Acuff’s mismanagement of NICAP (destruction of the reporting network, loss of members, paying himself a $20,000 contractor’s fee) leads to his resignation as director. Acuff remains on the board and keeps the case files in his personal possession. He is replaced by Alan Hall, a retired CIA employee who accepts the position after a number of other ex-CIA men are offered the job. Support for Hall on the NICAP board comes from Charles Lombard, an aide to Sen. Barry Goldwater and a former covert CIA employee. Lombard and John Fisher are voted onto the board. (Richard H. Hall, “The Quest for the Truth about UFOs: A Personal Perspective

on the Role of NICAP,” in 1994 MUFON UFO Symposium Proceedings, MUFON, 1994, pp. 185–201; ClearIntent, p. 207)

October? — 12:00 noon. Two Chilean F-5 aircraft piloted by Capts. Hernán Gabrielli Rojas and Danilo Catalán Farias are on a training mission near Mejillones, Chile. Both pilots see a radar target that gives a return equal to 10 aircraft carriers. Ground radar at Cerro Moreno airport [now Andrés Sabella Gálvez International Airport] in Antofagasta picks up the object and confirms its large size. The pilots continue to fly south between 30,000–35,000 feet. At a distance of 20 miles, they see an object “like a plantain banana” swathed in smoke. They approach it cautiously with their gun cameras on, but the UFO disappears at a huge speed to the west, heading toward Easter Island, vanishing from all three radar screens. Duration is 5 minutes. (Martin Shough and Wim van Utrecht, “Antofagasta, Chile: October 1978,” Caelestia, October 31, 2018)

October 2 — 11:15 a.m. Four students, ages 12–16, from Despatch, Eastern Cape, South Africa, are hiking in the Groendal Nature Reserve when they see a silver object on the ground. About 900 feet to the west of it are two beings in silver suits that seem to glide without walking. A third being joins them, holding a silver “suitcase,” and they glide along a fence along a steep incline a short way before vanishing. The silver object disappears too.

Later, three forest workers find 7-inch oval footprints about one mile from the site. On October 18, three South African police officers and two trackers visit the encounter site and find a large area of depressed grass with 8 symmetrical marks around its perimeter and 4 marks within the oval area. (“South African CE III,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 7)

October 6 — 3:00 a.m. Two witnesses driving west on US Highway 87 halfway between Capulin and Des Moines, New Mexico, see an octagonal object several times larger than the moon with light shining through sections of it. As it passes above their car, it seems to be metallic. (“The Octagonal Tank,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 14)

October 7 — A woman is driving with her 13-year-old nephew near San Cataldo, Sicily, Italy, when one of her tires has a blow-out. She repairs the tire but cannot start the car again. Above at an altitude of 50 feet, she sees a silver object resembling a plate turned upside down, about 65 feet in diameter. It emits a strong light, and the bottom has a transparent door through which she can see three or four shadows passing behind it. The UFO leaves quickly with a humming sound after 5–10 minutes. (Maurizio Verga, “La vague italienne de 1978 (Deuxième Partie),” Lumières dans la Nuit, no. 210 (December 1981): 32; Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part Two,” IUR 34, no. 1 (Sept. 2011): 20; Patrick Gross, URECAT, November 17, 2009)

October 7 — 6:30 p.m. Two truck drivers on US Highway 224 near Lodi, Ohio, see a tight formation of pink/red lights flashing on and off floating toward them to the north. They both stop to get out and look. All four lights break formation and move off in different directions, disappearing in seconds. (“Intriguing Ohio NL’s,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 14)

October 8 — 7:00–9:00 a.m. A very small object is seen resting in a field 300 feet from the Marlett Sturgell farmhouse near Jenkins, Missouri. For 2 hours it is watched intermittently by his wife Dora, son Norman, son-in-law, and two others, all members of the Sturgell family. At 9:00 a.m., it ascends and moves off to the northwest. The witnesses then notice a larger, more distant object, wingless, hovering in the sky. The small object heads directly toward it and either flies under it or enters into it. It moves away rapidly and disappears. (“Physical Trace Case in Missouri,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 11–13; Donald L. Seneker and George M. Koch, “Missouri Landing- Trace Case,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 135 (May 1979): 3–7; Herbert S. Taylor, “Satellite Objects: A Further Look,” IUR 29, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 26)

October 8 — 10:30 a.m. Teenager Franklin Youri takes a photo of an unusual object behind his home near Lake Urmia, Iran. It appears just above the line of the roof, and its shape is similar to the May 13 Iranian photo. (“Interesting Newly Discovered Photo from Iran,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 7 (July 1981): 1, 3; “Sheraz, Iran, October 8, 1978,” Popular Mechanics, July 1998, p. 64)

October 8 — 5:11 p.m. A couple in Huntington Park, California, watch a huge black disc at a high altitude moving toward the Sierra Madre Mountains in the northeast. (“Who Else Saw This Monstrous Disc?” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 14)

October 8 — 7:10 p.m. A student takes a photo of a distant daylight disc from his home, 2 miles east of Anderson, South Carolina. (“UFO Photo,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 14–15)

October 8 — 10:40 p.m. Elfed Williams is driving south on the A5025 near Penysarn, Anglesey, Wales, when he sees an orange light that passes overhead and hovers in the southwest. He stops at a friend’s house in the village and they continue to watch the light, which increases in size and is still hovering silently at about 200 feet. At first it looks like two saucers joined at the rims by a black band, but when it begins approaching the witnesses, it takes on the shape of an orange-hued triangle. It moves away then shoots off at a fast speed, (Kevin Babbs, “Expanding UFO over Anglesey,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no, 1 (Jan./Feb. 1979): 23–24)

October 8 — 11:30 p.m. A Mr. and Mrs. Trantor are driving along the A580 near Lowton, England, when their headlight beams catch a figure standing in the grassy strip between the two lanes. It is well over 6 feet tall and dressed in a silver-foil reflective suit. It is immersed in orange light. Stunned, they drive past it. (Jenny Randles, “Fake Photographs, Real Sightings,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 8–9; Patrick Gross, URECAT, April 26, 2012)

October 10 — 6:35 a.m. A chemistry professor in Agoura Hills, California, goes outside to observe Jupiter and sees another bright object to the south of it. It is moving slowly and soon splits into two lights, one brighter than the other. They spread apart and move away at different speeds. (“Another Nocturnal Light That Split Up,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 15)

October 10 — 9:30 p.m. A Mrs. Grime and her two sons, 15 and 21, see a silvery disc ringed by flashing white lights near their home in Leigh, England. They can see three bumps on its underside. It makes a faint humming sound as it moves overhead. (Jenny Randles, “Fake Photographs, Real Sightings,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 9)

October 20 — Dusk. Kate Chmurny, an archaeologist at Plymouth State College in New Hampshire, watches a triangular object flying at 30 mph northward along Interstate 93 at a height of 100 feet above the Pemigewasset River floodplain in Campton, New Hampshire. It is about 20 feet wide and completely silent, moving by raising and lowering one side. The object has a single bright white light on the underside and rows of red and greenish lights along the edges that reflect against a metallic surface. (Joseph K. Long, “Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 2 (April/May 1983): 5–8)

October 21 — 7:06 p.m. Australian pilot Frederick Valentich, 20, is on a 145-mile training flight in a Cessna 182L light aircraft over Bass Strait between Moorabbin, Victoria, and King Island. He radios Melbourne air traffic control to report that an unidentified aircraft is following him at 4,500 feet. He is told there is no known traffic at that level. Valentich can see a large, unknown aircraft that appears to be illuminated by four bright landing lights. He is unable to confirm its type but says it has passed about 1,000 feet overhead and is moving at high speed. Then he says the aircraft is approaching him from the east, thinking that the other pilot might be purposely toying with him. The other aircraft is “orbiting” above him. It has a shiny metal surface and a green light on it. Then he begins experiencing engine problems. Asked to identify the aircraft, Valentich radios, “It’s not an aircraft.” His transmission is then interrupted by unidentified noise described as being “metallic, scraping sounds” before all contact is lost. A sea and air search is undertaken that includes oceangoing ship traffic, an RAAF Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, plus eight civilian aircraft. The search encompasses more than 1,000 square miles. Search efforts cease on October 25 without result. A Department of Transport investigation into the disappearance is unable to determine the cause, but it is “presumed fatal” for Valentich. In 1983, an engine cowl flap is found washed ashore on Flinders Island. In July 1983, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation asks the Royal Australian Navy Research Laboratory about the likelihood that the cowl flap might have traveled to its final position from the area where the aircraft disappeared. The bureau notes that “the part has been identified as having come from a Cessna 182 aircraft between a certain range of serial numbers.” which includes Valentich’s aircraft. At least 15 other UFOs are reported between midday and 9:00 p.m., six in Victoria, one on King Island, and others further away. Roy Manifold, vacationing at Crayfish Bay, Cape Otway, Victoria, inadvertently takes two photos of peculiar black objects just 20 minutes before Valentich reported his sighting. (Wikipedia, “Disappearance of Frederick Valentich”; “Fred Valentich: The Missing Australian Pilot,” IUR 3, no. 12 (December 1978): 2–10; Bill Chalker, “The Missing Cessna and the UFO,” Flying Saucer Review 24, no. 5 (March 1979): 3–5; Bill Chalker, “Vanished? The Valentich Affair Re-examined,” Flying Saucer Review 30, no. 2 (December 1984): 6–12; Richard F. Haines, Melbourne Episode: Case Study of a Missing Pilot, L.D.A. Press, 1987; Keith Basterfield, Vladimir Godic, and Pony Godic, “Australian Ufology: A Review,” JUFOS 2 (1990): 31–32; Good Above, pp.

175–182, 461–463; ClearIntent, pp. 93–96; UFOEv II 138–140; Kean, pp. 54–58; Richard F. Haines and Paul Norman, “Valentich Disappearance: New Evidence and a New Conclusion,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 14, no. 1 (2000): 19–33; Clark III 1208–1212)

October 23 — 6:30–8:30 p.m. Some 200 people involved in 67 sighting reports watch a lighted delta-shaped UFO over Leicestershire, England. (“Throwing a Light on UFO,” Leicester (UK) Mercury, December 2, 1985, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 199 (February 1986): 12; Marler 103, 120)

October 23 — 10:04 p.m. Chinese Air Force pilots are attending an outdoor film screening at Lintao Air Base, Gansu province, China, when an elongated object with two searchlights and a glowing tail appears in the sky moving to the west. Chinese Air Force pilot Zhou Qingtong says it is large and close to the ground. They watch it for 2–3 minutes as it circles above them. A report in the CIA files indicates it is flying at 20,000 feet, varying from witness reports. (“UFO Report from China,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 2 (February 1981): 5; “A Close Encounter with Unpleasant Consequences,” Flying Saucer Review 28, no. 4 (March 1983): 25; Good Above, pp. 213–214; Wendelle Stevens and Paul Dong, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, pp. 119–120)

October 25 — 5:00 a.m. Giuseppe di Giovanni, a 51-year-old farmer, is in search of a stray cow in the hills of San Donato di Tagliacozzo, Abruzzo, Italy, when he comes to an open field and spots a large light-brown object shaped like a shoeshine box on the ground. Lighted windows surround the craft. He approaches to within 3 feet and sees 6–7 humanoid beings inside. They are small and humanlike, both male and female. The women are blonde and have beautiful pink skin. They smile at him. The men are uglier, have darker skin, and appear elderly. They ignore him. Frightened, he runs behind a bush. When he looks out again, the object is gone. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 17–18; 1Pinotti 238–239)

October 25 — The US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act creates a “secret federal court” (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) for issuing wiretap warrants in national security cases. This is in response to findings from the Watergate break-in, which allegedly uncovers a history of presidential operations that has used surveillance on domestic and foreign political organizations. (Wikipedia, “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act”)

October 26 — Night. RCMP Constable James Blackwood receives a report about a UFO hovering above Random Island across from Clarenville, Newfoundland. He heads down to the waterfront and sees an object about 200 feet above the sound. He observes it for nearly two hours with binoculars and a high-powered scope. It is soundless, oval, and has a fin on its tail. When Blackwood flashes the lightbar on his cruiser, the object mimics it by flashing some lights of its own. (“ICYMI: Story of UFO Sighting in Newfoundland Town Is in Mint Condition,” Saltwire, October 8, 2020)

October 28 — 10:45 p.m. Joyce Blackburn is putting out milk bottles on the step of her bungalow on the south side of Warrington, England. She sees a strange light hovering above the Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station. Her husband and two children also watch the UFO until it starts pulsating and moving away. Its glow is so bright that their eyes hurt in looking at it through binoculars. It vanishes, then reappears heading toward them at an angle. They can see it is a disc with a dome on top, tilted slightly toward them. As it passes over their heads, they hear a faint humming noise and can see three orange bumps in a triangular formation on its underside. It moves away to the northeast toward another power station. Total duration is 7 minutes. (Jenny Randles, “Fake Photographs, Real Sightings,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 10–11)

October 29 — 11:15 p.m. Janet Fletcher is stopped at a traffic light in Woolston, England, when she gets static on her radio for a few seconds. She sees a bell-shaped object to the east hovering above a rail line. It has a bright light on top and rings of light circling the base, which has three glowing inset lights or bumps. After 30 seconds, it tilts at an angle and begins to move away, apparently descending. She moves forward when the light changes, but she does not see it again. (Jenny Randles, “Fake Photographs, Real Sightings,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 9)

October 30 — 6:30 p.m. Two teenagers see a triangular UFO over a field in Sherman, Texas. The object shoots a blue light at the witnesses, temporarily blinding them. (“Sherman Youth ‘Sights’ UFO,” Denison (Tex.) Herald, October 31, 1978, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 114 (January 1979): 1)

November — A new civilian UFO “initiative group” holds its inaugural seminar at Moscow University in Russia. It is directed by former navy officer and ufologist Vladimir G. Azhazha with the assistance of Nikita A. Schnee.

Launched under the auspices of the A. S. Popov Scientific and Technical Society for Radio, Electronics, and Television, the group calls itself BPVTS for short. Members include Lev M. Gindilis of the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute in Moscow, Vice Admiral M. M. Krylov, space technician Y. G. Nazarov, and cosmonaut Yevgeny Khrunov. At the seminar, some individuals storm into the auditorium and disrupt the meeting; university officials ask the group to leave. Schnee claims that Felix Ziegel is responsible for the disruption in order to thwart the activities of civilian researchers. (Nikita A. Schnee, “Ufology in the USSR,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 1 (June 1981): 8–10)

November 1 — The Air Force decides to produce an F-117A stealth fighter based on the mostly successful tests of Have Blue aircraft at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. The contract goes to Lockheed’s Skunk Works. (“Lockheed F- 117 Nighthawk”)

November 1 — 7:45 p.m. Jenny Randles’s father is getting static on his VHF radio channel at their home in Irlam, Greater Manchester, England. Shortly afterward, they both hear a loud roar. She looks out the window and sees a row of four white lights that drift slowly past from west to east. An hour later, Randles goes outside and talks to 9 children who have been playing outside. They have seen the object too. It is diamond shaped and framed by lights that do not flash. Some report three lights or bumps on the underside. (Jenny Randles, “Fake Photographs, Real Sightings,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 9–10)

November 7 — 9:30 p.m. A witness traveling west on US Highway 20 near South Bend, Indiana, notices a bright light in the sky, much larger than a star. Suddenly it moves directly to the south of her location at a fast rate of speed. As it approached, it disappears and she hears a tremendous roar that shakes the ground. Suddenly, an object banks directly in front of her car about 90 feet away and no more than 20 feet above the ground, making a slow,

deliberate turn, then hovering or moving slowly and silently in front of her, then passing behind her car. It is ringed with small windows and has alternating and flashing blue and red lights near each window. She turns around but loses sight of it. (“Recently Received Sighting Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 4 (April 1981): 6)

November 8 — 5:30 p.m. While fishing in the Adriatic Sea off San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche, Italy, on board the Exodus, three fishermen—Flaviano Mattiucci, Gennaro Mattiucci, and Dino Focaracci—see, at low altitude and for a few seconds, a red and yellow spherical light. After emerging from the sea, it seems to return into it, after rising and falling from the sky. About one hour later, the radar of another fishing boat, the Andrea Padre, reports a moving submerged object, which appears to follow the vessel. (NICAP, “Ship Tracks Submerged Object / Boat Observes Light”)

November 9 — The CIA contacts the NSA with a referral of 15 UFO documents for review for possible declassification through the GSW lawsuit. (ClearIntent, p. 181)

November 9 or 10 — A cylinder-shaped UFO “bigger than a jumbo jet” with a large dome and flashing lights appears over the northern oil fields of the Kuwaiti Oil Company at Umm Al-Aish, Kuwait, causing the pumping station to automatically shut down. It lands and remains on the ground for seven minutes. When the UFO vanishes, the pump starts working again. There are seven witnesses, one of them an American. This and other sightings compel the government of Kuwait to appoint a committee of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to investigate the reports. (NICAP, “Major UFO/E-M Incidents over Kuwait”; “UFOs over Kuwait,” APRO Bulletin 27, no. 7 (January 1979): 1; “Kuwaiti Landing,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 6; ClearIntent, p. 90; Clark III 662)

November 13 — 4:00 p.m. Elizabeth McKibben, a British nurse at the Inuit settlement of Black Tickle, Labrador, sees a red-orange light to the west hanging motionless at 1,000 feet above some houses for 30 minutes. A second light appears suddenly and moves underneath the first, and both begin a slow descent and disappear. Several young students also see the object and make drawings of it. A fire had broken out 2 miles west on the tundra about 3 hours before the sighting, apparently caused by “fireballs” hitting the ground. Teacher Stephen MacDonald goes to help put out the fires at Martins Pond, where the tundra is burning in patches [methane outgassing?]. (“Canadian Trace?” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 6)

November 15 — Four military aircraft are flying over eastern Washington State when an unknown object is detected on radar at 13,000 feet some 40 miles away. One of the jets is ordered to approach the object. The pilot gets a visual confirmation but cannot lock on with his in-flight radar. The interceptor comes within 8 miles of the object but is forced to turn away by low fuel. (MUFON UFO Journal, August 1983)

November 20 — 9:30 p.m. A female medical technician, her sister, daughter, and two housemaids experience a power failure in their home in a northern suburb of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. They see a bright light in the sky that shoots out bright blue rays. It moves off behind a hill, and two small lights, one yellow, the other reddish, approach from the same hill. The witnesses run upstairs and watch from a window. The lights stop next to a road, the Avenida de los Martires, as a car comes along and illuminates them with its headlights. The women now see that the lights are attached to the abdomens of two flying entities, which appear to be cone-shaped, twice as tall as a normal-sized man, and wearing white translucent sheets. Three silhouettes cross the car’s headlights, and all the lights (including the car’s) go out. The witnesses hear a metallic noise like a garage door. Then the two lights turn on again and fly off. The power in the house returns. The episode lasts 45 minutes. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 2; Patrick Gross, URECAT, December 3, 2009)

November 21 — 5:30 a.m. A UFO appears over a Kuwaiti oilfield at Al-Sabriyah near the Iraqi border. An employee of the company takes photos of it as it passes a water tower and then hovers over the site for 30 minutes. Long- distance communications cease functioning. The internal phone system works, however, and workers are able to alert their boss, who steps outside and sees the object. (“UFOs over Kuwait,” APRO Bulletin 27, no. 7 (January 1979): 1, 3; “Kuwaiti Landing,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 6; Clark III 663)

November 22 — 5:30 p.m. Elsie Oakensen is driving home to Church Stowe, Northamptonshire, England, on the A5 when she passes beneath a hovering object shaped like a dumbbell with red and green lights. As she turns onto Main Street, her foot is flat on the accelerator but there is no sound from her engine and her car coasts to a halt. Her car lights fail as circles of light dance around the road, illuminating a nearby farmyard. The car restarts, but she only drives about 300 feet when it stops again. She claims the “natural light” disappears and she is enveloped in pure darkness. Then suddenly a white circle of light approximately 3 feet in diameter shines on the road, as if someone has pressed on a switch, the normal light returns, and she drives the car normally. She estimates she has about 15 minutes of missing time. Later, at 7:10 p.m., she feels a tightening sensation around her forehead, one that she remembers having felt just prior to the encounter. At 7:20 p.m., four young women driving through the nearby village of Preston Capes see red and green lights and beams shooting out from clouds as their car engine temporarily loses power. After trying hypnosis with minimal results, Oakensen tries creative visualization at the

scene and recovers some abduction memories. (Patrick Gross, URECAT, November 13, 2011; Jenny Randles, “Much More Than Marsh Gas,” Fortean Times 311 (March 2014): 27)

November 24 — 11:45 a.m. Angelo d’Ambros, 61, is out gathering firewood in a copse near Gallio, Vicenza, Italy, when he comes across two entities just a few feet away from him. One is about 4 feet tall, the other about 8 inches shorter. They are suspended in the air about a foot off the ground. They are extremely thin and have a yellowish skin that is stretched tightly over their bones. Their heads are bald, and at the sides are enormous ears that rise vertically and end in points. Their eyes are large and white, without eyelids. Their large noses extend down to the lower lip of a sizable mouth from which extend two tusks. They wear tight-fitting coveralls. The smaller one starts moving back and forth from right to left in very quick jerks. Its motion causes a stir in the air, and vegetation rustles as the tips of its ears touch the lower branches of nearby trees. Incomprehensible grumblings come from the mouth of the shorter entity. The taller being reaches one of its long hands to take away d’Ambros’s pruning knife. D’Ambros holds on to it tightly, but he feels a strong electric shock. He grabs a large branch and takes a swipe at them as they take flight. D’Ambros runs after them, and he watches them make for a domed UFO resting in a clearing 100 feet away on four landing pods. The entities climb aboard, and the object takes off horizontally at a dizzying speed in absolute silence and disappears behind high fir trees. The next day he returns to the clearing and finds a nearly circular area about 12 feet in diameter in which the grass appears black, pressed, and whirled in a counterclockwise direction. D’Ambros discovers two U-shaped traces about 8 inches long. (“Two Humanoids in Gallio,” IUR 8, no. 3 (May/June 1983): 8–11; Antonio Chiumiento, “Gallio: Faccia a faccia con due ufonauti,” Notiziario UFO 3, no. 4/5 (April/May 1980): 4–9; Antonio Chiumiento, “Umanoidi a Gallio, Seconda Parte,” Notiziario UFO 16, no. 99 (May/Dec. 1981): 16–19; 1Pinotti 241–250)

November 27 — J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallée, Stanton T. Friedman, Lawrence J. Coyne, and Grenada Ambassador at Large Wellington Friday speak before the UN Special Political Committee. Grenada seeks to interest the UN in a three-member panel to initiate a formal UFO study program, but its efforts are unavailing. (Clark III 1190; J. Allen Hynek, “Ufologists and the United Nations: A Novel Moment in the History of UFO Research,” IUR 3, no. 10/11 (Oct./Nov. 1978): 3–18)

December — Alan N. Hall, a retired CIA employee, officially becomes president of NICAP among baseless charges that a sinister CIA conspiracy has undermined the organization. He operates out of his home without access to the files. (“To Our Readers,” UFO Investigator, April 1979, p. 3; Richard H. Hall, “The Quest for the Truth about UFOs: A Personal Perspective on the Role of NICAP,” in 1994 MUFON UFO Symposium Proceedings, MUFON, 1994,

pp. 185–201)

December 1 — President Jimmy Carter establishes the Information Security Oversight Office through Executive Order 12065, “National Security Information.” The office is under the jurisdiction of the National Archives and Records Administration, and its mission is to provide for an informed American public by ensuring that the minimum information necessary to the interest of national security is classified and that information is declassified as soon as it no longer requires protection. (Wikipedia, “Information Security Oversight Office”)

December 2 — A civil servant takes a photo of a UFO as he is walking along a beach in Kuwait. It shows a domed disc with a self-luminous tube protruding from the bottom. Other witnesses also see the UFO. (“UFOs over Kuwait,” APRO Bulletin 27, no. 7 (January 1979): 3; Clark III 663)

December 4 — The CIA passes on three other UFO documents to the NSA for declassification review. (ClearIntent, p.

181)

December 6 — 11:30 p.m. While patrolling at Marzano, near Torriglia, a village northeast of Genoa, Italy, 26-year-old night watchman Piero Fortunato Zanfretta notices four lights moving in a courtyard. He gets out of his car holding his pistol and flashlight, moving cautiously along a house wall. Something pushes him forward and he falls. When he gets up, his head hits something and he points his flashlight upward to see a 6-foot-tall creature with an ugly face. Terrified, he runs to the car and is blinded by a yellow, triangle-shaped object taking off from behind the house. He calls for help on the radio. When his colleagues arrive at 1:00 a.m., they find him lying in a nearby lawn in a confused state of mind. On December 23, Zanfretta is hypnotized by a medical doctor. An abduction scenario emerges in which he is taken to a bright room by giant entities who put a hot and painful helmet on his head. The humanoids are green-skinned and have yellow triangular eyes, red veins on their heads, pointed ears, and rounded fingers. Further abductions and memories emerge over time, finally ceasing in 1980. (“UFO Flap 1978: Italian Style, Part Two, December,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 13–15; Paolo Fiorino, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Antonio Chiumiento, “Abductions in Italy,” IUR 14, no. 4 (July/Aug.1989): 15–16; Rino Di Stefano, The Zanfretta Case: Chronicle of an Incredible True Story, The Author, 2014; Jason Charbonneau, “Zanfretta Abductions, 1978–1981,” Think Anomalous, May 6, 2017; 1Pinotti 253–258)

December 8 — The United Nations meetings on UFOs conclude, resulting in UN Decision 33/426 relating to the “establishment of an agency or a department of the United Nations for undertaking, coordinating, and disseminating the results of research into unidentified flying objects and related phenomena.” Beyond newspaper publicity, the meetings have no impact and no other nation backs Grenada. (“Grenada UFO Item,” WikiLeaks, [telegram], December 8, 1978)

December 8 — 11:00 p.m. Two young men walking along a mountain slope near Milanere, Torino, Italy, see a blue-white light among the trees. One of them walks toward it, but he disappears. A few minutes later the light takes off into the sky. The other man goes for help and a group of people comes to search for the missing man. He is found in a different direction, unconscious, cold, and weak. Both witnesses suffer from conjunctivitis for several days. The one who vanished has a strange scar on his leg. He only remembers approaching a pear-shaped light when he sees 3–4 human shapes with pumpkinlike heads silhouetted against the light. He becomes paralyzed and can vaguely remember being touched and raised. (Paolo Fiorino, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Antonio Chiumiento, “Abductions in Italy,” IUR 14, no. 4 (July/Aug.1989): 15)

December 10 — The weekly Parade magazine carries a story by Michael Satchell summarizing the UFO events at Loring, Malmstrom, Wurtsmith, and other Northern Tier bases. (Michael Satchell, “UFO’s vs. USAF: Amazing (But True) Encounters,” Parade magazine, December 10, 1978, pp. 8–11; ClearIntent, p. 54)

December 14 — As a result of the Ground Saucer Watch lawsuit, the CIA releases some 340 of its own UFO-related documents, 900 pages in all. The letter, signed by CIA Information and Privacy Coordinator George Owens, states that 57 documents are being withheld for national security purposes. Also, 196 other documents originating from other agencies are forwarded to them for response to GSW. The CIA had faced a deadline of December 1977 to produce the documents but were granted an extension by US District Court Judge John H. Pratt. (“The GSW vs. CIA Lawsuit,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 20–22; Good Above, pp. 327–328)

December 16 — 8:00 p.m. Radar detects a UFO at 10,000 feet in the region around Calama, Chile. Three F-5Es are sent from Antofagasta to intercept it and they see a large triangular object some 50 times the size of their planes. (“Select Triangular UFO Cases,” Bob Pratt Files)

December 20 — US Rep. Samuel S. Stratton (D-N.Y.) expresses concern to his Armed Services Investigations Subcommittee about the “alleged ability of unknown aircraft to penetrate airspace and over above SAC bases, their weapons storage areas, missile sites, and launch control facilities, and the inability of Air Force equipment and personnel to intercept and identify such aircraft.” Stratton sends a letter to USAF Maj. Gen. Charles C. Blanton requesting incident reports. (ClearIntent, p. 54)

December 21 — 12:30 a.m. Capt. John B. Randle is flying an Argosy cargo plane from Blenheim to Christchurch, New Zealand, when he notices white lights in the sky above the mouth of the Clarence River at Waipapa Bay. He contacts Wellington Air Traffic Control, which confirms that it has five oscillating objects on its scopes. The lights are also seen on the ground. (“The New Zealand UFO Films, Part I,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 3; Clark III 799)

December 21 — 3:30 a.m. Wellington Air Traffic Control contacts Capt. Vern Powell, pilot of a freight aircraft about to make the Blenheim to Christchurch run, New Zealand, alerting him to the position of the objects, which have stayed in position. He ascends to 7,500 feet and sees one white light, tinged with red, through the clouds. It follows Powell’s plane, and Wellington radar tracks it for 12 miles before it disappears. As they near Christchurch Airport, Powell and his copilot Ian Pirie notice a return on their onboard radar. By the next sweep it has moved one mile closer, moving at about 8,000 mph. They cannot confirm anything visually, but the radar indicates the object has streaked off to the left and disappears. Then Powell and Pirie see a flashing light in front of them. (“The New Zealand UFO Films, Part I,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 3–4; Clark III 799)

December 22 — Peter Gersten of CAUS files a request with the NSA for copies of the 18 UFO-related documents the CIA has referred to it. NSA’s Chief of Policy Roy R. Banner later declines their release on the basis of national security. (ClearIntent, p. 181)

December 24 — 6:50 p.m. Benito Franchi, 45, is working in the power station at Pietracamela, Terama, Italy, in a room with two AC generators, one connected to power and the other disconnected, when he suddenly feels ill and faint. The working generator’s dial hands register an overload on the network, and the dial hands on the disconnected generator are also waving. This continues for about one minute, leaving the dials badly out of calibration. Franchi feels paralyzed and falls to the ground. Suddenly everything stops, and out of the window he sees three or four bright flashes coming from a ball of brilliant red light that hurts his eyes. The object takes off and disappears to the southwest. Franchi suffers from severe conjunctivitis, and the generator dials must be calibrated again. Shortly afterward, a large luminous UFO is seen hovering above the Gran Sasso massif to the southwest. (1Pinotti 259)

December 30 — 7:30 a.m. Erwin Vitelli sees a steely-blue object hovering in the southern sky above Zuchwil, Solothurn, Switzerland. It appears in the shape of three globes merging with one another, each one with a light source

directed downward. The object is visible for about one minute. (“Early Morning, Late December, Swiss Sighting,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 1 (Feb./March 1983): 1, 3)

December 31 — 12:10 a.m. Quentin Fogarty, a reporter for Melbourne’s 0/10 Network assigned to do a story on the Vern Powell sighting 10 days earlier, has chartered an Argosy cargo plane, piloted by Capt. William Startup and First Officer Robert Guard. While flying from Wellington to Christchurch, New Zealand, with David Crockett and his wife Ngaire as camera crew over the Cook Strait near the site of the Powell sighting, Startup and Guard see 6–7 bright, pulsating lights like Chinese lanterns above the sea off Kaikoura. They fade and disappear, then return to view. Crockett starts filming. Wellington is tracking a target a mile behind the aircraft that stays on the screen for about one minute without moving. Another, stronger target appears to the right of the plane. Fogarty manages to crack, “Let’s hope they’re friendly!” Twice, Startup vainly attempts a 360° turn to get a glimpse of the object.

After landing at Christchurch, Startup invites the passengers to accompany him back to Blenheim. Fogarty, Crockett, and another journalist, Dennis Grant, agree to do so. The plane flies out at 2:15 a.m., and within 2 minutes aircraft radar picks up a target 37 miles away. Startup turns toward it, but it moves to the right and vanishes almost immediately. Other radars pick up targets intermittently. The object returns in view of the plane, moving toward it, then drops out of sight to the right. Afterward, Fogarty notices a strange light that seems to be coming from the cargo hold. Two pulsating white lights soon appear on the port side of the plane. One settles into a rolling, turning pattern and falls at an incredible speed. This sequence Crockett captures on film. Bruce Maccabee spends 10 days in New Zealand and Australia interviewing witnesses and analyzing the film, which he concludes does not have any mundane explanation. (Wikipedia, “Kaikoura lights”; “The New Zealand UFO Films, Part I,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 4–8; “The New Zealand Film Analysis, Part II,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 3–6; Story, pp. 392–395; W. C. Chalker, “A Re-Viewing of the Great Nocturnal Light,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 1 (June 1980): 12–18 Quentin Fogarty, Let’s Hope They’re Friendly! Angus and Robertson, 1983; Bruce Maccabee, “Analysis and Discussion of the Images of a Cluster of Periodically Flashing Lights off the Coast of New Zealand,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 1, no. 2 (1987): 149–190, slightly revised in January 2002; Bruce Maccabee, “Atmosphere or UFO? A Response to the 1997 SSE Review Panel Report,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 13, no. 3 (1999): 431–443; Clark III 799–801; “How the 40-Year-Old Mystery of a UFO in New Zealand Lives On,” News.com.au, December 19, 2018)

December 31 — 4:00 a.m. Bobby Hines wakes up at her home in Demopolis, Alabama, because her dogs are barking outside. She sees a large, bright object hovering above the trees 1,800 feet from the house and wakes her husband. The UFO is the size of a small house and triangular in shape. It approaches the witnesses, moving in a zigzag pattern and hovering 50 feet off the ground for 30 minutes. Two police officers respond to their call and watch the UFO as well, which finally moves off to the southeast making a funny noise. (Marler 103–104)

December 31 — 7:00 p.m. Hundreds of people in the United Kingdom see a bright light with a long trail behind it streak across the heavens from northwest to southeast. RAF Fylingdales in the North York Moors, England, quickly identifies it as the reentry of a booster rocket that launched a Russian satellite, Kosmos 1068, into orbit on December 26. Jenny Randles examines reports of the reentry, which in general accurately reflect the event, and compares them to UFO reports, concluding that it is unlikely that all UFOs are IFOs in various degrees of exaggeration. (Jenny Randles, “The Case Against the IFO,” IUR 10, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1985): 4–6; Jenny Randles, “Jenny Randles Replies,” IUR 10, no. 3 (May/June 1985): 8–9, 15; UFOFiles2, pp. 98–99; Jenny Randles, “The Twelve UFOs of Christmas,” Fortean Times 374 (Christmas 2018): 29)

1979

1979 — British science fiction author David Langford publishes an allegedly nonfiction novelette, An Account of a Meeting with Denizens of Another World, 1871. It is an account of a UFO encounter, as experienced by a man in Buckinghamshire, England; in its framing story Langford claims to have found the manuscript in an old desk (the story’s narrator, William Robert Loosley, is a genuine ancestor of Langford’s wife). But no ufologists take it seriously. (David Langford, An Account of a Meeting with Denizens of Another World, 1871, David and Charles, 1979; Clark III 599–600)

1979 — Jacques Bonabot founds the Studiegroep voor Vreemde Luchtverschijnselen in Antwerp, Belgium, as the Flemish counterpart to the Groupement pour l’Étude des Sciences d’Avant-Garde in Bruges. It publishes SVL Tijdschrift from January 1982 to October 1987. (SVL Tijdschrift 1, no. 1 (January 1982))

1979 — Patrick Geoffroy founds the Association Dijonnaise de Recherches Ufologiques et Parapsychologiques in Ruffey-lès-Echirey (later in Quetigny), Côte-d’Or, France. It begins publishing Vimana 21, a journal that continues until early 1989. (Vimana 21, no. 1 (1979))

1979 — The Argentine Air Force creates another group to study UFOs within the Comisión Nacional de Actividades Espaciales. It lasts until 1987. (Milton W. Hourcade, “Argentina: UFO Declassification,” UAPSG–GEFAI, July 29, 2020)

1979 — The Uruguayan Air Force creates CRIDOVNI, a special commission to investigate all UFO sightings within the country. It includes freelance ufologists but seems to have disbanded in the mid-1980s. (Willy Smith, “UFOs in Latin America,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, p. 100)

1979 — The English-language Sri Lanka UFO Register begins publication in Weligama, Sri Lanka, edited by Ananda L. Sirisena. It continues through 1988. (Sri Lanka UFO Register, no. 2 (Oct./Dec. 1979))

January — In an article in Just Cause, researcher Todd Zechel claims that Keyhoe’s National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena has long been riddled with CIA-friendly or covert board members and staff, among them Joseph Bryan III, Karl T. Pflock, Stuart Nixon, John Acuff, and Roscoe Hillenkoetter. Because of NICAP’s current acute financial crisis, he concludes that if the CIA had wanted to “destroy the leading anti-secrecy organization of the 1960s, they couldn’t have done a better job.” Richard H. Hall disputes this analysis. (Todd Zechel, “NI-CIA-AP or NICAP?” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 133 (Jan./Feb. 1979): 6–9)

January — Axel Ertelt begins publishing Mysteria, a journal of UFO and ancient astronaut information, in Halver, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. It continues through at least April 1987. (Mysteria, no. 1 (1979))

Early January — About 6:00 p.m. A1C John W. Mills III is with a second lieutenant conducting a below-ground azimuth alignment procedure at the Ellsworth AFB Delta-3 missile site southwest of Cottonwood, South Dakota, when the security guard bangs on the ladder and tells them to come up. Going topside, they hear a loud, low-frequency hum permeating the launch facility. The guard leads them out of the gate where they see a dark object with straight edges in the sky. It seems to be shaped like a parallelogram, but they can’t tell how high it is. The guard is upset, but the other two men are oddly calm, even though they are not supposed to be outside the gate, and they return to the missile and descend the ladder to continue the alignment. Then the lights go off, the truck engine stops running, the radio goes out, and the missile site goes off alert. The hum is gone, but they can still see the dark object. Some 10 minutes later the lights come back on and they notice the object is gone. Targeting teams from two other launch sites report similar experiences. (Nukes 377–387)

January 1 — 5:00 a.m. Former USAF UFO spokesman Albert M. Chop and his wife and daughter watch a triangular UFO moving slowly eastward over the mountains southeast of Palm Desert, California. It is about 10 times as bright as the background stars. It is in sight for about 45 minutes, by which time it has become a small, distant light in the eastern sky. (Margaret Sachs, The UFO Encyclopedia, Putnam, 1980, p. 61)

January 4 — Just after 12:00 midnight. Meagen Quezet and her son André go looking for their dog that has just run barking away from their home in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa. Driving along a remote country road, they find the dog standing 60 feet away from a lead-colored, egg-shaped object with landing gear. Five or six dark- skinned entities are standing in front, wearing white or pink suits and shoes. One with a beard bows to Quezet and says something unintelligible. André runs to get his father, whereupon the beings enter the craft, which takes off making a purring sound. Quezet undergoes hypnotic regression by Bernard Levinson on June 21, where she remembers the “leader” cajoling her to come on board, which she does with her son, seeing lights, panels, chairs, and a table. They jump out again, protesting that they can’t go. (“Another South African CE III,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 7–8)

January 5 — 6:20 p.m. Anmarie Emery is driving near Auburn, Massachusetts, when she notices three, red-glowing, triangular objects flying over woods to her left. As she rounds a corner, she sees them hovering above the road directly in front of her. The radio goes dead, the car slows to a stop (although the engine continues to run), and she feels completely paralyzed. The closest object is only 30 feet away. She feels heat on her face and smells an unpleasant odor. When another car approaches, the three objects shoot straight up, one at a time, and everything returns to normal. When she returns home to Cambridge, Massachusetts, she notices her face is reddened. She develops a rash and peeling skin the next day. (Richard H. Hall, Uninvited Guests, Aurora, 1988, pp. 302–303; Raymond E. Fowler, “Close Encounters with E-M and Physical Effects,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 134 (March/April 1979): 8–9)

January 6 — 10:30 a.m. A journalist aboard the Japanese icebreaker Fuji in Antarctic waters sees an object resembling a bluish-white kite moving silently at a high rate of speed. Witnesses guess the altitude as 2–3 miles, with differences of opinion on whether its course s straight or zigzag. The crew reports further sightings of a similar object. (Asahi Shinbun (Osaka), January 23, 1979; “Foreign Forum,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 2)

January 16 — Gen. Emiliano Alfaro Arregui, chief of staff of the Spanish Air Force, writes to the Ministry of Defense to say that whenever a UFO sighting is reported to the authorities, an Informing Judge is appointed by the

corresponding Air Region to proceed with a proper investigation. Some reports are caused by natural phenomena, while others are unidentified. (Swords 424, 513)

January 18 — 7:07 p.m. Brinsley Le Poer Trench, Lord Clancarty, has put down a motion for debate in the House of Lords on the official policy of the UK government on UFOs. He begins the debate by launching into a history of UFOs and stresses the international character of the phenomenon. He concludes with a request for the Minister of Defence to be interviewed on national TV. Lord Trefgarne rejects the proposal on the grounds that there are many things that can masquerade as UFOs, plus the Bible has nothing to say about extraterrestrials. Lord Kimberley agrees that a parliamentary group should be set up. Lord Oxfuird and Lord Davies agree there should be future investigations to settle the question. The Bishop of Norwich expresses concern that a UFO cult could compete with Christianity. Lord Gladwyn deems the evidence inconclusive, but Lord Kings Norton favors an investigation. Lord Rankeillour states emphatically that UFOs exist, and they might be dangerous. Lord Gainford relates a personal sighting of a nocturnal light over Argyll, Scotland, the previous December 31. The Earl of Halsbury provides a list of natural causes for UFOs, and Lord Hewlett paraphrases debunking arguments. The Earl of Cork and Orrery lashes out at Trefgarne’s skepticism. Lord Strabolgi firmly rejects the request for an official investigation on the grounds that all UFO reports can be explained conventionally. Clancarty winds it up by saying, “Nothing is impossible in this world or this universe. It is just that the seemingly impossible takes a little time to come about.” (“Unidentified Flying Objects,” Hansard Lords Debate, vol. 397, cc1246–1316, January 18, 1979; Allan Hendry, [House of Lords UFO Debate], IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 9–11; Good Above, pp. 73–75;

UFOFiles2, pp. 99–104; Clark III 616–618)

January 18 — 11:30 p.m. A car driven by a 42-year-old woodcutter stops abruptly in Lusiana, Vicenza, Italy. Its lights go out and the doors open by themselves. An orange ball is sitting in the road ahead, and two 3-foot-tall, copper- colored humanoids emerge from a door. They are wearing metallic-looking, scaled coveralls. Their hands are long and end in pointed nails. They invite him on board by gestures and he follows them into a small room with electronic-looking gadgets and a screen. They begin undressing him, but he resists. The wall opens and an overall garment is shown to him. He refuses to wear it and he implores them to let him go. One of the beings gives him a small box with writing on it. A door opens and the man leaves. Suddenly the orange light disappears and his car lights come on again. (Paolo Fiorino, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Antonio Chiumiento, “Abductions in Italy,” IUR 14, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1989): 14)

January 20 — The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research committee releases its report on eight UFO sightings in Kuwait from November to December 14, 1978. The report rejects the idea that the UFOs are espionage devices, but it remains equivocal about whether they are extraterrestrial. The committee recommends that the government take all measures to protect the country and its oilfields. (“‘UFO’ Sightings Cause Security Concern in Kuwait,” WikiLeaks, [telegram], January 29, 1979; ClearIntent, p. 90)

January 21 —Front-page stories of another UFO sighting in Kuwait appear the day after the committee’s report. (ClearIntent, p. 90)

Late January — The Setka-AN group of the USSR Academy of Sciences publishes a skeptical article in the weekly publication Nedelya that tries to show that all UFOs are natural phenomena that UFO enthusiasts are popularizing through their inept investigations as anomalous. Setka-AN hopes to have a solution to the UFO problem “in a few months.” (Nikita A. Schnee, “Ufology in the U.S.S.R.,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 1 (June 1981): 8; Good Above, p. 237)

January 29 — Peter Gersten appeals the NSA’s decision to withhold the 18 UFO-related documents forwarded to the NSA by the CIA but is again denied. (ClearIntent, p. 181)

February — Mississippi House Resolution No. 14, proposed by Rep. Horace Buckley of Jackson and calling for a complete US Senate investigation of UFO sightings, dies in committee. (Allan Hendry, “UFOs and Government: 1979,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 7–9)

February — A woman and her aunt in Shelby, Ohio, are just sitting down to watch television when a bright light shines outside their window. It is hanging in the air behind their dog kennel. When the woman goes out to investigate, two more lights appear and enter the original one. Then that light disappears and is replaced by red and green lights that resolve into a large number of lights of both colors on an object. As she approaches, the UFO begins to move toward her and passes overhead. It is as big as a jetliner, with bolts on its base as large as volleyballs. Her dog begins whining and cowering, and she gets a severe pain in her head that causes her to fall on her knees. As the object moves away with a soft whirring noise, she gets back on her feet. She estimates she was only outside for 5 minutes, but she and her aunt cannot account for an additional 45–50 minutes. Her headache persists for several weeks. (Michael D. Swords, “Unusual Experiences from the Timmerman Files,” IUR 27, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 22)

February 5 — 9:50 p.m. A man is driving on the Lyell Highway near Lawitta, Tasmania, when his car radio stops.

Seconds later, an intense white light envelops the car, and he cannot see beyond the hood. The car’s lights and motor fail at the same time. The next thing he knows, he is getting stopped in Hobart by police for driving his car without headlights. The police find that he does not know his name, where he has come from, or where he is going. He is taken to the hospital and examined, where he is found to be in a state of shock. It is only at the Royal Hobart Hospital that his memory of the preceding events returns. His vehicle, a Ford Cortina 71TC, is inspected and found to have a dead battery and low oil level. The cut-off switch on the alternator needs replacing, as does some wiring, especially for the headlights. Radiator water is also found to be low. (“Sightings,” TUFOIC Newsletter, no. 27 (May 1979): 2)

February 9 — Joseph J. F. Clark, associate director, Legislative Liaison for the Air Force, responds to Rep. Samuel S. Stratton (D-N.Y.) saying that “permanent” UFO files are not maintained, but includes some memos, messages, and log entries from the Northern Tier cases that have already been released through FOIA requests. Stratton fails to follow up. (ClearIntent, p. 55)

February 9 — 9:00 p.m. Peter Hathaway is driving on the Bruce Highway north of the Liverpool Creek bridge near Cowley Beach, Queensland, when he sees a “little white light” sitting on the edge of the asphalt. As he approaches within 100 feet, he notices a dark beehive-shaped object behind it, which now rises vertically off the surface about 3 feet. Hathaway is momentarily blinded by a flash of light. Opening his eyes, he sees that his car headlights and engine have stopped. He coasts to a truck rest stop, where his lights come back on and the engine starts perfectly. (“1979,” Australian UFO Research Network; Richard H. Hall, Uninvited Guests, Aurora, 1988, pp. 304–305)

February 16 — New Mexico State Police Officer Gabe Valdez informs the FBI that cattle in New Mexico are “being shot with some type of paralyzing drug and the blood is being drawn from the animal after an injection of an anti- coagulant.” In some cases, the animal’s legs have been broken, perhaps by clamps being placed on them.

Helicopters without any identifying numbers are seen in the area of these mutilations. Valdez tells the FBI that he thinks it is a clandestine operation either by the CIA or the Department of Energy (although in 1980 he tells journalist Linda Moulton Howe that he thinks aliens are responsible). (Federal Bureau of Investigation, [cattle mutilation documents])

February 16 — Peter Gersten again files a FOIA request with the NSA, this time requesting all documents in its possession or under the control of the NSA relating to UFOs. (ClearIntent, pp. 181–182)

February 22 — 4:00 p.m. Two 14-year-old girls, Lynsey Tebbs and Susan Pearson, are tobogganing down the slopes that surround their housing complex in Meanwood, Leeds, England. They are startled by a loud whining noise coming from an object that is descending nearby. After it lands, the noise changes to a hum, which then fades as it rests on the snow. It is gray and egg-shaped, with two fins on either side, and is the size of a small car. Frightened, the girls run up the hill but pause to take another look. The object rests on the ground for about 3 minutes, then starts humming and approaches the girls, landing again on the slope about 80 feet away. After another few minutes, it wobbles and takes off. Investigators from the Yorkshire UFO Society visit the site on February 25 and find odd indentations in the snow in two places. (Mark Birdsall and Graham Birdsall, “Landing and Possible Traces near Leeds,” Northern Ufology, no. 62 (July 1979): 9–10; Good Above, pp. 72–73)

February 25 — 2:00 a.m. Both Circulación Aérea Militar Operativa (CAMO) radar and radar at the W-8 military station detect an unidentified target 52 miles to the southeast of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, flying at an altitude of 14,400 feet. An Iberia airliner in the area is alerted, and the pilot reports an intense, elongated light above his position. The W-8 local radar detects a transponder signal. (Swords 435)

Late February — 9:10 p.m. Chinese Air Force flight instructor Sha Yangkao is flying a night fighter over Houma, Shanxi, China, when he sees a bright luminous object shoot across the sky from south to north, apparently flying supersonically at an altitude of 3,300 feet. (Paul Dong, “Extracts from Paul Dong’s Feidie Bai Wen Bai Da (Questions and Answers on UFOs),” Flying Saucer Review 29, no. 6 (August 1984): 14)

March — 9:00 a.m. Two Republic of Korea Air Force F-4D Phantom II jets, piloted by Lt. Col. Seungbae Lee and Col. Byungsun Lim, are flying at 15,000 feet while returning from the annual Team Spirit military exercise to Daegu Air Force Base, South Korea. Near Palgong Mountain in the Taebaek Range, a star-like, stationary object appears in the distance that grows in size as the jets approach. Neither the aircraft nor the base can register the object on radar. When they reach within 15 miles of the light, it shoots away to the east and hovers again. The disc is as big as a jumbo jet and radiates bright golden light from top to bottom. Red and blue lights sparkle from its rim. After the jets circle twice above the object, it speeds away to the east. (Good Need, p. 310)

March 2 — Early morning. Witnesses in Rivera, Uruguay, see an oval-shaped object with portholes. One witness, Ernesto Fagundez, watches the UFO circle a transmitting tower he is working on then stop. Through the portholes he can

see entities with large heads that are wearing transparent helmets. The object dives over a truck carrying farm workers before it rises into the air, leaving a fiery trail and a column of smoke. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 4, no. 2 (Aug. 1979): 2)

March 3 — The Spanish Joint Chiefs of Staff meet and decide to formally define UFO information as classified, rather than confidential. The reason is that the civilian UFO group Centre d’Estudis Interplanetaris in Barcelona had solicited King Juan Carlos I in January to provide access to UFO information collected by the Spanish armed forces. (Swords 424, 514)

March 5 — Dusk. Many residents of the Canary Islands are captivated with the sight of a strange sunset. Multicolored concentric rings or bright zigzag trails are seen on the horizon towards the west, forming an enormous cloud. A few minutes after 8:00 p.m., a point of light is seen to ascend, leaving a luminous jet that appears to expand, developing into a huge, bright dome. Independent sets of clear photos are obtained from distant points of view. The phenomenon is even seen from Safi, Morocco. Maj. Pedro Ortega García and Capt. José Juan Abad Cellini investigate for the Spanish Air Force and conclude that the luminous cloud was 320 miles in diameter at an altitude of 40 miles. They again reject the missile hypothesis, but the US Navy has launched four Poseidon missiles from the USS Kamehameha around the same time that probably account for the phenomena. (Vicente- Juan Ballester Olmos and Ricardo Campo Pérez, “Navy Missile Tests and the Canary Islands UFOs,” IUR 29, no. 4 (July 2005): 4–5)

March 6 — 7:30 p.m. Ben Chastain watches a round, luminous object about 12 feet in diameter skimming low over treetops in Westminster, South Carolina, arousing the dogs. At one point the object comes within 150 feet, its glow illuminating the area. Oconee County Deputy Sheriff Jimmy Roach and his wife see the object from a distance. About 8:00 p.m., Bill Osborne watches a larger object (80 feet long and 25 feet wide) that sweeps the area with a light beam. (Iris Harrelson Maack, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 27, no. 12 (June 1979): 7–8)

March 13 — 11:00 a.m. An uncorrelated radar target is detected over the Mediterranean Sea north of Algeria by radar in the Pegaso control room at Torrejón Air Base in Madrid, Spain. It is traveling at 970 mph on a northwest course toward Spain. Three minutes later a scramble is ordered, and a Dassault Mirage III fighter takes off from Manises Air Base [now Valencia Airport] to identify the target, but the track soon vanishes from the radar. It has moved about 71 miles in that time. Four minutes later, the target reappears in another position, this time motionless. The Mirage is vectored toward the new position. When the fighter is about 9 miles from the target, it moves in a northwest direction, accelerating to 840 mph and climbing to more than 15 miles. Six minutes later, it changes course to the northeast, and in two minutes it is gone. The Mirage never gets a visual contact. (Swords 435–436, 527)

March 13 — While Grenada Prime Minister Eric Gairy is at the United Nations, the New Jewel Movement led by Maurice Bishop launches an armed revolution and overthrows the government. Gairy stays in exile in the US until 1983. ()

March 28 — 4:00 p.m. Reactor number 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, suffers a partial meltdown, resulting in a radiation leak. The accident begins with failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck-open pilot-operated relief valve in the primary system, which allows large amounts of nuclear reactor coolant to escape, contaminating the containment building with thousands of gallons of radioactive water. The staff has no choice but to vent radioactive gases directly into the atmosphere.

The mechanical failures are compounded by the initial failure of plant operators to recognize the situation as a loss-of-coolant accident due to inadequate training and computer interface oversights relating to ambiguous control room indicators. In particular, a hidden indicator light leads to an operator manually overriding the automatic emergency cooling system of the reactor because the operator mistakenly believes that there is too much coolant water present in the reactor and causing the steam pressure release. No one is harmed by the

released radiation, which is contained entirely in a cloud of short-lived isotopes of inert gases that drift out over the Atlantic Ocean. (Wikipedia, “Three Mile Island accident”; Mike Gray and Ira Rosen, The Warning: Accident at Three Mile Island, Norton, 1982; Grace Halden, Three Mile Island: The Meltdown Crisis and Nuclear Power in American Popular Culture, Routledge, 2017)

Spring — UFO investigator Raymond E. Fowler publishes The Andreasson Affair, introducing the story of Betty Andreasson, a Massachusetts housewife who recounts a 1967 abduction encounter with short humanoids having large heads and eyes. (Raymond E. Fowler, The Andreasson Affair, Prentice-Hall, 1979)

April 9 — Two Apache tribal officers on patrol near Dulce, New Mexico, see a round, silent craft hovering 50 feet above the ground, with a searchlight aimed downward on cattle below. (Wikipedia, “Cattle mutilation”)

April 12 — Early evening. A family is driving home from the grocery store at Brockton, Massachusetts. They see a piano- shaped object with lights all over it. A spotlight is beaming down, and there is one red light on top. They lose

sight of the object, but suddenly all four car windows go down and back up; then they go down halfway and back up. The same thing happens when they stop at a red light. They see the object again, which is now following them. They park near their house, and the UFO hovers across the street. The man shuts off Michael D. Swords, “Messing Around with the Force,” the engine and the windows act up again as the UFO moves directly overhead. The father and son get out of the car, and the UFO shoots a beam down at each of them in turn. It then moves down the street and away. (Michael D. Swords, “Messing Around with the Force,” IUR 31, no. 4 (March 2008): 17)

April 19 — 11:30 p.m. John Milroy and his mother are driving from Ardersier to Croy, Inverness, Scotland, when he sees headlights in the distance. The lights get larger and rise above the road. Thinking it is an airplane crash, they get out of the car and experience an abnormal silence; they can no longer hear the car engine or the door slam when they flee. Everything reverts to normal when they reach a ditch. The mother is so excited she needs to be sedated the next day. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 2)

April 20 — Former astronaut and US Sen. Harrison Schmitt (R-N.Mex.) and US Attorney R. E. Thompson convene an informal public hearing on cattle mutilations in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Its goal is to show that criminal activity is taking place involving many states and it requires federal action. About 200 people attend, including Fort Worth (Tex.) Star-Telegram reporter Jim Marrs. Thompson warns law enforcement officers not to reveal any evidence that might be used at a later trial. (Thomas P. Deuley, “Mutilation Hearings Held in New Mexico,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 137 (July 1979): 8–9; Christopher O’Brien, Stalking the Herd: Unraveling the Cattle Mutilation Mystery, Adventures Unlimited, 2014)

April 21 — Late night. A helicopter pilot and a mechanic are returning by car to their unit in the Blonie area, Poland. A light descends rapidly and silently over the road, resolving itself into 4 large lights attached to a solid object more than 100 feet long. It stops and hovers at 300 feet and then shoots upward instantaneously. (Poland 68–69)

April 25 — Retired FBI agent Kenneth M. Rommel Jr. begins a major investigation of cattle mutilations. Financed by grants from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration and the Santa Fe, New Mexico, District Attorney’s office (which has been designated as the coordinating state investigative agency for cattle mutilations), the inquiry focuses on New Mexico cases, though it pays some attention to incidents in other states. (Wikipedia, “Cattle mutilation”; Clark III 133)

May — Victor Marchetti, former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the CIA and author of the 1974 book The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, writes an article in Second Look on “How the CIA Views the UFO Phenomenon.” He asserts that “we have, indeed, been contacted—perhaps even visited—by extraterrestrial beings, and the US government, in collusion with other national powers of the Earth, is determined to keep this information from the general public.” He claims that the CIA does not discuss UFOs openly because they are deemed “sensitive activities,” but he has heard rumors of crashed UFOs and extraterrestrial signals picked up by the National Security Agency. Attempts by the government to deny the reality of UFOs have all the hallmarks of a classic coverup, he writes. (Victor Marchetti, “How the CIA Views the UFO Phenomenon,” Second Look 1, no. 7 (May 1979): 2–7; Nukes 490–491)

May 1 — 4:00 a.m. YPF company engineers at the Vizcacheras oil fields in a remote area of Argentina’s Mendoza province accessible only to employees are awakened by goats bleating in a corral. When they go outside to investigate, they see a UFO hovering silently about 230 feet from the encampment and 65 feet above the ground. They wave a lantern and the UFO seems to respond by blinking a light, then slowly lands nearby. More light signals are exchanged, then the UFO takes off and disappears toward the Andes mountains at 4:35 a.m. After the sighting, the goats (about 1,500) refuse to return to their corral. The engineers go to inspect the landing spot and find a large circle in which the sand has been petrified or hardened into chunks. Soil samples are taken to a Professor Corradi for analysis. Corradi, identified as director of the Institute for Extrahuman Studies, says the samples are being analyzed by the Office of Mining. Corradi remarks that that the “permanent presence of the UFOs over the uranium mines of La Pintada and Cuesta de los Terneros in San Rafael and now in Vizcacheras, is not a coincidence.” (Richard H. Hall, “Extraterrestrial Psychology,” 1988; “Argentine Oil Field Landing,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 139 (September 1979))

May 7 — 10:00 a.m. Two witnesses on an airliner about one hour south of Chicago, Illinois, notice two bright-white rectangular objects slightly higher than the airplane. They gradually fade from view. (“Long Rectangular UFOs: Five Different Cases of Similarly Shaped Objects,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 9 (September 1981): 2)

May 9 — Early morning. A fleet of 10–15 UFOs alarms people in Choconta, Colombia. Eight of the objects have lights that change from red to blue to orange and yellow. An electrical blackout takes place, and dogs, chicken, and cattle get disturbed and run away. The objects examine the Telecom satellite tracking station before ascending rapidly and disappearing in the clouds. (“Foreign Forum,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 2)

May 16 — 10:30 a.m. Arlindo Gabriel dos Santos is hunting with two friends in a forest near Baependi, Minas Gerais, Brazil, when he becomes separated from the others. He sees an object descend towards the ground in a clearing. He approaches to within 600 feet and sees that the object is shaped like a telephone booth about 3 feet tall. He takes a photo of the object before it abruptly disappears in plain sight. He walks to the clearing and sees another object shaped like a toy top and a little larger than the previous object, descending swiftly. It has a small propeller on top and a long, pointed protrusion on the bottom. As he tries to photograph the second object, he hears a whooshing sound, and the craft is quickly enveloped in smoke. He notices a third craft descending overhead. This one is barrel-shaped and hovers for a bit before landing. It also has a large propeller at one end and is covered with red stripes. It vanishes when he tries to approach. Dos Santos finally sees a huge, white, egg-shaped object descend. It has a pointed top and fin-like protrusions on each side. Next to the fins are several windows. As it descends it makes a horrific noise like a choking motor and puts out four landing pods. He approaches and tries to take another photograph, but there is a sudden flash that temporarily blinds him and leaves his eyes irritated.

