Jan. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Feb. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Mar. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Apr. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
May "99 Reports
June "99 Reports (Last Update=4/5/06)
July "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Aug. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Sept. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Oct. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Nov. "99 Reports (Last Update= 4/5/06)
Dec. "99 Reports (Last Update= )
Jan. '99 Reports
National UFO Reporting Center
Sighting Report
Occurred : 1/11/1999 02:45
Posted : 1/28/1999
Location : Gilbert, MN
Shape : Circle
This is the forth or fifth time I have seen the green balls in sky
at number of locations in northern MN. Green circle glowing brightly
and some times changing directions east to west, altitude also has
varied. My girlfriend and I were on our way home from her job and
when we got out of the car I happened to be looking up and noticed
the strange light heading east to west in the sky, kind of zig zagging
back and forth. This is I beleive the fourth instance that I myself
have seen this same object. My girlfriend has seen on two occasions.
Some nights it appears to be much slower and more erratic in its
trajectory although it has not been low enough to get a close look.
It is fairly obvious that it is not an airplane/jet for there is no
sound at all and the manouvers are so erratic that any normal
aircraft pilot would have lost his flight privaleges. I am a business
owner and my girlfriend is college student.
((NUFORC NOTE: Time of sighting is ambiguous in original report.
May be 1445 hrs..))
***
01-26-99 Crystal, Minnesota
Reporter: Justin D. (name changed for anonymity) via telephone
interview. Investigator: David Hagemeister-NACOMM
Report of sighting interview conducted 02/11/99 @ 1730 by DHH with
Justin D. Male, 15 yrs old, said that he is very interested in
Ufology.
On Tues. morning, 01/26/99 when the incident occurred; Justin was on
a school bus, along with other students, being transported to school.
At the time, the bus was traveling on Douglas Drive, near the
intersection of Minnesota St., in Crystal, Mn.; and, upon gazing out
of the bus window, Justin says that he saw a strange looking, dull,
white light hovering high in the sky, above the treetops, 1/4 to 1/2
mile away. He said that it was too dark, at the time; to make out the
out-line or shape of the object that was emitting the light.
While he was curiously observing the hovering-light; Justin said that
another, smaller, dull, white light came over the horizon, headed
toward the first one. Moments before the second light reached the
position of the first one; the latter suddenly streaked away at a
very high rate of speed and disappeared over the horizon. Immediately
thereafter, the second light also streaked away at very high speed,
and vanished in the same direction as the first one.
Justin stated that neither object had an aura or fiery-tail/trail at
any time during the sighting. However, since he was inside the moving
bus, at the time, he was unable to determine whether or not there were
any sounds emitted by the objects during any part of their activities.
Justin said that the events described above happened so rapidly that
he didn't have time to call them to the attention of his fellow bus
passengers; and believes that he is the only person on the bus to
have witnessed the incident.
When I asked Justin whether the 01/26/99 sighting was the only one
that he had seen which could be described as a UFO; he stated that he
had also witnessed UFO's on two earlier occasions. He said that the
next most recent sighting occurred near the end of August 1998, at
about 1300hrs; on a warm, sunny, afternoon while he was walking alone
along Douglas Drive near 34th Av. N., Crystal, MN. He happened to
glance up into the sky and was almost startled to see a large,
cylindrical, cigar-shaped object overhead, at about an 80 degree angle
from where he stood, and approximately 100 yards away. He insists
that it definitely was not a blimp, dirigible or balloon!
Justin said that the largest area of the object was dark silver-grey
in color; approximately the forward 1/5th of its shape was black in
color. He said that there were no lights visible - steady, flashing,
pulsating or otherwise. As he watched transfixed, the object slowly
moved in a direction away from where he stood, toward a bank of
clouds. However, Justin reported that the object just vanished moments
before reaching the cloud bank and, though he stood for some minutes
watching the area where it had disappeared, the object did not
re-appear.
Justin further recalled that while the object was in view, it had
emitted a "faint, electric sounding humming sound". He says that, as
far as he knows, no one else witnessed the scene which he saw that
day.
***
Feb. '99 Reports
National UFO Reporting Center Sighting Report
Occurred : 2/2/1999 02:00
Posted : 2/16/1999
Location : Mt. Horeb, WI
Shape : Other
F-16's chasing object
Madison has a Ait Guard unit, equipped with F-14 or F-16, I live on a
farm 20 miles southwest from Madison, I heard a loud noise outside (like
a thunder type noise) I got outside, I was standing on my deck when I
saw two I guess what were the fighters (could see the flames comming
out the ends of them(afterburner), they were chasing a bright orange
something, I guess it could be described as a orange cloud or distortion,
this lasted for about 40 seconds, then it was all quiet. I saw the planes
leaving in a south west direction. I called the Air Guard tower in Madison,
and they said there was no flight activity that night, by them or Volk Field,
or Mc.Coy. It was definately strange.