Frightened, he drops the camera and runs, but is only able to get about 30 feet before he is can no longer move. Behind him he notices two men wearing helmets with transparent visors and gloves. They grab him, each taking one arm. He begs them to let him go in the name of God, but they answer, “In the name of God, we are all brothers; we don’t harm anybody.” The voice comes from a box-like apparatus on their backs. He is taken toward the landed UFO. As he gets near, he can feel an intense cold surrounding it. Another helmeted figure stands by a ladder extending from the craft, looking from side to side. The man asks dos Santos if he has seen a “Zurca.” Dos Santos thinks he is referring to one of the smaller objects. The man extends a gloved hand and pulls dos Santos inside the craft through a square doorway. The atmosphere inside the craft is pleasant and cool, and there is a smell like “baby powder” in the air. Other men wearing dark, tight-fitting outfits are sitting on seats. The men have large slanted eyes, thin noses, and large mouths, and they are operating some type of machinery. They stand up and begin conversing in an unknown language. Suddenly, a heavyset woman emerges from another room. She wears a white uniform, gloves, but no helmet. Dos Santos describes her as good looking, tanned, with long light fine hair. The woman and one of the men then take him into a corridor. He enters a room where he sees a square object in the middle. The man pushes a button on the wall and the object rises. It resembled a large piece of marble. The woman takes out a long wand and points it at the object. On the object dos Santos sees an image of the planet Earth and other planets. At this point, the man removes his helmet revealing short, light-colored hair.

When dos Santos leaves the craft, he is told to cover his eyes and not look as the object leaves. He follows these instructions and does not see the object depart. (NICAP, “May 16, 1979: Near Baependi, Minas Gerais State, Brazil”; “Grandes Manobras Extraterrestres na Fazenda do Sobrado, Baependi, MG,” SBEDV Boletim, no. 132– 135 (Jan./Aug. 1980): 28–71; Jackson Luiz Camargo, “O Caso do Embornal,” Portal Fenomenum, June 15, 2016;

Brazil 258–266)

May 19 — 2:27 a.m. Tailor Mike Sacks and his brother Ray are on the moors near Stacksteads, Lancashire, England, looking for the UFO that Mike had already seen twice the previous winter. They have staked out the hills with a camera and suddenly hear a muted howling noise echoing through the night. The noise is coming from a white, glowing light falling toward them. The glowing mass slows down and the howling stops. Now directly overhead, the object is hovering just feet above a stream. They see a dome on top that emits electric blue sparks, a middle section, and a rim with a translucent metallic glow. The object tilts to reveal intricate detail on its underside, then accelerates and disappears. The men take a dozen photos, but they only show black sky when processed. (Jenny Randles, “The House on Haunted Moor,” Fortean Times 322 (January 2015): 23)

May 20 — 8:00 a.m. A scientist, Ron Kruppa, sees a large UFO emitting smaller objects in Davao City, Philippines. (“Stretching the Truth in the Philippines,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 7)

May 22 — 10:00 p.m. A man walking in a park in Piastów, Poland, sees two bright yellow beams of light coming from a dark object about 10 feet wide floating just above the ground. Walking to within 10 feet of the object, he can see a third beam of light below it. Green geometrical shapes appear and vanish along the side of the UFO. A blinking red light shines out on the upper surface, in between the vertical bars of an H-shaped sign taking up almost the entire top. Suddenly the object shines with a white-blue light, and the man’s face feels like it is burning.

Frightened, he runs away and does not look back. The next morning, he feels as if something heavy is pressing on his head; two weeks later, sores containing dried blood break out on his face. (Bronislaw Rzepecki, “UFOs and Ufologists in Poland,” IUR 11, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1986): 15–16; Bronislaw Rzepecki, “UFOs in Poland,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, p. 124)

May 26 — 12:05 a.m. The pilot of a private airplane flying near Hailey, Idaho, spots five orange objects flying in a horizontal line. They tilt, spread out, and regroup in a vertical formation. As they pass to his left, his magnetic compass and direction finder begin spinning, the radio is filled with static, and the engine sputters. One of the

objects approaches at high speed, and the pilot begins a climb and loses sight of the UFOs. (NICAP, “Compasses, Radio, Engine Affected on Aircraft”)

June — In Messengers of Deception, Jacques Vallée claims that a shadowy human group, some of whom have infiltrated UFO organizations like NICAP and CUFOS, is manipulating UFO myths for its own purposes, while the UFO phenomenon operates as a control system—manifested in “intense activity followed by quiet periods—intended to lead human consciousness into a new concept of reality.” On the other hand, he argues that the UFO phenomenon is ancient and that the message has changed with the times. He claims the current concept of flying discs originated in Germany in the 1930s, with the unknown private group gaining control of them after World War II. Contactees are manipulated by human programmers. Many ufologists think Vallée has gone too far in his anti- ETH approach and is conspiracy mongering. (Jacques Vallée, Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults, And/Or, 1979; Vincent White, “A Critique,” APRO Bulletin 27, no. 12 (June 1979): 3–5; Clark III 1214)

June — 3:00 a.m. A woman doctor is in the TV room of her parents’ home in Boardman, Ohio, suffering from insomnia.

She sees something flashing outside the window, illuminating the entire area outside. A cylinder-shaped light comes through the closed window and passes three feet from her face. It then comes to look more like a paperclip that flashes on and off, meandering about, apparently not interested in her. She runs into the bedroom and does not see it again. (Michael D. Swords, “A Trick of the Light,” IUR 31, no. 2 (June 2007): 9)

June 10 — 4:40 p.m. A family in Milford, Connecticut, watches a disc “like two plates put together” approach from the south. It is silver on top and dark on the bottom and seems to have a band around the edge and triangular markings. After it passes silently behind the trees to the north of them after 1 minute, they jump into a car and drive after it. It seems to be traveling at 20–25 mph, and they are able to overtake it flying parallel to the road. It seems to be flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet, and disappears to the north. (“Case 4-1-40,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 10)

June 12 — 8:45 p.m. Members of a rock band practicing in a barn in Pine Ridge, South Carolina, step outside to watch an unusual form hovering low over the containment building and smokestack of the Carolina Power and Light nuclear power plant one half mile away to the northeast. An ovoid-shaped object, seen primarily by its lights, shines two bright yellowish-white beams of light. After hovering motionless for 2–5 minutes, all the lights fade except a blue light. The UFO moves off and is gone almost instantly. After about 5 minutes, a second object is seen hovering for 2–5 minutes to the right of the nuclear power plant and directing a beam of light at it. It flies off toward the northwest. No one at the power plant reports seeing anything unusual. (“Case 4-1-47,” IUR 4, no. 1 (July 1979): 10)

June 14 — 8:30 a.m. A woman in St. Petersburg, Florida, sees an object with a long transparent trail. (“Case 4-1-51,” IUR

4, no. 1 (July 1979): 10)

June 17 — 10:00 p.m. A witness in North Prairie, Wisconsin, watches a star, slightly dimmer than Jupiter, move silently across the sky from east to west, passing overhead. It suddenly makes a 90° turn to the north and is lost in the cloud cover. Ten minutes later, he and his family watch a similar light transit the sky, again from east to west, in 10–15 seconds. (“Wisconsin NL,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 13)

June 19 — 10:02 p.m. A witness in Clarksville, Tennessee, is walking his dog when he sees a metallic egg-shaped object, surrounded by a glow, approaching from the west. It appears to be at 8,000 feet altitude. It comes to a stop for 30 seconds, then picks up speed slowly for 7 seconds, and blasts off with a shower of sparks trailing behind it, disappearing in the southeast. (“Rocketing ‘Egg’ over Tennessee,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 13)

June 26 — 3:00 a.m. A 77-year-old man in Wheeling, Illinois, is awakened by his border collie and goes outside. When he opens the back door he sees a uniformly glowing “balloon,” 6–7 feet in diameter and sharply outlined. His dog steps forward and watches it as it hovers rock-steady at 60 feet up and 100 feet away or less. After 4–5 minutes it moves slowly behind the trees to the southwest. Running to the front of his house, he sees an identical form 70 feet up and moving silently to the northwest. It goes behind trees in 3–4 minutes. Duration is 10–13 minutes. (“Two Glowing Globes,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 13)

June 26 — 3:20 p.m. A sharply outlined “mushroom” is seen moving out of the south by a group of eight neighbors in the northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is smaller than the full moon, but at one point they can detect four “domes” on its rotating underside. The object is illuminated with colors ranging from burgundy to silver. At one point it makes a 90° turn and circles around completely, becoming a minty green color. It continues slowly north and disappears. (“An ‘Adamski’ Mushroom?” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 13)

June 28 — Security guard Antonio Carlos Ferreira is allegedly abducted from his workplace, a furniture factory

in Mirassol, São Paulo, Brazil. He is approached by three humanoid figures who tranquilize him and take him aboard a small ship that ferries him to a larger craft further away. There he is put in front of a large TV screen and presented with a variety of images before being forced to mate with a female alien. He is tranquilized again and

returned to the ground. The aliens are approximately 4 feet tall with pointed ears, slanted eyes, and human-like mouths. They lack eyebrows or eyelashes and speak in a language that superficially resembles Japanese. Some have dark skin and red curly hair, while others have light skin and straight black hair. The ship is spherical with three legs protruding from the bottom, and the interior is lit by bright red and green lights. Ferreira states that he encountered the aliens again in 1982, with the craft supposedly landing close enough for him to see the female alien and a childlike alien observing him from a distance. He experiences a third encounter later in 1982 in which he is taken into the hangar of an alien craft by a green beam of light before being injected with a yellow substance. He is then taken to meet the two aliens once more, the younger of whom he is led to believe is his own child. Other encounters follow, to a total of 16 or 20 between 1979 and 1989. (Wikipedia, “Caso Mirassol”; Ney Matiel Pires, “3-Sexto Contato com Ufonautas de Antônio Carlos Ferreira,” SBEDV Boletim, no. 158–161 (May/Dec. 1984): 14–54; Walter K. Buhler, Guilherme Pereira, and Ney M. Pires, UFO Abduction at Mirassol, UFO Photo Archives, 1985; Clark III 764–765; Aileen Garoutte, “Contact at Mirassol,” UFOexperiences, May 22, 2005; Brazil 277–282)

July 1 — 3:40 p.m. A factory supervisor and his wife are driving in Crystal Lake, Illinois, when they see an aluminum- colored ellipse hovering in the north-northeast at an estimated 1,000 feet. It moves with jerky movements to the east-southeast, drops down to 500 feet, and remains stationary over a stand of trees about one mile away for 2–3 seconds. It ascends and descends about five times. (“Daylight Disc in Illinois,” IUR 4, no. 2 (August 1979): 13)

July 4 — 1:30 a.m. A Swedish man is walking along a dark road after leaving a tavern not far from Monastiri Beach, Poros, Greece. He hears a powerful buzzing or shushing noise overhead. Not more than 25 feet above the trees on the uphill side of the road is a black, disc-shaped object, about 25 feet wide, that is blocking out the light of the stars. Within seconds a bright light beams down at him from the center of the object. He feels an electrical sensation and a general lightness. The light blinks out and the man begins running away, but the disc is descending and following him. The beam of light blinks on again when it is 50–60 feet above him. Two backpackers witness this and come running to aid him. The light blinks out again and four blinking red and green lights appear at the edge of the disc, which moves ahead another 150–200 feet. The UFO then rises to 400–500 feet and flies steadily until it disappears behind a hill. (“High Adventure in Greece,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 6 (Jan./Feb. 1982): 15–16)

July 17 — 6:00 a.m. A couple in a rural area northeast of Des Moines, Iowa, are fixing breakfast when through their window they see a small, circular light source to the northeast. It hovers silently for 5 minutes. It starts moving slowly upward at a 70° angle, then breaks into two smaller objects that shoot out of sight. (“Iowa UFO Splits in Two,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 10)

July 25 — 11:30 a.m. Farmer Federico Ibáñez Ibáñez, 54, leaves the village of Turís, Valencia, Spain, to gather grapes from his vineyard. He finds an egg-shaped, white, metallic object resting on two feet in the access road to his field. Two small beings run from behind a carob tree on his left and enter the craft. They are wearing white outfits “puffed up with air” with protruding black tubes. The UFO suddenly ascends at great speed, stirring up a whirlwind. The case is investigated in depth in 1979 and reinvestigated in 2008. It features unique shapes for both the landed craft and its occupants. The one witness is apparently credible. Ground traces are found as circumstantial evidence. Spanish investigator Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos concludes: “My considered impression is that the witness sincerely believes in the tangible reality of his experience, and I have not found any reasonable evidence of a lie or episode of fantasy, nor any proof that he embellished his account.” Ballester Olmos’s latest thought is, “Did the witness invent or hallucinate the event under the influence of the current publicity for the Star Wars movie?” (Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos, “Imagination or Reality? The Landing at Turís, Revisiting a 1979 Spanish CE3,” IUR 33, no. 1 (March 2010): 3–7, 22–24 ; Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos, “Imagination or Reality? The Landing at Turis,” Academia.edu, [2013])

July 27 — 11:10 p.m. Gary Hull is on the patio of his in-laws’ home in Stamford, Connecticut, when he sees an orange light in the northwest. He calls his wife Kathleen and others, and they watch it move silently across the sky at treetop level. After 5 minutes, it stops and hovers. Four or five white flashes erupt from its right side, followed by 4–5 faint sounds like firecrackers. At 11:19, a commercial jet flies overhead and under the UFO, which accelerates almost straight up in 5–10 seconds, diminishing to a pinpoint. Other witnesses 3.5 miles to the north and a few miles to the west watch similar objects. (“Independent Witnesses in Connecticut,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 10)

August — Harry Griesberg and David Seargent form the Australian Centre for UFO Studies from the CUFOS Australian Co-Ordination Section. (Keith Basterfield, Vladimir Godic, and Pony Godic, “Australian Ufology: A Review,” JUFOS 2 (1990): 28)

August — Dusk. A witness in Halifax, Nova Scotia, watches through a telescope a round object with 12–18 lights around its base approaching from the southeast. It hovers for about 30 seconds. He calls to his wife to verify the observation, which has now moved directly overhead. The lights give off constant beams downward. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1982): 3)

August — Evening. A resident of Człuchów, Poland, is rowing his boat on a lake when he sees a “dark oblong object” moving rapidly and soundlessly along the surface of the water without disturbing it. It disappears behind some lakeside vegetation. Another witness on shore sees it apparently land, so he calls his two dogs and heads toward the spot. About 65 feet from the shore he can see two entities in dark suits walking toward the forest. The dogs run toward them and they stop and turn around. The dogs stop in their tracks, bark, and retreat in terror. The witness watches the entities as they continue walking. They are about 5 feet tall and sealed in diving outfits. At the level of their eyes is a glass plate through which they can apparently see. Their hips are unnaturally wide and each has a hump between the back of the neck and the shoulders. The witness calls out to them, but they begin running into the trees. A luminous rectangular object floats up from the treetops about 325 feet away and hovers 100 feet from the ground. A blue-green light is along its sides, shading away into white in the middle. The UFO speeds away, leaving no findable landing traces. The witness claims his dogs’ front legs become paralyzed 6 months later and he has to put them to sleep. (Bronislaw Rzepecki, “UFOs and Ufologists in Poland,” IUR 11, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1986): 16; ; Bronislaw Rzepecki, “UFOs in Poland,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp.

124–125)

August 1 — 1:35 a.m. Westchester County police officer William Shaughnessy sees apparently the same white ball of light at the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, New York, as that reported by several citizens of Lewisboro the same night. It passes southeast directly over his car, at 600–800 feet altitude. It stops above some treetops, makes a complete right turn, and disappears to the west. 12 minutes later, it comes flying back, hovers, shoots over his car again, and is gone quickly. During this time, Shaughnessy cannot reach his station by either low-band FM or portable radio. (“Cop Ridiculed for NL Sighting in New York,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 10–11)

August 1 — US Air Force Intelligence is redesignated the Electronic Security Command. (Wikipedia, “Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Agency”)

August 1 — The Fund for UFO Research is established as a nonprofit corporation in the District of Columbia to raise money to support scientific UFO research and public information projects. It remains active through 2011. (Fund for UFO Research Quarterly Report, Oct./Dec. 1983; Clark III 520)

August 1 — Astronomer Allan Hendry publishes The UFO Handbook, a harshly pessimistic assessment of his investigative experience with the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois. The first part covers IFOs, showing how normal objects can be misinterpreted as UFOs. The remainder of the book covers techniques that can be used by UFO investigators. (Allan Hendry, The UFO Handbook, Doubleday, 1979; Clark III 569)

August 2 — Morning. A teen who mows the lawn finds a strange design on the lawn of an 8-acre estate about 8 miles north of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The owner waits a week before reporting it to the police, who alert the Center for UFO Studies, which investigates the marking on August 22. The trace is visible as flattened, yellowed grass in a semicircle between two straight lines forming a 120° angle. An analysis of the soil sample indicated nothing unusual in the chemistry, and no herbicides or petroleum. (“1979 Ground Mark Remains Unidentified,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 2 (June 1980): 1–2)

August 2 — 11:30 p.m. Multiple witnesses watch a triangular object flying from south to north over Herndon and Atwood, Kansas; and Culbertson and McCook, Nebraska. (Marler 104–106)

August 4 — 10:35 p.m. Maria Artura and her grandson see a domed, disc-shaped object approach from the west over Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California. Two humanoid beings with oversize heads are inside. The object stops and hovers above an apartment building on the other side of the street. It tilts to one side, returns to horizontal, then flies behind a tree, stops, and tilts the other way. Finally, it flies away to the west. (“California Humanoids?” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 11; Richard H. Hall, “Dyad ‘Scout Craft,’” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 25;

Patrick Gross, URECAT, December 25, 2007)

August 5 — 7:00 p.m. A man driving 20 miles north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sees five large red lights suddenly appear in front of his car. They are in a V-formation, four in one row, the fifth forming the other. They move downward toward the horizon, where they vanish. (“Strange Formation in Wisconsin,” IUR 4, no. 3/4, Sept./Oct, 1979: 11)

August 10 — Two large metallic spheres are found in Bolivia, one near Enconada and another near Buen Retiro, just hours after reports of a fireball in Bolivia and northern Chile. Newspaper reports at the time focus on the reentry of a satellite or rocket stage as the possible cause, suggested by Col. Ariel Coca, director of the Bolivian Air Force Academy. The Defense Attaché of the US Embassy in La Paz promptly informs the US Defense Intelligence Agency via telexed Moon Dust reports, which include translations of two Bolivian newspaper reports. Moon Dust is the unclassified name of a cold war USAF program to obtain Soviet space hardware that survives reentry. In

2014, amateur satellite tracker Ted Molczan presents strong circumstantial evidence that the spheres are debris from the reentry of the Delta rocket second stage 1979-072B that launched Westar 3 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the same day. (“Moon Dust, Object Found near Santz Cruz *U*,” August 17, 1979; “Moon Dust, Additional Object Reportedly Found near Santa Cruz *U*,” August 21, 1979; Ted Molczan, “Re-Entry Sightings and Debris Recovery of 1979-072B, Bolivia: 1979 August 10 UTC,” Visual Satellite Observer, July 30, 2014; Ted Molczan, “Bolivia: Spheres Found August 1979, La Prensa Article,” Visual Satellite Observer; Good Above,

pp. 322–323)

August 10 — 9:00 p.m. Two witnesses are on the shore of a lake near Czluchow, Poland, when they see an object gliding swiftly along the surface and vanishing behind some vegetation on the bank. One witness collects his dogs and approaches the spot, but before he gets there, he encounters two entities dressed in black who are moving toward the woods. The dogs run toward them barking, but the entities turn to face them and the dogs stop barking and go back. The beings are dressed in coveralls. They have wide hips, a lump at the base of their necks, and curved forearms, and they are gliding rather than walking. They vanish, and while searching for them the witness sees a rectangular object hovering about 300 feet away and flashing beams of white and blue-green light. It vanishes suddenly. (Bronislaw Rzepecki, “UFO Reports from Poland,” Flying Saucer Review 33, no. 1 (March 1988): 5–6; Poland 46–48)

August 11 — 9:41 p.m. A graduate student and a friend are taking an evening drive in a semi-rural area in Northfield Township, Michigan. They notice two white stationary lights about 300 feet from the road and 500 feet in the air. They turn the car around and see another formation of white lights and a flashing red light to the west. A total of three sets of lights appear heading south. They follow one group, which hovers above some power lines. The couple continues to pursue and be pursued by the similar formations of lights for 30 minutes. At the intersection of Joy and Whitmire Lake Road, one set of lights flies directly above them at 1,000–1,500 feet altitude, making a noise like a jet or the wind. (“Scientists Chase Michigan UFOs?” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 11–12)

August 11 — 11:00 p.m. Two 18-year-olds, a male college student and a female telephone company employee, are sitting in a car near Bergen Park, Colorado, looking at the homes at the base of a small mountain on Soda Creek Road off Interstate 70. They see a white light about two-thirds of the way up the mountain. It grows bigger, four times the brightness of the houselights at the base of the mountain. It seems to become a cluster of four lights with a dark space in the middle. After 3 minutes, the light silently rises over the mountain, hovers for 3 seconds, and drops down behind it. A glow remains over the mountain. (“Colorado Landing,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 12)

August 12 — 2:00 a.m. Engineer Y. Podvyazniy and two companions are on the shore of the Black Sea west of the microdistrict of Khosta near Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. They notice a brightly illuminated object approaching erratically from the sea. Suddenly it skips to within one mile of the witnesses, who take 9 photos, estimate its size as 165–330 feet, and notice four glowing lights that look like portholes. The object is only 16–65 feet above the water when it slowly moves away to a distance of 9 miles. A patrol boat uses its searchlight to illuminate the object, which appears to be spherical. When the object lights up and dims, the searchlight and the patrol boat’s lights also dim. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 133–134)

August 12 — 10:00 p.m. Two teenage brothers are driving 9 miles west of Rolla, Missouri, in an undeveloped area. A red light and a blue light appear over the car, apparently circling each other. The two lights seem to blend into one, forming a soft white color. Sparks shoot out, and the single light source arcs upward and vanishes in the western sky. Both feel strange sensations of both pressure and floating as this occurs. These effects, along with involuntary body movements and trouble speaking and breathing, last 10 minutes. (“Teens Claim Bizarre Effects,” IUR 4, no 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 12)

Mid-August — Night. Hospital administrator Jon Linnell and his wife are driving home from Northwood, North Dakota, to Warren, Minnesota, when they see bright lights over a field to the left. 15 seconds later the lights come toward them and hover above their car. Linnell slows the car down and the object takes off to the north. It is silent and too bright to look at. (“Deputy’s UFO Story Evokes Other Tales,” Minneapolis Star, September 11, 1979, pp. 1, 5; Clark III 716)

August 16 — 4:22 a.m. A male nurse is driving south on US Highway 19 seven miles south of Washington, Pennsylvania.

Ahead of him on the left is a large, luminous object that looks like a football. It appears to be 60 feet up as he drives underneath it. It remains stationary as he drives away. (”Pennsylvania ‘Football,’” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 4)

August 16 — 4:30 p.m. A silver, pan-shaped object flies past an eastbound truck near Providence, Kentucky, at 2,000– 3,000 feet altitude. It tumbles in flight, turning over sideways before disappearing behind a hill. (“Kentucky Daylight Saucer,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 4)

August 17 — 9:00 p.m. Elma l’Abbe is flying above Saint-Jovite, Quebec, in a Piper PA-28 Cherokee Warrior piloted by a friend. She looks out the window and notices that both wings are turning red. The pilot says his controls are jammed, but both feel the aircraft being pulled upward. They then see a large red ball of energy nearly 300 feet in diameter and 50 feet thick close to the right wing. It speeds away rapidly and appears to have a white light on its tail end. The aircraft falls about 1,000 feet and levels out at 4,000 feet. The object disappears into a cloud, where it rotates, showing red on one side and white on the other. The ball of light disappears into the orange sky of the sunset. (Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s UFOs: Declassified, August Night, 2022, pp. 92–95)

August 19 — 10:20 p.m. A witness at his home 16 miles southeast of Dallas, Texas, sees a shimmering light with amber portholes silently darting around near some radio towers. (“Texan NL,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 4)

August 20 — 7:30–9:00 p.m. Some 119 people in northern and eastern Poland observe several different types of cylindrical or spherical UFOs. Reports come from Sopot, Jurata, Gdańsk, Bydgoszcz, Malbork, Jastrzębie, Olsztyn, Świecie, and Warsaw. Vacationers in Sopot and Jurata see a cigar ejecting a smoky trail and flames. In Gdańsk, the objects are cigar-shaped or oblong changing into a sphere. Bogdan Śmiech from Malbork watches 9– 10 balls of light 3–4 miles above the ground. (Poland 72–73)

Late August — 10:00 p.m. Mrs. H. M. Dickinson and another witness see a small, transparent object shaped like a lightbulb moving west to east just outside the window of her home in Surry, Maine. Inside it is an entity sitting on a box and facing what seems to be a control panel. The object is lighted from within and blinks out after 5 seconds. (“Seated Occupant in Light-Bulb-Shaped 1979 Maine CE-III,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 2 (April/May 1984): 1, 3)

August 23 — 8:15 p.m. Two fishing boats belonging to the Szomborg family, the Hel-125 and Hel-127, are in the Baltic Sea some 46 miles off the Hel peninsula, Poland, when their radar malfunctions and the TV set reception fails. Lucjan Szomborg on the Hel-127 notices two bright-red lights in the air less than a mile away. Suddenly another larger, pulsating light appears abut 1,500 feet in front of the boat and the original two lights, which are apparently attached to a dark object, move silently toward it. A white light emerges from the two smaller lights, which then disappear in the distance. The pulsating light begins flashing erratically, emitting strong vibrations, and Szomborg steers his boat closer. The red light places itself directly in the Hel-127’s path three times, matching the boat’s course changes. The crew members begin to get nervous, some getting severe headaches, chest pains, and nausea. The navigator, Henryk Elwardt, is gripped with pain, affected by the pulsing vibrations. Szomborg, feeling symptoms of paralysis and temporary blindness, manages to change course and warn his father on the Hel-125 of danger. All the on-board equipment has suddenly stopped working. After 20 minutes, Szomborg notices that the red sphere has moved further away. The boats safely return to Hel by 4:00 a.m., and the equipment is working again. Doctors, neurologists, and psychiatrists examine the crew and find nothing physically wrong, but they are prescribed sedatives and the Polish Navy prohibits them from going out to sea for 3 weeks. (Poland 122–124; “UFO nad Bałtykiem 23 sierpnia 1979 r.,” UFO-Relacje.pl, August 4, 2019)

August 25 — 3:30 p.m. Three witnesses in a boat at Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, watch an object with a metallic surface move downward in an oscillating manner and maneuver for 6–7 minutes. (“Wisconsin DD,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 4)

August 27 — 1:40 a.m. Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson is on duty in the west end of Marshall County, Minnesota, driving on County Highway 5 west of Stephen when he sees a light through his side window. The light is to his south, shining from a grove of trees standing along State Highway 220 near the Red River. He thinks it might be from a downed drug-smuggling airplane. He turns south on 220, accelerates to 65 mph, and moves closer. The light moves toward him, traveling so fast that it crosses the 1.5 miles separating them almost instantaneously. It makes no sound and still looks just like a blinding light. Johnson hears glass breaking and sees the inside of the patrol car light up. After the light hits, he loses consciousness. When he wakes up, his head is resting on the steering wheel and his eyes are staring at the red “engine” light on the dashboard. He looks out the window and sees the car has skidded sideways across the northbound lane and now faces eastward. The front tires are touching the gravel on the shoulder. He can see only with difficulty and feels like he is moving in slow motion. At 2:19 a.m., he radios headquarters and asks for assistance. Deputy Greg Winskowski arrives on the scene shortly. Johnson is still inside the car with a red bump on his forehead, so he calls an ambulance. At the hospital, Dr. W. A. Pinsonneault examines Johnson’s eyes, but the probe light hurts so much that Johnson cannot stand it more than a few seconds at a time. Pinsonneault suspects corneal flash burns and covers his eyes with bandages. Sheriff Dennis Brekke drives Johnson’s 1977 Ford LTD patrol car back to the garage. The inside light on the driver’s side is smashed.

On the hood, 4 feet 4 inches behind the smashed light and close to the windshield, is a flat-bottomed, circular dent, half an inch in diameter. A crack in the windshield on the driver’s side about 18 inches behind the dent runs top to bottom, with four apparent impacts; it looks as if a cluster of small objects, stones perhaps, have done the damage. The car’s battery-powered clock, set correctly at 7:00 p.m. when Johnson came on duty, is 14 minutes

late. So is Johnson’s wind-up wristwatch, set at the same time. The red plastic lens covering the roof light on the driver’s side shows a triangular puncture, and the lens is dislodged from the housing. A radio antenna shaft is bent over at a 60° angle. The large “bubble” lamp just inches in front of the antenna is unscathed. The trunk antenna for CB radio is bent at 90°. Brekke, after calling the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois, takes Johnson to Grand Forks, North Dakota, at 11:00 a.m. for an eye examination by ophthalmologist Leonard Prochaska, who finds that Johnson’s problems have cleared up. Allan Hendry of CUFOS determines that the car damage is inconsistent with anything an airplane could have caused. Meridan French, a windshield expert with the Glass Division of Ford Motor Company, concludes that a flat-ended object had made a forceful impact with the hood and then tilted toward the windshield. A team of engineers at Honeywell’s materials testing laboratory indicates that flying particles were responsible for the damage to the headlight glass and lamp plastic. (Wikipedia, “Val Johnson incident”; NICAP, “Val Johnson Case”; “Deputy’s UFO Story Evokes Other Tales,” Minneapolis Star, September 11, 1979, pp. 1, 5; “Minnesota CEII: The Val Johnson Story,” IUR 4, no. 3/4 (Sept./Oct. 1979): 4–9; “Minnesota CEII: The Val Johnson Story, Part Two, Laboratory Analyses and Conclusion,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 4–11; Chris Rutkowski, “Special Report: Stephen, Minnesota; Not Proof, But…” Swamp Gas Journal 1, no. 6 (April 1980): 1–4; Mark Rodeghier, “UFO/Vehicle Very Close Encounters,” IUR 27, no. 1

(Spring 2002): 25; Clark III 713–716)

August 27 — 2:30 p.m. Flying instructor Laurie Adlington has just left Blackbushe Airport in Yateley, Hampshire, England, with Lt. James Plastow from Sandhurst Military College for his pilot’s license test in a Cessna 150. They are at 2,000 feet heading toward Basingstoke when Adlington suddenly grabs the controls and throws the Cessna into a steep bank and descent to avoid a collision. An object suddenly speeds past the front of the aircraft, coming within a few feet of the windshield. The rotating object is about 12 inches in diameter, shaped like a doughnut, reflects light with a silvery glow “like a blob of mercury,” and has a honeycombed surface. They can make out the hint of an aerial on one side. The object begins flying around the plane for a short time before it flies underneath it and then streaks upward and away to about 3,000 feet. Possible early use of a drone. (Omar Fowler, “Mini-Disc over Blackbushe,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 1 (June 1980): 18–19)

August 27 — 11:00 p.m. A family in Smithtown, New York, watches a round object with a band around its equator and many small orange lights fly toward them from the north. They remain outside after it disappears, hoping it will return, and it does, flying from west to east and rising up sharply and silently. (“New York NL Appears Twice,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 5)

August 29 — 2:00 a.m. Russ Johnson is driving on Highway 50 on the western outskirts of Vermillion, South Dakota, when he spots a blinding headlight in front of him. It is stationary for 2 seconds, then it streaks toward him and engulfs his car. Johnson closes his eyes and hits the brakes, skidding the car to a stop, spinning sideways until it faces east. He opens his eyes and sees the light heading away west. The next day, the still-shaken Johnson goes to the site with Robert Adams at the University of South Dakota, who sees the skid marks. (Clark III 716; “Case 4-5- 2,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 11)

August 29 — 8:00 a.m. A woman is in her alfalfa field 10 miles north of Pasco, Washington, when she sees what appears to be a post sitting a half-mile away. It is about 4–5 feet tall. About 10 minutes later she sees that the object is now in the air, flying slowly in a horizontal position, land bullet-shaped, looking black on its flat end and silver on its rounded end. A neighbor also sees the object before it disappears in the west. (“A Flying Fence Post in Washington State,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 5)

August 29 — 7:30 p.m. A married couple is taking their dog on a duck hunt between Dziki and Ernestowo, Poland, when they notice a “strange orange ball” coming from behind a hill about 3 miles away. The husband studies it through binoculars, estimating its speed as about 95 mph. The ball proves to be the front of a huge steel-colored cigar- shaped object, which stops 1,300 feet away and hovers above some buildings for about 10 seconds. They can see five large, square windows with rounded corners; the three in the front glow with orange light, while the other two seem covered by a shade. The object moves forward about 40 feet and stops. Half a minute later, sparks shoot from the rear and the UFO vanishes over the horizon. An orange glow remains behind. Alojzy Pawlik sees the same object in Laskowice at about the same time. (Bronislaw Rzepecki, “Encounters in Poland,” IUR 12, no. 3 (May/June 1987): 17)

August 29 — 10:00 p.m. A 47-year-old housewife sees the lower corner of a gigantic “mothership” outside her living room window in a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The blimp-like UFO is so huge she can’t see the whole length or height. It extends the whole block of houses at treetop level. She reports four different kinds of humanoid creatures (7 in all) visible through the hull, which is luminous and yellow in color. She hears a loud humming sound. The duration is 45 minutes. (“Two That Got Away,” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 5)

August 29 — 10:30 p.m. Charles Weeden and his father see an orange light moving erratically in the sky to the west over Sycamore, Illinois. They call the police, and Deputy Berna Van Vlerah looks outside the station 2.5 miles west of

the Weedens and sees the orange light to her southeast, low above the horizon. Using binoculars, she sees a flat- bottomed orange dome shape within the light. She watches it for 5 minutes, then drives to the Weedens and watches it there to the west. (“Orange NL in Illinois?” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 5)

August 29 — 11:15 p.m. Harry Joe Turner is driving a 1974 Kenworth tractor-trailer loaded with mustard and ketchup on US Highway 17 two miles from Warrenton, Virginia. His CB radio starts acting up, giving out a noise that gets louder and louder. Something grabs him tightly on his left shoulder. He sees a large object looming over his cab and hears two thumps. Even though he is going 70 mph, he sees a figure standing outside. When it throws open the door, Turner grabs his .32 automatic pistol and fires 8 rounds at it with no effect. He then blacks out. Turner wakes up in the passenger seat at 3:00 a.m. at his destination in a Fredericksburg warehouse but can’t remember how he got there. The odometer indicates he has only traveled 17 miles, not 80, yet he has used 114 gallons of fuel. The top 2 inches of the CB antenna are melted off, and 30 inches of the AM/FM antenna has broken off. A filmy substance covers the truck. He drives back home but is confused and his eyes are overly sensitive to light. Turner wakes up in a Winchester hospital diagnosed with a broken blood vessel in his left eye. He begins to remember more about the experience and recalls his truck being lifted into a UFO piloted by two humanlike figures dressed in white shirts and pants, one of whom is named Alpha La Zoo Loo. He seems to take a trip in space to a planet beyond Alpha Centauri. On September 3, after taking valium, Turner is arrested for speeding. He thinks aliens are chasing him. Turner continues to undergo anxiety attacks. Allan Hendry and Fred Whiting from the Center for UFO Studies are unable to corroborate Turner’s story, and the two antennas appear to be deliberately altered. (Iris Maack, “Truck, Rig, Abducted (?),” APRO Bulletin 28, no. 6 (December 1979): 1–3; Clark III 1139–1141)

August 30 — 2:30 a.m. A student camping out at Slip Bluff County Park near Lamoni, Iowa, is awakened by her dog barking. She sees a formation of lights on an oval object about a city block away. It moves away horizontally, still close to the ground. (“Landing in Iowa?” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 6)

August 30 — 4:00 p.m. During a thunderstorm, three passengers and the driver watch a 2-foot yellow and green ball of light rush down from the north only 5 feet in front of a Metropolitan Transit Commission bus on the southwest side of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It hits the pavement and erupts into a shower of sparks and smoke with a loud explosion. The shocked bus driver runs over the point of impact as the vehicle is shaking. No lasting effects can be found in the pavement after the storm. (“Case 4-5-3,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 11)

September — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy is losing momentum due to lack of money and public support. Search fees have become prohibitive: In response to a CAUS request for data on UFO trackings, NORAD informs them that it will require 18,383 hours and $294,157. (MUFON UFO Journal, October 1979)

September 3 — 7:30 p.m. Two witnesses watch an “aluminum oil drum with wings” flying silently above Oroville, California, in a straight line. (“California Flying Drum,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 6)

September 3 — 9:30 p.m. Two couples in Balsam Lake, Wisconsin, see a red disc hovering in the western sky as they are driving from their cottage. The dashboard and engine lights fail, so the driver pulls over. The lights come back on but go off again when the car moves forward again. This happens again 5–6 times in less than a minute. Once their view of the light is blocked, the lights come back on. The object moves on to the southwest at incredible speed. (“Car Interference Case,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 6)

September 3 — 10:40 p.m. Two witnesses in Cape Charles, Virginia, see a bright light zigzagging in an unusual manner for one minute in the northeast. (“Virginia NL,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 6)

September 4 — 7:45 p.m. Three men are driving north along Richmond Township Road A near New Richmond, Wisconsin, when they see a silver disc 500 feet to the west over some treetops. It moves toward the road and crosses it at 10 mph behind their pickup, then pausing to hover above a field 10 feet up. They jump out to watch the UFO wobbling about 300 feet away. Two more cars stop to watch. The object moves off to the east, still wobbling. (“DD and Independent Witnesses,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 7)

September 4 — 8:15 p.m. Two boys in Ashland, Wisconsin, watch a cone-shaped object with a slightly curved bottom flopping around and tumbling in the sky. They chase it on their bicycles but it outdistances them. (“Tumbling Cone in Wisconsin,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 7)

September 5 — 3:40 a.m. Dr. Barbara Anaczkowska-Piazza, a driver, and a stretcher bearer are taking a pregnant patient in an ambulance from Żuławka Sztumska to the hospital at Sztum, Poland. As they are passing through Tropy Sztumskie, they notice a large orange-red ball on their left that seems to parallel them as they turn toward Kalwa. At one point it looks so close that the driver fears it will block their way. It seems to have two dark, horizontal bands across it. They turn back to a railway crossing and alert the guards to the object, which is now less bright and soon turns dark. The observation lasts 20 minutes. Although there are some discrepancies in the accounts of its movement, Wim van Utrecht and others are certain that it was the full moon setting. (Emma Popik, “Under

Intelligent Control?” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 6 (March 1981): 2–4; Poland 55–57; Wim van Utrecht, “Lunar Terror in Poland: A Doctor’s Dilemma,” CENAP UFO-Forschung, October 31, 2020)

September 5 — 10 :45 a.m. Lawrence Hogan is driving on County Road MM one mile east of Dresser, Wisconsin. A black dot moves over the trees ahead of him about 50 feet up, slowing down 600 feet away and descending below the tree line. He stops his truck to watch it move east. He sees that the object is metallic and silent. He chases it, alternately moving and hovering, for 5 minutes. (“Then, the Next Day,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 7–8)

September 9 — 4:30 a.m. A driver sees a bright amber light through her windshield to the west in Streamwood, Illinois. It approaches, then moves back to the west, dipping left and right. It approaches again, floating downward and growing brighter. Red and yellow spikes of light emanate from a bright white center. When she feels her face growing hot, she pulls sharply onto another street. Looking through her rear-view mirror, she sees the light make an abrupt turn to the left and disappear in the north in a few seconds. By noon, her face is sunburned and sore; the skin flakes off the next day and she quickly recovers. (“Case 4-5-4,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 12)

September 9 — 7:30 p.m. A salesman and some customers are outside in Richfield, Minnesota, when they notice a silver form shaped like a truck tire with a flat underside moving to the south. It hovers for 4–5 seconds before moving off only 80–90 feet away from them. (“Minnesota Daylight CE I,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 8–9)

September 11 — 5:40 p.m. Donald Schultie watches a blue-gray object approach him from the east in Millsboro, Delaware. His son and councilwoman Dorothy Grey also see it. The UFO is an oblate sphere with a flashing white light. He estimates it is 10 feet wide. It hovers 300–500 feet away in a nearby field for 5 minutes then moves up and away to the northwest. (“Delaware DD,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 9)

September 12 — 8:45 p.m. A complete power failure takes place in Huaihua, Hunan, China. At 9:00 p.m., a bright object appears overhead, emitting a vertical stream of white rays. It flies upward at an angle and vanishes soundlessly a minute later, leaving two masses of hemispherical luminous clouds about 328 feet across. (Paul Dong and Wendelle C. Stevens, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, p. 132)

September 12 — 11:00 p.m. A fire lookout at the Satus Peak tower on the Yakama, Washington, Indian Reservation sees a large orange ball of light between the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area and Mount Adams. It remains below the skyline for the most part, slowly moving in a number of different directions before fading from view. An hour and 15 minutes later, two more orange balls appear in the area of Simon Butte. Moving erratically. They are joined by a third light, and all fade away after 45 seconds. The third ball apparently makes another appearance 5 minutes later and is visible for 45 seconds. (“More NLs in Yakima,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 9)

Mid-September — 4:30 a.m. Teenagers Holly Travis and Debbie LaRose wake up at the Travis house in Sanford, Maine, and see through a window a huge, orange, round object whose underside is clearly visible as it slowly (10–15 mph) passes overhead, gently spinning on its axis, at about 500 feet elevation. It slowly descends behind the roof of the neighbor’s house. (Richard Sigismond, “Four Huge Orange Discs and the Case for the UFO,” IUR 8, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1983): 6–7)

September 16 — Night. Curtis Olson is mowing hay on his farm near Lake City, Minnesota, when he finds a circle of flattened corn 50 feet in diameter. The stalks are flattened in a pattern radiating from the center of the circle, and some are charred. He finds a path leading to another circle 18 feet away. At first, he thinks lightning caused it, but then he considers the possibility of a UFO. County Extension Agent Matt Metz thinks it might have been a combination of wind and decay. In 1987, Curtis’s uncle David Olson admits to creating the circles as a practical joke, using his burlap-covered feet and a posthole tamper. (“Farmer Says UFO Caused Field Damage,” Minneapolis Tribune, September 19, 1979, pp. 2B, 4B; “Not Everyone in Lake City Accepting Prankster’s Confession in UFO Mystery,” Minneapolis Star and Tribune, April 8, 1987, pp. 1B, 6B; Clark III 602)

September 17 — 9:00 p.m. A witness driving in Portsmouth, Virginia, sees a large star approaching her until it is only 30 feet up and less than a block away. She says it seems as large as a three-story house and looks like a gigantic faceted wedding cake with three layers. She hears a muffled sound of a motor. One small green light is on the object’s side, while the underside floods the ground with light. After 2 minutes, it moves slowly off to the left. (“A Faceted Wedding Cake?” IUR 4. No. 6 (December 1979): 9–10)

September 19 — Peter Gersten, on behalf of Ground Saucer Watch, meets with CIA attorneys and Judge John H. Pratt at US District Court for the District of Columbia. The CIA has moved for summary judgment, asserting that the GSW requests for UFO files are an “undue burden” and that the papers released so far are of little importance.

Pratt gives GSW 60 days to provide a written response to the CIA motion. (MUFON UFO Journal, October 1979)

September 20 — 5:30 a.m. A woman is driving in Poplar Grove, Illinois, when a pear-shaped blue light, surrounded by a white haze, engulfs her van in blinding light. Her AM radio is racked with static. She floors the accelerator to get away but can’t get past 40 mph. She recalls a sense of lightness as if she and the van are floating. The next thing she remembers is driving almost 6 miles further ahead at the intersection of Beaverton and Poplar Grove Road.

She stops a police car for help, and her husband comes to pick her up. She sleeps abnormally and exhibits bouts of hysteria for a while after the event. (“Case 4-5-5,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 12)

September 26 or 27 — 8:45 p.m. Pat Gagliardo and another woman watch a single, blinking white light moving above the treetops near Norwich, Connecticut. They drive home to get two binoculars and another witness, then see the light approaching them from the east, now visibly attached to a boomerang-shaped object with the concave side toward them. It stops, tumbles end over end, and moves toward them again, slowly passing overhead, then shoots off to the east. (“Connecticut NL,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 10)

September 29 — 8:45 a.m. A screenwriter sees two bright silver spheres moving above Hollywood, California. Each is somewhat smaller than a full moon and are revolving counterclockwise around a common axis between them. (“A Different Kind of Hollywood Spectacle,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 10)

Fall — MUFOB changes its name to Magonia, with a nod to Jacques Vallée’s book Passport to Magonia. It continues until April 2009. (Magonia, no. 1 (Autumn 1979); Clark III 706; “History of Magonia,” Magonia Archive)

October — Construction for an F-117A Nighthawk support facility begins at Tonopah Test Range inside Area 52, Nevada. The facility at Area 51 serves as a model for the Tonopah project. (Jacobsen, Area 51, p. 343)

October — In a remote area near Melville, Saskatchewan, a CUFOS investigator is looking into a cattle mutilation when his truck begins swerving uncontrollably. He stops and gets out as he hears a low humming noise in the nearby bush. Walking toward it, he feels sharp pains in his back and his knees collapse. The hum becomes louder as he crawls back to the truck and drives away. He loses his sense of direction and hears a rapid clicking noise. The speedometer needle fluctuates wildly between 10 and 85 mph. Suddenly his disorientation leaves and he drives home. (“Two CE-IIs in Western Canada,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 6–7)

October — Day. Cornel Alexandru Olteanu is gathering mushrooms in a forest near Valea Berii near the source of the Teleajen River in the Ciucaş Mountains, Romania. He notices a gray object like a car in a clearing under a high cliff about 320 feet away. He walks toward it and sees it looks more like a metallic disc with a turret and is sitting on 3–4 legs. Nearby are two little men about 4 feet tall who seem to be working on something. They have large eyes, bald heads, and yellowish skin, and they are dressed in a one-piece suit. Noticing him, they turn toward Olteanu, who is suddenly unable to move. The men turn around and climb up a ladder into the object. Flashing white lights come on and the object takes off into the sky and over some trees, which bend over as if they are going through a hurricane. After it is gone, Olteanu can move again. He notices a yellowish stain at the landing site. (Romania 132–133)

October 4 — 12:00 noon. A sales manager watches a silver, domed-shaped object with a black flat bottom from a 38th- floor window on Madison Avenue and 26th Street in New York City. It is seen by three others on the same floor and two others on the floor immediately below. It moves north and makes a sharp turn before apparently hitting the Empire State Building. It clears the Pan Am building and flies off along the Hudson River at a high altitude. (“The UFO That Almost Hit the Empire State Building,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 10–11)

October 6 — 7:30 p.m. A couple driving south on County Road 46 near Amery, Wisconsin, see two red, luminous globes, each as large as the full moon, hovering above the southeast horizon. They drive on another 2–3 miles watching them before the two objects join together and hovers 250 feet above the field to their left, bathing it in a pinkish glow. (“Red Globes in Wisconsin,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 11)

October 6 — 9:30 p.m. A couple are driving on Interstate 35 east of Barnum, Minnesota, when they see a ball of light 3–6 feet in diameter approaching low over some trees. It rolls and bounces silently over the top of the car in about 10 seconds. After driving another 500 feet, the car’s engine dies and the headlights malfunction. The battery is so dead that it can’t be jump-started. The alternator also has to be replaced. The mechanic who does the repair work says that the interior looks like a fire has gone through it (though not the exterior). (“Case 4-5-6,” IUR 4, no. 5 (November 1979): 12; Mark Rodeghier, “A Summary of Vehicle Interference Reports and a Description of a Possible Natural Phenomenon Causing Some Events,” The Spectrum of UFO Research, CUFOS, 1988, p. 165)

October 16 — 6:10 p.m. Two witnesses on the east side of Saint Paul, Minnesota, near Interstate 694 see a silvery domed disc with a flat bottom traveling toward the southwest, moving up and down and drifting about. (“Another Minnesota DD,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 11)

October 20 — 12:30 a.m. A 15-year-old boy in a farmhouse in Baldwin, Wisconsin, sees two intese white lights circling counterclockwise over a hayfield about 1,200 feet away. He goes outside for a closer look, but the lights disappear. Three days later, the family finds a 30 foot-by-45 foot triangular area of brown and dried vegetation in the hayfield. (“Wisconsin CE II?” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 11)

October 25 — 5:56 p.m. A young man and his sister are driving through Westmont, Illinois, and see a flat-bottomed object. Bright luminous white in the middle, its outer edge is more yellow. It moves back and forth, somersaults, and disappears. (“Illinois Flipping Disc?” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 11–12)

October 27 — 6:15 a.m. Lou Blackburn takes three photographs of his friends’ fishing boat coming out of the Motunau River on the South Island of New Zealand. After it is developed, one of the slides shows a cluster of about 19 blue-white lights in the sky. (Fred and Phyll Dickeson, “The Motunau, New Zealand, UFO Photograph,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 6 (June 1981): 1, 3–4)

October 27 — Three Russian aircraft approaching Khatanga, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, encounter a large UFO about 850 feet long and only a half-mile away with three spheres attached to it. Each sphere has three portholes. The pilot of an Antonov An-26 transport cannot get his compass to work properly unless it is directed at the object, which paces the aircraft, flying over and around it. A similar object is seen shortly afterward at Alykel Airport near Norilsk, and the Messoyakha Gas Field. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p. 95)

October 29 — In Hayden v. National Security Agency/Central Security Service the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rules that the records of the National Security Agency are so sensitive to national security that they are afforded a “special dispensation” from adversarial scrutiny through FOIA. (Hayden v. National Security Agency / Central Security Service, US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, October 29, 1979)

November — During rocket tests at the Kapustin Yar site, Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, a Col. Gen. Sapkov and other officers see a bright-green elliptical object, occasionally changing hues, hover over the range for 30 minutes. Sapkov claims to see the same phenomenon in 1986 and is assured by officers that this is a common occurrence. (Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, p. 51)

November 8 — 7:00 p.m. Five teenage girls in West Palm Beach, Florida, watch a round object with multiple lights, a door, and a bubble roof descend to the east and hover there for 5 minutes. It rises again, flies over a store near the witnesses and disappears over the southern horizon. (“Palm Beach Puzzle,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 13)

November 9 — 10:30 a.m. Robert Taylor, a 61-year-old forestry worker, is out one night working in the Dechmont Woods near Livingston, Scotland. Taylor and his dog are on duty when he spots a UFO hovering completely motionless and silent above the ground. Described as approximately 20 feet across and 12 feet high, the strange object is made of a “dark gray metallic material.” Taylor thinks the UFO is possibly going transparent from time to time in order to disguise itself. A ring or platform encircles the object with spikes topped with propellers. Two more small spiky spheres come from the craft and make a sound as their spikes move across the ground. Taylor is then grabbed by these two smaller objects and dragged to the UFO. As this is happening, he can smell a strong, sickening odor. Soon after this, he loses consciousness and remains passed out about 20 minutes. He is woken up by his dog, which is running around and barking in a panic. He hears a kind of hissing sound and realizes that the craft is beginning to leave. Seconds later the UFO disappears. Taylor is unable to walk or talk properly after the event. He suffers from a headache, sickness, and pain in his chin for some hours afterward. Authorities are appointed to investigate the site and find tracks where Taylor says the smaller spheres were dragging him. (Wikipedia, “Robert Taylor incident”; NICAP, “Taylor Incident”; Steuart Campbell, “Close Encounter in Scotland,” Journal of Transient Aerial Phenomena 1, no. 2 (March 1980): 43–46; Martin Keatman and Andrew Collins, “Physical Assault by Unidentified Objects at Livingston, Part I,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no. 6 (April 1980): 2–7; Martin Keatman and Andrew Collins, “Physical Assault by Unidentified Objects at Livingston, Part II,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 1 (June 1980): 25–28; Martin Keatman and Andrew Collins, “Physical Assault by Unidentified Objects at Livingston, Part III,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 3 (September 1980): 1–4; “A Scottish Abduction?” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 15–16; Steuart Campbell, “Close Encounter at Livingston,” ed., Charles F. Lockwood and Leslie W. Bayer, BUFORA Case History No. 1, July 1982; Patrick Gross, “Dechmont Woods, Scotland, November 9, 1979”)

November 11–12 — 11:00 p.m. Flight JK-297, a TAE Supercaravelle outbound from Salzburg, Austria, has just made a refueling stop on Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, before setting course toward Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Pilot Francisco Javier Lerdo de Tejada and his crew notice a set of red lights that are fast approaching the aircraft. They appear to be on a collision course, alarming the crew. The captain requests information about the lights, but neither the Pegaso Defense Radar Center in Torrejón Air Base, Madrid, nor the flight control center

in Barcelona can provide any explanation. In order to avoid a possible collision, the captain changes altitude. However, the lights mirror the new course and stay about 1,600 feet away from the plane. Since the object is violating all elementary safety rules and the crew considers an evasive maneuver impossible, the captain decides to go off-course and make an emergency landing at the Manises airport in Valencia. The lights abandon the pursuit just before the aircraft lands. However, three new UFO targets are detected by the radar, each one with an estimated diameter of 650 feet. The objects are seen by several witnesses. One of the UFOs passes very close to the airport runway, and emergency lights are lit by the land crew in case the object happens to be an unregistered flight experiencing difficulties. Because the object answers no attempts to communicate, a Mirage F-1 takes off at

2:10 a.m. from the nearby Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete to intercept the object. The pilot, Spanish Air Force captain Fernando Cámara, has to increase his speed to 920 mph just to achieve visual contact with what he sees as a truncated cone-shaped object. Despite his initial efforts, the object quickly disappears. Cámara is told of a new radar target, indicating that another object might be near Sagunto. When he is close enough, the object accelerates and disappears again. This time, though, the UFO seems to respond, and the Mirage has its electronic flight systems jammed. At last, and after a third intercept attempt, the UFO finally disappears, heading for Africa. After 90 minutes of pursuit, the pilot is forced to return to the base with no results. (Wikipedia, “Manises UFO incident”; NICAP, “Spanish Radar Visual Case? Probably Not”; “Spanish Radar Visual Case,” IUR 4, no. 6 (December 1979): 14–15; Good Above, pp. 156–157; Juan José Benitez, “Jetliner ‘Intercepted’ by UFO near Valencia,” Flying Saucer Review 25, no. 5 (March 1980): 13–15; J. J. Benítez, Incidente en Manises, Plaza y Janés, 1982; J. Plana Crivellén, “Encounters in Spanish Air-Space between Aircraft and UFOs,” Flying Saucer Review 34, no. 1 (March 1989): 22–23)

November 14 — 8:10 p.m. A witness near Killaly, Saskatchewan, sees a white light land in a field about a quarter mile to the south of her house and then go out. Her dogs keep snarling and barking all night long. The next morning her husband passes the field and notices that it is emitting a dense cloud of smoke. He finds a ring of smoldering grass some 30 feet in diameter, but with snow still visible in the center. The unburnt grass next to it is flattened. (“Two CE-IIs in Western Canada,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 6–7)

November 15 — 5:00 p.m. A group of children playing in Chiraleș, Romania, see a milky-white object that looks like a mace head with protuberances moving silently from north to south about 50 feet from the ground. It appears to be 3 feet in diameter and lands at a nearby mound. The children run toward the mound but stop when they see two glowing objects land on it with tripod legs. Two little men 2.5 feet tall, dressed in metallic costumes with antennae, come out of one of the objects through a door and walk around with a bouncing motion. The children keep approaching, so the men run back into the craft, which takes off in a burst of red-orange flames. Small circular impressions are found, although they get disturbed by curious onlookers. (Romania 134–135)

November 15 — 9:00 p.m. Two teenage boys in Gadsden, Alabama, see a domed disc the size of a house approach them from the south until it is 900 feet away and 750 feet in the air. The light underneath it is so bright that it illuminates the entire object. It makes a U-turn and passes overhead as it moves south with a jerky motion. (“Alabama Saucer,” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 4)

November 17 — 2:30 p.m. A 13-year-old boy is walking home from school through a clearing in the woods in Pound Ridge, New York, when he sees what looks like a solid, 3-foot-tall maple tree surrounded by an electric glow. It hovers for 3 seconds only 12 feet away from him, then shoots straight up into the sky, changing color from green to red. (“A Flying Tree in New York?” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 4)

November 17 — 4:20 p.m. The underground Pegaso Defense Radar Center at Torrejón Air Base in Madrid, Spain, detects an unknown target some 25 miles south of Motril, Grenada, and a Mirage F1 is scrambled from Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Castilla–La Mancha. By the time the jet arrives in the vicinity, the target has disappeared. At 6:16 p.m., the pilot is heading back to Los Llanos when he sees three powerful red-yellow lights in the shape of a triangle about 12 miles away. They do not register on radar. In spite of chasing the lights at 720 mph, the Mirage cannot close the gap. During his descent into Los Llanos, some childish, laughing voices break into the UHF-1 channel linking him to Pegaso: “Hello, how are you? Hello, hello,” they say in Spanish. The interference lasts 30 seconds. (“El OVNI que sobrevoló la ciudad de Motril,” OVNI: ¿Mitologia o Realidad?, May 24, 2019)

November 18 — 1:15 a.m. A man in Antioch, California, watches a bright red light flying from east to the northeast. It stops for 3–5 seconds and changes to purple then pale blue and moves off. (“Fast NL in California,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 4)

November 26 — 5:00 a.m. A phone call to police in Pontoise, Val d’Oise, France, brings officers to the apartment of Jean-Pierre Prevost, 25, a clothing seller, who has claimed that a colleague, Franck Fontaine, has been abducted by a UFO. Fontaine reappears on December 3, claiming to remember only that a luminous fog had descended on his car and he woke up later in a cabbage field. GEPAN investigates and finds the story problematic. On July 7, 1983, Prevost confesses that the story was a hoax intended to promote a spiritual message. (Enquête GEPAN 79/07: A propos d’une disparition, Note Technique no. 6, Groupe d’Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non- identifiés, Centre Nationale d’Étude Spatiales, March 31, 1981; “French Abduction: ‘Travis Walton’ Style,” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 3; Jacques Bonabot, “1979 Fontaine Case Now Admitted to Be a Hoax,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 190 (December 1983): 10; “Cergy-Pontoise Hoax,” Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology; Clark III 230–232)

November 27 — A 13-year-old girl (“Christelle”) in France is terrorized by the landing of a UFO and the sight of one of its crew. GEPAN investigates the landing traces. Grass is flattened for several days after the incident, and samples are taken to Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse for analysis. Prof. André Touzé of the university’s Center for

Plant Physiology says there is no “unequivocal evidence of chemical of biological disturbance of the samples.” (Enquête GEPAN no. 79/06, Note Technique no. 8, Groupe d’Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non- identifiés, Centre Nationale d’Étude Spatiales, October 26, 1981; Peter A. Sturrock, The UFO Enigma, Warner, 1999, pp. 97–98)

November 27 — 4:25 p.m. Yvette Godfrey is assistant manager of a spa in the Barker Shopping Plaza off State Highway 82 near the Connecticut Turnpike in Norwich, Connecticut. She sees a cigar-shaped object hovering at an angle directly above the Norwich Sheraton Motor Inn about 30 feet above the Sheraton sign on the roof. Other women at the spa observe it too. It moves a bit to the south and stops again for a minute before turning west into the clouds. (“Connecticut Cigar,” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 4)

November 30 — 8:00 p.m. At Playa el Combate beach outside Pole Ojea, Puerto Rico, Ramonés Torres and his wife are watching television when they see a bright light hanging at a height of 100 feet above the sea about 900 feet from their house. After about 30 minutes it moves down toward the sea, flares up, and goes out. Torres goes back to the TV set, but after 15 minutes the light returns, this time shining brightly through the window. The light is on a platform floating on the sea only 130–140 feet away, approaching at about 8 mph, and they can see a small man on it about 4 feet high wearing silvery-white coveralls and a big helmet. Suddenly the platform reverses and the light goes out. (Jorge Martín, “A Small Alien Being Seen in Puerto Rico,” Flying Saucer Review 44, no. 3 (Autumn 1999): 21–22)

December — The Moscow City Committee of the Soviet Communist Party forbids all activities of the BVPTS civilian UFO group, but it persists into the 1980s. (Nikita A. Schnee, “Ufology in the USSR,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 1 (June 1981): 8–10; Nikita A. Schnee, “Comments,” AFU Newsletter, no. 27 (Jan./Dec. 1984): 21)

December 1 — The US Strategic Air Command assumes control of the ballistic missile warning system and all Space Surveillance Network facilities from the deactivating Aerospace Defense Command, with data streams continuing to flow to NORAD. NORAD retains the radar networks and operates many radar sites jointly with the FAA as Semi-Automatic Ground Environment. (Wikipedia, “Strategic Air Command”)

December 3 — 7:45 p.m. Chris and Ralph Smith of Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia, see a shiny, semicircular object with red and yellow fire beneath it hover for 5 minutes before it disappears into the sea. (Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s UFOs: Declassified, August Night, 2022, pp. 102–103)

December 3 — 10:20 p.m. Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer John Pushie takes 7 photos (four of which turn out) of a bright light from his home 7 miles west of Sydney, Nova Scotia. The light hovers in one spot then moves quickly away at one point. He shows them to the commanding officer of CFS Sydney Radar Base [now closed] in Lingan Road, who says he wants to send them to the National Research Council. One month later they are returned with a note saying that Pushie had photographed the star Vega. (“Former RCMP Officer Photographs UFO near Sydney N.S.,” Journal UFO 2, no. 4 (March 1981): 13–14)

December 4 — 5:00 p.m. Two witnesses are driving on State Highway 32 near Mansfield Depot, Connecticut, when they see a bright, football-shaped “cloud” hovering low over the trees to the north, turning slowly. The driver stops just north of the intersection with US Highway 44. The object is now seen to have a complex shape with multiple lights as it hovers above some power poles to the west. It starts moving slowly to the south. The witnesses try to follow it but lose sight of it. (“Six Days Later in Connecticut,” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 4–5)

December 5 — 5:55 p.m. Norma White watches a bright star from her restaurant in Ansted, West Virginia. It remains stationary for 15 minutes at a height of 2,000 feet over the mountains to the north. Then it approaches her, passing overhead at 100 mph. It hurts her eyes to look at it. Then the light goes out, allowing her to see a Y-shaped object emitting a dull green light. Clusters of red lights are at the three points of the Y. It silently turns and flies off to the east. Other lights appear in the sky (18 or so) and are observed by police officers Charles Crosier and Dan Cohenour. (“The Mini-Flap of West Virginia,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 4)

December 6 — 6:29 a.m. An Archuleta County deputy sheriff is driving west on US Highway 160 in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, when he sees an orange-gold light in the western sky. It quickly grows to the size of a fuzzy full moon in 2–3 seconds. Holding its position, it vanishes without a sound. (“Colorado UFO: Head On?” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 5)

December 7 — 10:10 p.m. A couple sees a milky-white object while driving through Madison, Connecticut. They pull over on Bishop Lane and watch it make abrupt changes of direction for a few minutes before it fades from sight. (“Connecticut Disc,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 4–5)

December 9 — 9:15 a.m. French Air Force Capt. Jean-Pierre Fartek and his wife observe an oscillating UFO hovering near the ground in front of a row of apple trees at his home in a village near Dijon, Côte d’Or, France. It looks like two “reversed saucers pressed against each other,” gray-metal above and dark blue below, with no lights or portholes. He describes the sighting to Gen. Denis Letty, who includes the case in the 1999 COMETA report.

(“1979: Air Force Captain Jean-Pierre Fartek Spots UFO,” UFO Casebook, September 14, 2010; Kean, pp. 124– 126)

December 9 — 9:45 p.m. US Coast Guard Storekeeper 1st Class Michal Williams sees a stationary white light above the Mississippi River near the dam in Keokuk, Iowa. It lights up the river below it. The light moves straight up at high speed, changing from white to red and coming to an abrupt stop. The light goes out. Williams and a radioman see it again in the northeast and view it through binoculars. It has two red lights and a white light flashing irregularly. It flies around the dam and into the west-northwest in a matter of seconds. (“Coast Guard Sighting in Iowa,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 5)

December 11 — 11:45 a.m. Flight instructor Leslie Groves is tutoring a pupil aboard a Cessna 150 flying at 4,500 feet south of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, when he spots something strange that appears to come out of a cloud above Winter Hill. It is clearly a solid ball of white light that is passing in and out of the clouds. He asks the student to bank in order to minimize any risk of a collision. By now the object is pulling away in an arc described as a “well-controlled swooping motion” at about 2,500 feet. (Ron Sergeant and Jenny Randles, “Aircraft in Encounters over Bolton,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 1 (June 1980): 19–21)

December 13 — 4:00 a.m. Two truckers (Wang Dingyuan and Wang Jianming) are driving separate vehicles on the Lanxi-Xin’angiang Highway near Longwangmiao, Zhejiang, China, when they see a bright beam of light ahead. When the lead driver sees two “unusual human beings” standing on the highway, he stops. They are short, perhaps 4.5 feet tall, and wear what look like spacesuits. The second driver also stops but does not see the beings,

which soon vanish. The drivers decide to switch vehicles. A few miles down the road, the new lead driver sees the same entities, and the men again stop the trucks. The drivers turn their lights off and on, but the beings remain.

When one of the drivers emerges with a crowbar, they disappear. (Paul Dong and Wendelle C. Stevens, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, pp. 140–141; Good Above, pp. 214–215)

December 20 — 4:30 a.m. A pilot and two other witnesses are driving near Therien, Alberta, when they see an elongated object drop from 1,000 feet to 200 feet, turning red as it descends, for about 5–10 minutes. It crashes into the ground not too far away from their car. They can feel the impact. (Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s UFOs: Declassified, August Night, 2022, p. 103)

December 23 — 3:30 p.m. A salesman exiting the Orange Freeway at Riverside in Northeast Anaheim, California, sees an object silently pass over him at 300 feet up. The front part is octagonal and the rear is a rectangle. (“A California ‘Whatsit.’” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 5)

December 27 — 11:15 a.m. Two construction workers are driving south on Knott Street in Coquille, Oregon, when they see a bright flash in the southern sky. It is caused by a reflection off a thin, metallic, domed object wobbling nearby. It is about 40–50 feet in diameter and 6–7 feet thick. The object descends to about 1,000 feet. The witnesses try to drive closer and look at it through inexpensive binoculars as it flies down the valley before it disappears to the south. (“Daylight Disc in Oregon,” IUR 5, no. 1a (January 1980): 5)

December 27 — Night. A car factory worker at Halewood, Merseyside, England, is walking home when he senses something behind him. Turning around, he sees a floating white sphere, several feet in diameter, heading silently toward him. He watches it pass, and the tingling at the back of his neck intensifies. When it is about 20 feet ahead, it stops and shoots to the southwest at a 45° angle. The man’s hair remains charged with static for two days. (Jenny Randles, “The Twelve UFOs of Christmas,” Fortean Times 374 (Christmas 2018): 29)

December 30 — After presenting his findings to the GEPAN Scientific Council, Claude Poher resigns as director. His position is not made public, but it meets with strong opposition from the media. Poher then takes a one-year leave of absence from CNES to sail around the world with his family in a boat he has built himself. Mathematician Alain Esterle replaces Poher as GEPAN director, remaining until 1983. Under his direction, GEPAN is productive, issuing a series of detailed technical notes on cases. (J. Allen Hynek, “GEPAN: France’s Official UFO Agency,” IUR 5, no. 1 (January 1980): 6–8; Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 12–13; Clark III 546)

December 31 — 4:00 a.m. A family in Demopolis, Alabama, wakes up to the sound of their dogs barking wildly. When one witness goes outside to quiet them, he sees a bright, triangular object the size of a house hovering above trees about 1,200 feet away. It approaches in a zigzag path. (Demopolis (Ala.) Times, January 4, 1979; Marler 172)

1980

1980 — Ann Druffel and D. Scott Rogo publish The Tujunga Canyon Contacts, a report on their investigations into a series of abductions and UFO-related events in California involving several women over a period of 25 years. (Ann Druffel and D. Scott Rogo, The Tujunga Canyon Contacts, Prentice-Hall, 1980; Clark III 415)

1980 — Richard F. Haines, an aerospace psychologist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, publishes Observing UFOs, a technical book on analyzing UFO reports. (Richard F. Haines, Observing UFOs: An Investigative Handbook, Nelson-Hall, 1980)

1980 — Alejandro Agostinelli and Juan Carlos Zabalgoitia establish the Centro de Estudios de Fenómenos Aéreos No Convencionales in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and publish three issues of a boletín informativo. (CEFANC Boletin Informativo, no. 1 (Jan./March 1980))

1980 — An All-Russian Research Public Organization is launched informally by Russian science-fiction writer Alexander Kazantsev, aerospace engineer Vadim Chernobrov, astronaut Georgy Beregovoy, and other enthusiasts to explore the mysteries of the universe and nature, research new ways of space technology development, and collect information about UFOs and anomalous events in the Soviet Union. (Wikipedia, “Kosmopoisk”)

1980 — Donald Goldsmith and Tobias Owen publish The Search for Life in the Universe, an open-minded textbook on SETI. (Donald Goldsmith and Tobias Owen, The Search for Life in the Universe, Benjamin/Cummings, 1980; Michael D. Swords, “SETI/ETI and UFOs,” JUFOS 5 (1994): 147–151)

1980 — During interception exercises, seven MiG-12s from the Mierzęcice Air Base [now Katowice Airport], Poland, notice a saucer-shaped object with flashing lights approaching them. It has a blue-gray cupola on top and is three times bigger than any of the aircraft. It flies to each of the MiGs and maneuvers around them. (Poland 65)

January — The Gemeinschaft zur Erforschung unbekannter Phänomene (later Gesellschaft zur Erforschung des UFO- Phänomens) publishes the first issue of Journal für UFO-Forschung in Lüdenscheid, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany, which is still in operation in 2022. (Journal für UFO-Forschung, no. 1 (January 1980); Journal für UFO-Forschung website)

January — 11:00 p.m. A Brazilian electronics businessman and 9 others see a disc-shaped object shine a light down on the water near the eastern bank of the Rio Tapajós 30 miles south of Santarém, Brazil. The man, his family, and some relatives are camping at a beach. Several teenagers are still awake, lying in hammocks and talking, when they see the UFO come across the river, stopping about 30 yards from the beach and shining a light on the water 60 feet below. The UFO hovers briefly then begins moving north, parallel to the shore. It travels more than half a mile, with the spotlight shining straight down before it disappears. The light beam leaves a trail of luminescence for several hundred yards. (Bob Pratt, UFO Danger Zone: Terror and Death in Brazil—Where Next?, Horus House, 1996, pp. 146–147; Carl W. Feindt, “Beam of Light into a Body of Water,” IUR 33, no. 3 (December 2010): 22–23)

January 10 — The NSA’s Roy R. Banner releases two UFO-related documents to Peter Gersten, but states that the original 18 he has requested are exempt from release because of national security, adding that the NSA is reviewing 79 other documents originating with other federal agencies. (ClearIntent, pp. 182–187)

January 13 — 9:00 p.m. Brenda Simanski and Janine Mattson quit their shift at the Seminary Nursing Home on Pioneer Road in Red Wing, Minnesota. Standing in the parking lot, they see a star making a bizarre zigzag pattern. It moves above them and they see it is a triangle 15 feet wide and 20 feet long with two white lights in front, blue lights in two of the corners, and a red light between the blue ones. Three other witnesses come out of the building and also watch the object, which leaves slowly and silently to the north-northwest. (“5 Watch Tree-Hovering UFO for 6 Minutes, ‘Won’t Say It’s from Space,’” Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle, January 15, 1980, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 128 (March 1980): 3)

January 14 — 6:05 a.m. Truck driver William Barrett is on an early delivery run from Burnley to Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England, when he hears a deep humming sound. Looking ahead, he sees a machine with flames underneath hovering at a lay-by off the roadside. He slows his truck to a near crawl and moves past the object, which looks like a “toast rack” with curved sides and three red glows emerging from the edge to create a misty fuzziness obscuring the base. Now only 25 feet away, he sees that it has a bell- or tortoiseshell shape with a metallic sheen and a tube sticking up from the top. The red glows emerge from under a rim that runs around the lower part of the object. He can now see two figures standing in front of the object, one standing erect and wearing a uniform with a peaked cap, and the other crouched forward, wearing a silvery-gray jump suit. As he passes, the arc lights on the object start flickering like a disco. His headlights go out, and his mind gets hazier and he loses consciousness. He experiences missing time until he jerks awake sometime around 8:30 a.m. (Jenny Randles, “Close Encounter in UFO Alley,” IUR 26, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 3–8, 28–29)

January 17 — 10:30 p.m. Chilean astronomer Fernando Noël is at his home in the eastern suburbs of Santiago, Chile, when he sees a luminous point of light at 20° elevation moving from southwest to west. It is silent and resembles a satellite. He calls two other witnesses, during which time the object disappears. At 10:45 p.m., he sees a bright light moving slowly toward the zenith. Looking more closely, he sees it is actually a group of 30 objects in a V- formation. Each individual light of the group is pale white with a slight tint of yellow. The formation moves from

20° above the western horizon to about 20° above the eastern horizon before disappearing gradually. The duration is approximately 2 minutes. (“Unidentified Atmospheric Phenomena Observed by an Astronomer,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 7, no. 4 (1993): 439–441)

January 21 — 11:40 p.m. Seven women are driving home in two cars from a bridge game near Council Bluffs, Iowa. The first car with six witnesses, including Marilyn Anderson, sees a cluster of lights in the western sky as they are driving on Pioneer Trail. The lights are hovering about 200–300 feet above a bluff less than a city block away.

When they stop the car to get out for a closer look, the lights speed away to the southwest. The seventh woman, in a separate car behind them, does not see the lights, but Anderson tells her about them when she pulls up. She continues driving home, but when she gets to Longview Drive, her car stalls, and the radio and lights go out. She restarts the car, but it stalls out another quarter-mile away. A bright orange light appears in a cornfield about 900 feet away with an intensity that hurts her eyes. Scared, she locks herself inside the car and passes out. When she wakes up, her car is turned sideways across the road, but she is able to drive it home. She can still see the orange light from her kitchen window, but she has some blotches and redness on her skin that fades by 4:20 a.m. (“Possible Abduction in Iowa,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 13–14)

January 23 — Peter Gersten files an appeal with the NSA to release more UFO material. (ClearIntent, p. 187)

January 24 — 1:00 p.m. A. Golotikin is working as a mechanic aboard the Brilliant, a Russian fishing trawler operating 20–30 miles off the coast of Western Sahara. He and the rest of the crew see a black, cigar-shaped object moving slowly toward the ship in complete silence. They watch it for 5–7 minutes through binoculars, then it disappears as it gets closer to the ship. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 15–16)

February — The Australian Centre for UFO Studies begins publishing the Journal of the Australian Centre for UFO Studies, edited by Harry Griesberg and Keith Basterfield, until at least November 1985. (Journal of the Australian Centre for UFO Studies 1, no. 1 (February 1980))

February 7 — 9:50 p.m. Daryl Browne, a ranch hand at the Glenalta horse ranch near Stirling, South Australia, is watching TV when he hears dogs howling and timber crashing outside. His two guard dogs are howling in fear. Outside he sees a yellow half-moon-shaped object about 25–30 feet long. It is 100 feet up in the branches of a 230-foot-tall cypress tree, branches bending under its weight. The trunk shows large gouges. Browne calls the police, but the object is gone by the time they arrive. For 2 days, Browne’s dogs refuse to go near the tree. (“UFO Smashes Tree in Australia,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 16)

February 21 — 11:15 a.m. An 11-year-old girl getting ready for bed in Stamford, Connecticut, looks through a window and sees a large white oval of light low in the west-northwest sky, apparently four times the size of the moon. Her grandmother joins her and watches the object, which is swinging with a pendulum motion. It is still visible about 30 minutes later. The family’s German shepherd dog barks continually at it while it is visible and for 20 minutes after it is last viewed. (Allan Hendry, “Unusual Backyard Visitor,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 2 (June 1980): 3)

February 25 — 2:30 p.m. Oil worker Rusty Pennington is watching a pump a quarter mile west of Youngsville, Pennsylvania. Suddenly he hears an explosion that lasts only a split second and sees a domed disc to the left of his truck. He estimates the object is 20 feet wide and 6–8 feet high. Flying at treetop level, it streaks silently downward from southwest to northeast and disappears in the distance. (“Daylight Disc in Pennsylvania,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 14)

February 28 — The National Enquirer runs an article, “Former Intelligence Officer Reveals ‘I picked up wreckage of UFO that exploded over U.S.’” that includes a portion of a December 1979 interview by Bob Pratt with Jesse Marcel Sr. as a pre-publication teaser for Berlitz and Moore’s forthcoming book. (Patrick Gross, “Roswell 1947: First Ufologists Investigations”)

March — Nanotechnologist Robert A. Freitas Jr. advocates searching for alien probes or artifacts on planets, satellites, and asteroids because it is more cost-effective than looking for distant radio signals. (Robert A. Freitas Jr., “Interstellar Probes: A New Approach to SETI,” Journal of the British Interplanetary Society 33 (1980): 95–100)

Early March — 9:45 p.m. Fred Wirth Jr. steps outside his home in Bulverde, Texas, and sees a large orange glow 45° up in the northern sky about 100 feet above his property, lighting it up with an orange glow. After hovering silently, it shoots up in the air and stops, now appearing as a red, blinking dot. His wife joins him but instantly becomes nauseous and throws up. He starts sweating profusely. (“Strange Reactions to Huge Glow,” IUR/Probe, September 1980, pp. 74–75)

March 7 — 12:10 a.m. Former Navy pilot Larry Crawford sees a star-like light moving 700–800 mph at 30,000 feet above Memphis, Tennessee. While he is watching it move for 10 seconds, it executes a hairpin turn. (“Pilot: ‘No Human Could Have Survived Turns Like That!’” IUR/Probe, September 1980, pp. 75, 78)

March 12 — 12:45 a.m. At least 10 witnesses, including city police and county sheriff deputies, watch an odd light maneuvering, climbing, and descending in the sky above Gladstone, Michigan. (“Much Ado about Little?” IUR/Probe, September 1980, p. 78)

March 13 — 7:50 p.m. A subcontractor on a job is driving near Haselor, Warwickshire, England, when he sees a white, cigar-shaped object with a steady red glow on either end pass in front of his windshield. The steering wheel instantly becomes hot, causing him to lift his hands off the wheel. He maneuvers the car off the road until it cools enough to steer. (Tony Green, “Witness Burned by Passing UFO,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 5 (January 1981): 32–33)

March 15 — 8:00 p.m. A couple in Bannock, Ohio, Spot a bright light in the southwestern sky. They watch it for 20 minutes before it approaches their home. The light is a spotlight attached to a large cigar-shaped object with red and blue lights along its length. The spotlight switches off as it passes overhead and moves to the northwest. (“Chief Investigator Allan Hendry Reports: Huge Cigar UFO in Ohio,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 5)

March 22 — Stringfield meets with two new sources in Erie, Pennsylvania, who show him three photos allegedly showing an alien cadaver encased in glass in Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. He is suspicious and tries to verify them. (MUFON UFO Journal, December 1980)

March 22 — 10:00–11:00 p.m. Burlington (Vermont) International Airport radar tracks three small objects that join with a larger, brighter object then separate again. They are apparently over Malletts Bay. Speeds of up to 1,500 mph are recorded, and the objects quickly disappear to the west. Traffic controller Donald Kernan says the lights “did a kind of dance.” (NICAP, “Satellite Objects on RADAR”)

March 24 — The NSA issues a general denial of releasing all of its UFO materials to the public as requested by Peter Gersten. (ClearIntent, p. 187)

March 24 — 7:30 p.m. When his dog starts barking furiously, James Balkcom notices a bright light moving along the railroad tracks in James, Georgia, at treetop level. It comes to a stop and hovers above the home of Benton Evans. The Evanses go outside to watch the light, which has colored lights blinking inside it. After 5–10 minutes, it begins moving along the tracks again with a pulsing “shh-shh” noise. (“Low-Flying Georgian Globe,” IUR/Probe, September 1980, pp. 78–79)

March 25 — 10:15 p.m. Debbie Harris and Sheri Gustafson are driving on the Dayton–Xenia Road three miles east of Dayton, Ohio, when Harris notices bright, beaming lights in the sky. They assume it is an illuminated tower, but when they pull over, it appears to be about 25 feet above the ground and 210 feet away. The lights seem to come from an airplane-sized object with a green light, a red light, and crossed white beams. After hovering to their north for about 2 minutes, it shoots off rapidly to the northeast and disappears behind a hill. (“Ohio Close Encounter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 3 (July 1980): 3)

April — A farmer in central Texas is walking through his pasture to check on a cow that is about to give birth. Instead, he sees two nonhuman creatures carrying a calf between them, each holding one of its limbs. They are about 4 feet high and light yellow-green in color. He runs away and does not return to the location for two days, whereupon he finds the carcass of the calf. It looks as though it has been turned inside out, and only the head, feet, and hide remain. Researcher Tom Adams says the farmer is extremely reluctant to discuss the incident any further. (MUFON UFO Journal, July/August 1984)

April 6 — 9:00 p.m. William Meara and his wife Brenda are driving on I-84 just south of its intersection with I-90 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, when they see a red blur above a road sign. The blur resolves into a disc about 30 feet in diameter with smaller discs surrounding it. The object passes silently above their car, moving northeast. The duration is 3 minutes. When Meara tries to start his car 30 minutes later at home, it acts completely dead but works again normally the next morning. (“Connecticut Close Encounter,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 6 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 14)

April 10 — A businessman driving on the Philadelphia Church Road near Lincolnton, North Carolina, sees a red, disc- shaped object approach and hover above his car. It directs a light toward the ground. When he stops his car and rolls down the window, he hears an intense humming sound. He watches it for about 5 minutes until it takes off at a 30° angle and heads south, leaving a thin exhaust trail. (“Those Funny Lights in the Sky,” Hickory (N.C.) Focus, May 1, 1980, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 130 (May 1980): 7)

April 11 — 7:15 a.m. Personnel at the La Joya Air Base [part of the Mariano Melgar Airport], Arequipa, Peru, see a strange object flying in the vicinity. The base commander orders a Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber to destroy the target, assumed to be a Chilean balloon. Lt. Oscar Santa María Huertas commands the scrambled aircraft. As soon as the object is in his sights some 1,800 feet above the ground, he fires 64 rounds from his 30mm guns at it. The bullets seem to hit the object without causing any damage. The UFO then hurls skyward at tremendous speed.

Huertas follows, putting the Sukhoi into Mach 1.2. As he approaches, the object makes a sudden stop and the Sukhoi flies past it at 36,000 feet. Further maneuvering takes place, and Huertas finds the object chasing him at one point at 62,000 feet. He abandons the mission 52 miles away from the base. After he lands 22 minutes later, the object reappears at the base and remains visible nearly 2 hours. A Department of Defense information release gives an erroneous date of May 9, 1980. (Kean, pp. 93–98, 150–151; Dolan II 214; Good Above, pp. 324–325, 503–504; Yohanan Díaz Vargas, “Peru: La Joya AFB, the Perfect UFO Case (1980),” Inexplicata, November 14, 2016)

April 13 — A witness is driving on the eastern outskirts of Halifax, Nova Scotia, when he sees an unusually bright light. As he drives 5–6 miles closer, it resolves into two lights side by side. After driving another 20 miles closer, he sees the two lights are attached to one object. When directly underneath, it appears to be 1,000–1,200 feet long and cigar-shaped with lights on the front and back and one side. A truck driver has also pulled over to watch the UFO. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1982): 3–4)

April 17 — Day. Michael Romanowski, 8, sees a white boomerang-shaped object in Buffalo, New York. (“Crescent Reports from New York and Illinois,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 4)

April 20 — 5:30 a.m. Richard A. Jokinen, an electrical engineer, is driving north on I-280 in San Mateo, California, on a fishing trip with his 18-year-old son. They see five bright, apparently metallic, Saturn-shaped objects flying very fast in formation at low altitude. The objects are traveling about 500 feet above the Crystal Springs Reservoir and are visible against trees of the coastal mountains west of the reservoir. The sighting lasts about 5 seconds, during which the objects cross 120° of viewing angle. (Allan Hendry, “Five ‘Saturns’ in California,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 5 (September 1980): 3; UFOEv II 164–165)

April 20 — 8:20 p.m. Sam Puccinelli is parking his car in his garage in Palatine, Illinois, when he sees a crescent-shaped, gray-black object with flashing white lights. He looks at it with his binoculars with his 13-year-old son for 7 minutes before it disappears. (“Crescent Reports from New York and Illinois,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 4)

April 20 — 9:00 p.m. A group of nine family members are on their front lawn in Hyderabad, India, and see a bell-shaped cloud forming at about 2,000–3,000 feet altitude. It remains stationary and they look away, but soon they see three smaller bell-shaped clouds forming evenly spaced below the first and forming an equilateral triangle. The smaller clouds then merge with the larger one and form an orange ball bright enough to throw a shadow on the roof near them. It shoots off at great speed toward the airport, then disappears after breaking into four smaller orange balls of light. The duration of the sighting is 15 minutes. (Herbert S. Taylor, “Mystery Clouds and the UFO Connection,” IUR 29, no. 4 (July 2005): 18–19)

April 22 — 10:00 p.m. Police Officer Manuel Medina and dispatcher Sedilla of Springer, New Mexico, are parked on a traffic watch when one of them notices a bright star in the west at about 45° moving like a balloon with a start- stop motion. Medina shines his car’s spotlight on the object, which drops to a lower elevation. He turns the light off and the object ascends again. He turns the red cruiser light on, and the object seems to respond with a reddish hue. The light disappears over the Cimarron Mountains 20 miles away at 11:10 p.m. (Allan Hendry, “Familiar Description,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 2 (June 1980): 3)

April 26 — 11:00 p.m. Two witnesses in Holton, Indiana, watch a luminous flashing form in the northwest sky. Golden- colored and triangular in shape, it appears larger than the full moon. The object hovers, then shoots straight up in seconds. It zigzags before vanishing in the northwest. (“Golden Triangle in Indiana,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 5 (September 1980): 3)

May — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy’s attorney Peter Gersten brings a lawsuit against the National Security Agency to compel it to release 135 documents it has withheld from FOIA requests. The suit also includes the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration (which it claims conducted an inadequate search for its UFO records). (Fred Whiting, “CAUS Goes to Court,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 6 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 18)

May — Early afternoon. Thousands of base personnel and their families are congregating at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota, to watch an SR-71 Blackbird take off after a refueling stop. A1C John W. Mills III and a few other airmen are on top of the barracks for a view. They see an odd, triangular object above the B-52 Alert Pad about half a mile away. It begins to move down the flight line, and they see it is a gray-black delta shape at an altitude of 500 feet. For some reason it is not visible through the pair of binoculars they have. It makes a right turn and suddenly disappears above a parachute-rigging building. The SR-71 does not take off. Later in the day, an official “flash” message goes out to base personnel telling them not to talk to the press in case they had seen anything. (Nukes 387–392)

May — The Chinese UFO Studies Association is established under the auspices of Wuhan University, with branches in Beijing, Shanghai, and the provinces of Guangdong, Sichuan, Shanxi, Hubei, and Guangxi. It is headed by Cha

Leping, a 26-year-old astrophysics student. The association later is incorporated into the China UFO Research Organization as an official branch of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. (Paul Dong, “Letters,” IUR 7, no. 2 (March 1982): 3; Good Above, p. 206)

May — Late afternoon. Two witnesses are driving through Manlius, New York, when they catch a glimpse of a disc- shaped object the size of a football field hovering above a patch of trees. The driver stops the car and steps outside. Yellow, red, and green lights are rotating around its perimeter. A commercial aircraft and news helicopter are also visible in the sky. The object is still not moving and soundless. Then two jet fighters, apparently scrambled from Griffiss AFB [now the Griffiss Business and Technology Park] in Rome, New York, fly toward the object, which takes off like a bullet and disappears. (Dolan II 211)

May 2 — 10:15 a.m. A Santa Clara County park ranger and another county employee are in the hills east of San Jose, California, when they see a shiny, mirror-like spherical object moving north to south. They take turns studying it through binoculars. The object has a blue-green band in the center and is orange at the bottom. It makes rapid up- and-down motions as it moves forward and spins faster as its speed diminishes. The object stops and spins toward Lick Observatory to the east of their position for 10 seconds. Then it accelerates rapidly and speeds away to the south. The sighting duration is 3–4 minutes. (UFOEv II 226)

May 5 — As she is driving home from Oklahoma to Eagle’s Nest, New Mexico, Myrna Hansen and her 6-year-old son see several UFOs in a field near Cimarron, New Mexico, after which they suffer confusion and a 4-hour loss of time. Paul Bennewitz, an Albuquerque, New Mexico, owner of humidity equipment company Thunder Scientific and a UFO investigator, on May 11 brings psychologist R. Leo Sprinkle in to meet Hansen. He hypnotizes them and gets a detailed abduction story from the mother, who also remembers watching the aliens mutilate a calf.

Hansen also remembers being taken by the UFO to an underground area in New Mexico (leading Bennewitz to suspect it is the Manzano Weapons Storage Area at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque) where she sees tanks of water with cattle body parts, as well as a human arm. (Linda Moulton Howe, An Alien Harvest: Further Evidence Linking Animal Mutilations and Human Abductions to Alien Life Forms, Howe Productions, 1989, pp. 112–116; Linda Moulton Howe, Facts and Eyewitnesses, The Author, 1993, pp. 234–245; Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 15–28; Marcus Lowth, “The Chilling and Bizarre Abduction Encounter of Myrna Hansen,” UFO Insight, May 19, 2018; Clark III 359–360)

May 6 — Leonard Stringfield finds an article in UFO Sightings by David McCarthy titled “Quest for Teleportation,” which features a photo of an alien cadaver similar to the ones he was given in March. (David McCarthy, “The Quest for Teleportation,” UFO Sightings 1, no. 1 (July 1980): 40–45; MUFON UFO Journal, December 1980)

May 7 — Day. X-ray technician Ruth Weaver experiences interference on her car radio while driving near Valdese, North Carolina. It blacks out completely and she sees a huge object move beneath the cloud cover directly ahead of her car. It makes a U-turn, then it banks, revealing the shape of an upside-down soup bowl with a dome on top. A red triangle is on the underside. It looks like a Stetson hat as it moves away. (UFOEv II 452; George D. Fawcett, Human Reactions to UFOs Worldwide (1940–1983): What We Have Learned from UFO Repetitions, The Author, 1986, p. 16)

May 7 — 3:50 p.m. A Dutch KLM airliner is flying just over 30,000 feet above the Dachstein Mountains in the Austrian Alps. The pilot sees a gray spherical object flying overhead, which he reports to the Air Control Center in Vienna, which contacts the Austrian Air Force. Maj. Karl Schwarz orders three Saab 105 aircraft to intercept. Once they make visual contact, two of the jets attempt the intercept while the third takes film footage. The UFO’s erratic movements, however, make it impossible to follow, and the object is soon out of sight. At 5:50 p.m., a German Lufthansa airliner comes in close contact with a similar object, Schwarz orders two more fighters to scramble.

The Saab 105 pilots think the object’s variable speed means it is playing with them. It is flying some 9,800 feet above them, but they cannot maneuver well enough to catch it. (Terry Hooper, “UFO Interceptions Attempted,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 4 (November 1980): 21)

May 9 — 9:00 p.m. A woman is driving home with her daughter in Bargersville, Indiana, when bright red flashes of light illuminate the inside of her truck and the surrounding area. The flashes are caused by red balls of light about the size of lemons in the empty fields around them. The balls blink on and off in succession, climbing up one telephone pole. Moving down, and crossing the road to perform the same motion on another pole. They approach the truck, forcing her to back up the truck. Finally, the phenomenon ceases and she drives home. When they get there, her German shepherd dog starts whining and barking. Her husband steps outside to see what’s going on.

Suddenly, their two daughters start screaming as small red balls of light move across their mother’s back and behind her hair. She does not feel anything, but the dog runs to the barn and stays there all night. (“Allan Hendry Reports: A Spooky Experience in Indiana,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 6 (October 1980): 3)

May 14 — 3:30 a.m. Howard and Julia Pickrel are driving on US Highway 49 through Simpson County, Mississippi, when they see a glowing disc high in the sky. A beam of light from the disc makes a spot of light on the ground as

wide as their car. As they drive through the light beam, their lights go on and off 7–8 times. After they are out of the beam’s path, the lights do not flicker again. (Richard H. Hall, Uninvited Guests, Aurora, 1988, pp. 307–308)

May 14 — 9:15 p.m. John Ray spots three dark discs while he is driving in the rain through a rural area near Mars Hill, Maine. Each is larger than the full moon and has numerous white lights on the bottom. They pass silently above his car and hover ahead of him in close formation about 500 feet up. Suddenly they take off and disappear. (“Close Encounter in the Rain,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 7 (November 1980): 2)

May 16 — 3:00 p.m. A civilian pilot is flying a Pirat glider near a cement mill in Działoszyn, Poland, when he notices an object maneuvering across the fumes from factory chimneys below. Seconds later it moves in front of the glider, and he takes evasive action. It is an isosceles triangle shape with a side length of 30 feet and a dull brownish- green. At one point it turns up one of its corners at an angle of 45° in an apparent attempt to correct its flight.

Then it changes orientation to the horizontal, shrinks in size, and disappears. A similar object is seen the same day near Wielún. (Poland 69)

May 22 — 11:05 p.m. The Air Transit Control Center at Gran Canaria Airport in the Canary Islands detects some unidentified traffic toward the southwest moving at 685 mph. A few minutes later, an aero-taxi pilot reports a bright object passing to his left and descending toward the ocean. A Spanish Air Force officer investigates and concludes the object is unknown, even though its position observed by the pilot matches that of Venus. A false radar echo is also possible. (Swords 436, 528–529)

May 23–25 — The first Rocky Mountain Conference on UFO Investigation, organized by psychologist R. Leo Sprinkle to bring contactees together, is held in Laramie on the University of Wyoming campus. Barely 20 people show up, but Sprinkle notes they are average, normal people, though highly susceptible to hypnotic suggestion. Most claim some psychic abilities, and many report a feeling of being monitored or experiencing continuing contact with UFO entities. They feel anxiety about the state of the human race and worry about a coming cataclysm. The conferences continue to at least 1996, attracting as many as 200 attendees. (Clark III 300–301)

May 28 — Denver KMGH-TV investigative journalist Linda Moulton Howe releases A Strange Harvest, a 2-hour documentary that suggests unusual wounds found on cattle are the work of extraterrestrial beings who harvest body parts required for their survival or research, and that the US government is complicit. The documentary wins a Regional Emmy award in 1981. She interviews Denver surgeon Arlen Meyers on excising tissue with a laser; and Lou Girodo, chief investigator for the District Attorney’s Office in Trinidad, Colorado. The show also features a hypnotic regression session by R. Leo Sprinkle on Judy Dorarty, who says she witnessed a mutilation outside Houston, Texas, in May 1973; under hypnosis, she describes seeing a calf drawn up in a pale yellow beam of light into a UFO. (Internet Movie Database, “A Strange Harvest”; Clark III 363; “Alta Loma 1973,” Texas UFO Museum and Research Library, February 1, 2003)

May 30 — The CIA moves for summary judgment in Peter Gersten’s lawsuit for UFO documents. The court grants it, despite the 57 remaining UFO documents the CIA admits it is withholding. CAUS appeals on June 24. (“CAUS Update,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 15–16)

Early summer — Two women see a green, miniature airplane outside a house in Matsbo, near Hedemora, in central Sweden. (Clas Svahn, “Green Miniature Airplane Hovers in Front of a House,” IUR 29, no. 3 (Fall 2004): 6–7)

June — NICAP is disbanded after the last issue of the UFO Investigator is published, and its files are eventually turned over to the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois. (UFO Investigator 11, no. 6 (June 1980); Clark III 794)

June — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy is reorganized after the departure of W. Todd Zechel, with Peter Gersten as director and Lawrence Fawcett as assistant editor. (Clark III 240)

June — Kenneth Rommel releases Operation Animal Mutilation, a long report that devastatingly debunks popular theories. The animals have died of natural causes, he contends, and the mysterious aspects can be explained prosaically. He cites ornithologist Kenneth Sager: “The larger the animal, the more difficult it is for the scavenger to gain access to the food supply below the tough surface. [Thus they attack the] softer points of entry, namely the eyes, anal openings, and the soft underbelly areas, especially the udders of female bovines.” L. D. Kuttner of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine says that many scavengers can make as clean a cut as “might be done by a surgeon with a knife.” (Wikipedia, “Cattle mutilation”; Kenneth M. Rommel Jr., Operation Animal Mutilation, Report of the District Attorney, First Judicial District, State of New Mexico, prepared for the US Criminal Justice Department, 1980; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Animal Mutilation documents, 1974– 1980, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5; Clark III 133)

June — Leonard H. Stringfield publishes The UFO Crash/Retrieval Syndrome: Status Report II, New Sources, New Data, presenting the accounts and rumors he has heard of crashed UFOs retrieved by the military. He has contacted four different military sources claiming to have seen a movie film depicting a crashed saucer and small alien bodies.

(Leonard Stringfield, “The Chase for Proof in a Squirrel’s Cage,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, p. 147)

June 2 — Stringfield receives eight more prints showing an alien cadaver encased under glass. One photo shows a hand with four fingers and clawlike nails. His source claims they were obtained from a secret study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. (MUFON UFO Journal, December 1980; Leonard Stringfield, “The Chase for Proof in a Squirrel’s Cage,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 147–148)

June 3 — R. Leo Sprinkle arrives at Paul Bennewitz’s house in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for another hypnotic session with Myrna Hansen. Bennewitz, now very paranoid, meets him at the door with a gun, saying he needs to protect himself from aliens. A strained and brief hypnosis session follows, after which Sprinkle returns to Wyoming. (Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 24–25)

June 11 — An unknown cigar-shaped object passes close to a commercial aircraft near Venice, Italy. (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 162)

June 14 — Evening. Many residents of Moscow, Russia, see a huge, reddish-orange, horseshoe-shaped object accompanied by swirling luminous gases. Some 250 miles to the west, Lt. Col. Oleg Karyakin hears a low- frequency booming noise and sees a bright object less than 500 feet away. He runs toward it, feels some resistance, but continues until he is about 150 feet away. It gives off a high-pitched sound and briefly emits three white rays, then ascends rapidly, hovers for 2 seconds, then moves to the northwest and vanishes. Shortly afterward, he sees a large, reddish UFO above some treetops. Another bright object is accompanying the first, flying horizontally and leaving a fiery trail. Some 30 others witness this event. Soviet investigators conclude that the objects were the launches of two communications satellites, a Gorizont and Kosmos 1188. (Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, p. 59; Good Above, pp. 238–241)

June 14 — 7:00–8:00 p.m. A flurry of UFO sightings by numerous witnesses takes place in Córdoba, Jorge Newbery and Ezeiza airports in Buenos Aires, and Rosario, Argentina, including airport personnel and meteorologists, with extensive newspaper coverage. Objects appear singly and in “fleets” and are described variously as “luminous oval-spherical,” “spinning top,” spindle-shaped, and a sphere that emits “an intense luminous ray that illuminated the surface of the river.” At Pajas Blancas Airport in Córdoba, a UFO causes operations to be stopped for several minutes after it follows the landing pattern of aircraft into the airport. Sightings occur around the same time in Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. CUFOS suspects many of the observations might be due to a high-altitude barium cloud produced by a rocket launch. (“The UFO ‘Flap’ in South America,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 6 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 15–16)

June 15 — 2:00 a.m. A 70-year-old woman in Oak Park, Illinois, sees an object like a white half-moon with a serrated edge. At first she thinks it is the moon, but it begins moving to the east and disappears in 5 minutes. (“Allan Hendry Reports: A Lunar Impostor,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 4 (August 1980): 2)

June 15 — 2:30 a.m. Security Policeman Charles P. Wagner and two others at RAF Bentwaters [now closed], near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, watch a 2-foot diameter spherical object maneuver above several A-10 aircraft parked at the base. Moments later, the orb suddenly splits into three smaller spheres, all of which vanish in a flash of light. (Robert L. Hastings, “New Bentwaters UFO Witness Goes on the Record,” UFOs & Nukes, November 22, 2015)

June 15 — 11:30 p.m. Students Kevin Smith and Jill Harper are walking along Hidden Beach in Rio Del Mar, California, when a 4-foot-long, 10-inch-wide cigar-shaped object passes about 30 feet above them moving southwest over the water and landing in the ocean without a splash. As it bobs about, a light comes on in the interior. Smith yells at it and the light goes out. (“Romance under a UFO,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 14)

June 17 — 11:00 p.m. Two women driving with four young children north on Interstate 75 near Grayling Army Airfield in Grayling, Michigan, when they see two lights moving from right to left in front of their car. Two minutes later, three more lights (two blinking, one steady) appear to the right and pace the car at 85 mph, moving closer until they are about 100 feet directly above them. They are completely silent and possibly attached to an oblong-shaped object. (“Michigan Close Encounter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 3 (July 1980): 2)

June 20 — 9:00 p.m. While descending through 15,000 feet for a landing, a senior Kuwait Airways pilot and crew observe a huge, brightly illuminated hemispherical object with a flat base moving steadily eastward over Kuwait City at a slightly lower speed than his aircraft. “When I turned north at Wafra, the phenomenon was still clearly visible and remained so until we descended below the haze layer and started to approach the runway.” The crew of another airline flight 90 miles away reports sighting the same phenomenon. Radar does not detect the object. (American Embassy, Kuwait, “Investigation of Unusual ‘Light Phenomenon’ Seen in Kuwait’s Skies,” telex, July 1980, in “U.S. State Department ‘UFO’ Documents, Reviewed and Released 7 Feb 2000”)

June 21 — 1:30 a.m. Janet McLeod notices two large, orange, domed discs circling low about four blocks west of her home in Assumption, Illinois. They stop and hover at treetop level. The top one gradually fades out from top to bottom. The lower one turns on its side and shines a beam toward the ground for 5 minutes. Then it goes back to the horizontal and fades out in the same way. When she steps outside 5 minutes later, she notices it is dead quiet, the natural sounds resuming after 2 minutes. (“Twin Domed Discs in Illinois,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1980): 14)

June 28 — Two civilian pilots, José L. Maldonaldo Torres and José A. Pagán Santos, are flying an ERCO Ercoupe 415-D at 1,500 feet over the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. They send out a mayday message saying they are looking at a “weird object” that makes them change course three times. Their plane disappears and no wreckage is found. (Good Need, pp. 312, 320)

July — AFOSI special agent Sgt. Richard Doty writes an anonymous letter to APRO claiming that a Civil Air Patrol cadet named Craig R. Weitzel had seen and photographed a UFO landing near Pecos, New Mexico. Weitzel takes photos and is debriefed at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. An alien, a man in a dark suit from Sandia Laboratories, and crashed UFOs stored at the Manzano Nuclear Weapons Storage Facility are also mentioned. But the letter is disinformational bait to see whether the Lorenzens might prove to be “useful idiots.” Weitzel admits to investigator William Moore and, later, Benton Jamison in 1985 that he had seen a UFO in 1980, but it was a classic daylight disc and took place in the southeast, not New Mexico. Much later on, Doty admits to Moore that he had composed the letter as disinformation. (Clark III 361–362; Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 54–57, 64–66; Good Above, pp. 406–408; [Richard Doty], Craig Wetzel letter, July 1980)

July 12 — 11:00 p.m. A professor and his wife are getting ready for bed in Urbandale, Iowa, when they notice three round light spots in a triangular formation high in the southern sky. The lower two are like bright stars, while the upper ones seem larger. The smaller lights are zig-zagging and coming together under the larger light for 20 minutes until all three abruptly disappear. (“Meandering Lights in Iowa,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 6 (October 1980): 5)

July 21 — Farmer John Scull discovers a circular swathe of flattened oats in his field near the Westbury White Horse in Wiltshire, England. He discovers a second circle on July 31 and informs the media on August 13. (UFOFiles2, p. 117; Terry Wilson, “Case Study 1: Westbury 1980,” Men Who Conned the World, December 24, 2018)

August — Another set of photos allegedly showing part of an alien cadaver is released by Charles Wilhelm and Dennis Pilichis, who receive them through UFO researcher Willard McIntyre, apparently from an anonymous US Navy source. William Spaulding of Ground Saucer Watch analyzes them and suggests they show a monkey used in early rocket tests. (Leonard H. Stringfield, “Status Report on Alleged Alien Cadaver Photos,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 154 (December 1980): 11–16; Leonard H. Stringfield, “The Puzzling Case of the Cadaver Photos,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 163 (September 1981): 15–19; Juan-Vicente Ballester-Olmos, “The Tomato Man in Retrospective,” UFO FOTOCAT Blog, March 13, 2022)

Early August — Thousands of witnesses see UFOs for several days in a row over Tianjin, China, and the Bohai Sea. One large object keeps appearing and vanishing like a will-o’-the-wisp. Occasionally objects are tracked on radar. (Paul Dong, “Extracts from Paul Dong’s Feidie Bai Wen Bai Da (Questions and Answers on UFOs),” Flying Saucer Review 29, no. 6 (August 1984): 18)

August — 10:00 p.m. Two students at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, see a brilliant oval object in the sky near the Summer Palace. It has several lights that flash on and off 2–3 times per second. The object itself is shaped like “two straw hats placed brim to brim” with a brilliant center line. It stops hovering and ascends vertically, disappearing in 3–4 seconds. (“The Chinese Connection…and Some Wholesome Chinese Philosophy,” IUR 7, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1982): 13)

August 8–9 — Before 12:00 midnight. Three security policemen on the eastern side of the Manzano Weapons Storage Area adjacent to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, see a bright light descend in a restricted area about 3 miles to the north-northeast. It travels quickly and stops suddenly over Coyote Canyon. At 12:20 a.m., a Sandia guard observes a disc-shaped object with a bright light hovering behind a building. He approaches it with a shotgun and attempts to use his radio, but it has stopped working. The object shoots straight up. These and other incidents result in a report being filed with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Kirtland. The incident is subsequently investigated by agent Richard Doty, who files a preliminary report on the incident. The document is leaked to William Moore in January 1982 and obtained in a subsequent FOIA request by Barry Greenwood.

Moore and Bruce Maccabee both interview Doty, who says there are most likely other documents including a longer report that he had written up. However, after Noah Lawrence at AFOSI Headquarters tells Maccabee there are no other documents on file, Doty begins to backtrack. Maccabee also meets Russ Curtis inside the Manzano

area who says that the incident never took place (which contradicts Curtis’s statement to Moore in 1982). (Clark III 362; Good Above, pp. 405–406, 522–523; Good Need, pp. 322, 329; Bruce Maccabee, “UFO Landing near Kirtland AFB: Welcome to the Cosmic Watergate,” 2000; Robert L. Hastings, “UFOs Filmed Hovering over U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Storage Area,” UFOs & Nukes, May 13, 2012)

August 15 — UFO skeptic Philip Klass sends a letter to A. G. McNamara of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics in Ottawa, Canada, which serves as a repository for Canadian UFO reports for the Canadian National Research Council. Klass characterizes New Brunswick ufologist Stanton Friedman as a snake oil salesman and UFO guru whose lectures are filled with falsehoods, disparaging his credentials, his ego, and his modus operandi. He warns McNamara that the astronomers at the institute will soon be the targets of Friedman’s coverup accusations. (Dolan II 221–222)

August 17 — 1:15 a.m. Security guard Phil Battle is driving his truck in the parking lot of the Teledyne-Ohio Steel plant in Lima, Ohio, and sees an unusual bright light in the sky. He steps out and watches a round, silvery form about 270 feet away. It has little holes on the surface, a flashing yellow light, and white floodlights all around it. It hovers for about 5 minutes, moving back and forth. Battle’s CB radio does not work when he tries to alert others. Suddenly a yellow light shoots out at Battle, knocking him back against his truck, scarring his knee and hurting his back and kidneys. The beam also reddens his left eye. The UFO then takes off. He and other guard look for the object and see a light about 1,200 feet to the north, slightly larger than the moon, which drifts westward after 15– 20 seconds. (“Knocked Back by a Light Beam,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 6 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 14; “Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 1 (January 1981): 2–3)

August 20 — 10:30 p.m. A college student is driving on a rural road about 5 minutes east of Mossy Head, Florida, when he becomes aware of an array of lights hovering above a hill ahead of him. They move low over the area from right to left, 300–600 feet ahead of him. It disappears, but another cluster of lights rushes by him on his left side with a quiet whoosh sound. Inadvertently he begins driving more slowly, slumped over the steering wheel. He continues driving to Jacksonville, where he notices his bare feet are red and inflamed. The redness fades away by the evening of the following night, leaving only some apparent bites marks that are sore to the touch. (“A CE I— or II—or III in Florida,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 7 (November 1980): 5)

August 24 — 4:08 a.m. Three tourists camping out in the Changping District near the Juyong portion of the Great Wall of China take a photo of an unusual object. The photo reportedly looks like three stars in an inverted T shape with a surrounding halo of light. (“First UFO Spotted in China,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 3 (March 1981): 4; “Chinese UFO Study,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (March/April 1981): 14)

September — Charles Berlitz and Bill Moore publish The Roswell Incident, the first major review of the 1947 Roswell crash, based largely on Stanton Friedman’s research. (Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore, The Roswell Incident, Berkley, 1980; Clark III 320)

September 1 — NSA attorneys move for a summary judgment in the CAUS-initiated lawsuit, asserting that the 135 documents are being justifiably withheld. (“CAUS Update,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 16)

September 3 — 3:00 p.m. Margaret Lambert and her family are parked at a scenic overlook along Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia when they notice a bright reflection. She is taking a photo of her son and the reflection seems to be pulsating as she focuses her camera. It appears as a small round light behind her son’s head in the photo. (“‘Glowing Object’ Photographed on Virginia Hillside,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 5 (May 1981): 6)

September 4 — 1:15 p.m. Flight instructor Lloyd List is flying northbound at 138 mph in a Cessna 172 at 6,500 feet about 5 miles south of the airport in Red Bluff, California. His passenger, a school official, calls his attention to a shiny object ahead of them. For the first 5–6 seconds, the object grows larger in angular size. Then it stops getting larger, as if it has adopted the Cessna’s speed and direction. They close in on the object and watch it shoot right by the airplane’s left wingtip only 30 feet away. It looks like a metallic football no larger than 3 feet in size. It is silent and the surface has a mirror finish. It exhibits no wobble as it passes through the plane’s turbulence. List descends to 6,000 feet and turns to the south to look for it but cannot find the object. (“Plane’s Near Collision with Mini-UFO,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 11–12)

September 6 — UFO proponents and debunkers square off at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for a day- long debate on the merits of UFO sightings. The proponents include Bruce Maccabee, J. Allen Hynek, and Allan Hendry; the debunkers are Philip J. Klass, James E. Oberg, and Robert Sheaffer. The debate is moderated by Frederick C. Durant. The most heated exchanges occur between Klass and Hendry over the Val Johnson close encounter case of 1979. (Stuart Rohrer, “Tempest in a Saucer,” Washington Post, September 8, 1980, p. B-1; J.