***
Location: Duluth, MN
Occupation: business
Location Of Sighting: east Duluth, Minnesota
Date Of Sighting: February 14th 1999
Time Of Sighting: 1 AM
Weather Conditions: Clear Sky
Address Of Witnesses Known: Yes
Number Of Witnesses: 2
Object's Size: 30-50 Ft. [35]
Object's Shape: Triangle
Object's Altitude: 100 Ft. [250]
Object's Speed: 10-100 [mph]
Object's Noises: none
Object Catched: No
Incident Description
While riding home, southbound on the Lester River Road, my friend and I noticed
three bright white lights in a triangular formation (pointing upward) descending at a
45 degree angle behind the trees. We watched it sink beneath the level of the trees.
It looked like a helicopter was landing about a half-mile down the road for us, except
it was obviously not a helicopter or airplane. It was low and didn't make a sound. The
lights didn't blink or change color. The weird part was, we got about a half a mile down
the road, where the trees open up and you can see the countryside all over the area,
and there was nothing to be seen anywhere. If an aircraft was in the sky, we would have
seen it from where we were. We got out of the car and looked every direction. I
remember it was stingingly cold out, and the moon was very full and bright, with a dim
white halo around it. We drove up to Hawk Ridge to get a better view of the night sky
over Duluth, but still nothing. We concluded that whatever it was it took off fast or landed
somewhere out of view. We still talk about it when my friend comes back to town to visit.
Still neither one of us can explain it.
***
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 21:39:07 -0500
Subject: UFOSSI UFO NEWS BULLETIN! Billy Dee See's UFO's!
At roughly 8:00 pm tonight my wife Sherry came running into the
UFOSSI headquarter's computer room telling me to come quick and see
a very strange thing in the sky. I grabbed my one of my video
camera's thats always in stand by and hurried out the back door
to see what ever was in the sky.
What I saw was rather unusual. There was a fairly large orange to
white orb in the sky with a smaller orb just beneath it but both
clearly visible. The light was very bright. I immediately went
through my mental check list of what it could be. Was it just a
star? I saw no twinkling or colors changing. I did not see the
orbs fading in or out (which again signify's it could be just a star).
Then I checked the direction of the two orbs. They were both in
the south sky. Well, that ruled out Venus and Mars. I also weighed
out the brightness of the orbs. They were both the brightest objects
in the sky (there were many starts out tonight). But it did sit
stationary and led me to believe that it might be just a star.
Well, I video taped about 10 minute's of this sighting. And I just
couldn't get away from the unusual color and the bright clearness
of these objects.
My wife Sherry jumped in the car with a 35 mm camera in hand (it was
a $400 camera when we bought it 5 years ago. It can take any kind
of picture.) I went back inside. Sherry showed up about 20 minutes
later and very excited. She had told me that it was getting lower
to the ground about 2 to 4 miles south of here. And then she said
she saw two planes fly in from two different direction's in the path
way of these orbs. But when she told me a "Helicopter" showed up
around the area of the Orb then I got excited.
Its a good rule of thumb with a UFO sighting that its almost 100%
a UFO when "choppers" show up on the site. If I have seen this once
I've seen many times before. Plus the planes.
Our home and UFOSSI headquarter's is located in a fly way between
Truax field (Madison, Wisconsin. About 35 miles away as the crow
fly's) and to the North (about 40 miles away) is Camp McCoy a huge
military base and air field. Not to mention other military base's
to the north, west and I think east. There are continual military
planes, jets and Helicopter's flying almost daily over this area,
and now recently there is a lot of activity at night.
Getting back to what my wife saw tonight. Sherry had driven about
2 to 4 miles south from here and watched the two orbs still
stationary in the south sky but getting lower the ground. That
is when the 2 planes and the "chopper" came in. As soon as the 2
planes and chopper came in and closed in on the orbs, the orbs
vanished completely. The lights were gone.
I am convinced that what we saw was either one Ufo or two. The
reason I say one Ufo is because the smaller orb below the large
one appeared in someway as a probe of some kind. The other
possibility is that there were two Ufo's both hovering one below
or above the other.
I was able to get about 15 minutes of video footage. But one thing I
noticed very strange about taping the orbs at one point was how they
would appear and not appear in the camera's lens. They were bright
enough to be seen by the video lens and I would stop every minute and
look away from the lens and see if the orbs were fading out. But
they weren't. They were just as bright as when we first saw them.
When I first started taping them they were just as clear and bright
as could be in the camera lens. But as I said, about 10 minutes
later, this strange disappearing and reappearing in my camera lens
started.
I haven't been able to look at the video yet, but I will be taking a
close look at it later tonight.
To add. These two orbs were big. I am not talking about a pea size
sighting here. The largest orb was about the size of a large egg
and the other was the size of about a medium sized egg. They were
stationary in the sky until they later lowered to the ground just
as the 2 planes and chopper came in and closed in on them. Thats
when they vanished and did not appear again. Stars don't act that
way, and planes and a helicopter weren't chasing stars!
I will keep everyone up-todate on the video tape and how it came out.
If it did come out good I will post some stills of the orbs on the
UFOSSI website.
Billy Dee-UFOSSI
***
Mar. '99 Reports
Occurred : 3/11/1999 21:00
Location : 100 miles East of Minneapolis, in Wisconsin
Shape : Other
First Officer on Major Airline and Captain witnessed and had physical
effects from unusual northern light display. A brief surge of intense light.
Flight Crew on Major Airline had physical effects and witnessed an
unusual northern light display over the state of Wisconsin while on
arrival to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport in Minnesota.
I was acting as First Officer on this flight. A two Pilot crew on this
particular aircraft. An intense show of northern lights in the sky
above Wisconsin took place. They seemed to be brighter than usual on
this night. I have witnessed many northern light shows in my 15 years
of flying so I wasn't paying much attention to them. Although, I
recall very vivid greens, reds and blues changing and dancing
throughout the sky on this night, even stretching above and over the
aircraft. The surface of the aircraft was glowing green at the time.
During a brief surge of green light that approached the aircraft from
the northern horizon, my face began to feel as it were being burnt by
the sun (This is at 9:00pm central time!). I noticed a pulse of green
light concentrated in a green "ball" or intense gathering of energy.
I asked the Captain if he was experiencing the same effects as I. He
agreed that his skin did not feel normal and it was as if his skin
was being BURNT! We immediately asked for a descent (lower altitude).
We descended below a thin over-cast and our conditions immediately
disappeared. Today, I've noticed my skin on my face to be very red
and sore. I am concerned and have arranged to see my doctor early next
week. I would release my name and my company, but I fear losing my
career for speaking out. It is standard procedure to keep our mouths
shuts and not speak out. But I must deviate from procedure if I feel
my life may be at stake here. Any support or investigating of this
would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
***
The following article is courtesy of Mr. Jeffrey S. Westover, an
investigator from Michigan. The article mentions several recent
sightings near Unionville, Michigan on March 16. (1999)
On March 11 and 14th, two sightings were reported from Clyde and
Fremont, Ohio, one of which was sighted by a deputy who was dispatched
to the scene. I opened my map and was slightly curious about a near-
straight line that could be drawn from Unionville, Michigan to Fremont,
Ohio with the locations of Milan, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio -where
other sightings were reported from- situated in-between. Details of
Toledo and Milan remain elusive. There were some indications that
UFO sightings were reported near these two locations around this
same time-frame, but these vague reports are without verification.
For info on this see - http://home.fuse.net/ufo/fremontupdate.htm
***
Occurred : 3/23/1999 03:00
Location : Plymouth, MN
Shape : Oval
I observed an object changing colors and moving in a manner
inconsistent with anything I've ever seen. I woke my wife and asked
her to look out to the northwest. She saw the object, too, and advised
me to report it to the local airport. It moved like a kite in the wind
and changed from a light green to yellow-white, to red every few
seconds. It gave the appearance of moving away from me and eventually
faded from view. Using binoculars, I could discern an oval shape
tilted on its edge at a great distance from me, maybe 50 miles. I
waited until it faded away behind the trees. The light source looked
like a gas-filled oval tube on the object's edge. I WILL be watching
again tonight.
I originaly saw an object changing colors around 01:00 hrs but
dismissed it as some kind of sattelite or maybe a planet reflecting
light. I looked out again 1 hour later and saw it contnue to change
colors. I waited 20 minutes then went to wake up my wife. We both
watched it from inside for about 1 hour. I called around until I got
the phone number to report it. Afterwords went outside with binoculars
to confirm my suspicion. There were no other objects in the sky
exhibiting the same color or movement. It appeared to hover and dip
in the same part of the sky until about 04:00.
***
Thanks much to Jeff Westover for passing along the following message:
A front page news story concerning area UFO sightings ran this past
Wednesday (March 31) in the Marlette (Michigan) Leader and Huron
Daily Tribune (Bad Axe, MI) newspapers.
The DeBoever/Unionville sighting was the topic of a WNEM TV-5
(CBS affiliate from Saginaw, MI) news story covered by Jay Brandow.
The following week, on Friday March 26, WEYI TV-25 (NBC affiliate
>from Clio, MI) also covered local UFO sightings in their local
newscast. The reporter allegedly had her own sighting just before
the cameras rolled. I did not watch the TV-25 broadcast but am led
to believe that they reported a completely different sighting in the
Bay City/Midland area.