Allen Hynek, “Encounter at the Smithsonian,” CUFOS Bulletin, Fall 1980, pp. 6–10; Jerome Clark, “Phil Klass vs. the ‘UFO Promoters,’” Fate 34, no. 2 (February 1981): 56–67; Clark III 1081–1082)

September 6 — 9:15 p.m. Ufologist Jenny Randles and a friend are riding a motorcycle north on the M4 after attending the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire, England, when they see three lights that appear one after another then line up in a triangular formation hovering above a distant hilltop. As they drive past, one light blinks out, leaving two side by side. (Jenny Randles, “Mass Market Media Saucery,” Fortean Times 361 (Christmas 2017): 29)

September 8 — After doing a radio show in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bill Moore is contacted by phone from someone at Kirtland Air Force Base. He meets the man he calls “Falcon” (described as elderly and gaunt) later at a restaurant, beginning a long-running relationship between Moore and 10 members of a shadowy group connected with military intelligence and supposedly opposed to the coverup of UFOs. The story soon emerges that the Roswell incident involved alien bodies and that in 1949 another alien, this one still alive, was found and housed at Los Alamos until its death in the early 1950s. It is called an Extraterrestrial Biological Entity (EBE) and is the first of three that the government would have in its custody. Moore decides to cooperate with these AFOSI sources and provide them with information. They tell him there is considerable interest in Paul Bennewitz and that he is to spy on Bennewitz and APRO as well, inundating them with disinformation that Doty and others will supply. (Clark III 360; Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 59–63)

September 8 — Doty writes and signs a fake two-page AFOSI complaint form, titled “Kirtland AFB, NM, 8 Aug–3 Sept 1980, Alleged Sightings of Unidentified Aerial Lights in Restricted Test Range,” which describes several UFO sightings at Manzano and at the Coyote Canyon section of the Department of Defense Restricted Test Range, as well as an alleged report of a UFO landing on August 10 by a New Mexico state patrolman. (Clark III 362)

September 9 — 8:00 p.m. Barbara Kaisler is driving home with her daughter in Portsmouth, Virginia, when they see a dark disc some 5–6 stories higher than the rooftops in the north. When they stop at an intersection, they can see the disc tumbling end over end, now climbing at a 30° angle. It disappears in clouds to the northeast. (“Dark Disk in Virginia,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (March/April 1981): 14)

September 11 — 4:20 a.m. Jerry McAlister is awakened in his bedroom in Anderson, South Carolina, by a loud screech.

He goes to the window and sees a round object about 70 feet wide hovering above his backyard trees 110 feet away. Hundreds of steady bright white lights surround its perimeter, rotating in a clockwise direction. A row of square white windows is also visible. McAlister wakes up his wife Faye, who also watches the object, which, after tilting on its side, is now receding to the east-northeast at a good rate of speed. The UFO settles into place as a distant white light source that persists until dawn at 7:05 a.m. McAlister claims his ears ring for another 3 days from the initial noise. (“South Carolina’s Giant UFOs,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 6 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 11– 13)

September 11 — 8:05 a.m. Larry Garrett is working on his car in Easley, South Carolina, when he hears a sound like a swarm of bees. Looking north, he sees a large metallic UFO with black, square windows. He guesses it is 80–100 feet in size. It hovers above a hill then drifts off to the north behind some trees. (“South Carolina’s Giant UFOs,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 2, no. 6 (Sept./Oct. 1980): 13–14)

September 11 — 9:25 p.m. Milton Shippee and his family are driving south on State Highway 32 near I-84 in West Willington, Connecticut, when they see a “pancake”-shaped object in the southeast. It is tilted on one side as it moves about 50 mph. (“‘Domed Pancake’ over Connecticut,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 12)

September 12 — A bright, round object radiating red and white colors from all sides is reported south of Bojnord, North Khorasan, Iran. It moves very quickly for one hour above the city. (“Review of Iranian UFO Reports,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 15)

September 13 — Night. Some people camping near Hamilton, Texas, wake up when their tent is lit up with a yellow glow. Outside is a loud humming sound and above them at no more than 125 feet is a triangular object. The underside is grayish or greenish, and two lights appear at each tip in a combination of yellow-white, red-green, and blue-white. The object is moving north very slowly but stops for about 10 seconds and begins to pulsate, almost sounding as if it will stall. It starts up again, heads north, and is soon gone. Thirty minutes later, the group hears a loud explosion, and some people see sparks above the top of a hill. (MUFON UFO Journal, January 1981)

September 21 — 7:00 p.m. A witness is driving west on a county road near Lima, Ohio. She looks up and sees a square opening in the clouds that looks like a picture frame. A vivid orange or red object that looks like the bottom of an Army tank with runners on two sides appears in the opening, remaining stationary for a few seconds before disappearing back into the opening, which then fills up with clouds. (“Army Tank in the Clouds in Ohio,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 7 (November 1980): 2)

September 22 — 3:43 a.m. Pan Am Flight 440, flying at 39,000 feet and piloted by Capt. Dave Garber, nearly collides with an unidentified blue-green cigar-shaped object over the Caribbean Sea south of Haiti. The UFO has a

horizontal row of 5–6 steady lights, which the flight crew presumes are windows. The distance between the Pan Am flight and the UFO at its closest approach is less than a mile. The estimated length of the UFO is 50 feet. It changes course when the plane flashes its landing lights. The event is witnessed independently by the crew of two other airliners in the area. (“‘Chiles-Whitted’ Revisited: UFO Sighting Confirmed by Three Flight Crews,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 12–14)

September 26 — 4:30 a.m. Susan Southerland, Debbie Riley, and Kim Conolty are driving in Washington, Indiana, when they see a streetlight-shaped light source slightly above the treetops. It begins moving toward them. Even after their car turns, the light stays on their left side. They drive to the police station and ask officers Tim Roark and Don Grannon to look at it through binoculars, and they are convinced it is something unusual. (“UFO Mini-Flap in Southern Indiana,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (Mar./Apr. 1981): 11)

September 26 — 2:26 p.m. A woman watches a Saturn-shaped object approach her home in Blythe, California, from the east and pass overhead for 2–3 minutes and shoot straight up out of sight. (“Daylight ‘Saturn’ over California,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 14)

September 30 — 1:00 a.m. George Blackwell, a farmer near Rosedale, Victoria, Australia, is awakened by a noise and his disturbed livestock. Getting up, he goes outside and sees a 24-by-15-foot sphere passing by, some 6–9 feet off the ground and 450 feet distant. It stops above a water tank, then settles to the ground. Blackwell rides a motorcycle to the spot and stops 45 feet from the landed object. It is making a loud whistling sound. After 3 minutes, the UFO emits a louder noise, gives off a blast of air, and moves off to the east. A 30-foot doughnut-shaped ring is found where the object rested, and Blackwell experiences health problems the next week. The 10,000-gallon water tank is mysteriously drained of water. (NICAP, “Rosedale, Victoria, Australia: September 30, 1980”; Keith Basterfield and Bill Chalker, “Rosedale, Victoria: A Close Encounter,” UFO Research Australia Newsletter 2, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 17–22; Bill Chalker and Keith Basterfield, “The Rosedale Landing with Physical Traces,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 6 (March 1981): 4–5; “Physical Trace in Australia,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (March/April 1981): 14–15; “From Foreign Lands,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1981): 17; Bill Chalker and Keith Basterfield, “Landing with Physical Traces near Rosedale, Victoria, Australia,” APRO Bulletin 29, no. 12 (December 1981): 3–5; Keith Basterfield, Vladimir Godic, and Pony Godic, “Australian Ufology: A Review,” JUFOS 2 (1990): 31)

September 30 — UFO researcher William Moore meets for the first time with AFOSI officer Richard Doty (whom Moore refers to as “Sparrow”). Doty is the middleman for an Air Force colonel (later called “Falcon” by Moore) who Moore first contacted on September 5. (The identity of the colonel has not been established, but it may possibly be Doty’s superior officer, Col. John Barry Hennessey.) Doty claims that Stanton T. Friedman and Brad Sparks know him personally and will vouch for him (untrue). (Brad Sparks and Barry Greenwood, “The Secret Pratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12,” in MUFON 2007 International UFO Symposium Proceedings, MUFON, 2007,

pp. 92–159)

October — Leonard Stringfield, who now has about 20 first-hand informants to various crash/retrievals, begins to encounter resistance and silence from some of them, who are apparently under increased suspicion and surveillance. (MUFON UFO Journal, December 1980)

October — James W. Allen, 14, is photographing Ben Vrackie mountain in Perthshire, Scotland. As he is walking home he hears a weird humming noise, sees a disc-shaped object, and takes a photo of it. Analysis of the photo points to a hoax photo of a helium-filled balloon. (“Young Scottish Photographer Sends Photograph,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 10 (October 1981): 1, 6; Steuart Campbell, “Investigation Report on 1980 Photograph at

Pitlochry, Scotland,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 6, no. 1 (Feb./March 1985): 1–2)

October or November — Ground-based radar at RAF Neatishead, near Norwich, England, tracks an aerial object executing aerial maneuvers that “defied all convention.” A very bright light is seen by the pilot of an RAF F-4 Phantom II aircraft. It vanishes as quickly as it has appeared. (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 136)

October 1? — A group of people go to Lucky Point, east of Monroe City, Indiana, to look for UFOs. High in the eastern sky they notice a dark triangle, as large as the full moon and possibly surrounded by a light glow. As it moves overhead, they hear a voice announce, “the time is now.” It changes direction slightly and accelerates to the northwest. The group reports a tingling sensation and a humming noise on their FM scanner radios. (“UFO Mini- Flap in Southern Indiana,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (Mar./Apr. 1981): 12)

October 5 — 3:00 a.m. Five off-duty metalworkers at the Dagang Oilfield, Tianjin, China, see a cone-shaped, red, glowing object that lights the area below. Workers feel a scorching heat as it flies by and disappears over Bohai Bay. (Paul Dong and Wendelle Stevens, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, p. 190)

October 6 — 5:50 p.m. A retired man is resting on his sundeck in Ipswich, Massachusetts, when he sees a silver object tumbling end-over-end. He grabs binoculars and watches as it passes overhead and continues, appearing to descend as it disappears behind trees toward the Sagamore Hill Solar Radar Observatory [now relocated to Millstone Hill, Westford] in South Hamilton. (“Tumbling Daylight UFO,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 11)

October 7 — 11:30 p.m. Witnesses near Yelm, Tenino, and Offutt Lake, Washington, report a large object shaped like a triangle or diamond with red and green lights. (“Thurston County Logs Some Mysterious Night Sights,” Olympia (Wash.) Daily Olympian, October 9, 1980, p. 1)

October 15 — 11:30 p.m. A Knox County, Indiana, deputy sheriff stops by the side of a road to stretch his legs. Out of the east comes a black triangular form, as big as a house and 10 times the angular size of the full moon. He estimates it is 250 feet away and 200 feet up at its closest. Five figures are visible from the waist up through a long window on one side of the triangle. Large slanted unblinking eyes, white skin, and a straight-line mouth are visible on their elongated heads. He thinks they look afraid, so he tries to telepathically assure them not to be afraid. They respond by asking him, “Why do you hate the Iranians?” The object draws closer the speeds away to the northeast. During the sighting, his police radio displays intermittent interference and his patrol car’s engine and headlights pulsate. The deputy feels light-headed and sluggish, and his eyes water. (“UFO Mini-Flap in Southern Indiana,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (Mar./Apr. 1981): 11–12)

October 15–20 — According to analyst Gary Sick, meetings are allegedly held in Paris, France, between emissaries of the Reagan/Bush campaign, with future CIA Director William J. Casey as a key participant, and “high-level Iranian and Israeli representatives” to make a secret deal with Iran to delay the release of the American hostages until after the election. In return for this, the United States purportedly arranges for Israel to ship weapons to Iran. Sick is never able to prove his claims, but the evidence suggests that the Reagan administration ships arms to Iran, both through Israel and directly, from 1981 to 1987 as payment for Iranian cooperation. (Wikipedia, “October Surprise conspiracy theory”; Gary Sick, October Surprise: America’s Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan, Times Books, 1991)

October 16 — Evening. Operators at Tianjin Binhai International Airport, China, are observing the movements of Flight 402 on radar when an unexplained echo shows up. When the airliner is about 6,500 feet from the runway, the plane’s blip disappears for 7 seconds. The mystery target gives a strong, distinct return, and it seems to cause strong radio interference as the airliner touches down. Other anomalous targets show up later that night, but none are seen visually. (Good Above, pp. 215–216; Paul Dong, “Extracts from Paul Dong’s Feidie Bai Wen Bai Da (Questions and Answers on UFOs),” Flying Saucer Review 29, no. 6 (August 1984): 18)

October 19 — 7:50 p.m. Donald Shive, his wife Star, and two children are driving west near Albion, Michigan, when they see an object with two white lights on the sides and a red and blue light on the front and back. It is moving at about 25 mph at an altitude of 200–500 feet when it moves over the car at an intersection. The car stalls and the lights go out briefly. (“UFO Stalls Van in Michigan?” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 14)

October 21 — 8:35 a.m. Betty Long and a friend see a formation of three egg-shaped objects in the northern sky over San Diego, California. The bright sun makes them seem uniformly white and featureless. After moving to the right for three minutes, they turn 90° to the left and move away from the witnesses. The formation retains its triangular shape throughout the sighting. (“Daylight ‘Eggs’ over California,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 8 (December 1980): 5)

October 23 — 8:55 p.m. Randall Rogers and Larry Mortensen, employed at the Phelps-Dodge Corporation’s copper smelting site at Morenci, Arizona, go outside to pick up three other employees for an evening meal break. They notice a boomerang-shaped object approaching the north smokestack at 1,500–2,000 feet altitude and a very slow speed. It stops and hovers briefly, then comes down to 700–1,000 feet, just above the stack. A brilliant light erupts from the forward angle and shines directly down into the interior of the stack. 10 seconds later it goes out and the object moves south to hover above the south stack and shine the bright light inside. It then moves off at 5–10 mph to the south, then suddenly takes off at great speed to the southwest. A very short time later, it returns and hovers above the slag dump. The object is seen as dull black and perhaps 1,320 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Eight reddish lights are on each wing about 75 feet apart and connected by a white tube of light. Greenlee County Sheriff Ralph Gomez also observes the object, as do about 100 members of the Morenci High School band. (“UFO over Copper Smelter,” APRO Bulletin 29, no. 7 (1981): 1–3)

October 26 — Paul Bennewitz over a number of months has become convinced that he has uncovered evidence of aliens controlling humans through electromagnetic devices, and furthermore claims that UFOs are regularly flying near Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and the nearby Manzano Nuclear Weapons Storage Facility and

Coyote Canyon Test Area. He is also convinced there is an alien base beneath Archuleta Peak northwest of Dulce, New Mexico. After failing to convince APRO (who considers him deluded), Bennewitz contacts AFOSI special

agent Sgt. Richard Doty at Kirtland Air Force Base, who meets with him at his home today along with Jerry Miller, Kirtland’s scientific advisor for the Air Force Test and Evaluation Center. (Clark III 359; Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 34–35, 135–137; Robert L. Hastings, “UFOs Filmed Hovering over U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Storage Area,” UFOs & Nukes, May 13, 2012; Alejandro T. Rojas, [Bennewitz/Kirtland AFB documents]; Alejandro T. Rojas, “Ex–Air Force Law Enforcement Agent Claims He Hoaxed Major UFO Mythologies,” June 29, 2019; Dolan II 225–229)

October 26 — 7:00 p.m. An oddly shaped UFO is observed by a husband and wife on their farm 2 miles southeast of Bloomfield, Indiana. The object looks like two full moons spaced about 12 feet apart with a flashing red light in back like a lopsided triangle. Each white light is about 3 feet in diameter, and the white is intense but nothing around lights up. The object is at treetop level and passes to the right of a security light. There is no reflection of metal anywhere. The woman gets the impression that the lights are connected to something huge, saying: “The object passed about 20 feet above the barn making no sound and lights making no light. When it was over the barn roof, the sows with baby pigs in the barn jumped up and began wild grunting and knocking about in their pens. They settled down immediately after the object cleared the roof. The object is now coming very slowly towards the front of our house and yard. My husband had gone back into the house to watch from the front windows, my children are crying, and I am on the back porch having the time of my life.” The UFO disappears behind the roof line of the house. (“Tractor-Chasing Saucer,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1981): 14–15; “October UFO in Indiana Reported,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 8 (August 1981): 6; “Greene

County, Indiana, 1980 CE II,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 6, no. 2 (April/May 1985): 1, 6, 8; John P.

Timmerman, “Greene County Close Encounter,” IUR 28, no. 1 (Spring 2003): 10–12)

October 31 — Day. The airport control tower at Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, detects a UFO on its radar. An F-5 squadron has just landed, with the exception of one plane, whose pilot requests authorization to pursue. He sees a bright gold object right in front of him and accelerates to approach, but the object immediately speeds up. The control tower loses the object on its radar. The pilot continues to pursue for 2 minutes before the UFO speeds off over the ocean. (Clark III 206–207; Brazil 555–556)

November 2 — 12:42 p.m. A couple driving westbound on US Highway 50 some 20 miles east of Montrose, Colorado, notice a silver, oblong object in the distance. As the highway starts to curve, it is seen against a background of mesa. They stop the car for a better look for another 10 seconds. It banks like an aircraft to the right and its shape changes to an oval. It disappears by shooting up over the top of the mesa toward the northeast. (“Daylight Disc in Colorado,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (March/April 1981): 14)

November 2 — 3:00 p.m. Mike Clampett and his wife are stepping out of a Toyota showroom on Solano Avenue in Vallejo, California. They see a group of people looking at the sky where a Piper Cub seems to be on a collision course with a cigar-shaped object. The plane is moving north to south while the UFO flies silently from high in the east to the west. The object is rotating or spiraling about once every second. It takes nearly 10 minutes for the object to reach nearly overhead, dropping in altitude all the while. It remains stationary in the zenith about 5 minutes then moves to the south at a higher altitude. (“A Spiralling Daylight Cigar,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 11–12)

November 5 — 8:45 p.m. A private pilot named Dennis is flying a Piper PA-32R-301T Turbo Saratoga SP at 8,000 feet near Lake Berryessa, California. He spots an orange, bullet-shaped light that is keeping even with him at 212 mph. The light brightens and begins to pulse with an increasing frequency, then shoots forward and makes a perfect right-angle turn upward. Five minutes later, it reappears behind him and performs a similar maneuver. The sighting is corroborated by a commercial airliner. (“A Twin ‘Déjà vu’ Sighting?” IUR 7, no. 1 (January 1982): 5)

November 6 — Peter Gersten files a reply to the NSA’s September request for summary judgment. (“CAUS Update,”

IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 1 (Nov./Dec. 1980): 16)

November 6 — 7:55 a.m. Nancy Parker is a passenger on a Western Airlines flight passing over Monterey Bay, California. She takes three photos of the scenery below, but when she develops the film, a bright, disc-shaped object appears on the second photo. Probable reflection or lens flare. (“Reflection or Object? Photo from Airliner Being Studied,” CUFOS Associates Newsletter 2, no. 3 (March 1981): 1)

November 10 — Paul Bennewitz visits with a small group of officials—including Brig. Gen. William Brooksher, base AFOSI head Maj. Thomas Cseh, and scientists from the USAF Phillips Weapons Lab—at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico to present his film, photos, and electromagnetic findings. (Clark III 359; Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 41–44; Alejandro T. Rojas, [Bennewitz/Kirtland AFB documents])

November 10 — 9:00 p.m. A man observes a stationary white light some 30° up in the western sky near the intersection of State Highway 30 and Interstate 270 in Sunset Hills, Missouri. A second object, orange in color, silently circles

it for several minutes before taking off to the west. (“Orbiting Lights near St. Louis,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 1, no. 8 (December 1980): 5)

November 11 — 6:40 p.m. Seven commercial aircraft—four Iberia Boeing 727s, a British airliner, an air-taxi, and a Transeuropa aircraft—encounter an unusual green object over Barcelona, Maella, Palma de Mallorca, and other points in northeastern Spain. Spanish journalist Juan J. Benítez investigates and determines that either 7 identical UFOs are involved or a single object is responsible, one capable of traveling hundreds of miles within minutes. Comandante Ramos, one of the Iberia pilots, says that the object is “like an enormous soap bubble” that is coming straight for his aircraft. He puts it into an evasive dive. When it passes close to the plane, they see a second smaller ball. (Juan J. Benítez, “Anniversary Aerial Encounters,” Flying Saucer Review 26, no. 6 (March 1981): 12–14; Good Above, pp. 157–159)

November 17 — Sgt. Richard Doty tells Bennewitz that AFOSI has decided against any further investigation of his claims. The same day, Doty forges a communication (later called the “Aquarius document”) from AFOSI headquarters at Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C., to the Seventeenth District AFOSI office at Kirtland and gives it to Bill Moore. It mentions, briefly and cryptically, analyses of a UFO film apparently taken in October. It also mentions MJ-12 and a government UFO investigation “outside official intelligence channels” called the Aquarius Project. Bill Moore calls it a retyped version of a real AFOSI message with a few spurious additions. Doty tells Moore to pass it on to Bennewitz, which he does eventually. In 2005, Doty tells radio host Art Bell that AFOSI’s interest in Bennewitz has nothing to do with aliens; rather, it is to protect the technologies and activities at Kirtland AFB. (Good Above, p. 528; Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 43, 120–129; “Greg Bishop and Richard Doty, Coast to Coast AM with Host Art Bell, Interview Transcript,” February 27, 2005; Clark III 362)

November 18 — For the resolution of the CAUS v. NSA, the National Security Agency creates two affidavits to explain why UFO information is to be withheld from the public. The affidavits are written by the chief officer of policy for the NSA, Eugene F. Yeates. The first of the two is the “unclassified, softened-down” version released to CAUS and the public. The affidavit says that it is in the NSA’s direct interests not to have the documents published, as they can compromise national security because they contain sensitive intelligence regarding the interception of foreign communication; and no meaningful amount of information can be declassified without giving foreign intelligence information regarding US time and methods of information interception. The second affidavit is for Judge Gerhard A. Gesell only, classified “top secret,” which the judge can read with an “in camera” clearance. The judge sides with the NSA after reviewing the affidavit (released to CAUS through an FOIA request with 95% redactions, later released in 1997 with only 25% redacted, and in 2014 with a bit less missing). Gesell states that “the public interest in disclosure is far outweighed by the sensitive nature of the materials and the obvious effect on national security their release may well entail.” CAUS fashions an appeal to the US Supreme Court. (Wikipedia, “Citizens Against UFO Secrecy”; Eugene F. Yeates, In Camera Affidavit, Citizens Against Unidentified Flying Objects Secrecy v. National Security Agency, US District Court for the District of Columbia, October 9, 1980; J. Allen Hynek, “A Cosmic Watergate?” IUR 9, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1984): 10–12; ClearIntent, pp. 187–188; Good Above, pp. 417–419, 535–539; John Greenewald, “UFOs: The National Security Agency (NSA) Collection,” The Black Vault, September 10, 2016)

November 18 — 7:30–11:00 p.m. Many people living in northern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, from Edina, Missouri, to Fairview, Kansas, report a formation of unusual lights traveling slowly and noiselessly. An airport and the police department in Kirksville, Missouri, receive 25 calls or so. The basic description is a triangular formation with two bright headlights. Rick Hull, a 20-year-old photographer from Trenton, Missouri, watches the lights pass overhead four different times; the underside shows a diamond-shaped array of white lights with a steady red beacon in the middle. There are also two bright headlights and an apparent dome with seven green lights around it. He manages to photograph the array only once out of several attempts. Most people provide an estimated altitude for the lights as 300–400 feet, but a Trenton witness puts it at 1,000–1,500 feet, and Missouri Highway Patrolman Bob Lober guesses 1,500–1,800 feet in Edinburg, Missouri. The lights change direction frequently. Radar technician Franklin West, located at a remote radar station of the Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center at Sublette, Missouri, finds a radar target in the same direction and distance as visual reports that local witnesses alert him to. It passes through the Kirksville area 4–5 times in a 2–3 hour period. He estimates its speed at 45 mph. A pilot landing at the Olathe, Kansas, Air Route Traffic Control Center says he recognizes the UFO as a refueling tanker with jets following it, which matches an established refueling track in the area. The Center for UFO Studies confirms that Altus AFB in Oklahoma, flew a huge C-5A cargo aircraft behind a KC-135 tanker from Grissom AFB in Peru, Indiana, that evening. The two planes flew in tandem at 20,000 feet at an indicated air speed of 250 knots beginning at 8:00 p.m. and ending around 11:00 p.m. However, there are a few discrepancies with the reports. (“North Missourians Report Strange Lights in Night Sky,” Chillicothe (Mo.)

Constitution-Tribune, November 19, 1980, pp. 1, 12; Joe and Doris Graziano, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 29, no. 5 (June 1981): 6; “Radar-Visual Light Form Seen by Independent Witnesses,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (March/April 1981): 12–14; Marler 109–112)

November 19 — 11:45 p.m. A couple is driving home to Longmont, Colorado, from Denver when they hear a loud “whish” and a beam of blue light strikes their car. Their headlights begin to dim and the radio emits static before fading out. The back wheels of the car leave the pavement and the car rises at an angle into the air. They lose consciousness and wake up as the car is resuming its 50 mph journey down the road. More than one hour of time is missing. The next day, the woman finds a rectangular mark on her abdomen and soon has vivid dreams of a craft and an entity. She develops a nearly fatal case of pneumonia and finds out she is pregnant. The man discovers a melanoma on his legs, but it improves. Under hypnosis they recall seeing a hovering domed craft, a luminous entryway, and a humanoid with a large head, gray skin, thin fingers, and shiny golden garb. (Richard Sigismond, “CE-IIIs: New Dimensions in Investigations,” IUR 7, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1982): 9–15)

November 24 — Around 10:00 p.m. A teenager in New Lenox, Illinois, sees two green light sources from his bedroom window. They move back and forth in the southern sky and disappear briefly when a plane flies below them. (“UFOs—or IFOs over Joliet?” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 12)

November 25 — Early morning. Policemen in New Lenox, Manhattan, Joliet, and Ellwood, Illinois, watch a bright white light that fluctuates in brightness and mostly remains stationary. Probable sightings of Venus. (“UFOs—or IFOs over Joliet?” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 12)

November 25 — 6:40 a.m. A glowing orange ball is seen maneuvering around the Ninian Northern oil platform in the North Sea. It is large enough to be seen by workers at the Brent oil platform 12–15 miles away. An RAF Hawker Siddeley Nimrod aircraft is sent to the area, but no public conclusions are reached about its nature. (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 136)

November 26 — Doty receives a call from former astronaut Sen. Harrison Schmitt (R-N.Mex.) who asks him about AFOSI’s role in Bennewitz’s claims. Doty tells him they are not investigating. But Doty later admits what he tells Schmitt is not true. AFOSI has told him to make Bennewitz believe there is an impending alien invasion because Bennewitz is actually observing secret Air Force projects. According to Doty, the Air Force wants to discredit Bennewitz so no one will figure that out. However, Doty claims that in doing so, he created hoaxed documents that are given to Bennewitz and other UFO researchers, and that he broke into Bennewitz’s house and office. (Alejandro T. Rojas, “Ex–Air Force Law Enforcement Agent Says He Hoaxed Major UFO Mythologies,” Huffington Post, May 13, 2014; Clark III 359–362)

November 29 — 5:00 a.m. While checking reports of cattle wandering around a local council estate in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England, Police Constable Alan Godfrey allegedly sees a bright light ahead on Burnley Road that appears to be a hovering, rotating object. He sees twigs and leaves swirling around beneath it. He

experiences missing time of approximately 25 minutes, during which he splits a boot and acquires an itchy, red mark on his foot. Via hypnotic regression, he recalls being medically examined by alien creatures. In May, Godfrey had investigated the death of Zigmund Adamski, who had been missing for five days before his body was found on top of a coal pile. According to the coroner, Adamski died of a heart attack. Godfrey tells reporters at the time that he believes it possible that Adamski was abducted by aliens and placed on the coal pile “by someone or something.” Godfrey self-publishes Who or What Were They? in 2017, a book that includes his speculations regarding the Adamski case, abduction claims by Travis Walton, and his own UFO sighting. In 2014, a partial witness to the event surfaces, a bus driver on Burnley Road who around 4:55 a.m. experiences one of the physical effects Godfrey describes—an oddly localized whirlwind buffeting debris and leaving a swirled road surface beneath. (Wikipedia, “Alan Godfrey”; Jenny Randles, “The Alan Godfrey Abduction, November 28, 1980,” UFO Casebook; “Alan Godfrey,” Northern Ontario UFO Research and Study; Jenny Randles, The Pennine UFO Mystery, Granada, 1983, pp. 122–135, 147–168; Good Above, pp. 118–119; Jenny Randles, “Flappy Valley: Part One,” Fortean Times 325 (April 2015): 27; Jenny Randles, “Flappy Valley: Part Two,” Fortean Times 326 (May 2015): 27; Jenny Randles, “Flappy Valley, Part 3,” Fortean Times 327 (June 2015): 29; Jenny Randles, “Flappy Valley, Part 4,” Fortean Times 328 (July 2015): 28–30; Alan Godfrey, Who or What Were They? The Author, 2017)

November 29 — Mechanic Granger Taylor, 32, of Duncan, British Columbia, a man obsessed with aliens and UFOs to the point of building his own full-size model in his backyard, announces to his friends and parents that he is going to board an alien spacecraft and take a 42-month interstellar voyage. He is never seen again. In 1986, truck fragments and bones are found at a blast site on Mount Prevost. Though DNA testing is not in common use at the time, pathology work by the coroner attributes the adult human bones to Taylor. Fragments of clothing found amid the decayed material are from a shirt owned by Taylor, as confirmed by his mother. Representatives from the auto division of the RCMP confirm the truck is his. A report by the B.C. Coroners office officially declares

Taylor dead. A CBC-TV documentary about Taylor, Spaceman, is released in 2019 but fails to come up with a likely explanation. (Tyler Hooper, “The Man Who Went to Space and Disappeared,” Vice, July 1, 2016; Mike Taylor, “What Happened to Granger Taylor?” Vancouver (B.C.) Times Colonist, February 3, 2019; CBC-TV, “Spaceman,” 2019)

December — Army Lt. Col. John B. Alexander discusses in Military Review how psychotronic weapons could be developed by studying the paranormal. He discusses the remote-viewing studies of Russell Targ and Harold E. Puthoff and their potential military applications. As for psychotronic weapons, he sees much potential, saying, “with development, these weapons would be able to induce illness or death at little or no risk to the operator. Range may be a present problem, but this will probably be overcome if it has not been already.” As an example, he cites work by the Soviets, who have “examined the effects of electromagnetic radiation on humans and have applied those techniques against the US Embassy in Moscow.” (John B. Alexander, “The New Mental Battlefield: ‘Beam Me Up, Spock!’” Military Review 60, no. 12 (December 1980))

December 3 — 8:30 p.m. On State Highway 57 about 10 miles south of McLain, Mississippi, Robert and Janice Lowrey [or Lawrey?] see a luminous, blue-white ball of light to the east. The FM radio of their car quits, the car’s headlights dim, and the car heater quits when light comes briefly over the right side of the hood. They estimate the light to be about a foot in diameter and only 3 feet away. The seat belt alarm also comes on during the encounter. The light just vanishes. (“Vehicle Affected by Mini-UFO?” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 12–13)

December 4 — 8:38 a.m. Graham Moyle and other controllers at the Perth, Western Australia, airport report watching “silver tumbling discs” two or three times through 11:00 a.m. Danielle Russell, 12, sees four objects with lights that change color from red to blue to green moving quickly north to south at 11:00 a.m. There is a reported paint on the radar 7 miles distant at a speed of 138 mph and a height of 5 miles. The target is lost in the radar’s cone of silence. The RAAF scrambles a Macchi jet, but it cannot find the objects. At 1:20 p.m., a target is detected on the radar at 21 miles, due south. The tower tracks an object high above one of the runways. Five minutes later, the radar returns another target. (“Jet Hunt for Australian UFOs,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 2 (Jan./Feb. 1981): 14)

December 5 — 10:00 p.m. Two teenagers parked next to a swimming pool in a subdivision of Normal, Illinois, see a stationary bright white light about half the size of the full moon in the western sky. Suddenly it splits into two smaller halves that rejoin, growing small and fuzzy, then brighten and enlarge. Three small lights shoot out and snap back in again. They watch the display for about one hour. During the last 15 minutes, their ears begin to hurt simultaneously. The pain shifts from their right ears to their temples, and they both feel a pea-shaped lump under their skin. They return home. The next day the lumps are gone but they have headaches. On December 8 at 8:45 p.m., the boy returns to the same spot alone and sees another light for about one minute. When he calls his girlfriend again to tell her, both regain the painful lumps in their temples. (“Youths Link Pain with UFO,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 2 (February 1981): 6)

December 6 — 12:45 a.m. A man is driving westbound a few miles north of Edwardsville, Illinois, when a disc-like object cuts across his view from the south about 100 feet away. It seems to be 40 feet in diameter and 9–13 feet thick. Five intense, steady, blue-white lights illuminate its dark shape. He sees windows at the center. The witness tries to drive toward the object, but his car engine fails for 1–2 minutes. The object zips off after a few minutes. (“Current Sighting Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 3 (March 1981): 6)

December 6 — 9:01 a.m. Jean Findley of Poole, Dorset, England, is waiting for a bus and feels the urge to look up. She sees a disc-shaped, domed UFO hovering above nearby trees. Feeling “spellbound” and experiencing a sensation of “peace, calm, and warmth,” she watches the object emit a beam of light, rotate once, and fly away at a great rate of speed. She looks at her watch and sees that 4 minutes have elapsed, seemingly in the space of a few seconds. Even though it is rush hour, she sees no one else around. (Clark III 866; Jenny Randles, UFO Reality, R. Hale, 1983)

December 13 — 5:47 p.m. James Garrigus sees an oblong, pulsating orange glow descending at a 30° angle in the northeast as he is driving in Lima, Ohio. Suddenly it curves back upward in a backwards “J,” continuing to move in the same direction. The light increases speed, still bobbing and spinning, and finally shoots upward. (“Nocturnal Light in Ohio,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 2 (February 1981): 6)

December 15 — 3:00 p.m. About 40 witnesses at the Orpington Hospital redevelopment site in London, England, watch a UFO that alternately hovers, moves slowly, shoots across the sky, and finally divides into three and disappears straight up at 4:15 p.m. The object is an elongated triangular shape with a reddish-orange nose, silvery body, and diamond-blue rear section, with its nose pointing southeast. Peter McSherry, clerk of works for Lovell (Southern) Ltd estimates its height at 50,000 feet. A video of the object is taken in the presence of other witnesses at Seal

Chart near Sevenoaks, Kent, and although it shows only a point of light in a cloudless sky, it does corroborate the sighting. (Good Above, pp. 76–79)

December 25 — 9:00 p.m. Soviet spy satellite Kosmos 749 re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere, breaks into several pieces, and creates a spectacular fireworks display over northwest Europe. Police stations, coast guards, and the RAF receive hundreds of calls reporting four or five “comet-like objects leaving bright trails.” Astronomers also record three fireball meteors the same night, the largest and brightest appearing at 3:00 a.m. (UFOFiles2, p. 105)

December 26 — 3:00 a.m. A series of reported sightings of unexplained lights near Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, have become linked with claims of UFO landings. The events occur just outside RAF Woodbridge [now MOD Woodbridge], used at the time by the United States Air Force. USAF personnel, including deputy base commander Lieutenant Colonel Charles I. Halt, claim to experience a UFO event. A security patrol (A1C John Burroughs and S/Sgt Budd Steffens) near the East Gate of RAF Woodbridge sees lights apparently descending into nearby Rendlesham Forest. These lights are attributed by astronomers to a piece of natural debris seen burning up as a fireball over southern England at the time. The observers initially think it is a downed aircraft but, when others (S/Sgt James Penniston, Burroughs, and A1C Edward Cabansag) enter the forest to investigate they see, according to Halt’s memo, a glowing object, metallic in appearance, with colored lights. As they attempt to approach the object, it appears to move through the trees, and “the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy.” Penniston later claims he and Burroughs encountered a “craft of unknown origin” while in the forest, which he photographs and touches, although there is no publicized mention of this at the time and no corroboration from other witnesses. (Burroughs only reports a blinding white light.) Shortly after 4:00 a.m., local police are called to the scene, but they report that the only lights they can see are those from the Orfordness Lighthouse, a few miles away on the coast. After daybreak, Burroughs and Penniston return to a small clearing near the eastern edge of the forest and find three small impressions on the ground in a triangular pattern, as well as burn marks and broken branches on nearby trees. At 10:30 a.m., the Suffolk Constabulary are called out again, this time to see the impressions, which they think could have been made by an animal. Georgina Bruni, in her book You Can’t Tell the People (2000), publishes a photo of the supposed landing site taken on the morning after the first sighting. ()

December 27 — 9:30 p.m. Construction workers skating in Yantan Park, Lanzhou, Gansu province, China, notice a red triangular object moving slowly in the eastern sky. It moves above them and they notice it has a misty circle surrounding it and a dark red center. It also has a gray protuberance that shines a brilliant light, and the outer edge emits regular flashes of yellow light. They watch it for 7 minutes until it disappears in the northwest. (“The Chinese Connection…and Some Wholesome Chinese Philosophy,” IUR 7, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1982): 13)

December 28 — 1:48 a.m. RAF Woodbridge Deputy Base Commander Charles Halt visits the alleged December 26 landing site with 20–30 servicemen (including John Burroughs, Sgt. Adrian Bustinza, Sgt. Bobby Ball, and Sgt. Monroe Nevels). They take radiation readings in the triangle of depressions and in the surrounding area using an AN/PDR-27, a standard US military radiation survey meter. Although they record 70–100 microR/hr at the landing site, in other regions they detect only 30–40 microR/hr, around the background level. Furthermore, they detect a similar small “burst” over half a mile away from the landing site. Halt records the events on a microcassette recorder, the “Halt tape,” released to UFO researchers in 1984 by Col. Sam Morgan, who has succeeded Ted Conrad as Halt’s superior. The tape chronicles Halt’s investigation in the forest in real time.

During this investigation, a flashing light is seen across the field to the east, almost in line with a farmhouse, as the witnesses had seen on the first night. The Orfordness Lighthouse is visible further to the east in the same line of sight. Later, three star-like lights are seen in the sky, two to the north and one to the south, about 10° above the horizon. The brightest of these hovers for 2–3 hours and seems to beam down a stream of light from time to time. Astronomers have explained these as merely bright stars. In June 2010, retired Col. Charles Halt signs a notarized affidavit, in which he again summarizes what happened, then states he believes the event to be extraterrestrial and covered up by both the UK and US military. Contradictions between this affidavit and the facts as recorded at the time in Halt’s memo (dated January 13, 1981) and tape recording (made December 28) have been pointed out. In 2010, base commander Col. Ted Conrad provides a statement about the incident to UFO researcher David Clarke. Conrad states that “We saw nothing that resembled Lieutenant Colonel Halt’s descriptions either in the sky or on the ground” and that “We had people in position to validate Halt’s narrative, but none of them could.” In an interview, Conrad criticizes Halt for the claims in his affidavit, saying “he should be ashamed and embarrassed by his allegation that his country and Britain both conspired to deceive their citizens over this issue. He knows better.” Conrad also disputes the testimony of Sgt. James Penniston, who claims to have touched an alien spacecraft; he had interviewed Penniston at the time and he had not mentioned any such occurrence. Conrad also suggests that the entire incident was a hoax. ()

December 28–29 — Around 12:00 midnight. USAF A1C Larry Warren claims he is on patrol at RAF Woodbridge with other servicemen who are bringing lighting equipment to a large clearing called Capel Green. At 12:30 a.m., he is

directed into the woods to “investigate a disturbance.” They soon come to a large field where about 40 military personnel are gathered. They are ordered to surround what appears to be a bright fog or mist. When his group enters the field, Warren sees it is a glowing, yellow-green, circular object not more than 12 inches in height. Two officers walk around it with Geiger counters, someone takes photos, and another operates a movie camera. He hears shouts of “Here it comes!” and sees a small red light that quickly approaches his group at 1:30 a.m. The basketball-sized object makes a downward arc and hovers at 20 feet above the ground. It then explodes in a blinding flash that gives off no heat. Instantly, about 25 away, Warren claims he sees a large, pyramid-shaped object topped by a glowing red light. Covering the entire surface are what look like boxes and pipes. An officer orders Bustinza and Warren (now feeling nauseous) to approach within 10–15 feet of the object. Before long they are ordered further back. A staff car arrives, carrying Col. Gordon Williams and his staff. From far behind the object comes a bright bluish ball of light. Warren claims he can see large-headed beings inside. He sees Col.

Williams approach the beings and stare at them. Warren arrives back at Security Control at 4:30 a.m. Most ufologists find Warren’s account unreliable, and the book he coauthored, Left at East Gate, is withdrawn by the publisher, Cosimo, in 2017 after finding “inaccurate or embellished” testimony. In 2010, Jenny Randles, who first reported the Rendlesham case in the London Evening Standard in 1981 and coauthored with local researchers the first book on the case in 1984, Sky Crash: A Cosmic Conspiracy, emphasizes her previously expressed doubts that the incident was caused by extraterrestrial visitors. While suggesting that an unidentified phenomenon might have caused parts of the case, she notes: “Whilst some puzzles remain, we can probably say that no unearthly craft were seen in Rendlesham Forest. We can also argue with confidence that the main focus of the events was a series of misperceptions of everyday things encountered in less than everyday circumstances.” The most plausible skeptical explanation is that the sightings are due to a combination of several factors. The initial sighting on December 26, when the airmen saw something apparently descending into the forest, coincides with the appearance of a bright fireball over southern England; such fireballs are a common source of UFO reports. The supposed landing marks are identified by police and foresters as rabbit diggings. According to the witness statements from December 26, the flashing light seen from the forest lay in the same direction as the Orfordness Lighthouse. When the eyewitnesses attempted to approach the light, they realized it was further off than they thought. Timings on Halt’s tape recording indicate that the light he saw, which lay in the same direction as the light seen two nights earlier, flashed every five seconds, which was the flash rate of the Orfordness Lighthouse.

The star-like objects that Halt reported hovering low to the north and south are thought by some skeptics to have been misinterpretations of bright stars distorted by atmospheric and optical effects. No evidence has emerged to confirm that anything came down in the forest. However, Nick Redfern in The Rendlesham Forest UFO Conspiracy alleges that the events were created by US and UK military as part of a series of top-secret experiments involving ball lightning and the “use of sophisticated holograms and hallucinogens” to test the reactions of the personnel exposed to them. (Wikipedia, “Rendlesham Forest incident”; NICAP, “Rendlesham Forest Encounter / Halt Case”; Brenda Butler, Dot Street, and Jenny Randles, Sky Crash, Grafton, 1984; Jenny Randles, “Mystery at Rendlesham,” IUR 9, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1984): 10–11, 15; “A Flashlight in the Forest,” The Guardian (UK), January 5, 1985, p. 9; Robert H. Coddington, “An Analysis of the Rendlesham Forest Incident Tape,” IUR 10, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1985): 9–13; Jenny Randles, “The Cover-Up in England,” IUR 12, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1987): 9–12, 20; Jenny Randles, “A Fire in the Forest: New Light on the Rendlesham Landing,”

IUR 13, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1988): 4–17, 21; Jenny Randles, “Rendlescam,” IUR 14, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1989): 16–18; Good Above, pp. 79–96, 456; Nick Pope, Open Skies, Closed Minds, Simon & Schuster, 1996, pp. 141–165; Larry Warren and Peter Robbins, Left at East Gate: A First-Hand Account of the Bentwaters-Woodbridge UFO Incident, Its Cover-Up, and Investigation, Marlowe, 1996; Jenny Randles, UFO Crash Landing? Friend or Foe? The Full Story of the Rendlesham Forest Close Encounter, Blandford, 1998; Jenny Randles, “Seeing the Forest for the Trees: New Twists in the Bentwaters Case,” IUR 23, no. 2 (Summer 1998): 16–19, 29–30; Don Berliner, with Marie Galbreath and Antonio Huneeus, UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence, Dell, 2000,

pp. 105–111; Georgina Bruni, You Can’t Tell the People, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2000; Jenny Randles and Richard Hall, “The Rendlesham Forest Case: Point/Counterpoint,” IUR 25, no. 3 (Fall 2000): 8–15, 30; Jenny Randles, “Rendlesham Forest: The British MoD File,” IUR 26, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 21–25, 30–32; Ian Ridpath, “The Rendlesham Forest UFO Case,” Ian Ridpath, February 28, 2003; “Rendlesham: UFO Hoax,” Inside Out: BBC, June 30, 2003; Dave Cosnette, “The Bentwaters Rendlesham Forest Incident,” January 2005; Michael D. Swords, GrassRoots UFOs: Case Reports from the Timmerman Files, Fund for UFO Research, 2005, pp. 145–146; Kean,

pp. 169–173, 179–188; UFOFiles2, pp. 105–115; Nick Pope, with John Burroughs and Jim Penniston, Encounter in Rendlesham Forest, Thistle, 2014; Jenny Randles, “Rendlesham Forest Genesis: Part One,” Fortean Times 336 (February 2016): 24–25; Jenny Randles, “Rendlesham Forest Genesis: Part Two,” Fortean Times 337 (March 2016): 28–29; Jenny Randles, “Rendlesham Forest Genesis: Part Three,” Fortean Times 338 (April 2016): 26–27;

Jenny Randles, “Rendlesham Forest Genesis: Part Four,” Fortean Times 339 (May 2016): 26–27; Jenny Randles, “Rendlesham Forest Genesis: Part Five,” Fortean Times 340 (June 2016): 28–29; Andrew Pike, The Rendlesham File: Britain’s Roswell? Flying Disk Press, 2017; Nukes 403–443; Clark III 950; Matt Salusbury, “Rendlesham Revisited,” Fortean Times 387 (Christmas 2019): 28–29; Jim Penniston and Gary Osborn, The Rendlesham Enigma: Book 1, Timeline, The Authors, 2019; “Colonel Charles Halt Returns to Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, Sept. 8th 2019,” David Young Paranormal Dimensions Radio Presenter YouTube channel, October 6, 2019; Nick Redfern, The Rendlesham Forest UFO Conspiracy, Lisa Hagan, 2020; Jim Penniston and Gary Osborn, “The Full Report,” The Rendlesham Forest Incident Official Website; Jim Penniston and Gary Osborn, “Witness Statements,” The Rendlesham Forest Incident Official Website; Jim Penniston and Gary Osborn, “Others Involved,” The Rendlesham Forest Incident Official Website; Center for UFO Studies, [Rendlesham case documents])

December 29 — 9:00 p.m. While driving through the Piney Woods of East Texas near Huffman, about 40 miles northeast of Houston, Betty J. Cash and her two passengers notice a bright light ahead. As they draw within about 130 feet, they are confronted by a fiery diamond-shaped object, emitting flames down toward the road. What happens after that is mind-boggling. Betty Cash and Vickie and Colby Landrum suffer apparent radiation illness after watching a flame-spewing UFO and mystery helicopters. Eventually, Cash and Landrum contact their US Senators, Lloyd Bentsen and John Tower, who suggest that the witnesses file a complaint with the Judge Advocate Claims office at Bergstrom Air Force Base [now Austin-Bergstrom International Airport]. In August 1981, Cash, Landrum, and Colby are interviewed at length by personnel at Bergstrom and told that they should hire a lawyer and

seek financial compensation for their injuries. With attorney Peter Gersten taking on the case pro bono, the case winds its way through the US courts for several years. Cash and Landrum sue the federal government for $20 million. On August 21, 1986, US District Court Judge Ross N. Sterling dismisses their case, noting that

the plaintiffs have not proved that the helicopters are associated with the government and that military officials have testified that US armed forces do not have a large, diamond-shaped aircraft in their possession. Although there is no doubt that the incident occurred, it is now considered by many to be a non-UFO case. In December 2018, Brian Dunning investigates the case and reports his findings on the Skeptoid podcast. He finds that the notes taken by Cash’s cardiologist, Vasudev B. Shenoy, attribute her hair loss to the autoimmune disease alopecia areata, that her other symptoms could be caused by illnesses that started before the incident, and that Landrum’s only documented illness is developing a cataract in one eye. He suspects that “Cash and Landrum wrongly, but honestly, placed the blame for their health problems onto whatever they saw; and even pushed the truth a bit trying to get the Air Force to pay for it.” (Wikipedia, “Cash-Landrum incident”; NICAP, “Cash/Landrum Case”; “Burns Follow UFO Incident,”APRO Bulletin 29, no. 8 (1981): 1–4; “Physical Effects, Helicopters, and a Fiery UFO,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 4 (May/June 1981): 13–14; John Schuessler, “Cash-Landrum Case Closed?” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 222 (October 1986): 12, 17; John Schuessler, “Medical Injuries Resulting from a UFO Encounter,” The Spectrum of UFO Research, CUFOS, 1988, pp. 58–69; John F. Schuessler, The Cash-Landrum Radiation Case, Project VISIT, 1998; “Huffman 1980,” Texas UFO Museum and Research Library, December 11, 2006; Michael D. Swords, “Can UFOs Cause Physiological Effects? Part 2,” IUR 34, no. 1 (September 2011): 4–5; Good Above, pp. 303–305; ClearIntent, pp. 106–108; Good Need, pp. 335–337, 345–346; Clark III 226–228; Curt Collins, “The Cash-Landrum Case UFO Document Collection,” Blue Blurry Lines, October 3, 2019; Project VISIT, [case articles and clippings])

1981

1981 — New York artist Budd Hopkins publishes Missing Time, which first describes his research into abductions that show they are far more plentiful than anyone suspects, biological in purpose, and perhaps lifelong in scope.

Hopkins also shows that a period of unexplained missing time is a typical aspect of the abduction experience. The information comes primarily from hypnotic regression performed by licensed psychologist Aphrodite Clamar, who also conducts psychological tests on the abductees. (Budd Hopkins, Missing Time: A Documented Study of UFO Abductions, R. Marek, 1981)

1981 — Center for UFO Studies researcher Mark Rodeghier publishes UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference, a comprehensive catalog and analysis of 441 cases where UFOs seem to affect cars or motorcycles. He finds that most of these cases occur in the late evening or early morning hours, and that in 35% of the cases, witness estimate they are within 100 feet of the object. Rodeghier also notes a high concentration of four characteristics: the presence of a light beam, loss of control of the vehicle, a physiological effect on the witness, and the UFO chasing the vehicle. (Mark Rodeghier, UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference, CUFOS, 1981)

1981 — A husband and wife are sleeping in their farmhouse near Newark, Ohio, when their dogs start barking loudly. They can hear people talking outside their window in a “foreign” language. They do not investigate, but in the morning they find three sets of footprint-like traces outside. They look like elongated scratch marks about 12 inches long, are uniform in shape, and go all the way to the fence line and through it. The couple begins to see a “perfectly round white circle of light,” about 1.5 inches in diameter, moving slowly around in their bedroom each night. The light is seen for about a month, no matter how the blinds and curtains are arranged. Sometimes it would stop moving for hours. (Michael D. Swords, “A Trick of the Light,” IUR 31, no. 2 (June 2007): 9)

1981 — The Norsk Institutt for Vitenskapelig Forskning og Opplysning in Trondheim, Norway, begins publishing the NIVFO Bulletin, edited by Gunnar Bertelsen and Kilbjørn Stenødegård. It continues through spring 1995. (NIVFO Bulletin, no. 1 (1981))

January — A. Bindas observes a radiant object above the city of Khatanga, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, during the polar night. It disappears and reappears abruptly, hovers, and directs a wide beam of light on the ground. After 5–7 minutes it zooms off in a spiral-shaped trajectory. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, p. 97)

January 8 — 5:00 p.m. A well-documented case of physical effects from a UFO takes place in Trans-en-Provence, Var, France. Renato Nicolaï, a gardener, hears a strange whistling sound while doing agricultural work on his property. He then sees an object in the shape of two saucers, one inverted on top of the other, about 8 feet in diameter land about 150 feet away at a lower elevation. It has a thick band around the middle section, two circles that look like trapdoors, and two feet that extend about 8 inches below the body of the machine. The object takes off almost immediately, rising above the tree line and departing to the northeast. The case quickly comes to the attention of the police and is soon investigated by GEPAN, the French government’s scientific team of UFO investigators.