Below is the transcripted news story as appeared in the 3/31 Marlette
Leader Newspaper:
UNUSUAL SIGHTINGS IN THE SKY PEAK INTEREST IN THE THUMB
The Marlette Leader- March 31, 1999
By Stacy Langley (Huron Daily Tribune-Bad Axe, MI)
Unusual sightings have been the talk of town in Unionville (Michigan)
and several surrounding communities as residents compare stories and
probe officials about the weird light spotted in the skies last week.
The past few years, sightings of unidentified objects in the sky
have been quite common and without much explanation.
Adiel DeBoever of Unionville said he was the first person to call
Tuscola County Central Dispatch around 8:30 p.m. March 16 just after
he spotted the lights in the sky hovering over his home.
DeBoever said this is the first time he's seen lights like this. He
said they were bright orange in color and looked to be shining from
the inside of an object.
"The lights weren't like a spotlight shinning down from the sky,
but they were very noticeable", he said.
The sighting by DeBoever was just one of five reported that night by
area residents who say they saw the unidentified flying object(s).
DeBoever, who lives on Cottage Drive near Unionville, says the lights
would just blink out of sight and then come back on, but the object
seemed to remain in the same place the whole time.
"The lights were off and then came back on, it was eerie", he said.
DeBoever recalls that as far as distance, the light probably were
half a mile away to the east, just above the Department of Natural
Resources wetlands when he saw them.
"They spanned about the entire length of a football field. There were
two sets of light clusters which were bright orange. The larger one
could have been further away", he said. "When my nephew came out of
the house I said 'Eddie, there's a UFO in the sky' just joking and
then the light blinked out, but came on this time.
"It appeared to separate into six other lights and they all moved
and stopped in the shape of a large triangle object which then
appeared to rotate on its axis."
Officials at the Tuscola County Central Dispatch say they have no
explanation for what the lights were that night, but say that
DeBoever wasn't alone in the sightings.
Shortly after DeBoever's call, Central Dispatch reports a call came
in at 8:57 p.m. from a Juanita Township resident who reported seeing
orange lights in the sky.
Just two minutes later, a Novesta Township woman called with a
similar sighting. Callers from Fremont Township and the Fairgrove
area followed. The caller described seeing orange lights in the
shape of a football field, while the Fairgrove residents reported
seeing a Z-shaped formation in the sky.
Officials from Selfridge Air National Guard Base said they couldn't
offer any explanation about the lights in the sky, and no sightings
were reported to the base.
End of article
Michigan ufologist Jeffrey S. Westover interviewed news reporter
Jay Brandow of WNEM-TV, Channel 5, a CBS affiliate in Saginaw,
Michigan. Westover wrote, "Brandow told me that Selfridge had
sent two F-16s into the area" the night of the UFO sightings. (See
the newspapers Marlette, Mich. Leader and the Huron Daily
Tribune of Bad Axe, Mich. for March 31, 1999, "Unusual sightings
in the sky peak interest in The Thumb." Many thanks to Jeffrey S.
Westover for forwarding the newspaper article.)
***
Apr. '99 Reports
Occurred : 4/2/1999 22:30 (Entered as : 04/02/99 22/30)
Reported: 4/5/1999 00:23
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: St.LouisPark, MN
Shape: Egg
Duration:3 minutes
Basketball size object,metallic,flying down street than into a park.
At approx. 10:30 pm(22/30) I was jogging down the street towards our local park when
I noticed a basketball size, silver metallic ball fly by me. There was no sound. I was
very shocked-scared, I watched it go up the street where a car was pulling out, he
stopped, when he did this this object stoped to, circled the car then it started down
the walking path where it hoverd slowly by a couple walking their dog, I'm a maint.
sup. for a co. here in MN. The others I dont know, but I got the phone# of the couple
and I know where the guy with the car lives and there were 3 others and the end of
the park who seen this ufo, Im in the prosess of finding these individuals. one
interesting thing is it stayed on the walking path????
***
AUSTIN, MINNESOTA
Chris reports that on April 20, 1999, "It was a nice night out so
me and my sister decided to go out for a drive. We were listening to
the radio at 9:30PM, when we heard a loud screechy noise. At first we
thought it was the car so we pulled over and shut off the motor. I
went outside, but I could still hear it. I then looked North to where
I felt the noise was coming from. I saw a rather large light in the
air. The light was bright and didn't blink at all like a plane does.
When we saw it stop and move straight up we thought it must be a UFO.
The light suddenly changed to a light blue and zipped out of the sky
in almost at about a 60 degree angle. We also saw objects that were
obviously planes. We waited, but it didn't return. Thanks to UFO
Scotland: http://wkweb5.cableinet.co.uk/dledger/index.htm
***
Occurred : 4/23/1999 02:33 (Entered as : 04/23/99 02:33)
Reported: 8/3/2002
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Wanamingo, MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:1 minute
Three light figure no noise.