The physical traces include evidence of vegetation and soil heating, skid marks, and circular ground marks. The chemical analysis reveals that the soil has been heated to 300°–600° C. Jean-Jacques Velasco thinks that the object could have weighed between 4 and 5 tons. Trace amounts of phosphate and zinc are found in the sample material, and an analysis of wild alfalfa near the landing site shows chlorophyll levels 30%–50% lower than expected. The police report says that the trace, which appears on an active road, looks like one made by a car tire. This explanation is dismissed by GEPAN because of Nicolaï saying otherwise. (Wikipedia, “Trans-en-Provence Case”; NICAP, “Disc Leaves Extensive Ground Traces”; Enquête 81/01: Analyse d’un Trace, Note Technique no. 16, Groupe d’Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés, Centre Nationale d’Étude Spatiales, March 1, 1983; Michel Bounias, “Biochemical Traumatology As a Potent Tool for Identifying Actual Stresses Elicited by Unidentified Sources,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 4, no. 1 (1990): 1–18; Jean-Jacques Velasco, “Report on the Analysis of Anomalous Physical Traces: The 1981 Trans-en-Provence UFO Case,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 4, no. 1 (1990): 27–48; Jacques Vallée, “Return to Trans-en-Provence,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 4, no. 1 (1990): 19–25; Michel Bounias, “Further Quantification of Distance-Related Effects in the Trans-en-Provence Case,” JUFOS 5 (1994): 109–121; Peter Sturrock, The UFO Enigma, 1999, pp. 257–297; Don Berliner, with Marie Galbreath and Antonio Huneeus, UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence, Dell, 2000, pp. 112–120; Swords 443–445; 2Pinotti 53–56)

January 12 — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy files an appeal against the CAUS v. NSA decision. (ClearIntent, p. 188)

January 15 — 9:30 p.m. People in Terre Haute, Indiana, begin reporting a string of about a dozen lights in the sky to a local television station. The lights are stationary then disappear by shooting straight up. (“UFO Mini-Flap in Southern Indiana,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (Mar./Apr. 1981): 12)

January 15 — 10:15 p.m. Three sets of witnesses in Prairieton, Indiana, driving past two different fields on the same road, see 7–11 four-foot-tall humanoids that appear to be searching for something. Some witnesses think they are naked; others report they are wearing “tight-fitting suits.” Most witnesses are within 20 feet of the creatures, usually watching for 15–20 seconds before racing off. At 10:30 p.m., two women in a different area of town get a fleeting glimpse of a 6–7-foot tall creature with fur and luminous red eyes. (“UFO Mini-Flap in Southern Indiana,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 3 (Mar./Apr. 1981): 12)

January 17 — 10:00 a.m. A witness at a construction site near Virginia Beach, Virginia, sees two silver cigars moving northbound in the eastern sky. Each has distinct outlines, a surface like aluminum, and pointed ends. They are flying with a slight up/down motion but horizontally at about 1,000–2,000 feet. (“Current Sighting Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 3 (March 1981): 6)

January 22 — Many witnesses see a brilliant triangular object with multiple red lights descending swiftly above the treetops just southeast of Jesup, Georgia. It is only visible for a few seconds. (Marler 171–172)

February 7 — The Larry King Show carries a three-hour program on UFOs with a panel consisting of Richard H. Hall, Bruce S. Maccabee, and Don Berliner. The first hour consists of Larry King interviewing the panelists; then he takes phone calls for two hours. (MUFON UFO Journal, March 1981, p. 3)

February 12 — Night. About 25–30 people on an interstate highway in Flagstaff, Arizona, see a cigar-shaped object like a blimp, white in color with dark veins. A small white object is at one end. After 2 minutes, the small object takes off at a high rate of speed and disappears. Meanwhile, a fog surrounds the blimp and it drifts away. (Herbert S. Taylor, “Cloud Cigars: A Further Look,” IUR 30, no. 3 (May 2006): 12–13)

February 28 — The Center for UFO Studies can no longer afford to keep Allan Hendry on as a full-time investigator, so his affiliation ends. It closes its Evanston, Illinois, office and moves to Allen Hynek’s home. (Clark III 569)

March — The Centro Ufologico Nazionale begins a newsletter to supplement its official journal, Notiziario UFO, edited by Roberto Pinotti. Titled Quaderni UFO, it is edited by Gianfranco Neri in Bologna, Italy, and continues through at least May 1983. (Quaderni UFO 1, no. 1 (Mar./Apr. 1981))

March — The Journal of UFO Research is first published by China’s UFO Research Organization. (Paul Dong, “Letters,”

IUR 7, no. 2 (March 1982): 3)

March — 4:30 a.m. A witness is driving toward a pancake house in Memphis, Tennessee, for a cup of coffee when she sees three shining objects in the sky. She is so engrossed in watching that she passes by the restaurant. Suddenly the objects disappear into what look like puffs of smoke. A minute later, one reappears directly over the street in front of her. She turns into the Admiral Benbow Inn parking lot and alerts the night watchman, who sees the object hovering above her car and then rise above the inn. (“UFOs in a Puff of Smoke,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 5 (July/Aug. 181): 15–16)

March 6 — 1:00 a.m. A registered nurse living on West Granville Avenue on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, watches a triangular array of three white lights outside her south-facing window. The lights seem to be connected by “spokes.” The array is rotating in a clockwise direction. (“Nocturnal Triangle in Chicago Night Sky,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 6 (Dec. 1984/Jan. 1984): 6)

March 17 — 4:03 a.m. Sgt. Russell Yokum of the St. Helens, Oregon, police is on patrol on US Highway 30 on the edge of town when he sees a bright light apparently above the Columbia River. He goes to the Columbia County Courthouse for a better view, where he is joined by other police, but the object is no longer visible. Meanwhile, they are conversing via CB radio with Donald Atkins, who is in nearby Ridgefield, Washington, and watching a stationary light over the river. Atkins transmits a faint humming sound the object is making through his CB radio to officer Ricky Cade, who captures it on a cassette recorder. Yokum and Cade look to the south and see a bright orange-red light about 80–100 feet above the river, apparently the same one that Atkins is watching. (“An Orange(!) Ball at St. Helens for St, Patrick,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no 4 (May/June 1981): 11–13; Mark Rodeghier, “St. Helens Revisited,” IUR 7, no. 3 (May/June 1982): 12–14; J. Allen Hynek and Howard R. Schechter, “Narrow-Band Acoustic Analysis of a Recorded UFO Sound,” The Spectrum of UFO Research, CUFOS, 1988, pp. 1–12; Julie Thompson, “The Strange Case of the St. Helens UFO,” St. Helens (Oreg.) Chronicle, October 11, 2017)

March 18 — NORAD becomes the North American Aerospace Defense Command. (Wikipedia, “North American Aerospace Defense Command”)

March 20 — 9:30 p.m. Larry Tilman is on Neil Road southwest of London, Ohio, hoping to get a UFO photo. He notices a small orange light over the city moving in a zig-zag fashion. It moves closer to his location, so he takes a time exposure photo as the light blinks out. (“Nocturnal Lights, March 20–21, 1981, London, Ohio,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 2 (April/May 1984): 4)

March 21 — 7:00 p.m. Larry Tilman again takes time-exposure photos of orange balls of light east of London, Ohio, near Madison Lake State Park. One appears to be the size of a car. (“Nocturnal Lights, March 20–21, 1981, London, Ohio,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 2 (April/May 1984): 4–5)

March 21 — 11:35 p.m. A friend is driving Alba Dunlap home northbound on Runnymede Road in Toronto, Ontario. They see a disc-shaped object directly ahead and above them that has a red light on a central dome and white flashing lights around its perimeter. It seems to be 30–40 feet in diameter. They watch it for 2 minutes, then it moves slowly west and disappears. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 6 (June 1981): 2)

March 30 — 10:00 p.m. A huge bright light hovers over trees for 10 minutes in Alton, Illinois. The UFO moves towards two witnesses at about 10 mph. Frogs stop croaking and dogs begin barking excitedly. The object appears oval and is black except for lights on the circumference. A large circular opening is visible in the bottom of the black disc. Inside the opening the witnesses see “this churning motion of bright white light with yellow and orange colors in it...like gases rolling around in there.” After about 20–30 minutes it takes off rapidly. Shortly thereafter a

jet flies over. Another UFO is seen coming across the trees a good 5 minutes later with the same results. (“Another World,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1981): 16)

April 3 — 9:30 p.m. Some 50 people driving on National Route 35 north of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina, watch an object hovering about 300 feet directly over the Escuela Agrotécnica de Santa Rosa for several minutes. It is a saucer-shaped craft about 100 feet in diameter that is radiating light over its circumference due to an intense white light at its center. It speeds away to the west and disappears. (“A New Radio Link,” CUFOS Bulletin, Spring 1981, p. 3)

April 8 — 3:00 a.m. A private pilot named Dennis is flying a Piper PA-28-181 Archer II near the San Luis Reservoir, California, when a bullet-shaped object pulls alongside the airplane. Simultaneously, Dennis’s distance-measuring equipment, navigation and communications radios, and transponder go out. The object shoots ahead of the plane by about 1,500 feet and executes some erratic motions. Then, slowly drifting back, it paces him. The object is glowing orange and has a whirling bluish ring around it. The object pulsates and shoots forward about 4–5 miles ahead of the plane, and makes an instantaneous right-angle turn upward, in somewhat of a repeat of his November 5, 1980, sighting. (“A Twin ‘Déjà vu’ Sighting?” IUR 7, no. 1 (January 1982): 6)

April 15 — 7:30 p.m. Walking through the parking lot of the P&C grocery store in Windsor, Vermont, Linda Kingsbury and Lucy Slothower notice two bright lights in the sky moving toward them. They are part of a dark, triangular object with additional blue and yellow lights on the underside. As it passes overhead, they hear a heavy humming. (“UFO Cruises Windsor,” White River Junction (Vt.) Valley News, April 17, 1981, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 142 (May 1981): 4; Joe and Doris Graziano, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 29, no. 8 (August 1981): 7)

April 16 — 9:30 p.m. Engineer Eugene A. Fucci is driving southeast on Interstate 89 in Grantham, New Hampshire, when he notices two bright stars, one of which descends to just above the horizon. Shortly afterward, a huge triangular- shaped object with colored lights on the underside and a bright white light on top flies over his car. He estimates the object is about the size of five B-52s and moving at 2,000 feet altitude at 200 mph. It appears to be all metal and black in color. It passes to the west-southwest. (“Mount Sunapee UFO Supports Area Sightings,” West Lebanon (N.H.) Valley News, April 22, 1981, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 143 (June 1981): 4; “Triangular UFO, April 16, 1981, at Grantham, N.H.,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no 2 (April 1981): 2, 4)

April 25 — 7:00 a.m. Du Shengyuan notices a curious object circling in the sky above Beijing, China. After unsuccessfully calling media outlets, he goes back outside and finds the object is now directly overhead at more than 6,500 feet. Through binoculars he can see it is bullet-shaped and varies its speed, sometimes hovering. The middle part is white, and the bottom is luminous green. It moves out of sight at 7:25 a.m. Some 20 other people also watch the UFO. (Paul Dong and Wendelle Stevens, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, pp. 216–218; Good Above, pp. 217, 470)

Early May — Merle Shane McDow is attached to the US Navy Atlantic Command Support Facility in Norfolk, Virginia, when a UFO is tracked moving at high speed on at least five radar scopes up and down the Atlantic coast. The UFO sets off a Condition Zebra alert in the Naval Command Center, and Adm. Harry D. Train II gives the order to force down the object and recover it. US jets chase the UFO for more than an hour as far north as Greenland, sometimes confirming it visually, but it evades them. During the event, KH-11 reconnaissance satellites take photos of the object. The object moves from Nova Scotia to Norfolk in one sweep of the radar. Eventually it moves off at tremendous speed. (Steven M. Greer, Disclosure: Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History, Crossing Point, 2001, pp. 238–245; Stephen Erdmann, “Dr. Greer’s Greatest UFO Query,” UFO Digest, June 1, 2018; Good Need, pp. 337–338; “Condition Zebra: UFOs Overhead, Merle Shane McDow,” Abundance of Energy YouTube channel, October 7, 2013)

May 4 — 2 :00 p.m. As he is pulling up to his home in Danville, Pennsylvania, on a motorcycle, William F. Hummer notices “cobwebs” hanging over houses, telephone wires, and parked cars. Wispy material is falling from the sky. He sees something moving around in the sky and goes in to get binoculars. He and another man watch several flying discs as they dart overhead in groups of twos and threes. One pauses and he can see it is round and metallic with a dome and “kind of peak on it.” His sister joins them and says they can see big masses of material floating around for 30 minutes. (Clark III 126)

May 5 — 6:00 p.m. Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok is orbiting in the Salyut 6 space station over South Africa and moving toward the Indian Ocean. After doing some gymnastic exercises, he notices through a porthole an elliptical object resembling a “melon” with two clouds like a “barbell,” moving in the same direction as the Salyut in a suborbital path. Then a “kind of explosion happened, very beautiful to watch, of golden light.” One or two seconds later, a second explosion follows, and two golden spheres appear. Soon the Salyut enters the Earth’s terminator and he cannot see them any longer. James Oberg speculates that the object could have been a South

African test of an Israeli Jericho-class solid-fuel missile from the Denel Overberg Test Range near Arniston, Western Cape. (Pegasus Research Consortium, “Russian Cosmonaut Sees UFO While in Orbit Aboard Salyut-6 Space Station,” 2002; Mori, “The Amazing Story of the Salyut-6 UFO Encounter,” forgetomori, April 16, 2011; James Oberg, “Have Cosmonauts Seen Launches?” December 18, 2016)

May 5 — 9:30 p.m. The Earl Richards family in Tewksbury, New Jersey, notices lights moving outside after their television goes off and the electric lights dim. Earl Jr. sees dozens of green, blue, and red lights buzzing in the southern sky, apparently accompanying an enormous flying object covered with hundreds of lights. It is elongated and he can see an outline of wings. (“UFO Reported in Tewksbury,” Hunterdon County (N.J.) Democrat, May 14, 1981, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 143 (June 1981): 6)

May 14 — Cosmonauts Victor Savinykh and Vladimir Kovalyonok, aboard the Salyut 6 space station, supposedly observe a strange spherical object with 8 windows and well-lit inside. At first it is 1/2 mile away but it eventually approaches to 300 feet. Inside, the cosmonauts see three brown-skinned beings with slanted bright blue eyes, straight noses, and bushy eyebrows. At a distance of 100 feet, they resemble mechanical robots. Their facial expressions remain emotionless. They seem to be requesting closer contact with the Soviet craft. The object shifts around erratically and from time to time it vanishes, but then reappears in an instant. It seems to be metallic, but it has no doors, no solar batteries, no optical systems, no antennae, and no marks or writing of any kind. The cosmonauts also notice normal-looking armchairs, some devices, and walls inside the craft. Using a pair of powerful binoculars, the cosmonauts see the beings showing them what appears to be a star map. Allegedly the cosmonauts film the event and the film is later shown to party leaders by cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoy. (Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, pp. 67–68)

May 16 — 2:30 p.m. A man is fishing in the Thompson River near Kamloops, British Columbia, when the water about 300–450 feet away starts bubbling up. A 15–20-foot UFO rises out of the water and slowly approaches the witness at a 45° angle, passes directly above him, accelerates upward, and speeds away. Pellets from the UFO, apparently from the object, fall around him. (“A Submarine UFO,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 5 (July/Aug. 1981): 13–14)

May 20 — 1:30 a.m. A witness is driving south on Shawnee Road southwest of Lima, Ohio, when he notices lights on his left less than a mile ahead. He sees an object hovering silently about 150–200 feet away and 75–100 feet in the air. He watches it from his car for 3 minutes. It has a glowing lavender-colored area around its outer edge and a dim white light radiating from the center of its flat base. The object moves to the northeast and accelerates. He loses interest and drives away, but another object begins moving parallel to his car about 300 feet to his left. He speeds up, but it maintains its pacing until it veers to the southwest. (“Recent Close Encounter with UFO in Ohio,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 7 (July 1981): 6)

May 22 — Evening. Several hundred people in Florida, Uruguay, watch a drum-like UFO with red lights on the rear and green and red lights on each side. Its appearance coincides with an electrical blackout due to a power overload in the area. (“A New Radio Link,” CUFOS Bulletin, Spring 1981, pp. 2–3)

Summer — William Moore gives Paul Bennewitz an altered version of the Project Aquarius document from 1977. Moore had seen the original in November 1980 and has had his own copy since February 1981. He gives Bennewitz this document on behalf of Air Force Intelligence, knowing it has been altered, in order to retain his access to inside information. The document is the first time that the term MJ-1 makes its appearance. According to Moore, the original said that the NSA had altered Bennewitz’s photos and incidentally found them to be authentic. In the altered memo, NSA becomes NASA. (Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, pp. 120–123)

Summer — Chinese UFO researcher Paul Dong (Moon Wai), a resident of California, becomes the editor of the China UFO Research Organization’s Journal of UFO Research and goes on a month-long lecture tour all over China. He collects hundreds of UFO cases from the period 1978–1981. In the next few years, hundreds of other cases (some dating back to 1940) are published in the journal. Many of them are published in UFOs over Modern China, by Wendelle C. Stevens and Paul Dong, 1983. (Paul Dong, “Letters,” IUR 7, no. 2 (March 1982): 3; Good Above, pp. 206–207)

June 5 — 10:00 p.m. Ding Shiliang and other students at Xi’an University, Shanxi, China, see a luminous flying object that splits into two parts, then three, then four. Shortly afterward, two of the units on either side vanish, leaving the other two segments still in position. Another UFO appears and the objects merge into one, splitting into two again later. It vanishes 20 minutes later. (Paul Dong and Wendelle Stevens, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, pp. 219–220)

June 10 — 12:15 a.m. An Indian couple on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington State are driving west when the immediate area around their vehicle is illuminated. Overhead they see a large “badge-shaped” object about 35

feet in the air. Its periphery is marked by small, multicolored flashing lights. There are three large pale-yellow lights, one on each side and one centered between these. The object follows them for about one mile and then ascends vertically at a rapid speed and disappears into a cloud-like mist of its own making. (“Yakima Reservation Report,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 11)

June 10 — 5:19 p.m. A worker at Sandia Laboratories is in the back yard of his home on the east side of Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he sees an object flying west at a high altitude, 20,000–30,000 feet. It begins to tumble erratically. A second object with a bright light appears slightly above it, moving 2–3 times faster than a commercial airliner. The witness can hear no sound. The duration is 5 minutes. (“What the Bombardier Saw,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 6 (Jan./Feb. 1982): 12)

June 12 — Farmer Chen Kang and his wife watch an object with twinkling lights in southern Taiwan. After hearing a strange sound, they look up and see a crystal object shaped like a reversed cone gliding downward. It lands behind a tree and continues whirling like a top and emitting fog. It flies off after about 10 minutes without leaving any traces. (South China Morning Post, June 14, 1981; “UFO Lands in Taiwan,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 7 (July 1981): 3)

June 18 — The first YF-117A stealth fighter makes its maiden flight at Groom Lake, Nevada. The aircraft remains a tightly held secret for much of the 1980s. (Wikipedia, “Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk”)

July 4 — 4:45 p.m. Captain Phil Schultz is flying TWA Flight 842, a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar commercial airliner, east at 37,000 feet over south-central Lake Michigan not far from Muskegon, Michigan, when a silvery disc darts into view ahead and above it. Expecting a mid-air collision, they brace themselves for impact. The object then moves rapidly in an arc down to the left and rolls, presenting a side view with six evenly spaced black portholes along the edge. It then disappears to the north. Schultz estimates the disc is moving at 1,000 mph. (Richard F. Haines, “Commercial Jet Crew Sights Unidentified Object: Part 1,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 4 (January 1982): 3–6; Richard F. Haines, “Commercial Jet Crew Sights Unidentified Object: Part 2,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 5 (March 1982): 2–8; UFOEv II 141–142; Kean, pp. 59–61)

July 11 — 10:30 p.m. A camp director at Girl Scout camp headquarters near Port Byron, Illinois, suddenly hears his dog barking in a warning manner. Through the trees that screen the camp swimming pool, he sees bright lights. He moves to an unobstructed view of the pool and notices the pool lights are not on. Instead, directly above the pool, and higher than the regular lights, is a brilliant light. Suddenly the lights go out. He hears a whirring noise that rises in pitch as it apparently rises into the sky. When he turns on the lights, he notices the pump is not running and the water level is down three feet, meaning some 30,000 gallons of water are gone. (“Encounter at the Pool,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 6 (Jan./Feb. 1982): 11–12)

July 12 — 12:50 a.m. Mr. and Mrs. Ken Thew are driving east along a back road from Pleasant Point to Temuka, New Zealand, with their three young daughters when they are confronted by a brilliant, bright green, gold, and red object coming from the opposite direction. It stops abruptly about 600–900 feet away, then changes direction and begins silently pacing the car. Mrs. Thew, who is driving, becomes frightened and speeds up to 65 mph in an effort to reach a lighted area of town. The UFO keeps pace and moves closer, allowing the witnesses to see more details, such as two slots like vertically elongated rectangles and a row of square portholes. After a while it shoots away to the east. When they arrive home in Temuka at 1:20 a.m., they are surprised to see the object about 1,000 feet overhead. It remains visible another 40 minutes. (UFOEv II 49–50)

July 15 — 10:55 p.m. Four witnesses, three of them fire control lookouts, on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington State, see a large, bright-white object make two passes over the reservation. One witness sees a rocketlike flame coming out of the object. On a second pass, the object is moving south when it makes an almost right-angle turn and disappears to the west. (“Yakima Reservation Report,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 11, 14)

July 15 — 2:30 p.m. Robert H. Nelson is flying a kite on the west side of Westfield, Massachusetts, when he notices a white rectangular object motionless in the southeast. After 20 seconds it emits swirls of vapor along its entire length that gradually dissipate. Another similar object appears in the north at the same altitude and also emitting vapor or smoke. (Robert H. Nelson, “Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 3–4)

July 16 — Before midnight. Two teenage boys are driving south on Highway 2A past CFB Penhold [now Red Deer Regional Airport]. A cube-shaped object 100 feet long with flashing lights approaches them from the front, stops about 15 feet off the ground, circles their car, and moves out of sight. (Chris Rutkowski, Canada’s UFOs: Declassified, August Night, 2022, p. 227)

July 19 — 8:27 p.m. Malcolm Smith is traveling on a boat up the Mahakam River in Borneo, Indonesia, when he sees an odd star that begins to blink, move in an arc, fade, and go out. It reappears 2 minutes later, moving and blinking more frequently, then it veers away and fades out. (Malcolm Smith, “Enigmatic Objects,” IUR 20, no. 5 (Winter 1995): 30)

July 19 — Around 11:45 p.m. Chrystal Jackson and her son Chris are driving north on State Highway 17 near Sugar Camp, Wisconsin, when they see a large, reddish-orange, elliptical object hovering near some pine trees less than 500 feet away on their right. One minute later, their car’s speed unaccountably reduces from 55 to 30 mph. The car seems to be dragging, even with the accelerator pressed to the floor. The object keeps the same distance from the car for 10–15 minutes and another 10 miles when they turn west on State Highway 70, although it appears to be stationary. The car regains engine power after another 2 miles. A mechanic later finds that the two fuses controlling the brake lights and tail lights have blown, and the battery is leaking. A few days later, they discover that the thermostat in the engine is broken. (Mark Rodeghier, “Two People, a Car, and a Strange Object,” CUFOS Bulletin, Summer 1981, pp. 9–10, 2)

July 22 — 3:10 a.m. Al Wagner, toll booth operator at the Mississippi River bridge in Muscatine, Iowa, goes out to feed some wild rabbits that hang around the bridge, when he notices six of them lying flat as though paralyzed with fear. Wagner sees an orange, nearly spherical object rising from behind the trees on the Illinois side of the river. It is about 30 feet in diameter and is glowing with an internal yellow light, which goes out as the object approaches. The object clears the highest part of the bridge by about 10 feet, making a wheezing sound. At its closest, it is 150 feet above the ground and 750 feet away from Wagner. It disappears above a small hill to the west. (“The Case of the Paralyzed Rabbits,” IUR/Frontiers of Science 3, no. 6 (Jan./Feb. 1982): 13)

July 23 — 8:45 p.m. Louise Betulius is fishing in a lake near Evansville, Indiana, when she sees the reflection of a large object in the water. It is a large sphere about 10–12 feet in diameter and moving silently west to east. Shortly afterward, it returns over some trees to the east, moving slowly toward the lake. It comes down about 3 feet off the ground and hovers 4–5 feet from the edge of the water, then moves slowly back to the east. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1982): 2–3)

July 23 — 10:30 p.m. James L. McCabe is sitting outside his home on Highland Avenue in Dover, New Jersey, looking for satellites with binoculars. Suddenly, two flashing white lights appear above the southern horizon. Their flashes become more frequent when their speed increases. One speeds away, but the other approaches, slipping in and out of the clouds for 20 seconds. He estimates it is at 1,500 feet when overhead, has a flat bottom, a strange raised center section, and a flat metallic color. Its top has a rippled appearance. The upper section has two windows. (“Cast Metallic Object Reported over Dover, New Jersey,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 2 (April/May 1983): 4–5)

July 30 — Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.Mex.) meets briefly with Sgt. Richard Doty at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, about AFOSI investigations into Paul Bennewitz’s claims. He then dashes off to talk to Bennewitz.

However, he soon loses interest and drops the matter. (Clark III 359; Alejandro T. Rojas, [Bennewitz/Kirtland AFB documents])

July 30 — 8:30 p.m. Jennifer Lindsey and her three children are driving near Berwick, Mississippi, when they notice an object with bright lights moving back and forth across the sky. As they arrive home, the object is moving at a low altitude above the house. It is bigger than an airplane, shaped like an arrowhead, and appears to be metallic.

Behind it is a red light traveling in tandem. It passes over the house again 30 minutes later, moving west, without the trailing red light. (Doris and Joe Graziano, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 30, no 1 (February 1982): 8)

July 31 — An interview with Russian UFO expert Felix Ziegel appears in the Italian weekly magazine Gente, followed by a second part in the August 7 issue. Ziegel claims he has 50,000 UFO reports on file in the Moscow Aviation Institute and has compiled eight volumes of research material that are still unpublished. He believes there are three basic types of UFO occupants: spacemen (tall beings), humanoids (human-like), and aliens (short and like the “greys”). He says that UFOs carry crews of androids that possess the ability to appear and disappear at will and “seem to be deliberately constructed in order to confound all our notions of space, matter, time, and dimension.” (Good Above, pp. 240–241)

July 31 — 8:50 p.m. Two men in a motorboat on lake Mönninselkä near Pielisjärvi, Finland, see a dark spot in the sky. Four lights suddenly appear above them, and a fog forms in front of the boat. They lose the ability to move and soon lose consciousness. When they wake up, they are differently placed in the boat, the time is 4:10 a.m., and the boat is drifting. They go back ashore to their cottage, their heads begin to ache, and they feel very sleepy. Their hands tremble for nearly 2 weeks afterward, and their sense of balance is disturbed. (“The Pielinen Event,” UFO Research of Finland Annual Report, 1981, p. 10)

July 31 — 9:15 p.m. A husband and wife are driving along a bumpy road near Kinston, North Carolina, when their headlights and dash lights go out and the engine stops. They open the doors and get out to push the car to the side of the road (noticing later that it is odd that they can see the road on a moonless night) and the lights suddenly come on again. They start the car up again and drive the short way home. Mechanics tell them they don’t know why a car would do that, so they assume there was a UFO involved. (“Cars That Go Stop on the Night,” IUR 7, no. 1 (January 1982): 9–10)

July or August — 11:00 p.m. A man is camping with the Red Cross in a small town to the southeast of San José, Costa Rica. He sees a well-lit, triangular object about 1,200 feet away and perhaps 1,000 feet above the ground. It is completely silent. After hovering, the object turns, moves, makes a sharp angular turn, and then another to draw a triangular path in the sky. Then it moves rapidly high, then low, back to its original location. A second triangle approaches, and they hover in close proximity to each other for 30 minutes. Then they split up and disappear rapidly. (Michael D. Swords, “Timmerman’s Triangles,” IUR 29, no. 2 (Summer 2004): 15–16)

August — Three mysterious flattened circles appear in a cornfield within a natural amphitheater known as The Devil’s Punchbowl at Cheesefoot Head near Winchester, Wiltshire, England. The central circle is 55 feet in diameter; two smaller circles are arranged on either side. Ufologist Pat Delgado examines the field and is struck by the sharply defined edges of the circles and the manner in which the cornstalks are flattened in a clockwise swirl. He suspects UFO activity. (Pat Delgado, “Cheesefoot Head Mystery Rings,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 5 (March 1982): 13–15; Pat Delgado and Colin Andrews, Circular Evidence, Guild, 1989, pp. 20–21; Pat Delgado, “1981: Cheesefoot Head Triplet,” The Croppie, July 11, 2016)

August 8 — 6:15 p.m. A witness is on the beach with some friends at Chalupy on the Hel peninsula, north of Gdynia, Poland. He leaves them briefly to go back to a camping area and sees, 500 feet in front of him, “two boys in dark suits” dashing into the bushes on his right. A moment later they reappear, standing on the path in front of him.

They are 5 feet tall, wear green suits, and have green faces with big, almond-shaped eyes and slits for mouths. He can see dark boxes, violet and yellow cables, and tapes and spirals hanging from belts on the entities. He notices a silvery object and receives a telepathic message to “not be afraid.” He walks closer to them and hears another message: “Keep walking. Don’t stop.” The witness has the curious sensation of “passing through the interior of a ball.” He walks past them, looks back, and they have disappeared. On his right, the silvery disc, 6 feet high and 16–20 feet long, is hovering only 3 feet above the ground. Investigators later find seven odd oval marks where the object had been. (Bronislaw Rzepecki, “Encounters in Poland,” IUR 12, no. 3 (May/June 1987): 18, 21; Bronislaw Rzepecki, “UFO Reports from Poland,” Flying Saucer Review 33, no. 1 (March 1988): 6–7; Poland 48–50)

August 10 — 3:30 a.m. Russell Matson is driving west on 150th Street in Apple Valley, Minnesota, when just west of Pilot Knob Road he sees a hexagonal object nearly overhead, at perhaps a distance of 500 feet. It has two green, two red, and white lights on its corners. It is 60–90 feet across. The object pivots, making a 90° turn while stationary, then descends and approaches the witness. It makes a soft whooshing sound as it passes, like gas escaping from a propane tank. (“The Investigator’s Dilemma,” IUR 7, no. 1 (January 1982): 13–14)

August 12 — 2:15 a.m. Rupert Pring is several miles outside of Anderson, Indiana, taking time-exposure photographs of the Perseid meteor shower with a camera attached to a tripod. He notices a distant light flashing like a strobe far to the south; it is soon joined by a second strobing light, and both move northeast in a straight line. The lights are as bright as a “halogen automobile headlight at 50 feet.” They stop moving briefly twice near the star Eta Tauri, then make a sharp right turn to the southeast. When Pring first notices the lights, he gets out of his car for a better sight, but freezes abruptly, “like something heavy was pushing down on my head and shoulders.” He experiences nausea for three days afterward and has a temporary, day-long memory loss. Meanwhile, the camera has captured much of the 6-second flight path of the lights in an 8-minute time exposure. Further investigation prompts Pring to reveal that he and his wife had an abduction experience with missing time later that morning. As for the photo, the lights were most likely caused by Pring failing to close the shutter of his camera as he removed it from the tripod and thus picked up two mercury-vapor lights at a farmhouse about a half-mile away. (“A Nocturnal Light Close Encounter,” IUR 7, no. 2 (March 1982): 5–7; Mark Rodeghier, “March-April Cover Photo Mystery Solved,” IUR 7, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1982): 4–5)

August 15 — 6:00 p.m. Twenty workers returning from the fields at the Forestry Commission Station of La Rochelle, 5.5 miles northeast of Mutare, Zimbabwe, see a ball of light moving around at a low level. Clifford Muchena is in charge of the group, and he watches the 5-foot fireball maneuver around the grounds then move up to an observation tower, entering through the top window before it bursts into flame. As Muchena is ringing a warning bell, he sees the fireball come back down the tower, go past him, and burst into flame again at an outbuilding.

Muchena goes to douse the fire but stops when he sees three men wearing silver coveralls. The light is too bright to see clearly, and after it goes out the beings are gone. Women in the compound have seen the fireball and the entities and run out into the bush, thinking they are ghosts. (Cynthia Hind, “Entities at New Rochelle,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 183 (May 1983): 6–10; Cynthia Hind, “UFOs and the African Tribal System,” UFOs 1947– 1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 94–96)

August 16 — A huge object approaches the island of Cyprus. Radar at a Sovereign British Base, either Akrotiri or Dhekelia, track it at 30,000 feet going 900 mph. It comes to a sudden stop and hovers above the base for 45

minutes. Witnesses take many photos of a bright white triangle more than 700 feet long. Allegedly, the Ministry of Defence had sent an encrypted message to the base prior to the sighting, ordering a “complete stand-down of aircraft in the event that any strange ‘aerial phenomena’” are sighted. On August 17, a man and woman arrive at the base, stay for 6 hours, then leave with all the photos and other evidence. Shortly afterward, according to an informant, US and UK Air Force personnel meet at RAF Lakenheath in England to discuss the case. (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp. 157–158)

September — The Association d’Étude sur les Soucoupes Volantes renames its AESV Bulletin as OVNI Présence and moves its publishing operation to its Swiss office in Vevay, Switzerland. Yves Bosson takes over as chief editor. The magazine continues until February 1995. (OVNI Présence, no. 18 (September 1981))

September 10 — 11:15 p.m. Denise Bishop, 23, is returning to her home in Weston Mill, Plymouth, England, when she sees some lights behind the house. As she goes to the back of the bungalow, she sees an enormous metallic-gray UFO hovering above houses on top of a hill. Six or seven broad shafts of light are shining down on the rooftops beneath it. As she grabs the doorknob to go inside, a lime-green pencil of light comes from the object and hits the back of her hand and she cannot move. The light remains for 30 seconds; when it switches off, she opens the door and goes inside. The UFO then lifts into the sky and moves away. An hour of so later, she notices a burn mark on her hand. The next day she visits Bob Boyd, an investigator with the Plymouth UFO Research Group, who takes photos of her hand, which has a patch of shiny dermis with spots of blood and bruising. On September 12, Boyd visits her with a nurse, who persuades her to see a doctor. Scab tissue forms on September 15, followed by a scar that is still visible in July 1982. (Good Above, pp. 98–101)

September 18 — 8:45 p.m. Six members of a family in Simi Valley, California, watch a light approach and see a triangular object with five bright white lights on the front and sides. The unlit center portion appears to be like brushed aluminum with a grid pattern. As it passes overhead, they hear a low-pitched hum. A blinking, red-orange light is at the rear. Two or three smaller lights are following in its path. (UFOEv II 229)

September 18 — 9:15 p.m. John Sharwath and Randy Bandurant are driving north on the Moorpark Freeway north of Thousand Oaks, California, when they notice three bright lights like floodlights on the horizon to the north. As they approach the end of the freeway in Moorpark, the light resolves into five separate lights, three in a row above and two below. When they pass nearly under the lights, they notice two triangular bodies that the lights are associated with. At 9:25 p.m., Cherie Thompson and Joyce Bandurant are driving on the Moorpark Freeway some distance behind the other car, and they see two triangular lighted objects. The lowest passes over their car at 50– 100 feet altitude near the Olsen Road interchange. They stop along the freeway to watch, but the objects are disappearing behind the hills. (MUFON UFO Journal, January 1982; UFOEv II, 229–231)

September 25–27 — The Center for UFO Studies holds a second conference in Chicago, with talks by J. Allen Hynek, Budd Hopkins, Bruce Maccabee, and Mark Rodeghier. Presented papers are printed in The Spectrum of UFO Research. (“CUFOS Symposium in Chicago Well-Attended,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 11 (November 1981): 1, 6; Mimi Hynek, ed., The Spectrum of UFO Research, CUFOS, 1988; Ron Westrum, [review], JUFOS 1 (1989): 172–174)

September 26 — Mountaineers Reinhold Messner and Doug Scott watch a UFO the size of the full moon for nearly 3 hours during an unsuccessful attempt on the main peak of Mount Chamlang in the Himalayas near Makalu in Nepal. The object at first is moving slowly southward, then shifts to the east, northwest, and finally north, making irregular movements before it disappears somewhere over Tibet. (“Top Climber: I Spotted UFO,” Montreal (Quebec) Gazette, October 10, 1981, p. 26; “From the Heart of Asia: Two UFOs, a Half Century Apart,” IUR 7, no. 1 (January 1982): 10)

September 28 — Hungarian-American filmmaker and UFO hobbyist Colman VonKeviczky, founder of the Intercontinental UFO Galactic Spacecraft Research and Analytic Network, writes a five-page letter to President Ronald Reagan, claiming that UFOs are an extraterrestrial task force that will destroy earth unless world leaders collaborate. It is the third time he has written, and it includes 17 documents that illustrate the “potential threat of the UFO forces.” In response to VonKeviczky’s letter to Reagan, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Schweitzer, White House chief military advisor, writes: “The President is well aware of the threat you document so clearly and is doing all in his power to restore the national defense margin of safety as quickly and prudently as possible.” VonKeviczky shows the letter to the Associated Press, which contacts Schweitzer, who says the letter is a mistake and thought the threat refers to the Soviets. Schweitzer is fired on October 21 for making unauthorized belligerent statements about Russia. (presidentialufo.com, “Ronald Reagan, 40th President, January 20, 1981–January 20, 1989”; “A Top General Talks of War, Is Reassigned,” Boston Globe, October 21, 1981, pp. 1, 8)

October — NORAD refuses to waive fees for FOIA requests from Citizens Against UFO Secrecy because of “cumulative and recurring” requests. (ClearIntent, p. 10)

October — USAF Airman Simone Mendez, 21, trained as a telecommunications specialist, is working at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a top-secret clearance. One of her coworkers gives her a top-secret message with a copy of a classified document stating that NORAD has been tracking UFOs entering the Earth’s atmosphere. She holds on to it until January 1982 when she attempts to return the document to Nellis. She is told that the document must be destroyed. One thing leads to another, and Mendez finds herself under interrogation by the FBI and AFOSI. This includes polygraph tests, which she fails because she finds them very distressing. This leads to an emotional breakdown, hospitalization, and medication. There are more interrogations over the next few months, and another hospitalization. Eventually, the Air Force clears her of criminal charges, but her security clearance is stripped, and she is transferred to another base. (“The Simone Mendez Case,” Alien Expanse, September 18, 2018; Paul Carr, “Conversation 18: Simone Mendez,” Aerial Phenomena Investigations, September 23, 2018)

October 2 — Afternoon. Three days after a nighttime UFO sighting, Grant Breiland goes down to the business district in Victoria, British Columbia, to meet a friend. When the friend does not show, Breiland calls him up from a pay phone. Immediately afterward, he sees two men watching him. Dressed in dark suits, they have suntanned, expressionless faces and unblinking eyes. When they speak, their lips do not move. The first one asks his name, then the second asks for his address and phone number. He does not respond, and after 5 seconds, the men leave through the main door and walk in perfect synchronization to a nearby roadway. Breiland follows them and sees them enter a muddy plowed field some 80–90 feet across. Three-quarters of the way across, the men vanish, leaving no footprints behind. During the entire time the men are visible, no other human beings are in view and no cars pass by. (P. M. H. Edwards, “M.I.B. Activity Reported from Victoria B.C.,” Flying Saucer Review 27, no. 4 (January 1982): 7–12; Clark III 733)

October 8 — 11:00 a.m. Hannah McRoberts is taking photos with her family at a rest area some 30 miles north of Kelsey Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She snaps a color photo of one of the mountains to the west that has an interesting cumulus cloud above it. When the photo is developed, it shows a silvery disc to the right of and above the peak. UFO researcher Richard F. Haines examines the original and determines that the image shows an unknown three-dimensional object positioned at least 30 feet away from the camera. (NICAP, “Daylight Disc Photo”; Richard F. Haines, “Analysis of a UFO Photograph,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 1, no. 2 (1987): 129–147)

October 15 — 7:30 p.m. Many citizens of Hällefors, Sweden, observe a huge cigar-shaped object “as large as a truck” that appears suddenly in the north gliding along just above the treetops. Four oblong windows are apparent, through which a blue-white light shines, and a red light is in the rear. A clear and piercing engine noise is evident as it slowly moves south for more than an hour. Former Chief Constable Björn Fagrell describes it as like two connected railway cars. The object makes a slow clockwise turn around the village, after which a flame comes out of the rear of the object. (“‘Flying Truck’ Seen over Hällefors for 75 Minutes!” Nordic UFO Newsletter, 1982, no. 1, pp. 6–8; Stig Aggestad, “The Hällesfors Incident Continues to Grow: Giant UFO Still Unidentified,” Nordic UFO Newsletter, 1983, no. 1, pp. 2–3; Christer Nordin, “The UFO over Hällefors: A Smuggled-In Airship, Says ‘Magasinet,’ a Channel 2 TV Program,” Nordic UFO Newsletter, 1983, no. 1, pp. 3–5)

October 19 — Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) responds to constituent Lee M. Graham asking about rumors of alien technology and bodies at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. He writes: “I have long ago given up acquiring access to the so-called blue room at Wright-Patterson…. this thing has gotten so highly classified, even though I will admit there is a lot of it that has been released, it is just impossible to get anything on it.” (“The Color Blue and UFO’s,” Above Top Secret forum, March 30, 2011; Nick Redfern, “UFOs and Senator Barry Goldwater,” Mysterious Universe, May 1, 2014)

October 28 — An appeal of the CAUS v. NSA case is heard by a three-judge panel (J. Skelly Wright, Roger Robb, and Norma Holloway Johnson) of the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia. In a brief decision issued barely a week after oral arguments, the judges uphold the lower court’s decision without comment. (“Suit Seeks to Lift Secrecy Veil from Agency’s Documents,” Washington Post, December 3, 1981; William A. Moore, “CAUS vs. NSA Lawsuit Goes to US Supreme Court,” APRO Bulletin 30, no. 1 (February 1982): 2–3)

November — Residents of the Hessdalen valley, Norway, begin reporting frequent sightings of unusual lights that hover (sometimes for as long as an hour) and sometimes streak off at speeds that render them all but invisible. On many occasions the lights are below the horizon, either just beneath the tops of nearby mountains or not far from the ground or the rooftops of nearby houses. The lights come in various shapes, but three predominate: a bullet or cigar, a sphere, and an “upside-down Christmas tree.” They are usually yellow or white. Sometimes a small red light appears in front of the others, the various lights maintaining a fixed position, leading observers to suspect

they are all attached to a single, dark object. More often than not, they are seen at night moving from north to south; but daylight sightings also occur, usually during the winter. Anomalous sounds are sometimes reported. Especially frequent activity occurs between December 1981 and mid-1984, when the lights are seen 15–20 times per week, attracting many tourists. (Wikipedia, “Hessdalen lights”; “Project Hessdalen: The Colored Lights of Norway,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 6–8; “Project Hessdalen,” IUR 10, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1985): 14; J. Allen

Hynek, “Tracking the Hessdalen Lights,” IUR 10, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1985): 10–11; Clark III 571)

November 3 — The US District Court for the District of Columbia issues a per curiam judgment that denies an appeal of the CAUS case against the NSA. (“Federal Court Upholds Decision Against CAUS,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 2, no. 12 (December 1981): 6; ClearIntent, p. 188)

November 12 — 6:00 p.m. Air traffic controllers at the Greek-American NATO base in Chortiatis, Greece, pick up unidentified targets on their radar screens. Six pursuit aircraft are scrambled, but the UFOs disappear as soon as the planes approach. At 6:45 p.m., luminous objects appear over Edessa, Greece, and maneuver for 30 minutes. Other objects are spotted at Kalochori, Michaniona, Giannitsa, Larissa, Ptolemaida, and Lagyna. (“The Hide-and- Seek of the UFOs and the Six Jets That Went after Them,” IUR 7, no. 1 (January 1982): 11–12)

November 24 — 9:30 p.m. Power company employee Dale Spurlock sees a red pulsating domed disc at treetop level while driving just north of Darco, Texas, on the Darco Cutoff Road near a small lake and some power lines. It has four colored lights—a row of red, blue, green, and amber lights—at the base of the dome. It makes no sound as it passes left to right just above the tress, and then hovers. The object tilts and two headlights from the front of the UFO shine directly down on Spurlock’s pickup truck. The object is revolving counterclockwise and moves off to the east. The truck’s electrical system (alternator and battery) is damaged. (“Nocturnal Rural Encounters,” IUR 7, no. 3 (May/June 1982): 5–8; “1977 Sketch/Sighting and 1981 Sketch Similarity: Another One,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1983): 1)

December — A triangular object appears between Royton and Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. The UFO has a light on each corner; one of the lights detaches and flies off. (Marler 137)

December 4 — President Ronald Reagan issues Executive Order 12333 extending the powers of US intelligence agencies.

It is regarded by the American intelligence community as a fundamental document authorizing the expansion of data collection activities and later is employed by the National Security Agency as legal authorization for its collection of unencrypted information flowing through the data centers of internet communications giants Google and Yahoo! It repeats a prohibition against state assassinations. (Wikipedia, “Executive Order 12333”)

December 8 — 7:30 p.m. Alma Hobbs is driving with her two children on State Highway 12 three miles southwest of Reserve, New Mexico. An enormous UFO shaped like an orange ball, estimated to be 750 feet in length, makes a number of turns in the sky. They arrive at a restaurant near the intersection of State 12 and US Highway 180, where Dan Luscomb and Rosie Tafoya also see the object, which executes a 90° turn near Luna Mountain as a jet aircraft chases the UFO out of sight. (“Hunting Old and New UFOs in New Mexico,” IUR 7, no. 2 (March 1982): 13–14; “Update on the Reserve, N.M. ‘Tube-Like’ UFO,” IUR 7, no. 3 (May/June 1982): 15)

December 15 — After sunset. Ali Ozel sees an extremely bright light hovering at a distance of 650–980 feet above his car in Aksaray, central Anatolia, Turkey. It performs some maneuvers and disappears to the southwest. (“‘Mysteries of Turkey’: UFO Activity Revealed,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 9)

December 20 — 7:00 p.m. Journalists Nils Kåre Nesvold and Per Holden see a shiny, spherical object at Vongraven, Norway, the apparent size of a large star. It is steady and intense with no halo. It is flying nearly 3 miles distant and about 3,300–6,500 feet above a mountain. Its speed is irregular, and it changes both course and altitude.

Suddenly it disappears as though it is switched off. (Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 89–90)

December 21 — Captain O. Celen and other people in Aksaray, Turkey, see a huge, glittering, silent, egg-shaped object shedding a greenish light over the building site of the Aksaray Engine Factory. It is hovering at 800–1,000 feet and shoots away to the southwest. (“‘Mysteries of Turkey’: UFO Activity Revealed,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb.

1983): 9)

December 28 — 10:30 a.m. G. W. Schoen and two others are talking outside a stable on a farm south of Westminster, Maryland, when they see a grayish-black object flying east to west against the wind and below the clouds at 1,000 feet. It is shaped like a lightbulb, with visible ribs and dark black lines. It climbs slowly and gradually disappears from sight. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1982): 4)

December 29–30 — William Moore meets twice with AFOSI officer Richard Doty in a restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Doty provides Moore with copies of three documents, one of which is a “fake” to test Moore. Another is the one-page Aquarius teletype. (Brad Sparks and Barry Greenwood, “The Secret Pratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12,” in MUFON 2007 International UFO Symposium Proceedings, MUFON, 2007, pp. 92–159)

1982

1982 — Richard Mingus is coordinating security operations for Livermore in the Area 6 section of the Nevada Test Site when, just as an unsecured, live nuclear weapon is being lowered into an 800-foot-deep shaft prior to testing, an alert goes off that the facility is under attack. It turns out that Wackenhut Security has decided to conduct a mock helicopter attack on an access point to Area 51 to test the system for weaknesses but neglects to inform the Department of Energy beforehand. (Jacobsen, Area 51, pp. 333–338)

1982 — The National Security Agency, through the Department of Justice, covertly misappropriates a Prosecutors Management Information System (PROMIS) developed by private firm Inslaw to aid prosecutors in tracking cases. Inslaw claims that the feds withheld payments on the software, then pirated it, making modifications to allow it to monitor intelligence operations, then giving or selling it to Israel and 80 other countries through Earl

W. Brian, a man with close personal and business ties to President Ronald Reagan and then-presidential

counsel Edwin Meese. The NSA uses it to covertly conduct real-time electronic surveillance of the flow of money to suspected terrorists and other perceived threats to US national interests. Fabrizio Calvi and Thierry Pfister in 1997 claim that NSA has been “seeding computers abroad with PROMIS-embedded SMART (Systems Management Automated Reasoning Tools) chips, code-named Petrie, a Trojan horse capable of covertly downloading data and transmitting it, using electrical wiring as an antenna, to US intelligence satellites” as part of an espionage operation. (Wikipedia, “PROMIS (software)”; Ryan Gallagher, “Dirtier Than Watergate,” New Statesman, April 20, 2011)

1982 — Audits and Surveys, in a report sponsored by Merit Report, finds that 49% of Americans definitely or probably think extraterrestrial UFOs have been here. (Robert J. Durant, “Evolution of Public Opinion on UFOs,” IUR 18, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1993): 13)

1982 — Brazilian ufologist Irene Granchi founds the Centro de Investigação sobre a Natureza dos Extraterrestres in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The group is eventually taken over by her daughter Chica Granchi. (Claudio Tsuyoshi Suenaga, “Entrevista: Irene Granchi, a Grande Pioneira da Pesquisa Ufológica no Brasil,” Portal UFO, May 4, 2018)

1982 — The Royal Australian Air Force grants permission to UFO researcher Bill Chalker to examine its UFO files.

Chalker visits the archives in Canberra, A.C.T., and reviews more than 1,000 reports in 53 RAAF files through 1984, allowing him to compile a detailed summary covering the years 1950 to 1980. He concludes that the existence of some interesting cases in the files is not suggestive of an RAAF coverup. (Keith Basterfield, Vladimir Godic, and Pony Godic, “Australian Ufology: A Review,” JUFOS 2 (1990): 33)

January 2 — Writer Bob Pratt flies out to Arizona to meet William Moore, who has called him to propose a non-fiction book project about UFOs. Moore tells him about MJ-12, Project Aquarius, and other alleged revelations. Pratt secretly tapes his conversations with Moore, which reveal his contacts with Richard Doty and other agents of disinformation. (Brad Sparks and Barry Greenwood, “The Secret Pratt Tapes and the Origins of MJ-12,” in MUFON 2007 International UFO Symposium Proceedings, MUFON, 2007, pp. 92–159)

January 3 — Two Brazilian Air Force F-5 fighters flying at about 5,000 feet over Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, see a dark metallic-looking object about 66 feet long, 55 feet high, and 3,000 feet away. The control tower cannot see anything in the vicinity. The F-5s get closer, but the object ascends and stays above them. They stay in this position for 30 seconds and then the UFO accelerates and disappears. (Clark III 205; Brazil 552)

January 5 — The Society for Scientific Exploration is founded by Peter A. Sturrock at a meeting held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., in order to study phenomena “generally regarded by the scientific community as being outside their established fields of inquiry.” (“Professors Join in UFO Study Forum,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1982): 1, 3; Clark III 1082–1083)

January 9 — 8:20 p.m. Carl (Eddie) Cox III steps outside his rural home near Washington, North Carolina, to photograph the rising full moon with a new 35mm camera using high-speed color film. He sees and takes 8 photographs of a strange, tubular object moving from the northeast. The photos show a double tube with varying configurations of white and red-orange lights. The final photo shows the tops of nearby trees and distant condensation trails.

Analysis suggests that the sighting is due to a distant aircraft passing through a condensation trail. (“Tubular UFO Photographed, January 9, 1982,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 3 (June/July 1982): 1, 4; “January UFO Photos Become Identified FOs,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 6 (Dec. 1982/Jan. 1983): 5–6)

January 15 — 7:05–11:35 p.m. Three sightings occur one after the other in Turkey. An object resembling a tray is seen at 7:05 p.m. over Niğde in central Anatolia. At 9:35 p.m., two UFOs are reported at Havsa, Edirne, accompanied by reported malfunctioning TV sets in the town. Around 11:30 p.m., a reported UFO causes the citizens of İzmir, western Anatolia, to panic. When the UFO hovers above the Buca forest it takes on a flaming appearance, causing

fire brigades to rush to the scene, keeping watch over the object for 45 minutes until it vanishes. (“‘Mysteries of Turkey’: UFO Activity Revealed,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 8–9)

February — William Moore receives a plain envelope from one of the intermediaries of “Falcon.” Inside are Air Force documents signed by Richard Doty regarding unexplained lights over Kirtland AFB and Manzano in New Mexico from 1980. Moore and Bruce Maccabee examine the documents and conduct a detailed on-site investigation, finding no contradictions. (Greg Bishop, Project Beta, Paraview, 2005, p. 209)

February 2 — 8:00 p.m. Susanne Anderson, 18, is jogging in Skövde, Sweden, when she notices two intense blinking lights that seem to be coming toward her. She hears no sound and gets frightened. After speeding up to a full run, she turns around and sees a metal-blue, saucer-shaped object with a blinking red light on the bottom. Terrified, she hides in a school building. (“A Short Tale of a Swedish CE-1,” IUR 7, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1982): 14)

February 8 — Capt. Gerson Maciel de Britto, piloting a Boeing 727 for VASP Flight 169, notices an intense light source while flying over Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil, on a southern course. It starts accompanying the aircraft in a parallel course, keeping the same distance. But the object soon begins changing its speed, moving ahead of the plane and then allowing it to catch up. As it approaches Belo Horizonte, the object approaches the plane, allowing crew and 150 passengers to view its lenticular form. At this point, the light emanating from the UFO penetrates the interior of the cabin and illuminates it with a bluish tint. The UFO is still in clear view as the aircraft begins landing at Galeão Airport in Rio de Janeiro. Some witnesses on the Rio-Niterói Bridge also see the object. (“The Climactic UFO Case of the Winter 1982 Brazilian ‘Flap,’” IUR 7, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1982): 11–13; Luiz Augusto da Silva, “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: The VASP-169 Flight Brazilian Episode Revisited,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 27, no. 4 (2013): 637–654; Patrick Gross, “UFO-Aircraft Encounters”; Clark III 198–200;

Brazil 537–541)

February 10 — 11:35 p.m. Tammy Utt and two other 17-year-old girls are driving in a car on I Road and 18th Road west of Escanaba, Michigan, when they encounter a low-flying domed disc. The mist from the rear of the object looks like “lit up snowflakes.” The rim around the bottom of the UFO has red windows all the way around it, and a red light shines through the windows. The sighting lasts seven minutes. (“Nocturnal Rural Encounters,” IUR 7, no. 3 (May/June 1982): 8–11; Kenneth C. Schellhase, “A Unique Triad of CE-I Sightings,” IUR 7, no. 5 (Sept./Oct.

1982): 4)

February 12 — 5:45 p.m. Civil engineer Robert A. Sproat is driving south on Gouger Road just south of County Road 7 in Lockport, Illinois, when he sees a light similar to an aircraft landing light over the Lockport locks and dam. It begins a smooth banking turn to the left at about 1,000 feet, and he can make out a structure about 40 feet square. (Robert A. Sproat, “Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 3 (June/July 1983): 2)

Mid-February — 9:00 p.m. Aubre Brogden is driving along Vermont Highway 36 near Bakersfield, Vermont, when she sees a lighted triangular object in the sky approaching her. As she pulls into her driveway, it hovers above her backyard about 25 feet away then silently moves directly above her. She estimates it is as large as a football field. The object moves away noiselessly. (“Recurrent Sightings on Vermont Highway,” APRO Bulletin 31, no. 7 (July 1983): 4–5)

February 19 — 4:54 p.m. A strange radiance is noticed in the sky above the frozen Lake Onega, from Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. The glow is pale blue and is shaped like a cloud, inside of which is an elliptical bright spot. After a few minutes, the bright spot disappears behind the forest, but the luminescent cloud remains in the sky for a time. Around 5:00 p.m., two more spots appear, moving together. One of them resembles the first object but is smaller. The other is a luminous sphere moving in a spiral. As it moves, it leaves a hazy trail that quickly disappears. At 5:15 p.m., a bright arrow-shaped object flies directly above the city a great speed, leaving a trail. None of the objects make any sound. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p.

February 24 — 5:15 a.m. Neillsville, Wisconsin, police officer Chuck Urban is patrolling 12 miles west of town when a bright light approaches him on his left. He stops his squad car, turns off his headlights, grabs a camera, and takes a picture that turns out poorly. He hears no sound from the object. The light follows him as he returns to Neillsville. The light is so bright he can see the road plainly. At one point the light crosses the road ahead of him for a few miles, then recrosses to the other side. He loses sight of it as he enters town. (“Nocturnal Rural Encounters,” IUR 7, no. 3 (May/June 1982): 11; “Neillsville Revisited: The Cop and the Light That Turned Night into Day,” IUR 7, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1982): 14–15)

March 4 — Brinsley Le Poer Trench, the Earl of Clancarty, asks in the House of Lords how many UFO reports the Ministry of Defence has received in the past 4 years, Viscount Long replies that there were 750 sightings in 1978, 550 in 1979, 350 in 1980, and 600 in 1981. Clancarty thinks the totals must be higher, but Long explains that not

all reports reach the MoD. The Earl of Kimberley asks how many of those remain unidentified, and Long replies that he does not have those figures as they “disappeared into the unknown before we got them.” Peter Hill-Norton asks whether all UFO reports received by the MoD before 1962 were destroyed because they were of “no defense interest,” and if so, who decided that. Long says that all reports have been preserved since 1967. (Good Above, pp. 101–102)

March 6 — Night. A cylindrical object passes above the Stadium Morenão in Campo Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, during a soccer game attended by more than 24,000 people. (Brazil 290–293)

March 8 — Peter Gersten’s 84-page petition (filed in early 1982) for the Supreme Court to hear an appeal of CAUS v. NSA is dismissed by the US Supreme Court, which declines to hear the case because releasing the files “could seriously jeopardize the work of the agency and the security of the United States.” (ClearIntent, pp. 188–189)

March 8 — 8:15 p.m. Two highly technically trained people separated by more than a mile observe a silent object near Bethel, Connecticut. (“The Case of the Rumbling Leviathan,” IUR 7, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1982): 8–10)

March 17–20 — The Project Hessdalen team manages to take four photos of oblong lights passing in front of Finnsåhøgda and Fjellbekkhøgda mountains near Hessdalen, Norway. (“Project Hessdalen: The Colored Lights of Norway,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 7–8)

March 21 — 8:30 p.m. Karl Stewart is driving eastbound on the Ohio Turnpike in northwest Ohio when he sees what appears to be a jet aircraft to the south at about 500 feet altitude. Its lights are much brighter than normal landing lights, and there are no airports in the vicinity. Pulling over to watch it, he sees it has three arms, small windows, and red and green strings of running lights. It gains altitude before banking north over the highway. (“A New Model UFO?” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 1 (Feb./March 1983): 3)

March 23 — 2:00 a.m. Tim Miron, 18, is driving north on I Road northwest of Escanaba, Michigan, when he sees an orange-red light, which gets bigger and begins flashing red beams from its underside after he turns on I.5 Lane. The object keeps moving closer and he sees it directly behind a telephone pole to his left 125 feet from the road, hovering 10 feet above the ground. Miron arrives at his family’s farm, jumps out, and sees the UFO moving directly toward him. He wakes up his mother and the two of them watch the object for the next 30–45 minutes as it maneuvers over a wide area around the farm, finally disappearing behind some trees. (Kenneth C. Schellhase, “A Unique Triad of CE-I Sightings,” IUR 7, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1982): 5–7)

March 26 — Leading investigators from UFO-Norge hold a town meeting in Ålen, Norway, near Hessdalen. Of the 130 residents who attend, 17 say they have seen a yellow spherical light, 12 a cigar-shaped object, and 6 an oblong object with one red and two yellow lights. Later in the week, two officers from Værnes Air Station in Trondheim interview some witnesses and conclude that Hessdalen residents have been seeing these lights since 1944 and their accounts are credible. (Clark III 571; Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 89, 90)

March 30 — 11:15 p.m. Nanette Morrison is driving home in Charlottesville, Virginia, when she spots a large, brilliant light in the sky hovering several hundred feet in the air and a quarter mile away. It approaches as she makes a turn and flies right over her car, later pacing her as she drives the remaining 15 blocks. She pulls up to the curb, and the UFO stops and hovers above a house across the street less than 400 feet away. The object reverses direction and moves away as she runs up to her house. (J. Allen Hynek, “A Remarkable Double Encounter,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 4–5; “Double Encounter Questioned,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 15)

April 1 — 7:15 p.m. Three men are repairing a jeep in Petrolia, Pennsylvania, when one of them notices a bright object with a flashing red light just above the trees. A few minutes later they see it has risen much higher. After they turn on the jeep’s headlights, the bright object moves toward them. When they turn the lights off again, the object backs away. The lights go on again, and the UFO passes over their heads at 250 feet. Its bright lights go out, and its triangular shape becomes clear, as well as its gun-metal color and the luminescent mist surrounding it. A red light is on the front, with white and amber lights on the other angles. Two bright lights shoot away from the triangle, one going north and the other south. When a jet approaches from the east, the object stops and becomes bright. Then it rises straight up until it is out of sight. For several days, the witnesses have severe headaches, and one has diarrhea. Other triangular UFOs are seen in the Pittsburgh area from March 22 to May 19. (Stan Gordon, “Pennsylvania Low-Level UFO Sightings,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 172 (June 1982): 3)

April 1 — 11:30 p.m. Nanette Morrison looks out her front window and sees a bright, fluorescent object hovering a few hundred feet above the tree line and a short distance away from her home in Charlottesville, Virginia. She tells her mother to come and look. As she does, the object flares up brightly and zips away at an incredible speed. (J. Allen Hynek, “A Remarkable Double Encounter,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 5, 15; “Double Encounter

Questioned,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 15)

April 2 — President Reagan issues Executive Order 12356, which eliminates response time limits on FOIA requests.