It was 2 in the morning and we were having a camp fire. Me and my friends were
talking about stars when i looked up and i pionted out a 3 orange lights in a triangular
shape. It was going slow and it made no noise. we watched it and eventually it just
flew away. ((NUFORC Note: We will attempt to get the two friends of this student to
submit corroborative reports. PD))
***
Occurred : 4/24/1999 00:30 (Entered as : 04/24/99 00:30)
Reported: 4/26/1999 22:03
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: St. Peter, MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:15 sec
Two triangles with lights in the corner traveled east to west at high velocity towards
each other and then disapeared.
Two college students witnessed this event. Two triangles, or triangle formations
were seen traveling east to west in the northern sky. They apeared to be rotating
and traveled at high velocity. As they approached the west the lights seemed to get
closer to eachother at a constant rate, perhaps this is due to the distance traveled.
***
May '99 Reports
June '99 Reports
Sighting Date: 6/4/99
Location: Two Harbors, MN
Just north of Duluth on Lake Superior's southern end is a National
Park called Split Rock Light House. It used to be a working
lighthouse but is not any more. I was hiking with my daughter on
June 4, 1999, along the shore. We stopped to see a VERY bright
object hovering above the lake about three miles out from shore.
There were no other objects in the sky nor any shipping to speak of
in the area. It was about 1,000 feet above the water. We were
unable to tell the size of the object since it was so bright and we
just watched it hover there for about 30 minutes. After that it went
straight up! I did not have my camera with me -- something I regret
for more reasons than this. There were several other witnesses at
the lighthouse. There was no aircraft traffic in the area according
to the Duluth International Airport radar. Thanks to Dave Briscoe,
MN State Dir. Skywatch Int.
***
Occurred : 6/24/1999 16:35 (Entered as : 6/24/99 16:35)
Reported: 6/25/1999 07:02
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Shape: Light
Duration:10 minutes
From 4:35 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. on 6/24/99, Minneapolis, MN 55454, on
Washington Avenue ("7 Corners"), I saw in the north sky a bright white
light like a small star moving very slowy from west to east very high
in the sky. It passed in front of (underneath) a high white cloud and
was clearly bright and visible even with the white cloud as background.
It passed into the cloud and was not visible for less than a minute,
then came out of the cloud and continued. About 7 minutes after I first
started watching the light, it stopped in the sky, and stayed in the
same spot for about 2 minutes. While I was looking at it, it suddenly
vanished - suddenly it just wasn't there any more. I looked all over
the area of the sky but couldn't see a trace of it. Then I looked
around to see if anyone else had seen it, but no one else was at the
bus stop with me.
At 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, 6/24/99 I was waiting for my bus at what is
known as "7 Corners" on Washington Ave. in Minneapolis. I was sitting
on the bus stop bench on the south side of the street, facing north.
My bus wasn't due for about 15 minutes and I didn't have anything to
read so I was just relaxing and looking around. It was early rush hour
and traffic was pretty heavy. The sky was bright and blue with a few
scattered high fluffy white clouds. I was sitting in the shade and
wearing sunglasses, so I was looking around very comfortably. I was
looking north (towards the Holiday Inn at 1500 Washington Ave.), and
at 4:35 p.m. I was enjoying the lovely sky and watching a couple of
high clouds when I noticed a light moving very slowly from west to
east across the north sky. It was very high up and I immediately
thought "oh, a satellite" like I've seen on clear nights away from
the city. It looked very much like a satellite, but a little bigger,
like a small star - as bright, white, and clear as a star on a clear
night. Then I realized it was broad daylight, and I wondered if it's
possible to see a satellite (so bright and clear!) in the daylight.
I watched it carefully, curious to make out what it was - but it was
too far away - just a light like a moving star. As I watched it I
looked at with and without my sunglasses, and it was clearly visible
both ways. I'd been watching it cross the sky slowly from west to east
for about 2 or 3 minutes when it came to a cloud. I expected to lose
sight of it, but was surprised to be able to clearly see it with the
cloud in the background. Even though it was a white light on a white
cloud, it was bright enough to see clearly. Then it passed into the
middle of the cloud and I lost sight of it for about 45 seconds. It
came out of the cloud again and I continued to watch it move slowly
east. Two or 3 minutes later it stopped. I wondered if it was changing
direction and kept watching closely, but it just stayed still for at
least 2 minutes. While it was ! just sitting there in the sky, a bus
passed in front of me, blocking it from view. I expected to lose sight
of it, but after the bus passed by I could see the light clearly, still
sitting in the same spot. About 1 minute later it vanished. I was
looking at it, and then it was just not there anymore. I looked all
over to see where it had gone, but I couldn't see a trace of it. I
looked around to see if anybody else had seen it, but there was no one
else at the bus stop. My bus came and as I rode, I kept watching the
north sky for a couple more minutes but couldn't see it anywhere. I
would really like to know if anyone else saw it and if anyone knows
what it was!
***
July '99 Reports
Occurred : 7/2/1999 12:00 (Entered as : 7-2-99 midday)
Reported: 6/25/2000 21:28
Posted: 7/11/2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
Shape: Other
Duration:5-10 seconds
I ran across your web site and will relate my experience, I was driving to the post
office with my monthly mail and this would usually be on the 2nd of the month in
midsummer of 1999. I was driving west on Minnehaha ave on the east side of
St. Paul and suddenly straight down the middle of the road about 25 to 30 degrees
up and about a half mile away was this bright aluminum colored object.I watched
it for the length of time it took me to drive a city block or so, when I had to take my
eyes off of it because I was meeting another car coming towards me, this was only
a couple of seconds and when I looked up to look at it again, it was gone. The
object was a bright aluminum color with a domed shaped top and a flat bottom. It
was about twice as high as the diameter and was in the shape of a cylinder. The
sides were not smooth, there were vertical lines running from bottom to top that
seemed to be there to give the structure strength.Size, about 40-50 feet high and
20-25 feet in diameter.
***
Sighting: WUFOD i1-338-MN
ABSTRACT: Witness at night saw "satellite" which changed direction
Date: 07/03/1999
HOUR: 23:30 CST
DURATION: over_1_hour
LATITUDE: 46N
LONGITUDE: 93W
COUNTRY: USA
STATE_PROVINCE: MN
COUNTY: Aitken
NEAR_TOWN_OR_CITY: Weathwood
SITE: lake_or_river
SKY: clear
CLOUD_COVER: CLOUD_COVER
MUFON_REPORTEES: 1
NUMBER_OBSERVED: 1
ELEVATION: 85-90_degrees
FLIGHT: path_with_direction_change, jumped_around
DIRECT_FIRST_OBSVED: N
SHAPE: pinpoint_or_star
APPARENT_SIZE: star-like
SURFACE_COLOR: yellow_orange
EMISSION: beam
INVESTIGATOR1_NAME: William I. McNeff
Witness was at his cabin on the north shore of Lake Mille Lacs
in central Minnesota. Since witness is a third shift worker
(about 9:30 PM to 5:30 AM) he is used to being awake during
the night hours. He was watching for satellites and meteors
at about 10:30 PM. He saw what he at first thought was a
satellite in the northern sky, until it made a 90 degree turn
and then did loops past the Big Dipper. It also hovered at
times. He continued to watch until around 4:30 AM. During
that time he saw the same or similar object from time to time
carrying out similar maneuvers. At one point four strobes
[light flashes] were seen from an object, at which time the
object sped up; each time it flashed, the speed increased.
Ball lightning would be possible explanation but does not
really fit. Witness has since videotaped other lights which
appear to be unusual. The following evening witness and
another man saw a similar object which approached closer.
***
Sighting Date: July 3-4, 1999
Location: Lake Mille Lacs, at the witnesses' cabin on the north shore of the Lake.
He had just driven back from Barnacle Bill's. The witness and three friends were
watching the sky for meteorites and satellites and saw an object, a point source
of light, of a whitish-orange color. It looked like a satellite and was moving
slowly toward the north, then it changed direction toward the west, underwent two
accelerations, then began to move around the sky, at one point making loops past
the Big Dipper. The witness stated that it moved at times from a point about 10
degrees west of north to a point that he estimated was over Garrison on the west
shore of the Lake, and then back to the original point. It emitted four strobe lights
"out the back" at one point. It was moving at such a high speed at times that the
witness estimated "it could have gone from horizon to horizon in two seconds."
It made 90 degree turns and hovered at times. The witness observed it from about
11:30 pm on July 3 until about 4:30 am the following morning, when it began to get
light. It was still there at dawn.
***
Sighting Date: July 5, 1999
Location: East side of the city of St. Paul, near the intersection of Stillwater Ave.
and 7th Street. The witness was just leaving for work at 9:50 pm when he caught
sight of the first object, then a group of the objects came into view, appearing to
have come up from his parents wooded back yard about a block and a half away.
The objects were described as metallic or gray spheres, the size of beach balls,
that is, about one and a half feet in diameter. The objects were slowly rising in
altitude, "spiraling slightly" as they rose. As he watched the objects, they got
whiter. There seemed to be a haze around the objects, but it did not look natural.