Searches for UFO documents show significantly more delays of 2 years or more, and search fees rise dramatically. (Wikisource, “Executive Order 12356”)

April 3 — 3:00 a.m. A woman schoolteacher in Bolingbrook, Illinois, is awakened by a high-pitched sound “like a blender running in a box.” She looks outside and sees a bright blue, domed, disc-shaped object land next to some power lines. It lifts off and then lands a second time. The UFO has blue lights around the rim and is only about 150 feet away. The blue lights illuminate the area as bright as day. A streetlight goes out. The police receive calls of power outages and blue flashes at the same time. (Fred Merritt, “A Blue Domed-Disc for Bolingbrook,” IUR 7, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1982): 6–8)

April 7 — The Earl of Cork and Orrery asks in the House of Lords how many of the 2,250 sightings of UFOs reported to the MoD in 1978–1981 are still classified. Viscount Long says none are and there is no reason why anyone could not come and look at the reports in the MoD archives. (Good Above, pp. 102–104)

April 8 — 11:50 p.m. Angie Parrotta and Nancy Hanson, both 18, are driving south on County Road 533 west of Escanaba, Michigan. They notice a bright star to the southwest, which soon becomes two huge yellowish-white “headlights” attached to an object. It descends and moves toward them. They speed up but the object keeps pacing them on their right. They become frightened when they see a blinking red light on the craft. They watch the UFO move swiftly toward Escanaba in the east and quickly lose sight of it. (Kenneth C. Schellhase, “A Unique Triad of CE-I Sightings,” IUR 7, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1982): 7–8)

April 22–23 — Night. A group of Polish Air Force pilots during missions over northwest Poland in the area from Elbląg to Ostróda and Olsztyn encounter a weird light at 47,500 feet that does not appear on their radar. It looks like a cloud with the central part a raised-up cupola and is emanating beams of light from the underside. Around it is some kind of vapor. (Poland 66)

April 23 — 5:15 a.m. Officials at the Head Office of Meteorology in Ankara, Turkey, observe two UFOs that are maneuvering over the city for an hour. They are elliptical and disappear in the direction of the Eskisehir Highway around 6:15 a.m. (“‘Mysteries of Turkey’: UFO Activity Revealed,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 10)

April 27 — Citizens Against UFO Secrecy files a request with the National Security Agency for all legal documents used to prepare its case in CAUS v. NSA, especially any portion of the top-secret Yeates affidavit of November 1980. (ClearIntent, p. 189)

May 18 — NSA Director of Policy Eugene Yeates releases a highly redacted portion of his 21-page affidavit used in the CAUS v. NSA lawsuit. An unredacted section reveals that the NSA holds 79 UFO documents referred by other agencies as well as 160 documents originating with the NSA, four of which have already been released. (ClearIntent, pp. 189–190)

May 22 — 11:00 p.m. Liberty County Deputy Sheriff John McDonald notices two bright lights above tall pine trees near Cleveland, Texas. He points his spotlight toward them as they sink out of sight, but they reappear and pass over his head at about 1,000 feet. He shines his spotlight again and sees a diamond shape with four rounded corners. The object is large, silent, and grayish in color. Seconds later he hears a high-pitched whine as it quickly departs. (John F. Schuessler, “Policeman Encounters Diamond-Shaped UFO,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 182 (April 1983): 3)

May 24 — 10:15 p.m. An orange-colored light is seen by many tourists moving at a slow speed at an altitude of 4,900– 6,500 feet toward Marmaris, Muğla, Turkey. It hovers for about 5 minutes over the sea, moves to the south, speeds up, and ascends. (“‘Mysteries of Turkey’: UFO Activity Revealed,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 10)

June — Leonard H. Stringfield issues his third status report, UFO Crash/Retrievals: Amassing the Evidence. (Leonard H. Stringfield, UFO Crash/Retrievals: Amassing the Evidence, Status Report III, The Author, 1982)

June 1 — Two UFOs allegedly hover above the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, for 14 seconds, one of them directly above launch pad number 1. On June 2, bolts and rivets are found that supposedly have been sucked out of the support towers, and welded sections have come apart. The other UFO hovers above the adjacent housing complex, knocking out thousands of panes of glass or making fine holes in them. The cosmodrome is said to be put out of action for two weeks. (Gordon Creighton, “Russia: Naughty Henry Gris Says It Again! ‘Soviet Space- Centre Knocked Out by UFOs,” Flying Saucer Review 28, no. 6 (August 1983): 27–28)

June 3 — Night. The examining magistrate and bailiff at Demirköy, Kirklareli, Turkey, watch an object with orange lights at an altitude of 160–200 feet. It has two lighted hemispheres with a dark rectangular mid-section. The poplar trees underneath it are shaking violently. (“‘Mysteries of Turkey’: UFO Activity Revealed,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 10)

June 10 — Three witnesses in Madbury, New Hampshire, see a wedge-shaped object with bright white lights and smaller blue-green-red body lights hovering about 50 feet above the Bellamy Reservoir, its lights reflecting on the surface of the water. As they try to move to a better viewing location, the object moves away, almost instantly. They see it again hovering above a house with an oscillatory motion. A red light beam shines down on the house and then on the car. After a while the object approaches the car from behind and passes above it by about 30 feet. (UFOEv II 41)

June 12 — Everyone on board a British aircraft sees a large translucent object 500 feet long flying at 41,000 feet altitude over Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria, Germany. It has the form of a “double rectangle surmounted by a globe (egg-shaped) crowned by a silver one.” (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, p. 162)

June 18 — 9:10–10:53 p.m. Five Chinese Air Force pilots are flying on patrol over the northern military frontier in Hebei province, China. At 10:06 p.m., a large yellowish-green object appears in the northern sky, whirling fast and creating rings of light. After 10 seconds, the center of the ring explodes “like a hand grenade.” It grows larger than the apparent size of the full moon, and black spots appear near its center. The aircraft lose their communications and navigational systems and are forced to return to their base. (NICAP, “Five Chinese Pilots Encounter Object / EME”; Good Above, pp. 217–218, 471; Paul Dong and Wendelle Stevens, UFOs over Modern China, UFO Photo Archives, 1983, pp. 243–245)

June 25 — 2:30 a.m. Kathy Freeman watches a bright star that makes two right-angle turns near Libertyville, Illinois. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 3, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1982): 5)

June 27 — Following a screening of E.T.: The Extraterrestrial at the White House, President Reagan leans over to director Steven Spielberg and comments, “You know, there aren’t six people in this room who know how true this really is.” (presidentialufo.com, “Ronald Reagan, 40th President, January 20, 1981–January 20, 1989”)

July 1 — The Center for UFO Studies discontinues its toll-free 1-800 number distributed to police offices across the country. (“Discontinue 800 #, Report Quality Low,” IUR 7, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1982): 13)

July 6 — 7:30 p.m. A man driving alone near Hampshire, Tasmania, finds that his car is gradually losing power and stops. He turns off the ignition and the lights, then gets out of the vehicle when he notices a stationary, noiseless object that looks like a large army helicopter about the size of a bus. It is blue-black in color and seems to be gradually moving to the west for about 90 seconds. He starts the car’s engine and leaves the area. An inspection of the car finds nothing to account for its behavior. (Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part 1,” IUR 33, no. 4 (May 2011): 19)

Early August — A man is in a meadow near a forest on the shore of the Vistula River a few miles northwest of Warsaw, Poland. Suddenly he hears a sound like an electric motor and sees a rectangular, black, domed object above the treetops that rises and sails slowly beyond the river. Windows in the dome cast a flickering light (Bronislaw Rzepecki, “Encounters in Poland,” IUR 12, no. 3 (May/June 1987): 17)

September — Rosalind Reynolds-Parnham and her boyfriend Philip are driving through the northwestern outskirts of Sudbury, Suffolk, England, when they see an object with an oval mass of orange lights moving through some pylons and causing sparks. They can smell a noxious odor. They drive on, and when they are near Cavendish on the A1092 some lights approach them from behind and the car loses power. When they arrive at their destination, they realize they have lost four hours of time. Rosalind begins to recall an abduction experience, aided by some disturbing dreams and odd scars on her abdomen. (Jenny Randles, “Abduction and Physiological Effects,” IUR 20, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1995): 4–6, 23; Carl Nagaitis and Philip Mantle, Without Consent: A Comprehensive Study of Missing Time and Abduction Phenomena in the United Kingdom, Ringpull, 1994; “Aliens Cost Me My Boyfriend and Kids,” London Express, August 24, 2016)

September 2 — 7:15 p.m. John T. Sery notices an object following a Cessna aircraft at an altitude of 1,500 feet above Minneapolis, Minnesota. It matches the pace of the airplane until it reaches a point about 4 miles away when it descends. His two daughters also view the UFO. The bottom and top of the object are jet black, and it has an equatorial band that is silvery metallic with a hint of rainbow reflections. (“Minnesota Flying Black Hamburger,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 6 (Dec. 1984/Jan. 1985): 6–7)

September 9 — A partial meltdown occurs at Chernobyl nuclear power plant Unit One in Pripyat, Ukraine. Officials deny that an accident has taken place, but radioactive contamination reaches the town and spreads as far as 9 miles from the plant. It includes iodine-131, fragments of uranium dioxide fuel, and hot particles containing zinc-65 and zirconium-niobium-95 consistent with partial destruction of the reactor core. Contaminated areas around the plant

are simply sluiced with water and covered with soil and leaves. Lenin Square is discreetly covered with a new layer of asphalt. (Adam Higginbotham, Midnight at Chernobyl, Simon & Schuster, 2019, pp. 69–70)

September 17 — 9:00 p.m. Capt. Stefan Freitag and the crew of the Romanian cargo ship Bosca are steaming 200 miles off the coast of Brazil in the South Atlantic when they see an object like a full moon, accompanied by a smaller, star-light object, which grows brighter and larger in size. Both objects disappear, leaving behind a shiny cloud. Then another moon-like object appears, during which a silent explosion takes place and an orange object is ejected. A fourth moon appears and approaches the ship, causing the crew to panic and the ship’s dog to howl. A fifth object appears briefly, leaving a glow that persists for 30 minutes. A Geiger counter indicates a radiation level of 5–7 rads on the ship. A similar phenomenon is seen by another ship in the general area at 11:03 p.m. and on the following night. (Gerhard Cordier, “Adventure under the Equator,” UFO Research Australia Newsletter 4, no. 3 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 3; MUFON UFO Journal, May 1985; Marine Observer 53 (1983): 132)

September 18 — 3:00 p.m. Villagers in Suchowola, Poland, see a triangular UFO with lights at its tips. (Poland 75–76)

September 30 — 1:30 a.m. A man and his son finish picking fruit in their orchard on Wolicka street near Czerniaków Hill in Warsaw, Poland. It is well after curfew, so they make their way toward home stealthily. Near the Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych building they smell smoke and see a strange object 20 feet in diameter hovering 3 feet above the ground. A faint orange glow is emanating from its base, causing the grass to smolder. Two thin beings are near the object. One has a device that projects an orange glow. The witnesses leave the scene carefully. (Poland 51; “Bliskie spotkanie w Warszavie w 1982 roku,” UFO-Relacje.pl, February 12, 2020)

September 30 — 10:15 p.m. Four women, all management personnel of New England Bell Company, are returning to Exeter, New Hampshire, after a trip to a county fair to the north. They are riding in a Mercedes owned by the driver, Mary Ann Poland. She and the passengers (Rose Messina, Mary LaMontagne, and Nicky LeClair) see a low-flying bright light approaching. Poland pulls the car over and they all jump out, as if the object has a compelling influence on them. The object is egg-shaped with swirling red lights around its equator and a white beam of light coming down from the side. After a few minutes it sinks down behind the tree line. (“Exeter Revisited,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 4–7)

October — A generator explodes at Reactor Number One of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant in Armenia. The turbine hall burns down, and an emergency team is airlifted from the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia to help save the core. (Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl, Simon & Schuster, 2019, p. 70)

October 2 —8:00 p.m. The North Arkansas Community College volleyball team (and their coach Sue McDonald) is returning from a game in Kansas and are near Springfield, Missouri, when they see an object with two brilliant white lights and a blinking red light. It hovers 100–150 feet nearly above the bus. The underside is in full view and about 40–50 smaller lights are plainly visible. (“CE-I for a Volleyball Team,” IUR 8, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1983): 12–14)

October 4 — 4:00–8:00 p.m. Russian Army Lt. Col. Vladimir Plantonev witnesses an hours-long UFO sighting near an IRBM missile base outside the village of Belokorovichi, Ukraine. It looks “just like a flying saucer,” but with no portholes and a smooth surface. It soundlessly makes a turn on its edge. Suddenly, an unspecified number of nuclear missiles spontaneously go into an automated launch sequence by themselves, proceeding to a countdown of 15 seconds before aborting and returning to standby status. (NICAP, “Russian Base Loses Control of Nuclear Missiles”; Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, p. 81; Robert L. Hastings, “Remarkable Reports from the Missile Field,” IUR 32, no. 1 (August 2008): 25–26; Antonio Huneeus, “Soviet Nukes and UFOs,” Open Minds, January 26, 2010; Nukes

445–452)

October 12 — Nova presents the documentary The Case of the UFO’s, which is criticized as a biased perspective. The participants on the US version of this BBC production include skeptics Philip Klass, James Oberg, and Michael Persinger, with only brief appearances by Bruce Maccabee and Allan Hendry. (Nova: The Case of the UFO’s, Time-Life, 1982; J. Allen Hynek, “Nova and UFOs,” IUR 7, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1982): 3–5; J. Allen Hynek, “An Editorial Apology,” IUR 8, no. 3 (May/June 1983): 3)

October 14 — 2:00 a.m. Four residents of Alta, Troms og Finnmark, Norway, see three points of light appear above the mountains to the south-southeast. Each point of light is made up of several smaller lights bunched close together. They move in a northerly direction at a great speed, apparently about 43–50 miles in 5 seconds, or about 35,000 mph. Suddenly light rays flash down toward the ground simultaneously from all three objects. The rays are made up cones with an opening angle of about 15°. Their color is a powerful white with a bluish hue, especially at the sides. After 20–25 seconds, the rays begin to widen just as the light begins to diminish in strength. In 2–3 seconds the cones became “an ocean” of light with an opening angle of some 180°. Then they move off one by one with a separation time of one second. At the same moment as the lights go out there appears an ellipsoid object that gives

off a faint light, but nevertheless is distinctly visible. Its color is pink with a deeper color tone that becomes gray just underneath the object. It is motionless, hanging in the sky for 30 minutes, then it suddenly disappears. All of the observers feel a strange, dead silence during the entire observation. (Elbjørg Feldbjerg, “Extraordinary Observation from Alta,” Nordic UFO Newsletter, 1983, no. 2, pp. 15–18)

October 15 — 1:35 p.m. A witness at the Diamond Shamrock plant at Lamar [now Botham Jean Boulevard] and Lenway Street in Dallas, Texas, sees a domed, metallic disc that apparently has risen up from the Trinity River bottom and is heading east. He estimates it is 60 feet wide and flying at 3,000–4,000 feet. It has bright red lights on top. (“Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 2)

October 18 — 7:50 p.m. A couple is driving along Quinpool Road near Armview Avenue in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when they see an object about 8 times the size of the full moon traveling silently south to north at about 50 mph and 300 feet altitude. It is cigar-shaped with a steady green light in front and a flashing green light in back. They have it in sight for 15 seconds. (“Correspondence,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 1 (Feb./March 1983): 2)

October 19 — Night. A US Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft monitoring Soviet military activity is buzzed by a huge object (larger than the RC-135) over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. British personnel at RAF Troödos on Cyprus listen to the radio calls of the American crew for 90 minutes as the encounter unfolds at 35,000 feet. The UFO, described as a multitude of lights flashing 20 at a time, is picked up on the aircraft’s radar as it approaches from the south about 2 miles away. It circles around the plane and closes in. Two US Navy F-14 fighters are scrambled from an aircraft carrier, and an RAF Phantom is diverted from a night flying exercise to intercept the object south of Cyprus. As the three interceptors approach, the RC-135 crew sees the object depart to the south. The fighter pilots can see nothing. Following the incident, British authorities launch a secret investigation, the results of which (including a transcript of the RC-135 crew’s conversation with ground controllers) are sent to the US Department of Defense in November. One senior RAF official strongly suspects that the object is a mirage effect from lights on the coast of Israel or Lebanon. (David Clarke, “A Cold War Close Encounter,” Fortean Times 357 (September 2017): 17)

October 21 — 12:35 p.m. An oval object about 3 feet in diameter descends into a garden in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, and hovers about 3 feet off the ground. After 20 minutes the object takes off silently. The witness, a cellular biologist, reports that when the UFO rises up, the grass under it stands up straight. In the afternoon, the witness notes that two amaranth plants located near the UFO have desiccated, withered leaves. The witness calls the Gendarmerie, who inspect the garden and take some samples of the amaranth plants. The analysis of the samples made by GEPAN finds that the plants are dehydrated, but there is no evidence of radiation. (Enquête 86/06: L’Amarante, Note Technique no. 17, Groupe d’Étude des Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés, Centre Nationale d’Étude Spatiales, March 21, 1983; Swords 445–446)

October 24 — 9:20 a.m. Pilot Michael Davis and his father (a student pilot) are flying a 1968 Piper PA-28 Cherokee 140 about 10 miles southeast of Lowell, Indiana. Just after reaching their cruising altitude of 2,300 feet, they encounter an object they at first think is a malfunctioning parachute. At one point, the UFO flicks across their nose, veering to its left and missing the aircraft’s right wingtip by no more than 10 feet. It has no exhaust trail. At the instant that it passes, the vortex hits them so hard that the plane’s airframe groans in protest, and the altimeter goes “wacky.” It continues to curve to the left, still accelerating and eventually beginning to climb until it finally disappears into the distant haze. (NICAP, “Pilots Encounter Object over Indiana / EME”; Mark R. Remaley, “An Incredible Close Encounter from Credible Pilots,” IUR 8, no. 3 (May/June 1983): 4–7)

October 27 — Early evening. Bonnie McCrory and her father, Maurice Smith, are driving south on the Richardson Highway near Summit Lake, Alaska, when their pickup stops with a frozen gas line. After about 20 minutes, they notice a huge ball on the ridge to the east. It is silver-colored and looks like a geodesic dome. Within the next hour it changes color from silver to yellow to orange to fiery red-orange. It slowly moves up the ridge until it moves out of sight. Possibly the full moon. (Richard Sigismond, “Alaska Close Encounter,” IUR 9, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1984): 8–9; Hobart Gregory Baker, “Sail Along, Silvery Disc,” IUR 10, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1985): 16,

20; Richard Sigismond, “Sail Along, Silvery Disc: A Response,” IUR 11, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1986): 20)

November — After 12:00 midnight. A man and his wife are camping in Davies Valley, Imperial County, California, when they are awakened by a surge of static electricity. A huge object shaped like a manta ray 200 feet across is hovering above them. It makes a humming sound as it slowly passes over them, heading east. (Doris and Joe Graziano, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 31, no. 8 (August 1983): 8)

Early November — 6:15 p.m. Rachel Morton is waiting for a bus in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, when a triangular-shaped object with a domed covering passes noiselessly overhead. Two small white lights are at the front and three lights at the top. (Whitby (UK) Gazette, November 12, 1982; Marler 114)

November 2 — 10:50 a.m. Capt. Júlio Miguel Guerra is flying a DHC-1 Chipmunk in the region of Serrea de Montejunto and Torres Vedras, Portugal, near Ota Air Base [now Military and Technical Training Center of the Air Force] in Ota, Alenquer, Portugal. He encounters a metallic disc at 4,900 feet that engages in evasive maneuvers and circles his plane. The object is 7 feet in diameter and its lower hemisphere is reddish. A circular dark area is visible on the bottom and something looking like a grid encircles its middle. The pilot of another Chipmunk trainer sees the same object at 11:05 a.m. The object continues circling between the two aircraft for 10 minutes, when it makes a pass at the second plane and speeds off to the southwest. (José Sottomayor and Antônio Rodrigues, “Close Sighting by Portuguese Air Force Pilots (November 1982),” Flying Saucer Review 32, no. 5 (August 1987): 12– 13; Júlio Miguel Guerra, “Circled by a UFO,” IUR 33, no. 3 (December 2010): 3, 21; Kean, pp. 47–51; UFOEv II

108–109)

Late November — Senior Coastguard Bernard O’Reilly watches a lighted triangular object hovering silently for several minutes over Skegness, Lincolnshire, England. It moves away to the southeast. (Lincolnshire (UK) Daily Echo, December 1, 1982; Marler 114)

November 25 — Day. US Army Military Policeman Christopher Grooms is on guard duty in Tower 5 at the Army Special Weapons Depot at Kriegsfeld, a nuclear weapons storage and maintenance site in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He watches for over 10 minutes a dark triangular-shaped craft fly slowly in a straight line from the southwest, over the valley, over the town of Gerbach, and directly over his watchtower, flying toward the northeast. After approaching for about 7 minutes, it flies directly overhead and Grooms steps out onto the tower landing with M- 16 in hand and looks straight up at the object. It is completely silent and has no markings. As it passes over, the object rotates 360° nose down, pointing directly at him, then rotates back into its original position. Grooms has “the overwhelming feeling that it was acknowledging my presence with this maneuver or was ‘checking me out’ as it did it.” (Robert L. Hastings, “Triangular UFO above a U.S. Army Nuclear Weapons Depot Performs a 360- Degree Roll,” UFOs & Nukes, January 26, 2015)

November 27 — 5:00 a.m. A luminous object with brilliant lights brightly illuminates a police patrol car driven by Cmdr. Michael McDonald near the intersection of West Northwest Highway and Smith Street in Palatine, Illinois. Two other officers (Ron Roszak and Dennis Somsel) in two other patrol cars on Lincoln Avenue see a domed, disc- shaped object 30 feet in diameter, which emits a light beam toward the ground, then changes direction when pursued. The white disc is later seen to the east, with a light beam extended toward the ground, as it descends behind the tree line, seemingly landing in Busse Woods (Ned Brown Forest Preserve). The entire episode lasts about 12 minutes. (Mark Rodeghier, “A Police Puzzler from Palatine,” IUR 8, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1983): 10– 14)

December — During naval exercises in the Black Sea near the port of Sevastopol in the Crimea, Russia, an unidentified target is detected over the Balaklava District at a low altutude. It has a sharp nose and sparks coming from its tail section. The object does not respond to attempts at communication, so jet interceptors are scrambled. The object descends into the water when they approach. Soviet naval ships cannot detect it underwater. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 133–134)

December 8–12 — The Third International Congress of Extraterrestrial Science is held in Rosario, Argentina, with representatives from Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and the US, as well as Argentina. (“Third International Congress of Extraterrestrial Science,” IUR 8, no. 3 (May/June 1983): 3, 7, 13)

December 10 — 7:55 a.m. Stephen Eric Alexander is waiting for a school bus with his daughter in Rosedale, Queens, New York City, when he sees an object among a flock of birds. The birds disperse and leave the object alone, drifting silently at 25 mph. After 15 seconds, it tilts and veers to the southwest and disappears. He estimates the object is 11 feet wide and 5 feet tall, 150 feet away from him, and 210 feet above the ground. Its ends pointed slightly downward. (“1977 Photograph/Sighting and 1982 Sketch Similarity,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 1–2)

December 21 — A witness driving from Échallens to Orbe, Vaud, Switzerland, notes a red globe 5–6 inches in diameter closely following his car. The light spreads inside the car as the object apparently settles down on the rear seat. He experiences about 8–10 minutes of missing time. (“Newspaper Item from Bern, Switzerland, January 12, 1983,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 4)

December 31 — Around 11:50 p.m. An off-duty police officer and his family see a boomerang-shaped object drift slowly over their home near Kent Cliffs, New York. They can see a solid structure with roughly 15 red, green, and white lights anchored to its underside. It maintains a constant altitude of about 490 feet, moves at a gentle walking pace, and makes only a faint hum. As it passes over, he feels a deep vibration in his chest. At one point, the lights go out and three blinding white lights in the shape of a triangle appear in their place. About 5 seconds later, the colored ones return, and the object drifts out of sight. Warehouse foreman Edwin Hansen, 55, sees what appears to be the same object as he is driving down Interstate 84, just moments later. Hansen, among others, stops on the

side of the road after spotting a boomerang-shaped formation of lights that project a bright beam of light to the ground. It is so large that it fills the sky in front of him, and it makes slow, tight circles in the air. Just as he thinks he’d like to get a closer look, the object moves in his direction. He panics as it approaches, but then hears a voice in his head that tells him not to be afraid. At the same time, the object turns away and the beam goes out. Hansen says that he “felt thoughts that weren’t [his] own,” and believes that he has received a telepathic communication from the UFO. (NightSiege 5–9)

1983

1983 — Since 1966, some 6,700 Ummo communications have been received. The early ones are written in Spanish, but over time they are composed in French, though certain grammar and punctuation oddities indicate that Spanish, not French, is the writers’ first language. Other analyses indicate a British origin. (Wikipedia, “Planetary objects proposed in religion, astrology, ufology, and pseudoscience”; Wikipedia, “Ummo”; Jacques Vallée, Revelations: Alien Contact and Human Deception, Ballantine, 1990, pp. 90–121; Bob Rickard, “The Ummo Mystery,” Fortean Times, no. 149 (September 2001): 34–35; Reinaldo Manso, Ummo: Un Historia de un Obsesión, Megustaesscribirlibros, 2015; Reinaldo Manso, “Were the Ummites British?” Fortean Times 336 (February 2016): 58–59; Clark III 1185–1186)

1983 — Philip J. Klass writes UFOs: The Public Deceived for Prometheus Press, claiming that all significant government documentation has been released and that UFO reports are nothing but hoaxes, misidentifications, and distortions. He personally attacks Hynek, Maccabee, Richard Hall, and others. (Philip J. Klass, UFOs: The Public Deceived, Prometheus, 1983)

January — The first issue of Cuadernos de Ufologia, edited by José Ruesga Montiel and featuring case investigations by many Spanish ufologists, is published in Seville, Spain, by the Colectivo Cuadernos (and beginning in 1997 by La Fundación Anomalía). It continues through April 2012. (Cuadernos de Ufologia, no. 1 (January 1983))

January 10–11 — CAUS director and attorney Peter Gersten has two meetings with Richard Doty in New Mexico. During the first meeting, with Bill Moore in attendance, Doty is guarded in his comments. At the second meeting with Gersten alone, he speaks openly about the 1977 Ellsworth AFB “incident” that he claims AFOSI and the FBI are investigating. He tells Gersten that the US government knows why UFOs appear in certain places and that “beyond a doubt they’re extraterrestrial” and come from 50 light years away. He mentions Project Aquarius, which he says is the government’s top-secret involvement in communications with aliens. He speaks of documents that tell of agreements between the US government and extraterrestrials under which the aliens are free to conduct animal mutilations and land at a certain base, in exchange for information about advanced UFO technology. (Clark III 363)

January 12 — 4:30 p.m. A man and his two sons encounter a short entity in a gray “wetsuit” uniform holding a glowing

L-shaped object in a swampy area near their house in Pine Township, Porter County, Indiana. Both are floating 2– 3 feet above the ground. A second being is peering over a fence at them. The encounter lasts about 5 minutes, and no UFO is seen. (R. A. Busse, “An Indiana CE-III,” IUR 8, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1983): 6–9)

January 14 — 5:54 p.m. Amateur astronomer Todd Lohvinenko in Winnipeg, Manitoba, observes a “perfectly black orb” traversing the Sun in 3 seconds. (Todd Lohvinenko, “A Mysterious Object,” National Newsletter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 77, no. 2 (April 1983): L19)

January 14 — 7:53 p.m. A bright object appears in the sky above Adana, Turkey, and many people stop their cars to look at it. Soon the object is joined by two US Air Force jets from Incirlik Air Base. One of the jets flies in tight circles around the UFO, which dwarfs it in size and is described as a disc with a dome on the underside. The object accelerates and disappears over the Mediterranean Sea with the jets in pursuit. Only one jet returns to base, although the other could have been lost during an unrelated search-and-rescue mission. (Good Need, pp. 312– 313)

January 19 — 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. South Wales police begin to receive reports of UFOs. Two detectives in Swansea observe a silent, triangular object with three pulsating lights at 1,000 feet altitude. Carole Griffiths and her husband are driving home in Cardiff when they see a large triangular object in the sky and pull over to watch. It has 11 lights around it. Similar objects are seen in Porthcawl and other Welsh localities. (Marler 114–117)

January 27 — 7:00 p.m. Peggy Iery sees a large central white light with two flanking lights over some power lines as she is returning home 2 miles north of Marquette, Michigan. Suddenly it appears over her car and seems so huge that it blocks out the sky. Its shape is a perfect pentagon with a small white light at each of the corners; the bottom is

silvery and flat. She drives home quickly, and she and her husband see four lights nearby, which gradually recede beyond the trees. (Kenneth C. Schellhase, “The Marquette Pentagon,” IUR 8, no. 3 (May/June 1983): 11–13)

February 7 — 8:19 p.m. A witness in Coffeen, Illinois, sees a triangular object with bright lights. A similar object is seen by a police officer 10 miles southwest of Brighton, Illinois, around 8:27 p.m. (Marler 209)

February 11 — The Parisian newspaper Le Figaro cites unnamed specialists who say that GEPAN exists only because it reflects the enthusiasm of former President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and that it costs too much, even though it is only a small percentage of the CNES budget. (Clark III 547)

February 26 — 8:30 p.m. Monique O’Driscoll and her 17-year-old daughter are driving near the frozen White Pond in Putnam County, New York, when they see a silent, multicolored, boomerang-shaped object about 200–300 feet wide. It has many lights, which seem to respond to their thoughts. It has a crisscross lattice structure and tubes on its underside. Their CB radio just has static. Another independent witness, Rita Rivera, probably sees the same object, a V-shaped array of 50 lights with amber, red, and blue colors. (NightSiege 8–14; Philip Imbrogno, George Lesnick, and Chris Clark, “Boomerang Update,” IUR 8, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1983): 8–9)

Spring — 10:00 p.m. A woman hospital employee is driving to work near New London, Connecticut, when she sees a light flick by quickly in the sky ahead. It stops above the treetops and shines a searchlight-like beam down on the woods. She pulls over to watch. Abruptly the object moves directly in front of her. There is no other traffic, although the road is usually busy. The object is round and has blue, yellow, red, and white lights flickering in a circle. She blacks out for a short time and finds that the engine, lights, and radio have been shut off. The window has been rolled down. The car stalls when she tries to start it, but the engine finally catches and she drives to work, where she arrives uncharacteristically late at 11:05. (Michael D. Swords, “Unusual Experiences from the Timmerman Files,” IUR 27, no. 2 (Summer 2002): 23)

March 8 — President Ronald Reagan delivers a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in which he refers to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” and the “focus of evil in the modern world.” He asserts that the Cold War is a battle between good and evil. (Wikipedia, “Evil Empire speech”)

March 11 — Reagan authorizes National Security Decision Directive 84, which substantially increases governmental control over federal employees, particularly their relationships with the media. It mandates that all employees with access to sensitive information are now subject to lifetime censorship of their writings and speeches on these topics. (“Safeguarding National Security Information,” National Security Decision Directive 84, March 11, 1983; Frederick W. Whatley, “Reagan, National Security, and the First Amendment: Plugging Leaks by Shutting Off the Main,” CATO Institute Policy Analysis no. 37, May 8, 1984)

March 11 — Richard Mull finds a large star-shaped hole in his bean field west of Wauseon, Ohio, around which the dirt is mounded up. It has six long points 19 feet long and four shorter points 9 feet long. In the center is a depression 8 feet in diameter and 8 inches deep, and at the center of this depression is a small hole 2 inches in diameter that goes down to a depth of 6 feet. (“Two Physical Trace Cases in Northwest Ohio Unexplained,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 6, no. 3 (June/July 1985): 4–5)

March 15 — 5:00 p.m. An unidentified target is tracked by USAF radar at RAF Upper Heyford [now closed], Oxford, England, until 9:15 p.m. Sgt. Byrd Cormier says they do not have radio contact with it. A slow, brilliant white light is seen by some civilians in Berkshire. Cpl. Candellin at RAF Brize Norton, Oxford, claims that RAF radar cannot pick up the object. (“UFO Alert As Mystery Light Passes over Berks,” Reading (UK) Evening Post, March 16, 1983, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 165 (April 1983), p. 13; Good Above, pp. 104–105)

March 17 — 7:00–10:00 p.m. Hundreds of people see a boomerang-shaped object moving slowly and hovering over I-84 near Brewster, New York. (Philip Imbrogno, “Boomerang over Three Counties,” IUR 8, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1983): 11; Philip Imbrogno, George Lesnick, and Chris Clark, “Boomerang Update,” IUR 8, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1983): 9– 10; NightSiege 18–25; Patrick Gross, “The Hudson Valley UFO Flap”)

March 23 — In what later becomes known as his “Star Wars” speech, President Ronald Reagan announces his plans to develop an anti-missile capability to counter the threat of Soviet ballistic missiles and to make these nuclear weapons “impotent and obsolete.” This paves the way for a Strategic Defense Initiative as an alternative to a proliferation of missiles under the concept of mutual assured destruction. SDI is derisively nicknamed by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) as “Star Wars,” after the 1977 film by George Lucas. By the early 1990s, with the Cold War ending and nuclear arsenals rapidly reduced, political support for SDI collapses. SDI officially ends in 1993, when the administration of President Bill Clinton redirects the efforts towards theatre ballistic missiles and renames the agency the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. BMDO is renamed

the Missile Defense Agency in 2002. (Wikipedia, “Strategic Defense Initiative”)

March 23 — Night. Russian Major V. Gorsky is stationed in the Altai Mountains of Mongolia when he sees, along with two of his commanding officers, a silvery disc at an altitude of 1,300 feet and 1–2 miles away. Its colors seem to be changing constantly, and it is surrounded by a blue halo. A narrow beam of light descends from it, illuminating the area. More than 30 other soldiers witness the display. It studies the area another 4 minutes, then the beam disappears, the halo vanishes, and the object is gone instantly. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 127–128)

March 24 — 7:30 p.m. A corporate executive in Bedford, New York, sees a half-circle of lights hovering behind some trees near a commuter-bus station. There is no sound. After watching for 5 minutes, he goes inside his house to alert his family, but when they come outside, the lights are gone. (Clark III 1277)

March 24 — 8:00 p.m. Four persons in Carmel, New York, see a half-circle of red and white lights and the vague outline of a larger object to which they are attached. The lights are hovering above trees several hundred yards away.

They drift to the east and are lost to view, but almost immediately a family living a quarter mile away sees them drift into view. Through binoculars they can see a “huge object” with a dull-green metallic color connecting the lights. When the UFO turns slightly, they see it has a V shape. At that moment a brilliant beam of white light shoots down from the center of the object, and in it a small reddish object descends then shoots off “very, very fast toward the north.” The beam is shut off and the object turns and heads slowly east. (Clark III 1277)

March 24 — 8:30 p.m. Police officers in Yorktown, New York, say that their switchboard is flooded with calls reporting a large, boomerang-shaped UFO with red, blue, and green lights. Police in the nearby villages of Millwood and New Castle receive a flood of calls as well, describing an object as large as a football field. William Hele, a meteorologist for the National Weather Corporation, sees an asymmetrical V-shaped object about 1,300 feet long, with 6–7 lights as he is driving south on the Taconic Highway. The object descends from about 2,000 to 980 feet altitude and slows as it approaches. Hele realizes that the lights are all changing colors at different times, as if lit by a rotating prism within the structure. Suddenly, all the lights go out, leaving nothing in their place, as if whatever object was supporting them has simply disappeared. The lights reappear 30–40 seconds later, and a few seconds after that, the object turns to the north and flies away, as the lights change to a slime green. At the same time, people 15 miles north in Putnam County see a smaller object exhibiting similar behavior. Ruth Holtsman describes a silent object that hangs motionless in the sky. While it is in view, a driver pulls up and stops almost directly underneath it. The lights start to flash in a wild sequence up and down its “wings.” The driver jumps into his car and speeds away. Then the UFO approaches Holtsman’s car, which is bathed in a blinding white light as it speeds under the boomerang. John Miller sees the object hovering above a pond near his home in Brewster, New York. It is aiming two very bright searchlight beams over the surface of the water. He hears a faint whooshing sound. (Philip Imbrogno, “Boomerang over Three Counties,” IUR 8, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1983): 10–11; Philip J. Imbrogno and Chris Clark, “Boomerang Saga Continues,” IUR 9, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1984): 4–6 ; Philip J. Imbrogno, “Westchester Boomerang: March 24, 1983,” IUR 9, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1984): 9–12; NightSiege 15–16,

25, 30–35, 39, 41–42; Marler 117–119; Clark III 1277–1278)

March 24 — 8:45 p.m. Several dozen diners at a ski-resort restaurant near Stormville, New York, see white lights in a boomerang shape hovering over a utility pole 600 feet away. Three other people driving near the pole stop by it. The driver, a corrections officer, gets out and studies the object about 200 feet above him. It is silent, and the structure that holds the lights is dark and nonreflective. After watching it for 20 minutes, he heads back to his jeep, at which time the UFO moves down the road. He follows it to Interstate 84 and all the lights go out, allowing him to see the boomerang shape. The lights come back on and he follows the object for more than an hour, clocking it speed at 20 mph. (Chris Clark, “Boomerang!” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 10; Clark III 1278)

March 24 — 10:00 p.m. The last sighting of many this night is by an IBM executive who sees a lighted object “larger than a 747” hovering over pine trees near his home in Danbury, Connecticut. (Clark III 1278)

March 28 — Radar at the airport at Gorky [now Nizhny Novgorod], Russia, tracks an unidentified target flying at 110– 125 mph at an altitude of 1,310–1,970 feet. Flight Controller A. Shushkin sees the cigar-shaped object, which is similar to an aircraft in size but has no wings and is metallic. It is in view for only 10 seconds. (Good Above, p. 243; Paul Stonehill, “Pilot and Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich and UFOs,” Open Minds, June 12, 2014)

April 9 — Linda Moulton Howe flies to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to interview Sgt. Richard Doty for an HBO series she is working on, UFOs: The ET Factor, but Doty does not show. She calls Jerry Miller, chief of reality weapons testing at Kirtland AFB, whom she knows from an earlier conversation about Paul Bennewitz’s claims. Miller drives her to his home and calls Doty, who arrives promptly. Doty’s attitude is defiant and nervous, but Howe asks him about the alleged 1971 Holloman AFB landing. Doty says Robert Emenegger got the date wrong and that it was actually April 25, 1964, shortly after the Socorro landing. Transferring to his office at Kirtland, Doty is reluctant to talk about the 1977 Ellsworth landing. He shows her a bogus, undated document, A Briefing Paper for

the President of the United States on the Subject of Unidentified Flying Vehicles. The document lists UFO crash/retrievals and states that UFOs are piloted by extraterrestrials from a nearby solar system and have been on earth for many thousands of years. Through genetic manipulation, they have influenced the course of human evolution and helped shape our religious beliefs. Roswell and the 1949 living alien are mentioned, as well as Projects Snowbird (retroengineering a crashed UFO), Aquarius (umbrella project involving all ET contacts), Sigma (an ongoing electronic communications effort with aliens), and the defunct Garnet (investigation of ETs on human evolution). Doty promises Howe thousands of feet of film of crashed discs, bodies, EBE-1, and the Holloman landing for her documentary. He says that a similar release of data through Emenegger and Allan Sandler was halted because “political conditions were not right.” When she tells her HBO contacts about this, they ask her to secure a letter of intent from the US government with a legally binding commitment to secure the promised film footage. HBO wants the film, but Doty now stalls. In June, Doty tells her he is officially off the project. Further contacts up to March 1984 are fewer. In 2008, Doty claims that the intelligence community targeted Howe to find out who her inside sources were. (Linda Moulton Howe, An Alien Harvest: Further Evidence Linking Animal Mutilations and Human Abductions to Alien Life Forms, Howe Productions, 1989, pp. 143–156; Dolan II 299–307; Good Above, p. 425; Clark III 363–365)

April 10 — 8:30 p.m. Two drivers near Ross, Ohio, see a large, bright, oval object that seems to land. The property owner at the location also sees a white light on a hillside behind his home and watches the object ascend slowly before moving away at speed. The drivers’ car lights flicker, and the engines nearly stall. The landowner reports flickering houselights and TV problems. Investigation of the landing site indicates that a heavy circular object about 50 feet in diameter has landed, producing a 3-foot burn mark in the center. (NICAP, “Ross, Ohio: April 10, 1983”; Charles J. Wilhelm, “Ross, Ohio, Landing Case,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 186 (August 1983): 3–7; UFOEv II, p. 65)

April 26–27 — Day. For two days, a UFO is seen above Nuremberg, Germany. Amateur astronomer Walter Schwarz takes a photo that apparently shows a balloon. A local radio station hires a Lear jet to approach it, reaching 12,300 feet, but it is still too far away to identify it. Eckard Pohl, the astronomer at the Nuremberg Observatory, tracks it and says that it looks like a deformed pyramid with a pointed top and estimates it is flying at an altitude of 14.3 miles. The object is later identified as a balloon launched from eastern Europe. (Hans-Werner Peiniger, “‘UFO’ bei Nürnberg aufgeklärt,” Journal für UFO-Forschung, no. 27 (May/June 1983): 68–69; Hans-Werner Peiniger, “UFO über Köln identifiert,” Journal für UFO-Forschung, no. 28 (July/Aug. 1983): 99–100; “Excitement Chasing a Mysterious Flying Object,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 6 (Dec. 1983/Jan. 1984): 3; “Nurnberg UFO Becomes IFO,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 1 (Feb./March 1984): 4)

April 27–May 2 — Divers see an object like a submarine conning tower in Husnesfjorden, Hordaland, Norway. By 1:00 p.m., a search team from Norwegian Defense is at the site, consisting of the corvette KNM Sleipner, two submarines, and one Orion aircraft equipped with antisubmarine weapons. The next day the KNM Oslo and two more frigates join the search. At 4:55 p.m., the Oslo has a first sonar contact south of Leirvik on Stord island. At 5:21 p.m., it fires a Terne rocket as a warning. On April 29, a possible sonar contact is recorded in Selbjørnfjord. On the afternoon of April 30, the Oslo, after another sonar contact, fires a Terne rocket and drops a mine. Five minutes later it launches four more rockets, but then the sonar contact is lost. Around 4:00 p.m., five Terne rockets are fired at nearby Halsenøy. Near midnight, a sonar contact south of Leirvik results in another rocket firing. On May 1, at 4:20 p.m., another sonar contact takes place and six Terne rockets are fired. They hit the water and plunge deep before detonating. Immediately afterward, an Orion aircraft drops a mine at the same spot in Skåneviksfjorden. At 5:20 p.m., the Oslo again attacks with six rockets. Five minutes later it launches four more rockets, and the sonar contact is lost. At 8:30 p.m., an Orion aircraft has the last sonar contact. The aircraft drops mines at the entrance to the Høylandssundet. On May 2, mines are dropped in the Selbjørnfjord. (Ole Jonny Brænne, “Observations of Unidentified Submarine Objects in Norway,” IUR 20, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1995): 13)

May 4 — 3:50 a.m. Police officer James Philips sees a silent, yellowish-orange ball of light over the outskirts of Lawrence, Kansas, hovering 350 feet over a power line pole. It flies away toward the northeast slowly at 30–40 mph. The sighting lasts three minutes. (“A ‘Yorg’ in Kansas,” IUR 8, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1983): 14)

May 12 — 1:50 a.m. Three police officers on the Warrenville Heights, Ohio, police force see four dim lights moving silently in a wedge formation from south to north. They smoothly transition to a diamond formation as they near the constellation of Ursa Major. They shift into another formation again before speeding off in two different directions. (“Multiple Witness: Multiple UFO Sighting,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 4, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1983): 5–6)

May 20 — Sam Meadows and another ranch hand discover a perfect circle of disturbed grass in a pasture on the Teas Ranch in Hemphill County near Canadian, Texas. The circle is 29 feet in diameter, with an outer circle of much

shorter and greener buffalo grass that is 4 inches wide. This is a characteristic of new grass that comes up after a fire has burned the old grass. A prickly pear cactus pad is found at the edge of the ring; the side closest to the ring is devoid of spines, while all the spines facing away from the ring are undamaged. No UFO is seen. (W. Clark Ellzey, “A Ring on a Panhandle Ranch, and Others,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 10–11)

May 23 — 7:30 p.m. A high school art teacher and his daughter watch a disc-shaped object with a black top, blue sides, square windows, and a reddish golden metallic bottom maneuvering over trees in McHenry, Illinois. It then rocks violently, levels out, and flies off following the contour of the land. (“‘I Know What I Saw…But I Don’t Know What I Saw,’” IUR 10, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1985): 7–8)

May 23 — Night. Farmer Alcineu Sousa is aboard his twin-engine airplane returning from a visit to a farm near Corumbiara, Rondônia, Brazil. As he is about to land on his farm near Porto Velho, Rondônia, he sees an opaque light about 30 feet in diameter on his left that begins to approach and shine more brightly. His airplane instruments start to go haywire. He pulls the plane sharply to the right, but the UFO does the same but more moderately. A few seconds later, the light disappears over the horizon. (Clark III 200–201; Brazil 541)

May 24 — 6:00 p.m. A schoolboy is in his parents’ backyard in Jüchen, Germany, when he sees a red ball shoot down and hover above a nearby electric power line. It ejects a pyramid-shaped array of colored lights toward the ground. A few minutes later, the array disappears from the object downward to the ground. The object then speeds away into the sky toward its point of origin. (Hans-Werner Peiniger, “CE 2–Fall in Jüchen,” Journal für UFO-Forschung, no. 30 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 161–168; “CEII Case in Jüchen, West Germany,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 1 (Feb./March 1984): 1–2)

Summer — Richard Haines founds the short-lived North American UFO Federation, an effort to unite MUFON, CUFOS, and other groups (except APRO) to standardize UFO investigations, educate the public, and resolve the UFO mystery. Insufficient funding dooms the effort to failure. (MUFON UFO Journal, September 1983)

June 3 — Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish ufologists launch Project Hessdalen under the directorship of Leif Havik, Odd-Gunnar Røed, Erling Strand, Håken Ekstrand, and Jan Fjellander. They secure technical assistance from the universities of Oslo and Bergen, as well as cameras with grating filters, a seismograph, Geiger counter, radar, infrared viewer, laser, magnetograph, and spectrum analyzer. (“Project Hessdalen: The Colored Lights of Norway,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 6–8; Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean

Tomes, 1987, p. 90; Clark III 572)

June 5 — 5:00 a.m. Retired restaurant manager Mario Claretto wakes up because his dogs are barking outside his home at Varzi, Pavia, Italy. He sees a shining object with an orange headlight on a hill across the road from his house. It is hovering low above an alfalfa field. Its upper portion is slowly rotating, showing a silver section, a dark section, then the orange light. After finishing some work in the kitchen, Claretto goes outside for a closer look. He sees another person walking toward the object; after approaching very near, the person runs away, escaping down the road. Claretto points the object out to a neighbor, Bruno Stafforini, who has also woken up because of the dogs.

The UFO rises after skimming the grass for a few feet, its dome recedes, and it emits a vapor. It seems to change its form to cigar-shaped. Suddenly it speeds off to the south-southwest. (Antonio Chiumiento, “Un U.F.O. a Varzi,” Notiziario UFO, no. 101 (Sept./Oct. 1983): 4–10; Antonio Chiumiento, “Close Encounter at Varzi,” IUR 9, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1984): 4–5, 13; Antonio Chiumiento, “A Landing at Varzi in Northern Italy,” Flying Saucer Review 30, no. 6 (August 1985): 2–9; Antonio Chiumiento and Paolo Toselli, “L’atterrissage de Varzi (Italie),” Lumières dans la Nuit, no. 257/258 (Nov./Dec 1985): 32–37; 2Pinotti 61–68)

June 20 — Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) replies to UFO researcher William S. Steinman regarding government knowledge of UFOs: “I have no idea of who controls the flow of ‘need-to-know’ because, frankly, I was told in such an emphatic way that it was none of my business that I’ve never tried to make it my business since.” (Kean, p. 243)

June 22–27 — At the International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, the Los Alamos National Laboratory puts forward a proposal for a 3,500-square-foot (with plans for extending it to 6,000 square feet) National Underground Science Facility beneath the Nuclear Test Site in Nevada. (Michael Martin Nieto, “Physics at the Proposed National Underground Science Facility,” Los Alamos National Laboratory, June 1983)

July — Statistician Jean-Jacques Velasco replaces Alain Esterle as director of GEPAN. Esterle is dismissed, apparently because of potential scandal about GEPAN’s apparent collaboration with the French Army on magnetohydrodynamic propulsion experiments, done without the knowledge of GEPAN’s resident expert, Jean- Pierre Petit, who has suggested such a project. (Wikipedia, “Groupe d’études des phénomènes aérospatiaux non identifiés”; Clark III 547; Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 12–13)

Early July — Debbie Jordan-Kauble (using the pseudonym of “Kathie Davis”) and her mother see a light about 2 feet in diameter moving around the family pool house in Indianapolis, Indiana. Some days later they notice a section of their backyard has turned brown, a circular area about 8 feet in diameter. She contacts Budd Hopkins, who speaks with Debbie and her family and uncovers a pattern of events that have affected them for years. It appears that Debbie, her mother, and two of her children have been abducted at different points of their lives. Debbie and her mother have identical scars on their lower legs from apparent childhood abductions, and Hopkins believes that Debbie and her son have implants inserted near their brains, one through the nasal cavity and another through the ear. Hopkins conducts numerous hypnotic regression sessions, revealing apparent pregnancies induced by aliens. (Budd Hopkins, Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copley Woods, Random House, 1987)

July 7 — An unauthorized target appears on the radar screens at Darłowo Airport, Poland, corresponding to a rotating, oblong object with a steel-colored covering flying at 11,0000 feet. Polish Air Force Captain Praszczałek and another pilot go up to intercept it and get within 660 feet. He sees a solid hull, 50 feet long and 6 feet across. Just after they are ordered to shoot it down, the object shoots up to 30,000 feet, too high to pursue. (Poland 64–65)

July 12 — 9:30 p.m. A police officer answers a call at a location southeast of Danbury, Connecticut, where several people are standing outside looking at a circular pattern of lights that are flashing red, blue, and green. The lights appear to be attached to a silent object 300 feet in diameter and less than 500 feet in altitude. The officer shines a spotlight on it, and the object projects a brilliant flash of white light downward. It then moves quickly to the north and is lost behind trees. At 10:55 p.m., Danbury Police Chief Nelson Macedo, his brother-in-law Charles Yacuzzi, his son Michael, and retired policeman Jim Lucksky are boating on Candlewood Lake north of Danbury. They notice a circular gray object silently hovering high in the sky. 20–30 bright blue, red, orange, and green lights moving in a circular pattern are visible on the object. The men turn off the boat lights and the object shuts off its own lights. After several minutes, Yacuzzi turns the lights on again, and the UFO switches on bright lights and moves off behind the mountains. (NightSiege 96; Richard Haines, CE-5: Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind, Sourcebooks, 1998, pp. 132–133)

July 22 — 12:40 a.m. Police constables Raymond Ellens and Peter Ferguson are on car patrol east of Melton, Melbourne, Victoria, when they see a bright, stationary light over the center of the town. As they approach, they discern that it is composed of two lights. The object turns west and hovers about 200 feet above the Melton Regional Shopping Centre. Soon the object flies off to the southeast, making a high-pitched humming sound. After rising to about 500 feet, the UFO moves off to the north and is lost to sight. The UFO is picked up on radar at Tullamarine Air Traffic Control in Melbourne. The constables see it again at 2:40 a.m. when it appears to be on the ground at the rear of the Toolern Vale stables (they inspect the paddock but find no traces), then it is lost to view until 4:30 a.m. when they are again at the shopping mall. At some point police Sgt. Barry Harman and Chief Inspector Hickman also see the UFO above the shopping center. The constables follow the object, this time with more lights visible. Between their position and the object is the Australian Army Rockbank Receiving Station, and it seems to be headed directly toward the antenna array. Before reaching it, the object turns and arcs again to the north. Ellens and Ferguson lose sight of it at about 6:00 a.m. Their written report states that over time the UFO flew in a triangular pattern bounded by Melton, Rockbank, Sydenham, and Diggers Rest in a counterclockwise path between 200 and 1,600 feet in altitude. The Australian Signal Intelligence facility at Rockbank is alerted that its security has been breached. (Bill Chalker, “The Australian Government and UFOs,” IUR 22, no. 3 (Fall 1997): 21–22; Keith Basterfield, UFOs: A Report on Australian Encounters, Reed Books, 1997, pp. 84–86)

July 25 — 5:15 a.m. Tom Jackson is getting ready for work in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, when he sees a bright light outside his bathroom window. He opens it and sees a huge object hovering above pine trees about 750 feet away. It is metallic gray, possibly 300 feet long, and elongated but with the front and back ends dropping down. It has two rows of evenly spaced windows. After 5 minutes it moves toward the town’s sewage plant. Other residents report a brilliant orange light over the sewage plant. Still others hear a loud, high-pitched sound so intense that it causes headaches and disturbs neighborhood dogs. (MUFON UFO Journal, October 1983)

August 1 — 12:15 a.m. Terry Conner is at the intersection of West County Line Road and South Ashland Avenue about

1.5 miles southwest of Beecher, Illinois, when he sees a cluster of red flashing lights. They are coming from an object in a farmer’s field about 450–600 feet away. It appears to be 30 feet tall with 40–50 continuously flashing red lights in the shape of a vertical U. After 2 minutes, two large steady red lights appear to rise until they are even with the top of the U. After 10 seconds, all the lights go out at once. (“Beecher, Illinois, Nocturnal Lights Remain Unexplained,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1984): 1)

August 12 — Around 1:00 a.m. Alfred Burtoo is fishing along the Basingstoke Canal in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, when a disc-shaped UFO lands nearby. Two humanoid beings approach him. They are 4 feet 6 inches tall, dressed in green overalls, and wear helmets with visors. They gesture at Bertoo to follow them, and he goes up a stairway

into the craft. He is made to stand under an amber light. The beings speak to him in broken English, telling him that he is too old and infirm for their purposes. They then let him go. (Good Above, pp. 106–112; Marcus Lowth, “The Bizarre Ordeal of Alfred Burtoo: The Abduction That Wasn’t,” UFO Insight, August 7, 2017; Solomier, “08-12-1983: The Alfred Burtoo Incident,” dtube: Hive Blog, 2020)

August 12 — 11:10 p.m. In the Maraponga neighborhood of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, João de Lira Pessoa Neto is riding his motorcycle with his friend Plínio Couto de Alencar Júnior to a party. The cycle breaks down, so they push it home and head back on foot to the party. They pass the train tracks and the Cavan poles factory, where they notice that a transformer that always buzzes is silent. Stray dogs do not bark, and the lights on the poles are blinking intermittently. A strong light blinks near them and they see a disc-shaped object about 325 feet above the Lagoa da Maraponga, its shape reflected in the dark water. The object moves, and the two witnesses run off. Party hosts Roberto de Lira Pessoa Neto and his wife Rejane, Rejane’s sister, and a sailor named Cal are intrigued and decide to return to the site together. They look around and see the UFO landing on the lake shore. The disc has large round windows and a brightly lit interior. Inside they see human-looking beings moving about and looking out the windows. Roberto sees three humanoid figures beside the UFO. They seem to be covered in a plastic cloak and have a wobbling gait. Plínio thinks the object disappears and reappears like a mirage. The witnesses begin running away when another similar UFO appears above them and causes a gale. It disappears, and everything returns to normal, with dogs barking and the transformer buzzing. Later at home, João has a strong urge to return to the scene. The object is still there, and he has a compulsion to meet the occupants. He suddenly gets dizzy and nauseous and falls to the ground unconscious. He revives 2 hours later and finds himself in a soccer field and cannot remember how he got there. He goes home, but his behavior changes, becoming ruder. On May 21, 1989, João drowns under mysterious circumstances in a lagoon in Uruoca, Ceará, Brazil. (Reginaldo de Athayde, “Seqüestro por ETs no Nordesté e reavaliado,” Portal UFO, December 1, 1995; Clark III 710–712; Brazil 297– 303)

August 26 — 4:00 a.m. A Mrs. Zurwaski is awakened by brilliant white flashes of light reflecting off the trees to the east of her house in Cedar Lake, Indiana. She gets up, thinking a thunderstorm is approaching, and she sees the screen on the front door flooded with intense light. Her husband is also awake by now, and he describes the light as yellowish. Through a picture window, Mr. Zurwaski sees an object hovering 4–5 feet off the ground in their yard. Mrs. Zurawski hears a swoosh and a crackle and notices a ribbon of light moving southeast. Five days later, they discover in their yard a ring of dead grass in a perfect circle 13 feet in diameter. (Mark Remaley, “The Light and the Ring,” IUR 9, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1984): 4–6)

August 27–29 — The British UFO Research Association holds its Third International UFO Congress in High Wycombe, London, England. (“3d International UFO Congress, August 1983,” BUFORA Bulletin, no. 11 (November 1983): 8–21; “3d Bufora International UFO Congress,” IUR 8, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1983): 9, 16)

September — British ufologist Jenny Randles publishes UFO Reality, in which she defines the “Oz Factor,” the “sensation of being isolated, or transported from the real world into a different environmental framework.” She suggests that this feeling, often reported by UFO witnesses, “is almost suggestive of the witness being transported temporarily from our world into another, where reality is but slightly different.” (Jenny Randles, UFO Reality: A Critical Look at the Physical Evidence, R. Hale, 1983; Clark III 866)

September 1 — GEPAN is reorganized by transferring it to a smaller department in CNES. The seven members of its scientific council are given different assignments, leaving Jean-Jacques Velasco in sole charge with no scientific advisers. GEPAN’s resources and personnel are drastically reduced. During the following years, the scientific council no longer meets, despite repeated demands by one of its members, Christian Perrin de Brichambaut, general inspector of the National Meteorology Office. A last meeting of the council takes places in 1987. (Gildas Bourdais, “From GEPAN to SEPRA: Official UFO Studies in France,” IUR 25, no. 4 (Winter 2000–2001): 12– 13)

September 1 — Korean Air Lines Flight 007 is shot down by a Soviet interceptor over the Sea of Japan near Moneron Island (just west of Sakhalin island) while flying over prohibited Soviet airspace. All 269 passengers and crew aboard are killed, including Rep. Larry McDonald (D-Ga.) and president of the anticommunist John Birch Society. (Wikipedia, “Korean Air Lines Flight 007”)