A plane flew above the group of objects at one point. They were "hovering below
the plane at first.". Relative size was somewhat smaller than the full moon. He
watched them for two minutes, then shouted for his roommate to come out to see
them, then drove over to his parents' house a block away and called them out to
see the objects. The objects were moving around a lot; it was hard to keep track
of any one of them. They lost the objects in the clouds after a few minutes. "They
were definitely not airplanes," he said, and he doubts that they were balloons.
He arrived at work, late, at 10:40 pm.
***
Mille Lacs July 5, 1999
The following evening, the witness and a man from the
neighboring cabin again saw a similar object or objects,
climaxed by an alleged close approach of a five foot
diameter glowing orange sphere to within 150 or 100 feet
of the witnesses. This close approach frightened the
neighbor, according to the prime witness. Based on this
sighting, the witness believes that all of the objects he
had seen on the night of July 3-4 were what he called
"orange orbs". At the first interview, the witness didn't
know the name of the man from the neighboring cabin.
On 2-8-01 the prime witness gave me the other witness
name, who also lives in the Twin Cities. I phoned this
witness and he told me that he remembered the object
flicking out over the lake. It was not moving in a straight
line, and he watched it for about 5 minutes. It was
definitely something strange, he said. He thought it was
huge, but was far away. This partly disagrees with but
partly confirms the statement of the prime witness, who
originally said the object was 100 to 150 feet away. The
second witness described the shape as sort of roundish,
but skinnier in front, but not quite a pyramid shape. But
he said he did not remember the incident well. Both
witnesses agree that it was larger than a point source.
Their estimates of angular size varied from about 0.3
degrees to about 3 degrees.
Ball lightning would be a possible explanation for the
sighting, but all accounts of ball lightning that I have
read record it as drifting or moving at slower speeds.
The laws of electricity rule out sharp changes of direction.
Hoaxing can be ruled out based on the fact that other
witnesses saw these objects at the same time as the prime
witness. Aircraft are ruled out since the lights were
larger than point sources and no sound was heard. These
objects remain unidentified.
***
Occurred : 7/7/99 01:30 (Entered as : 7/7/99 1:30am)
Location : Virginia, MN
Shape : Circle
I was sitting outside with a friend and all of a sudden a bright bluish
and white ball went from south to the north at a 45 degree angle. There
was no trail behind it at all. The land below it became lit up like
daytime. In a estimate of size in diameter,i would say that it was most
likely ten stories high and ten stories wide. It was traveling at a
very, very high rate of speed. It was a very clear night. Where I saw
the craft was over a iron ore mine that is no longer being mined. Also
the same night I witnessed a craft more to the north right below the
North Star {Polaris}. This one was 20,000 feet up judging from where
I have seen many jets fly across the sky. The craft was doing some
very strange movements, it looked like a lightning bolt would but not
as wide and it was very thin also. It was very erratic in its
movements. It moved a distance of about 20 miles from west to east
before dissapearing. I forgot one thing about the blue ball. It
dissapeared into the mine. If not it landed more to the east of the
mine. On another July day at approx 4 pm I was sitting outside looking
to the N/E over the mine and there were a few clouds to the north, I
mean like 10. One of the larger clouds was directly N/E over the mine
or over the town of Tower, MN. As I watched these clouds a gray disk
came right out of the larger cloud and headed due east at a pretty
slow rate of speed. Then dissappeared. I am a 46 year old male. I have
always had a deep interest in space. I am an avid reader of non
fiction literature. I love to sit outside whenever possible and watch
the sky. I have seen numerous things in the sky during my lifetime of
which need some explaining. I started to listen to Coast to Coast A/M
about 6 months ago. Some of the format shows I like, some I do not.
Oh well can not please everybody right!
***
Location: St. Louis Park, MN
Sighting Date/Time: 7/8/99
Sighting Location: on my front lawn
Sighting Description: It was a very clear day and it was at night. My brother was
talking on the phone and I was watching tv in the living room of our house. All
of the sudden my brother rushed in, got me and my brother and we went outside
he told us that he was saw something weird in the sky. My brother and I just
laughed until we looked up and saw ...it. It looked like a star but it jaunted around,
it stoped in midair and zigzaged around shot in a straight line and disapeared.
We tried to figure out what it was, it did not make any noise so we knew it wasn't
a plane, and we ruled out everthing else. Sorry i did not report this earlier I
realize that this sighting took place a long time ago but i did not think of reporting
it. I also did not give any info on my address because i dont feel comfortable doing
that.
****
Occurred : 7/20/1999 03:00 (Entered as : 07/20/99 0300)
Reported: 9/12/1999 18:32
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Shape: Disk
Duration:2 min
investigated light. saw object moving toward me. circular not a helicopter. Saw
two occupants through "windshield". Looked human, one was smiling broadly.
Passed overhead at about 40 ft. Could see details of the underside as it went
directly overhead. No wheels. Two large ducts underneath set into undercarriage.