September 3 — Day. Wiesław Machowski, his daughter, and a friend are fishing in a coastal lake near Wicie, Poland. They notice an orange sphere with another object below it and keep their eyes on it for 30 minutes or so. The larger light emits a smaller one that stops and returns to the bigger one; the sequence keeps repeating. When they return to their boarding house, they see it again but much closer to the coast. Machowski grabs a camera and takes three photos that shows the large object looking like a hat standing on its brim, and the object disappears shortly afterward. (Poland 57–58)

September 26 — Midnight. The Soviet orbital missile early warning system (SPRN), code-named Oko, reports a single intercontinental ballistic missile launch from the US. Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov, who is on duty during the incident, correctly dismisses the warning as a computer error when ground early warning radars do not detect any launches. Part of his reasoning is that the system is new and known to have malfunctioned previously; also, a full-scale nuclear attack from the US would involve thousands of simultaneous launches, not a single missile. Later, the system reports four more ICBM launches headed to the Soviet Union, but Petrov again dismisses the reports as false. The investigation that follows reveals that the system indeed has malfunctioned, and false alarms are caused by a rare alignment of sunlight on high-altitude clouds underneath the satellites’ orbits. (Wikipedia, “1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident”)

October — Odd-Gunnar Røed begins publishing the Project Hessdalen Bulletin in Duken, Norway, in English. It updates readers on the latest sightings of nocturnal lights around Hessdalen, Norway. It continues through April 1985. (Project Hessdalen Bulletin 1, no. 1 (October 1983))

October — Flying Saucer Review editor Gordon Creighton writes an essay on his beliefs about UFOs, which he thinks are piloted by Islamic jinns. (Gordon Creighton, “A Brief Account of the True Nature of the ‘UFO Entities,’” Flying Saucer Review 29, no. 1 (October 1983): 2–6; Clark III 499)

October — 6:45 p.m. Paula E. Green, 12, undergoes her first abduction experience as she is walking through Judy Woods in Bradford, England, with a 14-year-old friend. It is the first of some 52 further incidents. (Daily Star Sunday, May 9, 2021; Nigel Watson, “Fifty-two Shades of Grey: Paula’s Story,” Fortean Times 407 (July 2021): 30–31)

October 13 — 8:30 p.m. Catherine Burk is driving to her home in Altoona, Pennsylvania, when she sees a large, silvery disc pass about 30 feet above her car. The force of the UFO lifts the right side of her car briefly off the road, causing her lights to blink out and the engine to stall. She suffers hearing loss in her right ear, has severe headaches, and develops problems with her shoulder, chest, and spine. Local police investigate and find her “visibly shaking.” (UFOEv II 232; MUFON UFO Journal, November 1983)

Late October — Evening. Villagers in Hollesley, East Suffolk, England, witness a triangular object with three powerful white lights on its base that illuminate the ground below it. Ron Marco says the lights form a triangle and remain perfectly still, until it moves above his head and other witnesses. Debbie Foreman and Pauline Osborne report headlight and engine trouble when the UFO appears. (Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp. 160–161; Stacia Briggs and Siofra Connor, “Weird Suffolk: Hollesley, the UFO Hotspot,” East Anglian Daily Times (Ipswich), April 13, 2018)

October 25–29 — The US and a coalition of six Caribbean nations attack the island nation of Grenada. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, the intervention results in an American victory in a matter of days. It is triggered by the strife within the People’s Revolutionary Government that results in the house arrest and execution of the previous leader and second Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop, and the establishment of the Revolutionary Military Council with Hudson Austin as chairman. The invasion results in the appointment of an interim government, followed by democratic elections in 1984, and serves as a tune-up for the US military, which has been out of action for 10 years. (Wikipedia, “United States invasion of Grenada”)

October 26 — 9:00 p.m. David Keener is driving on US Highway 321 northeast of Hickory, North Carolina, when a diamond-shaped object, red in front, bright green in the rear, hovers low over his car and then rises up again. The observation lasts about 5 minutes and the object is silent throughout. He reports the incident to the sheriff’s department. (MUFON UFO Journal, April 1984)

October 28 — 2:15 a.m. Biomedical engineer Jim Cooke is driving by the Croton Falls Reservoir on his way back to Mahopac, New York, when he sees “aircraft lights” approaching and dropping very fast. Oddly, they seem to hover for a while, then blink out. Cooke gets out of his car, walks toward the shoreline, and spots a triangular object hovering less than 15 feet above the water and 200 feet away. After a few minutes, 9 red lights come on from its sides and a red beam of light from the underside probes the water. The UFO moves to four locations above the reservoir, each time shining the red light on the water and remaining at a steady altitude. Each time a car drives by, its lights go out. Cooke estimates the object is 100 feet long at the base and 30 feet at the apex. After 10–15 minutes, it lifts upward at a 30° angle and disappears. (NightSiege 2–4)

October 28 — 10:00 p.m. Two men are driving in the countryside near Ithaca, New York, looking for signs of deer in order to plan their hunting activities. They see a lighted area low in the sky ahead of them. Through binoculars, they see that the light is cast by a round object with three rows of lighted window panels and an illuminated rotating dome that is bright enough to reflect off the low clouds. They estimate it is 15–25 feet in diameter, It stays visible for about 5 minutes as it moves slowly and noiselessly over the ridge of a hill. (CUFOS case file)

November — The Project Hessdalen team goes to Hessdalen, Norway, and explains their project to the locals. (Clark III 572)

November — The captain and crew of the Russian diving support vessel Sprut are in Kola Bay, northern Russia, when they observe an ellipsoid object slowly moving over the surface at an altitude of 1,640–3,280 feet for 90 minutes. The object separates into three parts, each of which increases in speed and flies to the west. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p. 145)

November 7–11 — NATO carries out a command post exercise code-named Able Archer 83. Its purpose is to simulate a period of conflict escalation, culminating in the US military attaining a simulated DEFCON 1 coordinated nuclear attack. Coordinated from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) headquarters in Casteau, Belgium, it involves NATO forces throughout Western Europe. The Soviet leadership is concerned that this could be a ruse for an actual US nuclear strike and moves to a high alert. Historians such as Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, and Tom Nichols, a professor at the Naval War College, argue that Able Archer 83 brought the world close to a nuclear war. (Wikipedia, “Able Archer 83”)

November 18 —The National Endowment for Democracy is founded in Washington, D.C. It is managed by such individuals as Henry Kissinger, Sally Shelton-Colby, Barbara Haig, and others. Although furnished with $80 million in funding from Congress, its private status keeps it safe from FOIA requests. Among its programs are: destabilizing Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines and Manuel Noriega in Panama; supporting the Nazi PAN party in Mexico; channeling money to the Contras; and supporting operatives in the Medellin drug cartel. (Wikipedia, “National Endowment for Democracy”)

November 28 — 8:40 p.m. A woman in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, notices a ball of light approaching her. She goes inside to get her boyfriend and two children. They watch the light approach to within 400 feet, where it hovers at treetop level. It appears to be half the size of the house. Three smaller objects come from behind it and travel southeast, apparently landing in a swampy area near a manufacturing plant. The woman and children run toward the object on foot, while the boyfriend jumps in a car to pursue it. At one point he sees the object hovering above a small lake less than 200 feet away. But within seconds it vanishes. All four witnesses later experience eye irritation, and the boyfriend’s face and hands turn red and feel sore. (MUFON UFO Journal, April 1984)

November 29 — Robert Sarbacher replies to a query by UFO researcher William S. Steinman about crash-retrievals in the late 1940s. He confirms he was “invited to participate in several discussions associated with the reported recoveries” of UFOs, although he was unable to attend the meetings. He described the retrieved saucer material as “extremely light and very tough,” and he had heard that the aliens “were constructed like certain insects we have on Earth.” (Dolan II 320; Good Above, pp. 525–526)

December — A witness walking his dogs at Sherlocks Farm in Groombridge, East Sussex, England, sees a triangular UFO with an orange light at each apex. It makes a low droning sound as it passes by. (Marler 137)

December 7 — 9:00 p.m. A woman and her son and daughter stop at the Pioneer Road exit off I-43 near Cedarburg, Wisconsin, to watch a brightly lit object silently descend and maneuver in front of them for 5–6 minutes. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 1 (Feb./March 1984): 5; Richard Heiden, Jeffrey Paul, and Donald Schmitt, “CE-I with an ‘Orgy’ of Lights,” IUR 9, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1984): 8–9, 15)

December 12 — 6:30 p.m. Mike and Jeff Goodwin and Robert Blanchard are driving in Byron, Illinois, when they see a triangular “falling star” that starts moving horizontally at treetop level. At one point it seems to nearly collide with a similar object. They both have blinking red and white lights. (Doris and Joe Graziano, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 32, no. 6 (September 1984): 8)

December 14 — 8:00 p.m. Realtor Antônio Nelso Tasca is driving about 4 miles north of Chapecó, Santa Catarina, Brazil, when he feels compelled to turn onto a dirt road. After about 5 minutes he encounters a white and green object like a bus about 33 feet long and 10 feet high in the road ahead. He stops 100 feet from it, turns off the headlights and engine, and walks toward it. It has 10 squarish windows and is floating just above the ground. A few feet away he begins to feel heat and decides to return to his car. Suddenly a beam of white-red light strikes him and somehow pulls him toward the object. He wakes up inside the UFO and an abduction scenario takes place, compete with sex with a light-haired alien female who says her name is Cabala. She gives him a message warning that continued deployment of nuclear weapons will lead to bad things for Earth. Tasca wakes up around 6:00 a.m. at a different spot from where he had the encounter. A medical examination reveals a strange burn on his ribs and other odd marks on his backbone. (Brazil 303–311; Patrick Gross, URECAT, March 15, 2007)

December 27 — 10:30 p.m. A small disc-shaped object with eight green lights lands in an open field across the street from the home of a witness in Indianapolis, Indiana. After 10 seconds, the lights go out. The witness continues to watch from her home for an hour before retiring. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 1 (Feb./March 1984): 5)

December 30 — 6:30 p.m. Four witnesses are driving along Illinois Highway 70 near Eddie Road about 8 miles northwest of Rockford, Illinois, when a red domed-shaped object emerges from what looks like an explosion and moves to the south. It vanishes when it reaches an unusual configuration of parallel stars. (“Letter,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 4 (Aug./Sept. 1984): 2)

1984

1984 — Daniel Kagan and Ian Summers publish a 500-page book titled Mute Evidence, arguing that animal mutilations are a made-up mystery. Only veterinary pathologists, not regular veterinarians, are truly qualified to determine the cause of an animal’s death, they write. They do admit there are some real mutilations of two kinds: copycat incidents where pranksters cut up the bodies of already dead cattle, and ritualistic killings by cult members. The latter incidents occur mostly in Idaho. (Daniel Kagan and Ian Summers, Mute Evidence, Bantam, 1984; Clark III 140–141)

1984 — UK researcher Hilary Evans publishes Visions, Apparitions, Alien Visitors, which equates a wide range of entity experiences, including UFO events, and explains them all as psychosocial manifestations because percipients psychologically need them for some reason. He follows up with a sequel in 1987. (Hilary Evans, Visions, Apparitions, Alien Visitors, Aquarian, 1984; Hilary Evans, Gods, Spirits, Cosmic Guardians, Aquarian, 1987; Clark III 943–945)

1984 — UFO Research Australia is formed as an informal information-exchanging network. (Keith Basterfield, Vladimir Godic, and Pony Godic, “Australian Ufology: A Review,” JUFOS 2 (1990): 34)

1984 — A Hispanic male living in the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, encounters odd lights in his house and missing time. Although not his first abduction experience, his memories are uncovered through hypnosis sessions conducted by parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo, who gives him the pseudonym of “Sammy Desmond.” The case is significant for the marks on the witness’s body and the many sexual elements of the story. (D. Scott Rogo, “The Abduction of Sammy Desmond,” IUR 12, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1987): 4–13, reprinted by Aileen Garoutte, “The Abduction of Sammy Desmond” and “The Abduction of Sammy Desmond, Final,” UFOexperiences, July 5 and 7, 2005)

1984 — The F-117 completes testing at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada and begins formal operations under the 4450th Tactical Group. The 4450th is absorbed by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1989. In 1992, the entire fleet is transferred to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, under the command of the 49th Fighter Wing. (Wikipedia, “Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk”)

1984 — 9:45 p.m. Brazilian Air Force Col. Marcelo Hecksher of the 1st Squadron of the 10th Aviation Group (Poker Squadron) is flying back to Santa Maria Air Force Base from Rio de Janeiro. When he begins descent preparations over the city of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, he notices a strong, slightly bluish light on his right. Radar in Curitiba and Santa Maria do not have it on their scopes. The light then accelerates forward, rises, and disappears. (Clark III 207–208; Brazil 557–559)

1984 — An antiaircraft defense system near Astrakhan, Russia, tracks a spherical object flying along the Caspian Sea coast at 6,500 feet. It does not respond to radio contact. Two fighters are scrambled but they fail to catch up with it. When the pilots fire at the UFO, it descends to 325 feet. When it approaches Krasnovodsk [now Türkmenbaşy], Turkmenistan, a helicopter gunship is scrambled to make another attempt to shoot the object, which then ascends to a height beyond the copter’s capabilities. The UFO then heads for the Caspian Sea and disappears from sight. (Vadim K. Ilyin, “KGB’s ‘Blue Folder’ Reveals Shootings, Landings in USSR,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 403 (November 2001): 8; “KGB Blue Folder,” Above Top Secret forum, November 1, 2005; Good Need, pp. 353– 354)

January — Project Hessdalen sends out a report form to 3,300 households in and around Hessdalen valley, Norway. January — Seven oil field workers in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, see a silvery disc flying at a high altitude. (Stars and

Stripes, January 28, 1984; “U.S. Armed Forces Publication Tells of Lebanon UFO,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter

5, no. 2 (April/May 1984): 8)

January — A luminous triangle preceded by a flashing light passes over Guildford, Surrey, England, silently moving to the east. (Marler 137)

January 3 — 4:14 a.m. A woman wakes up in her home near Port Washington, Wisconsin, when a bright light shines through the bedroom window. She sees a strange object with three circular lights in a fixed position about 50 feet from the shore of Lake Michigan. The center light, as bright as a searchlight, rotates north, casting an illumination on the water, which is seen to be turbulent. All three lights are rotating clockwise around a 30-foot body. She

wakes up her husband, who suggests that it is a Coast Guard helicopter. But the object is completely silent. After a short time, a smaller object also with three lights appears over the first one, hovers a few minutes, then disappears. The searchlight periodically shines directly in the window. The object moves about 20–30 feet then hovers there another 10–15 minutes. At 5:15 a.m., it moves away and disappears to the southeast. The woman goes back to bed, but soon feels a powerful electric shock penetrate her body with a buzzing sound. (Donald R. Schmitt and Richard W. Heiden, “People Who Live in Glass Houses…See UFOs,” IUR 9, no. 2 (Mar./Apr.

1984): 3, 16)

January 8 — 3:15 a.m. Three people are traveling southeast in a van at mile marker 236 on I-80 southeast of Cozad, Nebraska, when the highway lights up and they see a huge disc as big as a baseball diamond 75–100 feet above and slightly to the right of the road. Bright lights are evenly spaced around the rim, most of them white, but others pink or blue. As the car passes it at a slow speed, they can detect no motion and can hear no sound. They attempt to communicate by Citizens Band radio, but the radio picks up strange interference like an “intermittent bleeping.” (J. Allen Hynek, “Nebraska Close Encounter,” IUR 9, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1984): 10–12; “Addendum to Nebraska Encounter,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 3)

January 9 — 10:30 p.m. Two witnesses driving on State Highway 208 near Hawthorne, New Jersey, see an object with lights descend then move away from their car. After driving another 300 feet they spot another object over the road. They drive directly under the object, which is moving slowly at an altitude of 200 feet. The driver pulls over, and the object moves toward the first UFO. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 1 (Feb./March 1984): 5)

January 20 — 9:30 p.m. A mother and two children are driving near Jasper, New York, when they see a large, gold, oval object that seems to be pacing their car. It lands on a nearby ridge and after a few seconds ascends into the sky. It repeats this maneuver several times, speeding up and slowing down when she does the same. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 21–February 26 — Project Hessdalen sets up three fieldwork stations, the primary one on Aspaskjolen mountain, and two smaller ones at Hersjøen and Litlefjellet, Norway. This group secures technical assistance from the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, the University of Oslo, and the University of Bergen. Over the course of one month, investigators see numerous lights, take photos of many of them, and track them instrumentally. On three occasions, lights are seen visually and tracked on radar simultaneously, casting a reflection on the radar screen so strong that a Norwegian defense expert later says that if that is not a solid object, then it must be a “strongly ionized gas.” One of the lights is tracked moving at 19,000 mph. On another occasion, a light under constant visual observation shows up on radar only on every second sweep. In most instances (33 in all), when radar shows something, the eye or a camera sees nothing. On two occasions the researchers direct a laser beam on passing lights. Out of a total of nine times, the lights respond all but once in a curious way, changing from a regular flashing light to a double-flashing light. The total number of sightings in this period is 188, although some may be attributable to passing aircraft. Only four of the photos taken through the special lens grating come out well enough to show light spectra, and only two of these are useful for analysis. Changes in the magnetic field are recorded in 40% of the sightings, but the Geiger counter and infrared viewer prove unhelpful. Researchers categorize the phenomenon into three different types: a white or blue-white flashing light, high in the air; a yellow light with a red light on the top, sometimes flashing; and a slow-moving, yellow or white light that maneuvers, stops for an hour or more, and continues maneuvering. (“Project Hessdalen” website; “Description of the Phenomena,” Project Hessdalen; Erling Strand, “Project Hessdalen 1984: Final Technical Report,” Project Hessdalen, January 5, 1985; “Hessdalen: 18 February 1984,” Project Hessdalen; “Project Hessdalen: 1984,” Project Hessdalen; “Norway Lights Continue: Update on Project Hessdalen,” IUR 9, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1984): 9, 12; Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, p. 90; Clark III 572–573)

January 22 — 7:09 a.m. A witness in Huntington, West Virginia, observes a brilliant orange ball of light about 900 feet hovering above a neighbor’s house. Its glow illuminates the ground. After a minute, it speeds away to the west. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 22 — 7:25 a.m. The cabin crew of United Flight 729 is flying westbound 30 miles east of Toledo, Ohio, at 43,000 feet. They see a blurry, bright-red object the size of a DC-9 move from northeast to southwest for a few seconds. It leaves a contrail that they pass through. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 22 — 7:00 p.m. A young couple parking near Waycross, Georgia, spot a large object approaching their car at treetop level. It crosses a logging road near their car, goes across an open area to a stand of trees, then turns around. The driver begins speeding away, but the object moves directly over the car. It has an L-shaped light pattern on its underside with two red lights and one green light. The glow from the red light illuminates the car

interior. The object follows them for about 75 down a county road before it moves away at high speed. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 22 — 7:00 p.m. Two witnesses in a car in Arnold, Missouri, see a circular object with three brilliant white lights and a corona of white light surrounding it. As it approaches the car, the driver makes an evasive turn, only to have the object pace them within 150 feet for 3 minutes. A vertical shaft of light comes from the top of the object. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 27 — 5:40 a.m. Four witnesses at Valley Center, California, see five stationary white lights in the northern sky about 2 miles away. Four are in a diamond formation while the fifth is in the center. After watching the display for several minutes, they notice smaller white lights maneuvering around the larger ones. They seem to increase to as many as 100. Suddenly the formation, small lights as well, moves away to the northwest and the witnesses can hear a soft humming sound. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 27 — 6:15 a.m. Two boys delivering papers in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, see a circular object with lights around its edge hovering above houses about two blocks away. After a few seconds it ascends at a 45° angle. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 28 — 6:30 p.m. A young couple in Flemington, New Jersey, notice an orange ball descending through the cloud layer and appear to land on a ridge behind the tree line. At 6:50 a.m., the husband sees a bright object ascend from the same ridge, pause in mid-air, then move away horizontally in the distance. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

January 30 — 9:00 p.m. Nine men working on an oil platform in the Big Cypress National Preserve about 40 miles west of Miami, Florida, see a bright orange object descending at a high rate of speed about five miles away. At about 10,000 feet, it comes to an instant stop. The orange glow fades and they can see an object with a chrome dome and dozens of flashing lights on the underside. All witness estimate it to be at least 200 feet in diameter. It remains stationary for 10 seconds, turns orange again, and speeds away to the east. Witnesses in Jensen Beach and the Miami area also see the object. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

February — The Commission for the Investigation of Anomalous Atmospheric Phenomena is established in Moscow, Russia, although its announcement in the West is delayed until May. Affiliated with the Committee for the Protection of Natural Environment of the All-Union Council of Scientific Technical Societies, the commission is made up of scientists and academicians and is headed by former cosmonaut Pavel Popovich, who tells the trade union newspaper Trud that there have been hundreds of reports in Russia each year, most of which can be explained away. (Good Above, p. 243)

February — The Centro Ufologico Nazionale begins a newsletter, Notizie C.U.N., to replace Quaderni UFO. It is edited by Gian Paolo Grassino in Turin, Italy, and continues until September 1985. (Notizie C.U.N., no. 0 (February 1984))

February — Night. The commander of a group of soldiers in the 103rd Regiment guarding warehouses at Przasnysz Airfield, Poland, sees a light silently coming in his direction. It is attached to a huge oval object 70–100 feet across that is moving soundlessly 150 feet above the ground. He and his assistant feel unexplained terror and paralysis, remaining rooted to the spot. Noticing a light at its rear end, he considers taking an AK-47 and shooting it out, but receives a mental command not to do so or he would be paralyzed. (Poland 67)

February 7 — 4:00 a.m. A witness in Atco, New Jersey, awakes to a loud humming sound and finds his room illuminated by a bright light. He goes to the window and sees a bright circular object with a hump on top in a stationary position about four feet above his neighbor’s yard and 200 feet away. It is about the size of a small car. A human- like “image” is standing next to it, but that vanishes and the object ascends in a zigzag pattern, then moves away at a high rate of speed. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 2 (March/April 1984): 7)

February 20 — 6:12 p.m. Leif Havik is standing in the snow outside the Project Hessdalen headquarters on Aspaskjolen, Norway, when a red light flies around his feet and disappears. It is also witnessed by Age Moe. (Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, p. 90)

February 22–23 — Night. Witnesses in Flushing, Michigan, see objects with triangular lighting patterns that shine beams of light to the ground. The lights approach the car of one witness who sees they are part of a cigar-shaped object 100 feet above the ground. A jogger reports a light so intense that it hurts his eyes. Another witness sees an object with triangular-shaped lights hovering less than 200 feet above the ground, illuminating the area behind her house and panicking her cats. Two more objects pass above her house. Investigator Shirley Coyne locates 12 people who have seen the lights, but only three will fill out a report. (MUFON UFO Journal, April 1984)

February 23 — 4:00 p.m. Five witnesses, all with PhDs, report an upside-down-ice-cream-cone-shaped object over the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio. It seems to be surrounded with a fog, but it changes its appearance about every 60 seconds, at one point looking rectangular. It is seen for 20 minutes, heading in the

direction of Port Columbus Airport [now John Glenn Columbus International Airport]. (Irena Scott, “Description of an Aerial Anomaly Viewed over Columbus, Ohio,” Ohio Journal of Science 88, no. 2 (1988): 23; Irena Scott, “UFO Studies in the Scientific Literature,” IUR 15, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1990): 18)

Late February — 3:30 a.m. A driver in Everett, Washington, sees a huge, silvery green, egg-shaped object moving toward his car from a wooded area. Within a few seconds it bounces from one side of the road to the other, passing over his car. (MUFON UFO Journal, April 1984)

February 29 — 9:00 p.m. A woman in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, sees a dark, diamond-shaped object approach her at no more than 50 feet above the ground. White lights are at the front and back, blinking red lights at the sides, and smaller lights between each of the four points. It is “longer than a tractor trailer and wide as two tractor trailers.” It wobbles and passes over trees to the southwest. (MUFON UFO Journal, April 1984)

March 4 — The UK Ministry of Defence, for the first time ever, releases UFO reports to the public. Sixteen reports, most of which are severely redacted and missing key data, are sent to the British UFO Research Association. When he is asked about possible landing cases, such as the 1980 Rendlesham incident, Defence Undersecretary for Procurement John Lee replies that these are not distinguished from other reports of aerial phenomena. In any event, he says, “none of these reports was of any defence significance.” (Good Above, pp. 112–113; Nick Pope, Open Skies, Closed Minds, Simon & Schuster, 1996, Appendix 1)

March 6 — 10:00 p.m. Two police officers, Tom Jensen and Gary Myers, watch a large boomerang or U-shaped UFO west of Norris, South Dakota, after having been alerted by a citizen 10 minutes earlier. At its closest approach, Myers sees it as a pattern of lights in an inverted L pattern. As it passes, it blocks out the sky and stars. (J. Allen Hynek, “A CE-I, a Lonely Road, a Starry Night,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 6–9)

March 9 — MP Patrick Wall asks in the UK House of Commons that the Secretary of State for Defence provide statistics on UFO landings, unexplained cases, and radar sightings for 1980–1983. John Lee responds that there were 350 UFO reports in 1980 (dodging the question of whether or not the MoD could identify them), 600 in 1981, 250 in 1982, and 390 in 1983. (Good Above, p. 113)

March 11 — After 12:00 midnight. A mother and her daughter see a large cylindrical object just a few feet away through the window of their home in Wolcott, Connecticut. For 7 minutes it hovers about 7 feet above the ground, then moves away silently. (MUFON UFO Journal. April 1984)

March 21 — 7:45 p.m. A truck driver driving on Interstate 87 south of Albany, New York, sees a boomerang-shaped UFO about 100 feet altitude that looks larger than a Boeing 747. It has red, white, and green lights. It paces his truck for five minutes then vanishes. (NightSiege 71–73)

March 21 — 8:00 p.m. A mother and daughter driving south on Perry Road near Claxton, Georgia, notice an unusual light through the trees. As they top a hill, they slow the car to a near stop when they see three boomerang-shaped objects, with wings pointing downward, hovering above a field. Each has two bright lights in the top center and a row of small, multicolored lights that blink in rapid sequence. One object is larger (at least 40 feet wide) than the others and moves over their car in perfect silence. Its underside appears dark metallic. (“Local Woman, Daughter Report ‘Close Encounter,’” Claxton (Ga.) Enterprise, March 29, 1984, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 177 (April 1984): 6)

March 24 — 5:50 a.m. Five nuns at the Sainte-Marie Cistercian Abbey in Boulaur, Gers, France, see a bright oval object about 16 feet long and 6.5 feet tall from the first-floor balcony. It is hovering at first, then starts moving up and down and right and left “at the speed of lightning.” It stops about 100 feet above the cemetery and 325 feet away from the witnesses. There is no sound. Then it takes off in the direction it came from. (Groupe d’Études et d’Informations sur les Phénomènes Aérospatiaux Non-identifiés, “Notes d’Enquête, Boulaur (32) 24.03.1984,” June 30, 2014; Swords 447)

March 25 — 8:55 p.m. A driver in Santa Monica, California, sees a bright red ball of light, about 10 inches in diameter, maneuvering around her car with a bouncing motion. It approaches to within a foot of her car, lighting up the hood and windows for one minute. (MUFON UFO Journal, April 1984)

March 25 — Night. Hundreds of people see low-flying lights over the Taconic State Parkway near Peekskill, New York.

The lights seem to be attached to a slow-moving, boomerang-shaped object with six intense white lights and a green light in the center. A photographer estimates the object is about 300 feet long and flying at 30 mph. It moves over some water and the lights go out. He videotapes the incident, but nothing shows up on the tape. (NightSiege 78–83)

March 28 — 8:00 p.m. A triangular object passes above a car in West Nottingham, New Hampshire, at an altitude of 50 feet. It has two bright lights and is silent. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” APRO Bulletin 32, no. 3 (May 1984): 5)

Spring — A Soviet pilot in a MiG-23 is scrambled to intercept an object flying at supersonic speed from north to south over the Mikha Tskhakaya Airfield south of Senaki, Georgia. The MiG-23, flying at 16,400 feet in full afterburner at Mach 1.2, is unable to close in on the object. By the time the interceptor is approaching the coastline of the Black Sea, it is flying at Mach 1.6. The pilot activates his infrared search and track system when he is 7.5 miles away from the target and sees the largest “bloom” he has ever encountered. By the time he reaches Mach 2, he has to break off due to lack of fuel, never having acquired a visual target. (Good Need, pp. 352–353, 365)

April 10 — Night. While driving down a country road near Rhinelander, Wisconsin, two witnesses see a stationary, cigar- shaped object about 225 feet from the roadway. It has a row of lighted windows, and several spokes protrude from the surface. Each spoke has a white light on the tip. While hovering at treetop level, the object pivots 360° and then stops. After observing it for 4 minutes, the witnesses drive past it and go home. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

April 12 — 2:10 a.m. Air traffic control radar at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados tracks a large group of unknown targets moving at about 100 mph in “loose but distinct formation” 30 miles southeast of the island.

Authorities notify Prime Minister Tom Adams, the Barbados Defense Force, and the police commissioner. The BDF is put on Red Alert. By 2:20 a.m., the formation is 14 miles off the coast when two targets veer off to the island’s west side, two others move to the east, while the remainder keep on moving north. Police are deployed to the beaches. At 3:30 a.m., the BDF launches a patrol boat and scrambles a Cessna but does not find anything.

Radar is still tracking objects at 4:00 a.m. over the northern part of the island. By 4:10 a.m., they disappear to the west. A temperature inversion is a possible cause. (“1984: UFOs Place Barbados Defence Force on Full Alert, This Really Happened,” Notes from the Margin, March 13, 2008)

April 13 — 10:00 p.m. While boating on a lake near Gainesville, Florida, two witnesses see a stationary oval-shaped object at an altitude of 100 feet about 300 feet from their boat. The object shines a cone of bright white light onto the surface of the water. After about 3 minutes, it hovers out of sight behind some trees. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

April 15 — 12:00 midnight. Some 20 witnesses (farm workers, a police officer, venture scouts) at Llangernyw, North Wales, see a pink-orange ball that drifts to the ground and explodes in a shower of purple sparks. Out of the shower emerges a white disc that appears to land out of sight behind a ridge. A large army helicopter and two military trucks apparently perform a search of the area beginning at daylight. (Jenny Randles, “Anatomy of a UFO Wave,” IUR 11, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1986): 4–5)

April 18 — 9:30 p.m. A married couple is driving on a road near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, when they come upon a huge rectangular object straddling the road ahead. It has at least 60 lights arrayed in rows on its frame. Red and green lights are at its edges, but the majority are white. The object remains absolutely still and silent about 100 feet in the air. They are anxious to get home, so they do not see the object leave. (Jenny Randles, “Anatomy of a UFO Wave,” IUR 11, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1986): 5)

April 19 — 8:05 p.m. A family in Llano, Texas, watches a huge dome-shaped object pass over their house at an altitude of only 200 feet. It has red lights around it. A jet aircraft appears to be pursuing it. The mother says she can hear a humming sound coming from it. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

April 20 — 10:04 p.m. Four people in a car in Beaverton, Oregon, see a large, pulsating, yellow light high in the sky. The driver stops, and a small, bright-blue object comes into view, moving toward the yellow object at high speed.

Suddenly, a “fast red thing” shoots out of the blue object and knocks the yellow object in half, one part disintegrating and the other part falling to the ground. Two other objects, yellow and blue, appear with the blue object chasing and apparently shooting down the yellow object. The blue object then climbs at a high speed vertically and vanishes in the clouds. The observation lasts 20 minutes. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

April 22 — 10:10 p.m. A woman and her mother are watching TV at a trailer park in Saltfleet, Lincolnshire, England, when they see a dome-shaped object with circle of white lights, a small group of red lights above, and a brilliant white light on top. It is hovering nearby and about 500 feet in the air. More lights turn on and the object begins to revolve. As its speed increases, the colors blend into one another. The object moves away to the south, but over the next hour it circles the trailer park in wide loops that take it several miles out to sea before returning over their heads. It switches a searchlight beam off and on. The woman’s two dogs are looking fearfully at the UFO. At one point the object drops to 100 feet and hovers in absolute silence above the witnesses. The searchlight comes from two headlight beams projecting forward. The UFO has a “smoky glass” dome on top. Dogs are howling for miles around. The object switches off all but four of its lights and climbs vertically before heading out to sea to circle for a few more minutes. (“The Saltfleet Encounter,” Northern UFO News, no. 113 (May/June 1985): 10–11; Jenny Randles, “Anatomy of a UFO Wave,” IUR 11, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1986): 7)

April 25 — 6:00 p.m. A woman is in her garden at Blairgowrie, Scotland, working on a tapestry when her dog leaps up and runs indoors. A ball of light appears in the air and seems to enter her body. She is blinded for a few seconds but feels calm. A white cloud rises from her head and hovers above some bushes. It blinks twice and climbs into the sky toward a large silvery object shaped like a house key. The cloud moves along the length of the key, flashing and lighting up bits in turn. She calls her son, who arrives just as the UFO sways from side to side and vanishes in a sudden pink flash. (Jenny Randles, “Anatomy of a UFO Wave,” IUR 11, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1986): 7– 8)

April 25 — 9:55 p.m. Three witnesses driving on American Canyon Road south of Napa, California, see a huge triangular object the size of a football field hovering 100 feet above the road. They drive beneath it, and after 5 minutes the object moves out of sight. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 195 (May/June 1984): 11; Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

April 26 — On a visit to the 6513th Test Squadron, Red Hats at Groom Lake, Nevada, USAF Lt. Gen. Robert M. Bond requests to fly a MiG-23 BN fighter-bomber, a newly acquired supersonic Soviet aircraft flown for testing.

Instead of the usual 2 weeks of training, Bond is given a cursory briefing while sitting inside the cockpit with an instructor. Just as he is flying at 40,000 feet and over Mach 2 speed, a hydromechanical inhibitor activates, preventing him from disengaging the afterburner. Bond loses control, makes a distress call, and is killed while ejecting. The MiG-23 crashes on Jackass Flats in Area 25, still contaminated from NERVA rocket testing. Bond’s body is discovered by a USAF sergeant on his way to work, who removes the rank insignia from Bond’s flight suit with a pocketknife before going to get help. The USAF does not confirm or deny that Bond was flying a MiG when he died and states that he was flying “an Air Force specially modified test craft,” but it leaks the information on the MiG testing program to journalist Fred Hoffman. There are fears that the publicity will also lead to the exposure of the F-117 program, still secret and also based at Tonopah, but this does not happen. (Wikipedia, “Robert M. Bond”)

April 26 — 9:45 p.m. Terri West spots an odd light in the sky from her home on Belmont Lane, Stanmore, Greater London, England. At 10:15 p.m., she joins her neighbors Ruth and Bruno Novelli to watch the light, which is moving back and forth and constantly changing colors from blue to green to pink. Soon it emits a large ball of light that shoots toward the ground. The witnesses call the police at 10:22 p.m. A team of police arrives and watches the object for about 2 hours. Police Constable Richard Milthorp says the light is originally at 45° but after 15 minutes it moves up and to the right. He draws a sketch of the object, which is circular in the middle with a dome above and below. It has different colored lights on the top and bottom. One of the officers takes photos, but they do not come out well. Some others chase the UFO by car, but it is already fading from view. (Good Above, pp. 114–115; UFOFiles2, p. 130)

April 27 — 9:45 p.m. Linda Braga and her daughter Piper see a starlike object that follows their car along West Ridge Road in Cornville, Maine. About 35–45 feet in diameter, the red and yellow object comes almost within touching distance. When they reach their driveway, it backs off and hovers above a field, then moves around to the other side of the house. It disappears in the distance. (“Recently Received Sighting Reports,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 5, no. 5 (Oct./Nov. 1984): 4)

May 2 — Australian Minister of Defence Gordon Scholes announces that the RAAF will fully investigate only those UFO sightings that “suggest a defence or national security implication.” (Bill Chalker, “The North West Cape Incident: UFOs and Nuclear Alert in Australia,” IUR 11, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1986): 11; Good Above, p. 182; Swords 408–409)

May 4–6 — The Centro Ufologico Nazionale holds its Third International Congress in Genoa, Italy. Speakers include J. Allen Hynek, Roberto Pinotti, and Antonio Ribera. (Roberto Pinotti, “Italian Report,” IUR 9, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1984): 3, 16; 2Pinotti 70)

May 5 — 2:55 a.m. A witness in Piedmont, South Carolina, hears a loud pulsating sound and looks out the window in time to see a large metallic object passing above his house at about 750 feet. Described as bigger than an Air Force C-5A transport, the object is shaped like a flattened football. A car stops along the road, and the driver gets out to watch it. All of the dogs in the neighborhood are howling as it is in view for 2 minutes. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

May 5 — 7:30 p.m. An ultrasensitive orbiting US Defense Support Program spy satellite detects the entry of an unknown object that passes 15 miles in front of it only 1.8 miles away, and then flies below it over the Indian Ocean. The encounter lasts 9 minutes. An alert is triggered at NORAD. The object is moving at 22,000 mph, changes course, and flies back into outer space. (NICAP, “DSP Satellite Tracks Fast Walker”; Ronald S. Regehr, How to Build a

$125 Million UFO Detector, 1998, pp. 27–28, 84)

May 5 — 9:45 p.m. Five workers on a garbage truck are near the Rio Seco, Tucumán, Argentina, when they see a strange light like a fireball. The truck stops, and later it is found that the fuses have burnt out. The upper part of the object

is giving off a red light and the lower part a blue light, and it hovers above the truck for 20 seconds. It then moves away silently and disappears. Residents of Rio Seco also see the light, which illuminates the village. (Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part 1,” IUR 33, no. 4 (May 2011): 19)

May 6 — 10:30 p.m. A 13-year-old boy is washing out dog pens in Williston, Florida, when he hears a humming sound behind him. The dogs start whimpering and running around the pens. Suddenly, the area turns red and looking up, the boy sees a bright red circular object that hovers for about 5 seconds at only 20 feet altitude before it shoots across a field and stops again. He goes inside to get his mother, who sees the object moving across the field before vanishing. The dogs remain agitated afterward. (Bob Gribble, “UFO Hotline Reports,” IUR 9, no. 3 (May/June 1984): 16)

May 29 — J. Allen Hynek gives a presentation on “Properties of the UFO Phenomenon” at a special session on “The Edges of Science” of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in New York City. He presents a summary of 400 UFO cases by responsible witnesses, “some of whom were independent of each other but observed the same event (and sometimes in daylight) which defied both common sense and common physical sense.” (J. Allen Hynek, “The UFO Phenomenon,” IUR 9, no. 4 (July/August 1984): 3–5, 16)

May 29 — A huge disc with a flat base and two vast searchlights passes silently over Fairy Cottage, near Laxey, Isle of Man. (Jenny Randles, “Mysterious Island: The UFO Legacy of the Isle of Man,” IUR 29, no. 1 (Spring 2004): 14)

May 31 — 8:15 p.m. A V-shaped formatio60659gme

n of 15 lights, estimated to be the size of a Boeing 747 airliner if all are connected to one object, passes directly over the home of John Burdett, an IBM engineer in Hawthorne, New York. It makes no sound as it passes overhead except for a faint humming. All lights simultaneously turn blue and then it makes a tight 180-degree turn and flies off to the north. At 8:30 p.m., the object is seen from Route 117 in Pleasantville, New York, and follows a car down the Taconic State Parkway. At 8:45 p.m., David Boyd in Yorktown, New York, sees a V-shaped formation of lights turn and fly away to the west. (Philip J. Imbrogno, “More Nocturnal Lights,” IUR 9, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1984): 6–8)

Summer —Day. A Mrs. Danuta takes her 2-year-old son to a playground in the Podwisłocze district of Rzeszów, Poland. A green-metallic object with a bright cupola 8 feet tall approaches, brushing a tree, and the woman picks up her son and hides behind a tree. It is making a loud noise and hovering 30–50 feet above the ground. It then moves toward some nearby apartments, shoots up, and disappears. (Poland 59)

June 14 — 10:15 p.m. New York State Power Authority security police at the Indian Point Nuclear Plant near Buchanan, New York, watch 10 or more bright lights arranged in a boomerang pattern hovering for about 15 minutes a quarter mile away. Behind them is a dark mass about 300 feet long that blocks out the lights of a plane that flies behind it. (Philip J. Imbrogno, “Incident at Indian Point,” UFO Evidence; Clark III 1278; NightSiege 162–164)

Mid-June — 4:10 p.m. Seaman Alexander Globa and mate of the watch Sergey Bolotov are beginning their watch on board the Russian tanker Gori in the Mediterranean Sea 20 nautical miles east of Gibraltar. They see what seems to be an airplane with its landing lights on and flying toward them at an altitude of 4,920 feet about 2 miles away. It is shaped like a “frying pan turned upside down” with a shiny, metallic surface. It emits bright, irregular flashes of light. In two minutes it reaches the ship’s position, turns south, and keeps pace with the ship, gyrating for 3 minutes. The object is perfectly round and about 75 feet in diameter. There is a round, black spot on the bottom, and a cylindrical “tailpipe” is seen at the junction of two segments that are rotating in opposite directions. At 4:20 p.m., another ship approaches to the left, and the object flies quickly toward it and hovers above it. Capt.

Sokolovsky contacts the vessel, an Egyptian dry cargo ship enroute to Greece, and it confirms the presence of the UFO. After 90 seconds it quickly moves back to the Gori, ascends at an angle of 40°–45°, veers to the right, and eventually disappears. Total duration of the sighting is 12 minutes. (Sergey Romanav, “Disk with Rotating Cupola Observed near Straits of Gibraltar by Russian Ship in 1984,” IUR 18, no. 3 (May/June 1993): 17–18; Paul Stonehill, “Questions about a Russian Case,” IUR 18, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1993): 21; Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, pp. 69–70)

June 21 — 9:30 p.m. Investigators Dick Ruhl and Richie Petracca are on Interstate 84 in Dutchess County, New York, when they see a brilliant white wedge-shaped object floating and turning in the sky. The lights suddenly turn red, and as the object continues to turn, they see red, green-blue, and white lights. They stop and get binoculars out, then notice another object on the left. Both objects glide slowly and maneuver, constantly changing from white as they approach, and to red as they turn away. They finally form up into a boomerang shape. Ruhl and Petracca suspect they are seeing the “Stormville pilots,” so they drive to the Stormville airport. After waiting in the snack bar a short time, people see lights in the direction of the Green Haven Correctional Facility. It turns out they are six Cessna Skyhawks, apparently with mufflers on the engines, and they land one by one on a nearby runway.

Ruhl photographs the serial number of one of the planes, N76106. (Dick Ruhl, Richie Petracca, Sal Giamusso,

and Gerry Arena, “The Westchester Sightings,” APRO Bulletin 32, no. 6 (September 1984): 5–6; Philip J. Imbrogno. “The Hudson Valley Sightings: A Reply to Dick Ruhl and APRO,” IUR 10, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1985): 16)

June 21 — 9:44 p.m. Witnesses see unidentified lights over the Wanaque Reservoir in New Jersey for more than two hours. The manager of a tavern on Ringwood Avenue in Haskell sees an egg-shaped object moving faster than a blimp. (“E.T. Circling Area?” Wayne (N.J.) Today, July 4, 1984, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 181 (August 1984), p. 7)

June 25 — Night. A huge, slow-moving object with many lights is seen near Bethel, Connecticut, for 20 minutes. It looks like a big Ferris Wheel on its side. (NightSiege 98)

July — Prentice-Hall publishes Clear Intent by Lawrence Fawcett and Barry J. Greenwood, a history of Air Force, FBI, and CIA involvement in UFO investigations and secrecy, including many FOIA-released recent reports and documents. The book immediately sells out and is unavailable for most of the summer. A second printing in late August also sells out immediately. (Lawrence Fawcett and Barry J. Greenwood, Clear Intent: The Government Coverup of the UFO Experience, Prentice-Hall, 1984; George M. Eberhart, “‘Clear Intent’ Reviewed,” IUR 9, no. 4 (July/August 1984): 6–7, 16)

July 10 — Four members of the Italian Parliament—Giancarlo Abete, Publio Fiori, Alessandro Scajola, and Martino Scovacricchi—present a question to the government on whether it would consider involving private and civilian experts as future consultants on UFOs. Minister of Defence Giovanni Spadolini emphasizes the role of the Italian Air Force in UFO investigations and denies the necessity to involve outsiders, although it does not rule out cooperation with Italy’s National Research Council. (2Pinotti 71)

July 13 — 4:30 p.m. A mysterious object comes into view above Rzeszów, Poland, remaining stationary for a long time.

A flight controller from Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport estimates it is at 6,500 feet and is slowly moving to the northwest. Mielec Airport air traffic controller Kasimierz Lubertowicz scrambles an Iskra jet trainer on a scouting mission. As pilot Henryk Bronowicki approaches the object at 24,600 feet, he realizes it is not a weather balloon and is moving away from him. He gives up the chase, but the object descends and he approaches it again, failing to reach it as it retreats. (Poland 74–75; Arek Miazga, “Pilot kontra UFO nad Mielcem 13.07.1984,” Spotkania z Nieznanym, June 1, 2019)

July 19 — 10:00–11:00 p.m. Police in Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, and New Fairfield, Connecticut, receive reports of a low-flying, slow-moving object “as large as a football field.” It directs intense beams of light toward the ground and gives off heat felt by those beneath it. It has white lights in a circular pattern. (“Area Police Get Reports of UFOs,” Danbury (Conn.) News-Times, July 20, 1984, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 181 (August 1984), p. 1)

July 24 — 9:00 p.m. Security police at Indian Point Nuclear Plant at Buchanan, New York, again see a UFO with a semicircle of lights. The lights first flash yellow, then white, then blue. Far to the rear is a blinking red light. The dark mass behind the lights blocks out the stars as it approaches steadily. The plant’s movement-detecting sensors and alarm systems fail, as does the computer responsible for security and communications. By the time it gets to 500 feet away, the police can see an ice-cream-cone-shape and a solid body the length of three football fields. As it passes over the Unit 3 reactor, at one point getting as close as 30 feet, it is moving so slowly that the police can keep up with it by walking. An officer inside the plant watching security monitors is instructed to film the object using a camera atop a 95-foot pole; the camera has to pan almost 180° to cover the entire length of the object. One officer notices two hollow spheres or portals in the bottom. The UFO takes 5 minutes to pass over them. By the time the security police call Camp Smith, a National Guard base 10 miles away, and ask for an armed helicopter, the UFO is gone. Many other people in the area also report seeing the UFO over the plant. Police in Peekskill receive quite a few calls that evening. Police Sgt. Hoffman goes out to investigate and sees a giant UFO with more than a dozen white lights in a V formation slowly move toward the power plant. On July 25, the security guard supervisor tells them to forget what happened. Video and audio records of the event are removed, and in the next two days representatives of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversee a shakeup of the plant’s security operations. (Philip J. Imbrogno, “Incident at Indian Point,” UFO Evidence; Clark III 1278; NightSiege 159–168)

July 24 — 10:20 p.m. Electronics executive Bob Pozzuoli shoots a videotape of a large object with a ring of 6 lights in the sky over Brewster, New York. It moves behind a pine tree then emerges as a string of rotating multicolored lights and a flashing red light in the rear. The video also shows airplanes flying in formation. The tape is analyzed by Lew Allen at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who is apparently unable to explain it adequately. (NightSiege 117– 124)

August — J. Allen Hynek moves to Scottsdale, Arizona, from Evanston, Illinois, under the influence of entrepreneurs Tina Choate and Brian Myers, who introduce him to wealthy Englishman Jeffrey (or Geoffrey) Kaye with the

promise of funding a new UFO organization (the International Center for UFO Research in Phoenix), publications, and a TV series about Hynek’s life. The CUFOS office moves to Glenview, Illinois, where Sherman

J. Larsen operates it. (“UFO Expert Moving to Arizona,” Chicago Tribune, August 21, 1984, Sec. 2, p. 1; Keith Basterfield, “Why Did J. Allen Hynek Move to Scottsdale?” Unidentified Aerial Phenomena—Scientific Research, October 8, 2017)

August 20 — 9:00 p.m. Irene Lunn and her daughter are driving near Deer Trail Drive in Mahopac Falls, New York, when they notice triangle-shaped UFO with an unusual L-shaped tailpiece. They stop to observe it more carefully. The object has one red light, one green light, and eight white lights, and is moving south when it makes a sudden 90° turn and slowly moves toward them. They drive the short way home where they retrieve some binoculars. She can clearly see a dark, metallic object, which moves off to a neighbor’s yard and hovers. A rectangular object with white lights in each corner comes into view and moves in front of the first UFO for 5 seconds, then vanishes. The triangular object continues to hover, then silently moves off out of sight. (“Multiple Sightings in New York,” APRO Bulletin 32, no. 11 (May 1985): 1–2)

August 23 — Afternoon. Military radar at Otopeni Airport [now Henri Coandă International Airport] near Bucharest, Romania, picks up a target flying above Alexeni Air Force Base [now closed] east of Urziceni at 13,000–14,700 feet. The target, the size of a small plane or helicopter, appears out of nowhere and is tracked by 4–5 different radars in separate locations on different frequencies. After 15 minutes, the object is spotted visually. Through a telescope it appears oval, metallic and shiny, and about 9 feet long. During its appearance, the base notices a strong interference on VHF and short wave radios. The target climbs and descends about 7–8 times to altitudes ranging from 6,500 feet to 34 miles as it moves west at speeds up to 7,450 mph, making zigzagging movements and turning at sharp angles. It is under observation for 40 minutes and is lost at a height of 62 miles as it disappears into space at 620 mph. (Romania 104–105)

August 25 — Philip Imbrogno and Peter Gersten convene a public meeting on the Hudson Valley sightings in a middle school in Brewster, New York, and 1,500 people show up. Hynek attends, as well as news media, various people from the FBI, Air Force officers from Pease AFB [now Pease Air National Guard Base], and a mysterious man who has met with Imbrogno and claims to be from the National Security Agency. The Pozzuoli videotape is shown and 900 people fill out UFO sighting reports. (“Strange Sights Brighten the Night Skies Upstate,” New York Times, August 25, 1984, p. 25; NightSiege 135–147; MUFON UFO Journal, October 1984)

Late summer — 8:00 p.m. Kazimierz Lubertowicz, chief of air traffic control at Mielec airfield, Poland, reports that a pilot and 30–40 airfield workers and military personnel are watching a motionless red-orange light for 2 hours. It is actually floating very slowly to the southeast at an altitude of 1,300–1,600 feet. (Poland 68)

September — Lawrence Fawcett and Barry Greenwood launch a new series of Just Cause newsletters to continue their documentation of government involvement in UFOs discussed in Clear Intent. The newsletter continues until November 1997. (Just Cause, new series, no. 1 (September 1984))

September — Marc Leduc begins publishing Bulletin d’Information Ufologique in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec, until June 1986. (Bulletin d’Information Ufologique 1, no. 1 (September 1984))

September 2 —7:28 p.m. Physicist Bruce Maccabee is standing near the Light Street Pavilion in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, when he sees a black spot in the air to the southeast. It moves slowly north for 7 minutes at a steady rate until it disappears. (Bruce Maccabee, “‘Black Hole’ over Baltimore,” IUR 10, no. 2 (March/April 1985): 6–9)

September 7 — 4:10 a.m. While approaching Minsk, Belarus, the pilots of a Soviet Aeroflot Tu-134 airliner are startled to see a strange, brightly glowing shape that appears to their right and follows their path closely for several minutes. The glowing object changes shape repeatedly, appearing first as rays, then concentric circles, then as a cloud, and finally as an amorphous mass. While copilot Gennady Lazurin sketches the object, Captain Igor Cherkashin contacts air traffic officials, who report that radar shows a strange “double” object, believed to be the airliner and the unidentified object. Years later, reports surface of a second flight crew traveling in the opposite direction who also see the glowing object. At the same time that the pilots in the first craft notice the UFO, a Soviet missile is launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Lazurin’s sketches of the object closely parallel sketches made by other witnesses at rocket launches, including amateur observers of the Soviet missile launch watching in Finland. (“Soviet Airliner Given ‘Escort’ by UFO,” Houston (Tex.) Chronicle, January 31, 1985, pp. 1, 10; Richard H. Hall, “Soviet Sky Spectacular,” IUR 11, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1986): 11–14; Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, pp. 88–89; Good Above, pp 243–247; Dmitry Sudakov, “USSR’s Most Renowned UFO Sighting Linked to Ballistic Missile Launch?” Pravda, August 9, 2009)

Late September or early October — 9:00 p.m. Militia Capt. Boris Ivanovich Vladimirov is riding in the right seat of a patrol vehicle with another policeman in Bayramgulovo, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, when they notice an unusual triangular pattern of colored lights about 80 feet away on the right side of the road in a freshly plowed field. There are 11 lights on the left and right sides of the object and 13 lights up the center. The lights on the edge flash sequentially like a theater marquee. After a bit, all the lights turn off. The next day, Vladimirov returns to the field and finds three round depressions in the soil about 10 inches deep and 36 inches in diameter. They are at the corners of an equilateral triangle 26 feet apart. (Richard F. Haines, “CE2 in the Eastern Urals,” IUR 17, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1992): 11–13)

October — 11:45 p.m. Five witnesses, including missile technician Shamil Yuaihmetov, see a metallic cigar-shaped object slowly descending at a 45° angle near the Kattakurgan tactical nuclear missile base in Uzbekistan. It emits a hissing sound. The next day, three apparent landing-gear marks in an equilateral triangle pattern are found in a nearby vineyard in an area of damaged vines measuring 100 by 260 feet. Each depression is 20 inches deep. The case is investigated by S. P. Kuzionov of the Russian Geographical Society. (Ted R. Phillips, “Physical Traces Associated with Unidentified Flying Objects,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 445 (May 2005): 5; Nukes 452–453)

October 5 — 1:00 a.m. Science teacher and UFO investigator Philip J. Imbrogno and Fred Dennis are returning from an interview with witnesses in Peekskill, New York, on US Highway 9 when they see, near Ossining, New York, a large half-circle of 6 bluish-yellow lights connected to a partially illuminated structure. Suddenly it flips on its side and turns like a Ferris wheel. After 30 seconds, it is lost behind some trees. (Philip J. Imbrogno, “Incident at Indian Point,” UFO Evidence; Clark III 1277)

October 8 — 7:40 a.m. Giuseppe Cocozza goes into his alfalfa field near Prata di Principato Ultra, Avellino, Italy, to get some fodder for his cow. On the beaten-earth path to the field he encounters an entity about 4 feet tall, wearing a blue helmet on its head and carrying a blue box on its back that features tubes running into the helmet and the entity’s back. Its body is covered with long, dark-brown hair, and it appears to be using a T-shaped instrument to explore the ground. There is a wide, aluminum-colored slit around its eyes. After noticing Cocozza, the entity moves toward a clearing among some hazel bushes, emitting small bluish flames from its sides. The witness backtracks and loses sight of it, but sees a UFO ascend at an angle from the bushes, turn, and shoot away toward a mountain range. Cocozza returns with a shotgun and finds some hoof-like footprints and holes left by the strange instrument, as well as landing marks apparently caused by the object. (Umberto Telarico, “Close Encounter at Prato di Principato Ultra (Italy), October 1984,” Flying Saucer Review 32, no. 1 (December 1986): 9–18; 2Pinotti 72–83)

October 9 — 3:30 a.m. A beam of light coming in through a window wakes up Isidoro Ferri in his residence on the Via della Tessaia in Polcanto, northeast of Florence, Italy. He sees that it is coming from the forehead of a dark figure on a nearby hill across the road. Suddenly the figure and light vanish, and Ferri sees a stationary ink light with three jets projecting downward. After several minutes, this light disappears and an extremely bright white light approaches and floods the area. Ferri gets up and approaches the window but finds himself paralyzed for a few seconds. The light then withdraws, and he finds he can move again. The white light is replaced by a red lens- shaped light that hurts his eyes then moves on to the northwest. Ferri’s dog has not barked through the entire encounter, refuses food for the next several days, and stays in its doghouse for 2 weeks. Three circular holes 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch deep are found in an area of somewhat flattened grass. (Edoardo Russo, “Italian Update 1984,” Flying Saucer Review 30, no. 4 (May 1985): 26; 2Pinotti 84–92; Patrick Gross, URECAT,

February 1, 2007)

Fall — The UK Ministry of Defence is reorganized, making the group Sec. AS (2a) its main focal point for receiving public UFO reports. Its mission is to “determine whether or not UFOs present a threat to the security and defence of the United Kingdom.” It has no other budget than minor staff costs and its records are unclassified. However, Timothy Good uncovers evidence that the U.K Provost and Security Services at RAF Rudloe Manor [now MOD Corsham] northeast of Bath, England, are conducting more serious and secret UFO investigations. More recent declassified files have revealed that RAF Rudloe Manor was a filter center for UFO reports in the 1950s. The British Police Force’s elite Special Branch in 1997 opens files on two UFO researchers in the UK who are collecting data on the Rudloe Manor operations—Robin Cole and Matthew Williams. (“Churchill Ordered UFO Cover-up, National Archives Show,” BBC News, August 5, 2010; Nick Redfern, A Covert Agenda: UFO Secrecy Exposed, Simon & Schuster, 1997, pp. 193, 203, 210; Good Above, pp. 70, 121–126; Nick Redfern, The Roswell UFO Conspiracy, Lisa Hagan, 2017, pp. 35–37)

November — Discover magazine publishes a cover story on the Westchester County sightings, which claims that the UFOs are actually a group of pilots from Stormville, New York, who fly ultralight aircraft in a tight formation and use their lights in such a way as to create boomerang or circle patterns. The author, Glenn Garelik, notes that single-engine planes, even when directly overhead, are barely audible at ground level when they are flying above 3,000 feet. However, it fails to disclose that many witnesses are much closer to the object than that, nor does it mention the hovering for extended periods. In his 1987 book Night Siege, Philip J. Imbrogno lists 12 reasons for rejecting the explanation of the Stormville pilots. On those occasions when witnesses see both a plane and a UFO, the plane is clearly audible and the UFO is not, even if it is much closer. The UFO also appears on nights when the Stormville pilots are not in the air. The UFO’s maneuvers simply are beyond the capacity of most aircraft, and the power and intensity of the lights is far beyond the power capacity of small planes. (Glenn Garelik, “The Great Hudson Valley UFO Mystery,” Discover 5 (November 1984): 18–24; NightSiege 1998; Clark III 1278–1279)

November — British UFO researcher Timothy Good interviews astrophysicist Pierre Guérin on the future of GEPAN. Because it is under the aegis of CNES, which is ill-disposed toward UFOs, Guérin says, it is doomed. (Good Above, pp. 136–139)

November 14 — As the space shuttle Discovery approaches the dysfunctional satellite Westar VI on the STS-51-A mission, its video camera records for 2 seconds a gray blob that seems to materialize near the top center of the frame and move in a curved path across the right side of the frame. Bruce Maccabee says the blob could be a “reflection of something in a window or a small nearby particle.” (“UFO Appears during NASA STS-51-A Mission November 1984,” Real UFO Files Disclosed YouTube channel, July 10, 2020)

December — Bob Gribble, who operates the National UFO Reporting Center in Seattle, Washington, discontinues sending UFO reports to MUFON and sends them to Michael Hart’s Compufon for posting on the Usenet bulletin board. (MUFON UFO Journal, October 1985)

December — Night. A married couple are up late watching TV in Trafford, Pennsylvania, when they hear a tapping on the window. They see a red ball of light about as big as a basketball that moves away from the window. They turn on the outside lights to watch the ball, which has black marks among the red and gives off beams and sparks. It floats over a neighbor’s house. They go back to watching TV, but the red light taps on the window once more before going away. (Michael D. Swords, “A Trick of the Light,” IUR 31, no. 2 (June 2007): 10)

December 11 — North Hollywood, California, film producer Jaime Shandera receives an unmarked package in the mail containing an undeveloped roll of 35mm film with the faked 1952 Eisenhower briefing document and the 1947 Truman MJ-12 memo. He tells researcher William Moore, and they have the roll developed. Postmarked Albuquerque, New Mexico, the package is most likely sent by individuals in AFOSI at Kirtland AFB, including special agent Master Sgt. Richard Doty, to plant disinformation in William Moore’s UFO research. They wait until 1987 to release the document. (Michael Hesemann and Philip Mantle, Beyond Roswell, Marlowe, 1997, p. 90; Clark III 365–366)

1985

1985 — Near the town of Krasnovodsk [now Türkmenbaşy], Turkmenistan, a radar station under the command of Captain

L. Valuev tracks a disc-shaped object at an altitude of 60,000 feet and apparently more than one-half mile in length. The object is stationary, and some time later a small disc about 16 feet in diameter flies out of it and then lands on a lengthy spit on the Caspian Sea. Patrol boats rush to that area, but when they reach a distance of 325 feet from the object, it takes off and flies more than one-half mile away. This happens five times. Then the object ascends at a huge speed and reaches the larger disc, which rises up and disappears. (Alexander Dremin, “Soviet Army Fought UFOs,” Pravda, January 2004; Good Need, p. 354; Vadim K. Ilyin, “KGB’s ‘Blue Folder’ Reveals Shootings, Landings in USSR,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 403 (November 2001): 8)

January — Jerome Clark begins to take over as editor of the International UFO Reporter as Hynek distances himself from operations at the Center for UFO Studies. (Clark III 628)

January — A Roper Organization poll finds that 25% of Americans think that UFOs come from somewhere else in the universe. (Robert J. Durant, “Evolution of Public Opinion on UFOs,” IUR 18, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1993): 13, 20)

January 10 — US physicist Bernard Eastlund files a patent on a “Method and apparatus for altering a region in the earth’s atmosphere, ionosphere, and/or magnetosphere,” that proposes a 40-square-mile radio transmitter using Alaskan natural gas to generate current to create electromagnetic radiation to excite a section of the ionosphere. The patent speculates on “possible ramifications and potential future developments” including magnetotelluric surveys, local

weather modification, and missile defense. Eastlund later claims that HAARP is built using his patents, prompting Nick Begich Jr. to charge in 1995 that HAARP is capable of secretly controlling the weather. According to HAARP program manager John L. Heckscher, “HAARP certainly does not have anything to do with Eastlund’s thing, that is just crazy. What we have here is a premier scientific research facility with military applications.” (US Patent, “Method and Apparatus for Altering a Region of the Earth’s Atmosphere, Ionosphere, and/or Magnetosphere,” granted August 11, 1987)

January 13 — Journalist James Bamford reveals the existence of the still-secret National Reconnaissance Office in a New York Times article. (James Bamford, “America’s Supersecret Eyes in Space,” New York Times Magazine, January 13, 1985, Sec. 6, p. 39)

January 13–27 — Project Hessdalen II is launched to study the recurring lights of Hessdalen, Norway, with the participation of J. Allen Hynek, who arrives on January 26, but little light activity is noted. The phenomenon ceases in 1986. Investigators disagree on what the Hessdalen lights are. Odd-Gunnar Røed thinks they have some complex natural cause. Erling Strand finds it odd that the lights are so localized in time and space and must be an unknown phenomenon. Paul Devereux is convinced that they are earthquake lights resulting from seismic activity (even though the seismograph recorded no tremors). University of Oslo physicist Elvand Thrane says the lights remain a mystery. (J. Allen Hynek, “Tracking the Hessdalen Lights,” IUR 10, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1985): 10–11; “Projekt Hessdalen, Teil II,” Journal für UFO-Forschung 48 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 164–170; Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 90–92; Gerson S. Paiva and C. A. Taft, “Hessdalen Lights and Piezoelectricity from Rock Strain,” Journal of Scientific Exploration 25, no. 2 (2011): 265–271; Clark III 573; G. Pascoli, “Are Hessdalen Lights a Reality, an Illusion, or a Mix of the Two?” Journal of Scientific Exploration 35, no. 3 (2021): 590–622)

February — 2:35 a.m. Freight train #1702, consisting of 70 empty cars and a locomotive, is paced by a strange object for 31 miles from Essoyla station through Suoyarvi, Karelia, Russia, for 1 hour and 20 minutes. It comes from the side and crosses the railway about 100–160 feet ahead of the train. The men feel as if hypnotized and stare at an object about 13 feet in diameter that moves silently above the ground as if drifting. When the train is approaching the Novye Peski station, Engineer Sergei Orlov switches on his portable radio and contacts a woman on duty who goes out to meet the approaching train. She is surprised to see the shining ball followed by the vibrating object looking like an “upturned basin.” The train appears, moving at about 37 mph. She thinks the ball might hit the station, but right before the switch, it suddenly separates from the locomotive and passes around the building.

When it returns, the object moves again toward the train, which speeds up as if the UFO is pulling it. The train manages to stop only near the Zastava station and the ball disappears behind the forest. The crew has to wait for a train coming from the opposite direction toward Petrozavodsk. Conductor Mironov gets out of the cab to examine the wheels, and as soon as he walks around the locomotive he feels a strange force press him against the train. He cannot move, but eventually it lets up; he reaches the cab and the train starts off as if it is waiting for him to take his seat. The train keeps moving for some time until the ball disappears behind trees. Automatic recorders on the locomotive and other official documents corroborate the testimony. The shining ball is noticed earlier at the Kutizhma station even before it is spotted by the train. (NICAP, “Objects Pull Train”; Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, p. 95)

March — Noon. At a military shooting range at Mălina, west of Galaţi, Romania, Doru Voloşeniuc is sent to collect compasses from a military vehicle when he sees a flat, silvery object hovering about 5 feet above the ground. It becomes shrouded with a blue-green mist as it increases its rotation. He hears an unusually strong and penetrating ringing sound and he is lifted off the ground more than 12 inches and slams into the road face down. Looking up, he sees the object is no longer there. (Romania 93–94)

March 7 — 11:40 a.m. A witness is driving south on North Stevens Street between 12th and 16th streets in Tacoma, Washington, when he sees a long, glowing, oval object to his left less than 2 miles away. The object, the width of four full moons, begins banking to the northeast. At a traffic light, the witness is able to take three photographs of the distant object, and he drives another mile toward the UFO, taking a fourth photo before it shoots straight up and out of sight. The photos only show a blur of distant light. A day later, the witness develops a rash on his face. (“Sighting Report from Tacoma,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 6, no. 3 (June/July 1985): 6–7)

March 21 — Philip J. Imbrogno and his team of investigators (Sheila Sabo and George Lesnick) see a UFO immediately after leaving the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where they took part in a call-in TV show about the Hudson Valley sightings. They see a circular structure ringed in 7 brilliant lights hovering over a 15-story building, watch it turn in the sky, and chase it down Interstate 95. The object glides effortlessly across the sky. The FAA later tells them that the sighting involves pilots flying in an illegal formation. (NightSiege 189–194)

May 20–25 — Army Col. John B. Alexander (Howard Blum gives him the pseudonym “Harold Phillips”), director of advanced concepts at the US Army Laboratory, forms a UFO working group titled Advanced Theoretical Physics Group made up of scientists and officers throughout the defense and intelligence community. His intent is to credibly gain access to actual deep-black military programs on UFOs or provide consultants for them. It meets for the first time this week, with only three other meetings: August 6–7, 1985; April 24, 1986; and November 18, 1987. They meet at BDM McLean Secure Facility in Virginia, and the last time at the Pentagon. This first meeting’s attendees include Robert M. Wood (McDonnell Douglas), Lt. Col. Ronald F. Blackburn (Air Force), Milt Jansen (or Janzen), Don Keuble (Lockheed), Harold E. Puthoff (SRI), Ed Speakman (Army Intelligence), Howell McConnell (NSA), William S. Wilkinson (CIA), and others. The group’s effort appears to be connected to an engineering project under retired Adm. Bobby Ray Inman. Wood says the meetings are top secret, but he hears “nothing that was truly classified.” Wood gives a presentation on UFO propulsion. Other people supposedly connected to the group are Maj. Gen. Albert Stubblebine, Jack Houck (Boeing), and remote viewer Ed Dames.

Alexander states that one of ATP’s goals is: “Study of the UFO data could provide a potential for a leap in technology. This would not require access to a craft, but could be derived from scientific examination of the reports determining the theoretical physics required to achieve such results.” The group dissolves in 1988, since no government agency wants to openly fund it. (Howard Blum, Out There: The Government’s Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials, Simon & Schuster, 1990; John B. Alexander, UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies, and Realities, Thomas Dunne, 2011; Good Need, pp. 340–341; Dolan II 382–384; Jacques Vallée, Forbidden Science 3, Anomalist, 2017)

May 23 — 10:35 p.m. A Soviet bomber regiment carrying out a scheduled mission spots an oval, orange object over the Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Radar does not track it, but observers estimate it is traveling close to 350 mph. A light halo surrounds it. The sighting lasts 13 minutes, during which time the object occasionally descends and remains motionless. Two hours later, a similar object is seen at high altitude for 10 minutes, emitting beams of light. (Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, p. 76)

May 26 — 9:30–10:15 p.m. More than 100 people around Newtown and Southbury, Connecticut, see a low-flying, silent, circular formation of lights that passes over Interstate 84, causing many cars to pull over for a look and some to lose power. Commercial airline pilot Randy Etting sees the lights as he is driving along I-94. He pulls off the road and snaps a photo of the formation. He is sure there is a solid object behind the lights. (Philip J. Imbrogno, “1985: Close Encounter on Interstate 84, Connecticut,” UFO Casebook; NightSiege 200–201)

Summer — Midnight. Biochemist Kary Mullis (who in 1993 won a Nobel Prize for his work on the polymerase chain reaction) is outside his cabin in Mendocino County, California, when he sees a glow next to a fir tree. Pointing his flashlight in that direction, he sees that the glow is coming from a raccoon with black eyes. The raccoon speaks to him, saying, “Good evening, doctor.” He gives a friendly reply, and a moment later it is suddenly morning and he is walking on a road uphill from the cabin with no idea how he has gotten there. His clothes are clean and dry.

Mullis goes back to the cabin for some sleep. Later, he returns to the area near the fir tree and experiences an irrational panic. In 1987, he sees the cover of Whitley Strieber’s Communion and feels a vague sense of recognition. His adult daughter Louise, who has also experienced missing time at the cabin, has the same reaction. Mullis has no memory of seeing a UFO or having an abduction experience, but he insists the experience is real. (Kary B. Mullis, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field, Pantheon, 1998, pp. 130–136; Bill Chalker, “An Interesting Aside,” 1999)

June 11 — 10:40 p.m. A Chinese Boeing 747 airliner encounters a UFO on its flight from Beijing to Paris that almost forces the captain to make an emergency landing. Flight CA 933 is over Lanzhou, Gansu province, China, when Captain Wang Shuting and his crew first observe the object. The UFO crosses the path of the airliner at an altitude of 33,000 feet at a very high speed. The object illuminates an area of 25–30 square miles and is huge, with an apparent diameter of 6 miles. It is elliptical in shape and has an extremely bright spot in the center, with three horizontal rows of bluish-white lights on the perimeter. The sighting lasts for 2 minutes. Passengers do not see the object. (“Translation from China of June 11th UFO over Dung Kou,” CUFOS Associate Newsletter 6, no. 3 (June/July 1985): 6; Good Above, p. 218)

June 27 — During startup of the first reactor at the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant, Saratov Oblast, Russia, a relief valve bursts and superheated steam at 572° F. escapes into the annular compartments surrounding the reactor well.

Fourteen men are possibly boiled alive. The incident is covered up by Soviet authorities. (Adam Higginbotham,

Midnight at Chernobyl, Simon & Schuster, 2019, pp. 70–71)

July — 3:00 p.m. As a pilot is flying a Grumman AA TR-2 toward the Port Columbus International Airport [now the John Glenn Columbus International Airport] in Ohio, the airport gives him authorization to investigate a “second sun” about two-thirds the size of a football field a few miles to the northwest. It is not tracked on ground radar. As he approaches, he sees it is a huge bright light that switches off as he gets closer, revealing a gray sphere. The object apparently consists of “millions” of clearly visible, pentagon-shaped, partially translucent crystals. The pilot estimates they are 6 inches in diameter, all spaced identically about 12 inches apart. He decides to penetrate the mass with his left wing, hoping he can knock some to the ground. As his wing slices through, he hears what sounds like a hailstorm on a tin roof and he sees hundreds of crystals breaking along the wing. The aircraft turbulence does not disturb the small objects, but their impact on the wing nearly destabilizes him. Later, he looks for fragments embedded in the wing, but does not find any. (George Filer, “Filer’s Files,” #12-2005, March 16, 2005)

July 14 — 12:56 a.m. Brian McMullan Sr., Brian McMullan Jr., and a third member of the rock band C.E.IV (because of their interest in UFOs) are in the garden outside the home of their bass player in a northern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, when they see an amber ball skipping along the sky. It crosses the sky in 25 seconds, slowly changing color to red. They estimate it is about 60 feet across and vanishes toward Fenwick Moor. The band remembers being “paralyzed with awe” for several minutes after the sighting. (Jenny Randles, “Cosmic Rock,” Fortean Times 397 (October 2020): 31)

July 18 — Jaime Shandera and William Moore discover the unsigned, carbon-copy 1954 Cutler-Twining memo in Box 189 of Record Group 341 in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., between two file folders. ()

July 22 — 5:45 p.m. Two Hawk jets of the Zimbabwe Air Force piloted by C. Cordy-Hedge and T. R. Van Rooyen are scrambled from Thornhill Air Base in Gweru, Zimbabwe, following sightings in Bulawayo and five other cities in Matabeleland South. The object is seen and tracked on radar at Bulawayo Airport. It looks orange and round with a short cone on top. When the jets arrive at Bulawayo, the object is hovering at 7,000 feet, but it suddenly accelerates to a height of above 70,000 feet in less than a minute. The Hawks level off at 31,000 feet and return to Thornhill, where the object is seen for a few moments before disappearing horizontally at high speed. Air Commodore David Thorne states: “As far as my Air Staff is concerned, we believe implicitly that the unexplained UFOs are from some civilization beyond our planet.” UFO researcher Cynthia Hind speaks to some Bulawayo witnesses who think the object is a balloon coated with reflecting material, but radar operators say it is clear it is no balloon. (Good Above, pp. 433–434; MUFON UFO Journal, November 1985; Cynthia Hind, “Report on the UFO Sighting in Zimbabwe: July, 1985,” BUFORA Bulletin, no. 21 (May 1986): 5–9)

August — Several dozen Chinese scientists gather in Dalian, Liaoning, China, to exchange views on UFO research for the first time. Some 40 papers are presented and 17 of them are selected to be published in the proceedings. An article in China Daily reports that there is an enormous interest in UFOs in China and that the China UFO Research Organization has a membership of 20,000. The organization’s chairman, Liang Renglin of Jinan University in Guangzhou, says that more than 600 reports were made in the past 5 years. (“UFO Conference Held in Darlian,” China Daily, August 27, 1985; Good Above, pp. 219, 472)

August 5 — 8:15 p.m. Antiaircraft batteries open fire on a UFO that is flying from west to east over northeastern Tehran, Iran. They apparently miss. The batteries believe the object is an Iraqi warplane. (“Iran Fires on Shining Object in Sky,” Newport News (Va.) Daily Press, August 7, 1985, p. 12)

August 10 — The Russian nuclear submarine K-431 is refueling at the Chazhma Bay naval facility near Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia. A reactor tank lid is improperly replaced, which quickly results in a thermal explosion. There are 10 fatalities, and 49 other people suffer radiation injuries. The explosion releases a massive amount of radioactivity and contaminates large areas of land and water. The disaster is kept secret for many years. (Wikipedia, “Soviet submarine K-431”)

August 15 — 4:05 p.m. Greek Olympic Airways Flight OA 132, piloted by Christos Stamulis, is flying from Zürich, Switzerland, to Athens and is just passing the Swiss-Italian border at 25,000 feet when a wingless projectile passes 200–500 feet below them from left to right. The object is about 6 feet long, dark brown or black, and is coming from the Italian side of the border. Italian and Swiss military deny any tests. (Clas Svahn and Anders Liljegren, “Close Encounters with Unknown Missiles,” IUR 19, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1994): 12)

August 17 — Afternoon. For several hours, witnesses throughout central Chile see distinct, luminous spots in the sky, sometimes motionless, sometimes moving slowly. Television crews film the objects, astronomers in Santiago photograph them, and the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport tracks them on radar. Early explanations by the Chilean Air Force center on weather or research balloons, but a Chilean Civil Aeronautics report states that the sightings remain an enigma. (J. Antonio Huneeus, “A Chilean Overview,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 218 (June 1986): 5–6)

August 18 — Four civilian pilots are flying a Cessna on a southerly course at 3,200 feet altitude near Söderhamn, Gävleborg, Sweden, when they spot a missilelike object, some 20 feet long, going in the opposite direction. They see it is a metallic missile with steering fins in the back. It occasionally changes its course according to the terrain. The pilot dives down a bit to follow it, but they can’t keep up. The Swedish military spends 6 months trying to identify it. (Clas Svahn and Anders Liljegren, “Close Encounters with Unknown Missiles,” IUR 19, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1994): 12; Swords 369–370)

September 9 — 12:05 p.m. British pilot David J. Hastings is flying a Cessna 337 Super Skymaster with his instructor, US pilot David Patterson, south of Las Vegas, Nevada, with the Mojave Desert in California just coming into view, when they nearly collide with an oblong-shaped object that suddenly appears directly in front of them. They duck beneath the instrument panel. When they get up, they sense something moving on the port side of the plane, so Hastings takes two photos in that direction. When the film is developed, one shot shows a blurry image of a UFO. (David J. Hastings, “Across the USA in a Cessna Skymaster,” Pilot, June 2000, pp. 56–59; UFOFiles2, pp. 132– 133; Good Need, pp. 399–400)

September 13 — The US P78-1 Solwind solar observation satellite is destroyed in orbit at an altitude of 326 miles by an ASM-135 ASAT missile launched from a USAF F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft. The test results in 285 cataloged pieces of orbital debris. (Wikipedia, “Solwind”; Wikipedia, “ASM-135 ASAT”)

September 27 — Two police officers in Long Clawson, England, are the latest witnesses of a triangular-shaped object that has been seen multiple times in the area around Leicester since August. (“Throwing a Light on UFO,” Leicester (UK) Mercury, December 2, 1985, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 199 (February 1986): 12)

Autumn — 8:30 p.m. A father and son are driving in Cannock Chase toward Rugeley, Staffordshire, England. As they round a bend in the road, they see a large, black, triangular object stationary 150 feet in the sky about 100 feet away. A bright light appears at each point of the triangle. After a short time, it shoots away at incredible speed. (“Tale of a Chase Hi-Tech Triangle,” Wolverhampton (UK) Cannock Chase Post, December 21, 2000, via UFO Newsclipping Service, no. 383 (June 2001): 13)

October — The Russian motorship Baltiysky-35 is in the Baltic Sea bound from Lübeck, Germany, to Riga, Latvia, when the crew observes a bright dot in the sky emanating concentric circles of a light-green color. Researcher Konstantin Khazanovich considers this to be the result of a Soviet ballistic missile laiunch from the Murmansk area. (Stonehill and Mantle, Russia’s USO Secrets, Flying Disk, 2020, p. 172)

November — GEPAN has received 1,615 UFO reports from the Gendarmerie in France dating as far back as 1974. (Clark III 546)

November 3 — 8:30 p.m. Two men in a small vessel in the waters off Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia, notice a high- altitude object in the north looking a bit larger than a star, rapidly moving toward them. It sends a beam of light to earth at a sharp angle, although the beam does not reach the ground. As the UFO approaches the boat its engine stops. The captain restarts the engine, but it dies again when the object is overhead. The UFO moves off toward the city and disappears. The men use oars to return to shore. (Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, pp. 77–78)

November 16 — Mark Rodeghier is named deputy scientific director of the Center for UFO Studies. (“To Our Readers,”

IUR 10, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1985): 18)

November 19 — At the 1985 Geneva Summit between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan remarks during a toast that if the people of the world were to find out that there was some alien life form that was going to attack the Earth approaching on Halley’s Comet, then that knowledge would unite all the peoples of the world. (presidentialufo.com, “Ronald Reagan, 40th President, January 20, 1981– January 20, 1989”)

November 19 — 11:00 p.m. A woman is returning to her home near Madison, Wisconsin. Suddenly she sees three lights above a row of trees descending toward a house on the north side of the street. She pulls over to the curb and sees the lights make a sharp, 90° turn toward her car. Then it rises several feet in front of the car avoiding the power lines. Triangular and black, the object is the size of a large car with a light on each side. Sweeping to the north, the triangle stops and hovers directly over a house. She leaves and calls the Madison police department. (Don Schmitt, “The Belleville Sightings, Part Two,” IUR 13, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1988): 17–18; Marler 163)

November 22 — Hynek writes a letter to International UFO Reporter Editor Jerome Clark, effectively resigning as editor-in-chief, citing health reasons. He also states that his connection with Tina Choate, Brian Myers, and the ICUFOR operation in Phoenix, Arizona, is “null and void.” Funding from the British investor Kaye has fallen

through, and Choate and Myers are more interested in the commercial aspects than UFO research. (“Dr. Hynek Resigns,” IUR 10, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1985): 20; O’Connell, 2017, pp. 332–338)

November 22 — After 5:00 p.m. A Wisconsin state employee is driving north on County Highway CV near DeForest, Wisconsin, when he notices three white lights hovering 20–30 feet above a farmhouse. He exits the highway for a closer look. The UFO is roughly triangular, dull gray, 40 feet across, and its bottom is sloped into contours. It is hanging stationary over a 60-foot-high tree as the witness pulls his car past it. He gets out of his car about 200 feet away, and the object moves closer toward him to about 100 feet over the road. Smoothly and quickly it moves away to the west. (Don Schmitt, “The Belleville Sightings, Part Two,” IUR 13, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1988): 18)

December — Some members of the Centro Ufologico Nazionale, including Paolo Toselli, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Edoardo Russo, are dissatisfied with its administration and priorities. They break off and form the Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici. The newsletter Notizie C.U.N. becomes Notizie UFO with the same editor, Gian Paolo Grassino, in Turin, Italy. It changes the name in February 1998 to UFO Notizie and is now published as Notizie CISU. (Notizie UFO, no. 11 (December 1985); UFO Notizie, no. 57 (February 1998); Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici, “Notizie CISU”; 2Pinotti 96–97)

December 23 — 3:10 a.m. The merchant ferry Manuel Soto, owned by Transmediterránea Company, is sailing from Las Palmas to Arrecife in the Canary Islands when the third officer on duty sees a light on the horizon ahead. Initially he identifies it as the star Antares but soon realizes the position is wrong. He takes measurements of its height and azimuth. It remains in the same spot for 15 minutes, after which it begins moving quickly. Other crew members see the light approaching the ship and reaching the zenith 2 minutes later. The object’s outline does not resemble an airplane or helicopter, and it has an intense white light at its center, a weaker red light near it, and another soft light set apart. The object is flying low and silently. (Swords 436)

December 26 — Night. Novelist Whitley Strieber undergoes a bizarre UFO abduction in his cabin in upstate New York. After he is awakened by a peculiar noise, he opens his eyes to see a small, inhuman creature rushing toward his bed. The next thing he knows it is morning, and he is feeling disoriented and angry but can’t tell why. Later, the full story of missing time, terrifying flashbacks, and intrusive examinations by entities he calls the “visitors” unfolds under the direction of Budd Hopkins in hypnosis sessions by Donald Klein of the New York Psychiatric Institute beginning in March 1986. Strieber tells the story in his 1987 book Communion. (Whitley Strieber, Communion: A True Story, Avon, 1987; Clark III 1112–1113; Nick Redfern, “Whitley Strieber’s Communion at 30,” Mysterious Universe, March 2, 2017)

1986

1986 — NORAD technical intelligence works on 813 initial Unknown targets this year (whittled down quickly from an even greater number of Uncorrelated Targets). Nearly two-thirds are pursued by fighter interceptors and more than one-third of the scrambled cases are successfully intercepted and identified. Almost half of the total are identified by further Air Traffic Control correlation, leaving 123 Remaining Unknowns at the end of the year. This is reduced further in early 1987 to 87 “Not Identified” REMs by additional intelligence correlation analysis, leaving roughly 10% of the initial amount unidentified. (Clark III 801)

1986 — Night. Dissident Chinese writer Ma Jian has escaped from custody and is making his way through dangerous terrain in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County in southern Yunnan, China. Suddenly, a ball of light the size of a cantaloupe appears in the darkness. It rises from a stream and floats through the trees, then stops by some branches 30 feet away. It drops to his eye level and he follows it through the forest, guiding his way for 12 miles until dawn. (Ma Jian, Red Dust: A Path through China, Pantheon, 2001, p. 279; Clark III 652–653)

January — Jimmy Goddard begins publishing Amskaya, a newsletter of the contactee-oriented STAR Fellowship, in Weybridge, Surrey, England. It continues through July 2018. (Amskaya, no. 1 (January 1986))

January 1 — The Usenet bulletin board service ParaNet is launched, managed by James J. Speiser in Arizona. It quickly develops into a thriving community where a full range of researchers, skeptics, and cranks can post articles. Dale Goudie takes over the online information service Computer UFO Network. Operating out of Mercer Island, Washington, it functions as a UFO bulletin board using a voice and data line connected to an IBM personal computer. CUFON receives most of its reports from Bob Gribble of the National UFO Reporting Center. In Seattle. By late 1986, Goudie has more than 1,700 members and is receiving many calls per day, mostly IFOs. (MUFON UFO Journal, February 1986; MUFON UFO Journal, July 1986; Walt Andrus, “Director’s Message,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 223, November 1986, pp. 19, 18; Dolan II 380–381)

January 7 — A UFO emitting beams of light toward the ground is seen in Butler, Pennsylvania. In Pittsburgh, 20 minutes later, a silver-gray disc is seen hovering. Mist forms around it, the object tilts, and it moves out of sight. (MUFON UFO Journal, December 1986, p. 7)

January 9 — 9:00 p.m. Multiple cars stop along Interstate 84 in Hartford, Connecticut, to watch a silent boomerang- shaped object, estimated to be the size of a Boeing 747, with white, red, blue, and green lights. It moves low through the sky then hovers for 15 seconds before heading off to the west. The boomerang is also seen by dozens of witnesses in Torrington, Connecticut. A family sees the UFO, with 10 white lights, hover directly over their house, engulfing their home in a brilliant white light. They are so frightened they flee to the basement. The building inspector for Torrington sees a “cigar with square windows” near Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. The FAA claims the object is a blimp, although there are no blimps flying in the area. (NightSiege, 5–6, 194)

January 29 — 7:50 p.m. Inhabitants of Dalnegorsk, Primorsky Krai, Russia, see a reddish ball about half the size of the full moon. The ball is flying soundlessly parallel to the ground. It is later determined that its speed is approximately 34 mph and that it is about 2,300–2,625 feet in altitude. When the object reaches Height 611 (also known as Mount Izvestkovaya) it starts to descend and then crashes into the hill. All witnesses but one agree there is no sound when the object reaches the ground. Some say the object falls with a flash and is not visible after that; others claim it oscillates at altitude above the hill, radiating light of varying intensity as it goes up and down. The light given off by the object is described by some as a forest fire, which lasts for approximately one hour. A scientific team led by Valery Dvuzhilny, head of the Far Eastern Commission for Anomalous Phenomena, arrives on the site on February 3. Some rocks at the impact site have drops of silvery metal, which are later determined to be lead. The type of lead found on Height 611 is different from lead found in local lead deposits. Also, black, glassy, drop-shaped beads and mesh fragments are found at the site. In all, approximately 70 grams of lead,

5 grams of mesh fragments, and 40 grams of beads are discovered. The radiation level of the landing ground is normal. Photos of the site using two different cameras all develop as blank. Chemical analyses of the beads show they are mostly composed of lead, silicon, and iron. Some of the drops contain significant amounts of zinc, bismuth, and rare earth elements. An analysis of the soil, rocks, and burned wood taken from the landing ground shows that the chemical composition is similar to the composition of samples taken from the site of the 1908 Tunguska event. The mesh fragments are also analyzed; the material does not dissolve in strong acids and organic solvents, even when exposed to high temperatures for prolonged periods of time. One of the mesh fragments is discovered to be composed of scandium, gold, lanthanum, sodium, and samarium. An analysis of another mesh fragment shows gold, silver, and nickel. After that fragment is heated in a vacuum, the analysis no longer shows these elements; however, molybdenum and rhenium are detected. The concentration of gold found in one of the mesh fragments is equivalent to 1,100 grams per metric ton. This is much higher than gold deposits in the region, which become economic to extract when the concentration of gold reaches 4 grams per metric ton. There are no gold deposits in Dalnegorsk that contain gold at concentrations high enough to extract. (StealthSkater Archives, [Dalnegorsk articles]; Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, Russia’s Roswell Incident, Flying Disk Press, 2017)

February 4 — 3:00 a.m. A woman in Reseda, California, wakes up with a sinus headache. She hears animals in the neighborhood barking, growling, and howling. Looking outside, she sees above a power line a black object hovering with a peculiar vibrating motion. It is “like a black mirror with a small, white fluorescent aura around it.” After 3–4 minutes, it emits orange bands of light. She wakes her husband, who manages to see a thin, white mist floating away. A strong wind comes up for 5 minutes afterward. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 14)

February 6 — 8:30 p.m. Valery Dvuzhilny reports that two yellow globes appear in the north and approach the Dalnegorsk crash site, circle it four times, and disappear in a flash. (StealthSkater Archives, [Dalnegorsk articles])

February 8 — 7:00 p.m. Matthew Woodard, 16, and Melinda Hays, 17, are driving toward Lima, Ohio, from the west on State Route 117. As they are crossing the bridge over the Ottawa River, they see a large, dark object about 50–60 feet long hovering above some trees on the right side of the road. It parallels them as they turn left on Seriff Road. It has a rectangular upper section with a single steady white light on top and sloping sides with a red and blue light on the lower left. The object eventually disappears in the distance behind trees and houses. (John P. Timmerman, “A Giant Triangle,” IUR 11, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1986): 9)

February 12 — 12:33 a.m. A woman who lives on the northwest edge of Lima, Ohio, is awakened by a loud sound. She looks out and sees a “strange dark object” in the southeast sky. It is triangular in shape, has white lights in the two lower corners and a red light in the top corner, and is hovering about 250 feet away. She goes to wake her husband, but when she returns the object is gone. (John P. Timmerman, “A Giant Triangle,” IUR 11, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1986): 10)

February 26 — 7:30 p.m. Charles, the Prince of Wales, is returning to London, England, after a tour of Dallas, Texas.

While flying over the Irish Sea, the pilot of his Vickers VC10 observes a bright red flash in the sky. Charles does not see it, but several other aircraft in the vicinity also report a reddish ball of fire with a tail (undoubtedly a meteor or space debris reentry). (Jenny Randles, “Nonencounter with a non-UFO,” IUR 11, no. 4 (July/Aug.

1986): 7–8)

February 28 — 11:30 p.m. Multiple witnesses in New Castle, Pennsylvania, watch a 50-foot-long lighted object, with two apparent legs for landing, hovering and moving up, down, and sideways. A dog becomes completely agitated. (MUFON UFO Journal, December 1986, p. 8)

March 18 — Two triangular objects flying one behind the other with their points forward are seen near Newport, South Wales. The first is covered with multicolored lights, while the second has three lights at each point. Both are a few hundred yards long. (Marler 138)

March 26 — Night. Some 500 witnesses in Kingston, New York, see an object “like a giant Ferris wheel” the size of a football field. It makes a humming sound and has intensely bright lights, mostly white but also red, yellow, green, and blue. A dark mass behind the lights blots out the sky. Suddenly the object flips on its side before moving away. A police officer who sees the UFO says it cannot be “a bunch of guys flying in planes.” (NightSiege 197– 198)

April 22 — After 10:00 p.m. Medical technicians taking an injured man in an ambulance to Debrecen, Hungary, see a huge, luminous, orange sphere flying silently above the right side of the road at Hajdudorog and moving along with them. It is about 325 feet away from them, floating at 100–130 feet. The sphere is surrounded by a ring, and flames appear on its surface from time to time. Two flames blaze on opposite sides, while another moves to and fro along its middle. The sighting lasts for 15 minutes for a distance of nearly 12 miles. When the ambulance reaches Hajdúböszörmény, the object speeds up, stops above a forest, and slowly descends while radiating a bright light that illuminates the trees. It goes out shortly afterward. On the return from Debrecen, the huge sphere returns over Józsa, this time with 6–7 flames instead of 3. It speeds over the village and “waits” on the other side for the ambulance, following it again to the north. The perplexed technicians decide to stop the ambulance. The UFO slows down, but does not stop, moving over a power line and illuminating the cables below. The ambulance recommences its journey, with the object following for another 10 minutes. A short time later, covering the same route, the technicians notice that the forest where the sphere landed is on fire. They find the grass all wet, with 5- foot flames (natural gas?) emanating from the ground. (Karoli Hargitai, “The UFO Phenomenon in Hungary,” IUR 14, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1989): 14)

April 22 — 11:00 p.m. Two people are driving on the Via Flaminia near Pesaro, Italy, when their car engine stops. After hearing a strange sound, they see 3 discs 65 feet in diameter with domes and tripods standing on the left of the road. They have white and blue lights. After hovering for 20 seconds, the discs emit a strong whistle, accelerate, and disappear. (Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part 1,” IUR 33, no. 4 (May 2011): 19)

April 25 — 9:05 p.m. A private pilot sees a V-shaped configuration of approximately 12 spherical nocturnal lights for about 15 seconds in Memphis, Tennessee. He estimates they are moving at 300 knots at an altitude of under 1,000 feet. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 14)

April 26 — 1:23 a.m. The Number 4 nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant at Pripyat, Ukraine, has a power surge during a backup generator test. Flawed reactor design and inadequately trained personnel lead to the fuel rods overheating, causing an explosion and meltdown, necessitating the evacuation of 300,000 people from the area. Around 5% of the core is released into the atmosphere, dispersing radioactive material across Europe. The reactor explosion kills two of the reactor operating staff. In the emergency response that follows, 134 firemen and station staff are hospitalized with acute radiation syndrome due to absorbing high doses of ionizing radiation. Of these 134 people, 28 die in the days to months afterward, and approximately 14 suspected radiation-induced cancer deaths follow within the next 10 years. Among the wider population, an excess of 15 childhood thyroid cancer deaths are documented as of 2011. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation at multiple times reviews all the published research on the incident and finds that at present, fewer than 100 documented deaths are likely attributable to increased exposure to radiation. Determining the total eventual number of exposure-related deaths is uncertain based on the linear no-threshold model, a contested statistical model that is used in estimates of low-level radon and air pollution exposure. (Wikipedia, “Chernobyl disaster”; Adam Higginbotham, Midnight at Chernobyl, Simon & Schuster, 2019)

April 26 — About 4:30 a.m. During the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Mikhail Varitsky and other technicians observe a fiery sphere, similar in color to brass, within 1,000 feet of the damaged

Unit 4 reactor at the height of the fire. Two bright rays shoot out from the object, directed at the reactor. It hovers in the areas about 3 minutes, then the rays vanish as the UFO moves slowly away to the northwest. Radiation levels taken just before the UFO appears read 3,000 milliroentgens/hour; after the rays, the readings show 800 milliroentgens/hour. (Paul Stonehill and Philip Mantle, The Soviet UFO Files: Paranormal Encounters behind the Iron Curtain, Quadrillion, 1998, pp. 68–69; “UFO Prevents Blast at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant,” Pravda, September 16, 2002)

April 27 — J. Allen Hynek dies in Scottsdale, Arizona, from a malignant brain tumor. (Mark Rodeghier, “Good-bye, Allen,” IUR 11, no 3 (May/June 1986): 3, 12)

May 6 — Several witnesses are driving from Worthing to Billinghurst in West Sussex, England, when they see a trapezium-shaped object with two square lights in front, and two green and one red light in the rear. Making a dull humming sound, it hovers above the road then zigzags behind their car. After they step out of their vehicle, the object comes straight at them, turns, and proceeds to the north. (Marler 138)

May 8 — UFO researcher Lee M. Graham, who has met several times with Bill Moore and received documents about Project Snowbird and Project Aquarius, writes to the Defense Investigative Service about Moore’s contacts. Moore had sported an ID badge that is identical to other DIS badges Graham has seen. Moore says his superior was named “Richard,” which probably indicates USAF intelligence agent Richard C. Doty. (MUFON UFO Journal, June 1989; Dolan II 406–407)

May 19 — 6:30 p.m. 2ndSgt Sergio Mota da Silva, airport flight controller for São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil, sees two luminous objects about 6,500 feet above the city and 9 miles away. Through binoculars, the objects have distinct borders and intense multicolored flashing lights in the lower part. At 7:00 p.m., flight controllers at Brasilia and São Paulo confirm three primary radar targets above São José dos Campos. Around 7:30 p.m., da Silva sees more lights, predominantly red, but changing to yellow, green, and orange. ()

May 19 — 7:40 p.m. Visual UFO sightings continue over São José dos Campos, with objects remaining motionless for long periods of time. By 8:00 p.m., CINDACTA radars in Brasilia track 8 unidentified targets on their screens. ()

May 19 — 9:00 p.m. A Xingu light airplane piloted by Col. Ozires Silva, an aeronautical engineer and a manufacturing CEO for Petrobras, is preparing for a landing at São José dos Campos. His copilot Cmdr. Alcir Pereira da Silva receives a call from CINDACTA in Brasilia asking them to confirm some unidentified targets. They look and see bright red or red-orange lights “not at all like stars or planes.” Aborting the landing, they attempt to pursue one of the objects, which blinks on and off irregularly, appearing in a new location each time as if changing position rapidly. After about 30 minutes, they give up the chase and land. The Xingu makes three other attempts to land, but each time is diverted toward looking at other unidentified lights and targets. ()

May 19 — 10:23 p.m. By this time, the Air Defense and Air Traffic Control Center is on full alert, radar screens showing numerous unidentified targets. Three F-5E fighter jets are scrambled from Santa Cruz Air Force Base near São Paulo. One of the pilots, Capt. Marcio Brisola Jordão, is able to approach within 12 miles of an unidentified target, visible to him as a strong, constant light that is changing colors continuously from white to green. He breaks off contact when the object moves away out to sea. Another F-5E, piloted by Lt. Kleber Caldas Marinho, chases a very intense red light that changes to white, then green, then red again. Running low on fuel, he has to return to base. Both ground and airborne radar are tracking the objects. After the F-5E pilots make visual contact, more jets are scrambled from Anápolis Air Force Base, Goiás, about 10:50 p.m. This second flight consists of three Mirage III fighters equipped with Sidewinders and Martra missiles. One of the pilots, Capt. Armindo Sousa Viriato de Freitas, is vectored toward 10–13 unidentified targets at a distance of 20 miles. Radar controllers see the objects surrounding his plane, 6 stationed on one side and 7 on the other, and later following his plane at a distance of two miles, but only see them visually once when they are climbing vertically. During the night, a total of 21 luminous objects, apparently spherical and ranging in size from 165 to 330 feet in diameter, are seen, captured on radar, and pursued by jet fighters. Activity ceases around 11:20 p.m. The Air Force Minister, Brig.Gen. Octávio Júlio Moreira Lima, makes the events public at a press conference and allows the pilots and radar officers to submit to news media questioning in Brasilia. (NICAP, “Brazilian Aircraft / UFO Encounter / Radar-Visual”; Wikipedia, “Noite dos discos voadores”; Willy Smith, “The Brazilian Incident,” IUR 11, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1986): 4–6; MUFON UFO Journal, September 1986; J. Antonio Huneeus, “UFO Alert in Brazil,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 223 (November 1986): 6–7, 9, 15; Willy Smith, “UFO Chase in Brazil (May 1986),” Flying Saucer Review 32, no. 1 (December 1986): 6–8; Willy Smith, “UFOs in Latin America,” UFOs 1947– 1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 111–113; Don Berliner, with Marie Galbreath and Antonio Huneeus, UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence, Dell, 2000, pp. 121–127; Kean, pp. 199–202; Good Above, pp. 427–428; Clark III 830–835; Brazil 417–441; Patrick Gross, “Jets Chase UFOs over Brazil in 1986”)

June — The Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici in Turin, Italy, begins publishing its official journal UFO–Rivista di Informazione Ufologica through autumn 2017. (UFO–Rivista di Informazione Ufologica, no. 1 (June 1986))

June 26 — 9:49 p.m. A husband and wife see two objects traveling from southwest to northeast, about as bright as Venus, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They move on parallel paths below a scattered cloud cover. After a minute, they appear to begin rotating, then stop and move out of sight. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 14)

July 11 — A Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft crashes in Sequoia National Forest, California, killing pilot Maj. Ross E. Mulhare and starting a fire. The Air Force establishes restricted airspace around the site.

Armed guards prohibit entry, including firefighters, and a helicopter gunship circles the area. All F-117 debris is replaced with remains of a F-101A Voodoo crash stored at Area 51. (Jeffrey T. Richelson, “When Secrets Crash,” Air Force Magazine, July 1, 2001)

July 15 — 12:00 midnight. A single witness walking home from the bus station in Watertown, Massachusetts, is watching airliners land at Logan Airport when he sees a string of three bright-orange lights. They are moving along the same glide path as the incoming jets but seem to slow down, come to a dead stop, then vanish instantly. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 13)

August — 2:00 a.m. Meteorologist Ion Lazeanu is making routine radar observations at the National Meteorological Administration in Bucharest, Romania, when he picks up a stationary target that appears to be above the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, at an altitude of 18.6 miles. It suddenly disappears and relocates 3 miles lower down. After a short while it relocates to its original position. Over the next 3–4 weeks, he detects the same target every night he is on duty for periods of 3–20 minutes. He discovers another target above Cluj-Napoca, Romania. In February 1988 it reappears above Sofia, and in March 1988 he tracks it moving horizontally toward Varna, Bulgaria. At one point he locks the radar directly on the target and the system is temporarily disabled. He estimates that the target has a length of at least 4,920 feet. (Ion Lazeanu, “Unusual Phenomenon Observed with Radar Device in Romania,” European Journal of UFO and Abduction Studies 1 no. 1 (March 2000): 33–34)

August 11 (approximately) — 6:00 p.m. A retired factory worker and his wife are sitting in their driveway in Lima, Ohio, when they see a rotating, diamond-shaped object about 20 feet in diameter pass nearby. They watch it for less than 2 minutes. It is flying low, passing behind several trees as it moves from west to northeast and out of view. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 13)

August 12 — 12:00 midnight. A single witness in Cridersville, Ohio, sees two UFOs, one while watching the Perseid meteor shower, and the other 7 hours later while driving to work. The first object is a white ball of light seen for about 60 seconds; the second is a circular bluish object in the western sky seen for 1–2 minutes. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 13)

August 13 — 7:50 p.m. A family of three observes a metallic, hamburger-shaped object through a sixth-floor hospital window in Indianapolis, Indiana, for 4–5 minutes. It passes above an airliner going in the opposite direction. The object tips on its edge at one point, and it has a haze of pale green along one side. (Mark Rodeghier, “From the CUFOS Files: 1986 Reports,” IUR 11, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 1986): 13)

August 15 — 11:00 p.m. A married couple on vacation in Calalzo di Cadore, Belluno, Italy, are sitting near a wood outside town when they see a bright light descend. It soon becomes a disc-shaped, domed object, blue in color and luminescent. They see it land, then their awareness ceases until two hours later. By this time the object has disappeared, and only a dark circular trace is left on the ground where grass is bent and blackened for a diameter of 30 feet. Strange dreams and difficulty sleeping, as well as the memory of two humanlike beings in coveralls, persuade them to be hypnotized on August 23–24 by a physician in Pordenone. They relate that a being had come out of the disc and took them on board without touching them. Inside they are laid down and given a medical examination of some kind. The entities have long, oval-shaped heads with phosphorescent eyes, pointed ears, and narrow mouths. (Paolo Fiorino, Gian Paolo Grassino, and Antonio Chiumiento, “Abductions in Italy,” IUR 14, no. 4 (July/Aug.1989): 16)

August 31 — 2:30 a.m. A man is driving home when his car engine stops in Manzuno, Italy. He gets out to find out what happened, hears a sharp whistle and dogs barking, and sees two bright lights. The objects descend and remain visible for more than 15 minutes. He sees their shape as rectangular with a luminous trail. The engine comes back on as the objects disappear. (Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part 1,” IUR 33, no. 4 (May 2011): 19)

September — Vicki Ecker and Sherie Stark launch a newsstand magazine, California UFO, which becomes one of the most widely read periodicals in ufology. It soon changes its name to just UFO, varying its frequency from

quarterly to bimonthly, to erratically with the final issue of 158 appearing in 2012. (Wikipedia, “UFO Magazine”; Clark III 1155)

September — George M. Eberhart publishes UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Contact Movement, a comprehensive, two- volume bibliography of all UFO literature known up to this time. (George M. Eberhart, UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Contact Movement: A Bibliography, Scarecrow, 1986, vol. 1 and vol. 2; Clark 358)

Fall — USAF Lt. Col. Ernie Kellerstrass (Hawk), who works at the Foreign Intelligence Division at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, invites several individuals—Harold E. Puthoff (Partridge), John B. Alexander (Chickadee),

C. B. Scott Jones (Hummingbird, an aide to Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I.), USAF Capt. Robert M. Collins (Condor), William Moore, and Jaime Shandera—to his home in Beavercreek, Ohio, to discuss UFOs, extraterrestrials, and Area 51. Kellerstrass claims to know USAF Lt. Col. Robert R. Hippler (allegedly an officer in a top secret Air Force UFO study), physiological studies of actual aliens, and the presence of an alien base on Area 51. The group meets several times. Moore and Shandera become concerned that their telephones are being monitored, so they decide to assign a bird name to anyone they discuss UFO military activities with. Others in the “Aviary” are forensic medical doctor and CIA officer Christopher (Kit) Green (Blue Jay), Defense Intelligence Agency officer Dale E. Graff (Owl), CIA agent Harry Rositzke (Falcon, according to Greg Bishop), and USAF OSI agent Richard C. Doty (a Falcon substitute). Another, only known as Raven (alleged to be DIA scientist Jack Verona, Richard Helms, or possibly Henry Kissinger), appears to be the most connected. (Robert Collins and Richard Doty, Exempt from Disclosure: The Disturbing Case about the UFO Coverup, Peregrine, 2005, pp. 8, 86; Bruce Maccabee, “Hawk Tales,” June 2005; Dolan II 384–386, 466)

Fall — Night. A group of five lights maneuver at high speed above the Malmstrom AFB Alpha-01 missile alert facility southeast of Belt, Montana. Air Force Security Policeman Joseph C. Pscolka watches them make sharp-angled turns and stop at the same time instantly. Other launch control facilities in the same sector call in to report the lights. Soon five more lights descend from the clouds to join the others. They stop momentarily, then all 10 dart around “like crazy fireflies” for a minute before moving close to the ground. They zip off at high speed in all directions. (Nukes 396–397)

October 10 — 1:30–2:00 a.m. Witnesses see strong lightning-like flashes in the sky northeast of Fürjes, near Békéscsaba, Hungary. The flashes do not go lower than some 700 feet from the ground. The flashes are vertical, yet 5 times “thicker” than lightning. The flashes stop and a shining, metallic-blue, misty phenomenon appears and floats about for 5–6 minutes until it gradually fades away after breaking into several parts, each about 30–80 feet long. The display is followed by an unusual odor that persists for 20–30 minutes. (Karoli Hargitai, “The UFO Phenomenon in Hungary,” IUR 14, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1989): 13)

October 14 — 11:00 p.m. A couple driving north on US Hwy 45 near Bristol, Wisconsin, sees red and white lights flickering on the road ahead. They drive cautiously forward and see a large, triangular object hovering 30 feet above the pavement. The lights are running along its outer edges. They pull up almost directly underneath it, park, and step out of the car. They see a grid structure on its lower surface. Two minutes later the UFO drifts slowly toward the southeast and vanishes. (Don Schmitt, “The Belleville Sightings, Part Two,” IUR 13, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 1988): 18–19; Clark III 247)

October 28 — UK researcher Jenny Randles receives a call from a British military man who refuses to give his name or phone number. He says his commanding officer has given him her phone number and suggests she might want 600 pages of UFO reports that have come into his possession. One document appears to be a report from 1948 that uses the term “befabs” to describe “beings from alien objects.” Another file, from Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio in 1977, is titled “Elimination of Non-Military Sources.” Randles is suspicious but intrigued. The two speak again on October 30 and agree to meet at a local pub a couple hours later. She brings along a colleague, Peter A. Hough. The informant (“John”) is in his late 20s and a former member of the Royal Army Corps. In 1983, his commanding officer had befriended a USAF computer technician at Wright-Patterson AFB who had accidentally tapped into UFO files. The British officer copied many of the files but is arrested for being in a secure area without permission. During questioning, the technician withholds the fact that he still has copies of the files and manages to tell the British officer where they are and request he take them out of the US. For 2 years, his commanding officer shows “John” some of these reports until he leaves active duty in 1985. In August 1986, “John” returns for a reservist training camp, and his former commander gives him a key to where the documents are stored and tells him to take them, read them, and offer them to Randles. The pub meeting ends with an agreement for “John” to deliver the files the next time they meet on November 7. “John” never shows up but writes a letter to Randles saying that he has been detained at a base and interrogated about the documents, which he is informed was the “creation of an educated prankster.” He apologizes for letting her down, and she never hears from him again. (Jenny Randles, “The Cover-Up in England,” IUR 12, no. 5 (Sept./Oct. 1987): 9–12, 20)

November — Brilliant Pebbles, a non-nuclear system of satellite-based interceptors designed to use high-velocity, watermelon-sized, teardrop-shaped projectiles made of tungsten as kinetic warheads, is conceived by physicist Lowell Wood at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Livermore Director John Nuckolls describes the system as “the crowning achievement of the Strategic Defense Initiative.” Though regarded as one of the most capable SDI systems, the Brilliant Pebbles program is canceled in 1994 by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. (Wikipedia, “Brilliant Pebbles”)

November 16 — 9:00 p.m. Between Nocera Umbra and Valtopina, Perugia, Italy, two witnesses see a dark disc, 26 feet in diameter with a blue dome, fly over their car. The car stops and restarts after the object goes away. (Herbert S. Taylor, “An Update on Vehicle Interference Reports, Part 1,” IUR 33, no. 4 (May 2011): 19)

November 17 — 5:10 p.m. Japan Air Lines Flight 1628, a Boeing 747 cargo plane with a crew of three, is in the vicinity of Fort Yukon, Alaska, on its way to Anchorage. The jet is carrying a cargo of French wine and is flying at 35,000 feet through darkening skies, a red glow from the setting sun lighting one horizon and a full moon rising above the other. Capt. Kenju Terauchi and First Officer Takanori Tamefuji, along with Flight Engineer Yoshio Tsukuda, see two small objects and one huge Saturn-shaped object visually and on radar for more than 30 minutes. The objects follow the airplane for about 350 miles. The pilot changes course and altitude several times, with FAA permission, in an effort to identify the objects. Two rectangular-appearing objects sparkling with arrays of lights suddenly loom directly in front of them, one above the other. After a few minutes they abruptly change position and appear side by side. They move quickly, stop suddenly, and swing from side to side in unison, as if linked together. VHF radio communications are occasionally garbled at this time and cease when the two objects move away to the left of the aircraft. Two flat white lights continue to pace the airplane, then drop back and are lost from view both visually and on radar. About 5:30 p.m., while in the vicinity of Fairbanks, Terauchi checks a white light behind the plane and sees “a silhouette of a gigantic spaceship.” It is walnut-shaped, symmetrical above and below, with a central flange. He says, “It was a very big one—two times bigger than an aircraft carrier.” At its closest point, the large object casts such a bright light that it illuminates the cockpit, and Terauchi can feel heat on his face. Radio communications again became garbled during the close approach. The crew becomes frightened by the large object and requests permission to change course. After the course change, they look back and see the object still following them. Increasingly fearful, they request a descent to get away from the UFO (“We had to get away from that object”). After they descend and turn again, the object disappears. The FAA at first confirms that several of its radar traffic controllers had tracked both the 747 and the large object, and that USAF radar has also done so. Later official statements back away from this and try to ascribe the radar targets to weather effects. On December 29, the FAA issues a report stating, “We are accepting the descriptions of the crew, but are unable to support what they saw.” (Wikipedia, “Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 incident”; NICAP, “Fantastic Flight of JAL 1628”; Bruce Maccabee, “The Fantastic Flight of JAL 1628,” IUR 12, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1987): 4–23; Don Berliner, with Marie Galbreath and Antonio Huneeus, UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence, Dell, 2000, pp. 128–132; Kean, pp. 218–229; Swords 342; Good Above, pp. 432, 532; Good Need, pp. 400–401; “JAL Flight 1628 over Alaska,” UFO Evidence; Clark III 630–632)

November 24 — 11:00 p.m. Dale Goretske is driving in Waukesha, Wisconsin, when he notices some flashing red lights in the sky to the southeast about 450 feet away. They are attached to a flattened triangle about 75 feet wide with pairs of flashing red lights at each corner. On the sides are pairs of steady white and red lights. The object is rotating silently. He tries to approach it in his car, but it moves away and is lost to sight. (Joe and Dorie Graziano, “Press Reports,” APRO Bulletin 33, no. 7 (September 1987): 8)

November 25 —Afternoon. Civil and military personnel in Magadan Airport, Russia, notice an unidentified radar target. Since there is another aircraft in the vicinity, air traffic control asks the pilot to be aware of an unknown object. The plane and UFO “pass clear of each other,” although no details are given. Afterward, the object turns east and speeds up to 1,800 mph over the water toward Kamchatka and disappears from radar screens. (Vadim K. Ilyin, “KGB’s ‘Blue Folder’ Reveals Shootings, Landings in USSR,” MUFON UFO Journal, no. 403 (November 2001): 8)

Mid-December — Navy Commander “Sheila Mondran” is on duty at the US Space Command’s Surveillance Center inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Sensors detect something tripping the US Navy Space Surveillance System (the Space Fence), a multistatic radar system built to detect orbital objects passing over the US. The intrusion occurs above Lake Kickapoo, Texas. Mondran’s team tracks the object’s maneuvers, including loops, backtracks, crash dives, and fast climbs. She sends a flash alert to the Commander- in-Chief of NORAD, but the object immediately disappears. Two searches are ordered: one by NORAD’s Space Detection and Tracking System, the other by a network of sophisticated telescopes. Nothing turns up. The flash

alert is recalled the following day. A summary of the incident is sent to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Ronald Reagan for his daily briefing. Reagan recommends a follow-up investigation, but none is known to have occurred. The story has not been verified. (Howard Blum, Out There: The Government’s Secret Quest for Extraterrestrials, Simon & Schuster, 1990, pp. 25–32)

Late December — 2:30 a.m. A road-maintenance engineer is driving on the highway between Hajdúböszörmény and Debrecen, Hungary, when he sees a “trailer with lit-up windows” landed in a field about 900 feet away. An orange light is flooding through the windows. The object is in the same spot where the sphere chasing the ambulance in April had passed above power lines. (Karoli Hargitai, “The UFO Phenomenon in Hungary,” IUR 14, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1989): 14–15)