Openings oriented in direction of flight. Disappeared and went below treetops about
a mile from me. Possible ion drive?
***
National UFO Reporting Center Sighting Report
Occurred : 7/31/1999 00:30 (Entered as : 07/31/1999 0:30)
Reported: 5/17/2004
Posted: 6/4/2004
Location: Akeley, MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:32 minutes
ENCOUNTERED UFO THAT APPROACHED WITHIN 50 FEET, WAS 30 FEET WIDE AND
REMAINED FOR OVER 30 MINUTES.
FIRST ENCOUNTERED THE OBJECT SOME 1000 FEET DISTANT UP THE ROAD AT THE
TOP OF A HILL. IT CAME DOWN THE ROAD EAST TO WEST VERY SLOWLY NEAR TO
THE GROUND. IT HAD 7 LARGE LIGHTS 4 BELOW, AND 3 ABOVE. THESE LIGHTS
WERE WHITE WITH THIN RAYS RADIATING ALL AROUND. THEY WERE VERY BRIGHT
BUT ONLY CASTE A BLUE REFLECTION ON THE TREES AND ROAD. I STOOD IN THE
ROAD AS IT CAME TOWARDS ME. IT STOPPED SOME 200 FEET DISTANT AND
REMAINED MOTIONLESS. THERE WAS NO SOUND. I STUDIED THE OBJECT FOR SOME
10 OR 15 MINUTES AND THEN BEGAN TO MOVE TOWARDS IT SLOWLY. AS I
APPROACHED TO WITHIN 50 FEET IT BEGAN TO MOVE SLOWLY BACKWARDS UNTIL IT
WAS IN LINE WITH MY NEIGHBORS DRIVEWAY THAT CUT A SWATH IN THE
PINETREES. AS I WAS APPROACHING CLOSER IT SUDDENLY SHOT SIDEWAYS UP THE
DRIVEWAY AND INTO THE SKY AT INCREDIBLE SPEED. THE ONLY SOUND WAS A
PPPPHHHTTTT!!!! AS IT SHOT AWAY. I FELT NO BACKDRAFT OR MOVEMENT IN THE
AIR. IT HAD JUST QUIT RAINING THAT EVENING AND I TOOK A FLASHLIGHT AND
CHECKED THE ROAD FOR TRACKS--THERE WERE NONE. ONLY ROCKS HAD SLID FROM
THE CENTER OF THE ROAD TO THE SIDES IN THE WET GRAVEL. I WENT HOME. THE
NEXT MORINING I FOUND A DEAD SKUNK BY THE ROAD WITH THE HAIR STRANDS
CORRECTLY IN PLACE BUT NO BODY, SKIN, OR BONES. THERE WAS A WET SPOT
SURROUNDING THE REMAINS. I TOOK A PHOTO OF THIS PHENOMENON. A FEW NIGHTS
LATER AT 3:00 I AWOKE TO A BEATIFUL LIGHT WITH PINK AND BLUE SWIRLS IN
IT. I FOUND I HAD A TRIANGULAR BURN ON MY LEFT WRIST THAT LASTED FOR
SEVERAL MONTHS AS A BURN AND IS STILL ON MY ARM TODAY. SOMETIMES IT
GROWS FROM ONE CENTIMETER TO OVER AN INCH AS A PINK RASH. THERE ARE 3
POINTS AT THE CORNERS. THERE WERE SEVERAL RELATED EXPERIENCES THAT
SUMMER WITH WITNESSES INCLUDING MY OWN SON. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. I
WISH TO ADD MY; PUZZLEMENT THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE LITTLE OR NO INTEREST
IN MY STORY WHICH I FEEL WAS QUITE SINGULAR--PLUS THE FACT THAT I AM AN
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST WHO HAD A GREAT AMOUNT OF TIME TO VISUALLY RECORD
THE SIGHTING. I HAVE PAINTED A PHOTOGRAPHIC LIKENESS OF THE CRAFT WHICH
NO ONE SEEMS INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT. FURTHERMORE, I SEEK NO PERSONAL
RECOGNITION IN THIS CASE AND AM QUITE CONTENT TO REMAIN INCOGNITO.
***
Aug. '99 Reports
Occurred : 8/4/1999 02:50 (Entered as : 8/4/99 2:50 am)
Reported: 8/27/1999 12:10
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Camp Ripley (rural, just west of), MN
Shape: Formation
Duration:1 hr. or so.
Two hovering amber lights, one slightly below the other, fixed in
place; and occasional bright blueish/green flashes. On August 4th,
1999 at about three in the morning, my friend and I were traveling
north on U.S. Hwy. 10. He lives in Fargo, ND, and I live in
Minneapolis. My car was stalled at my wifes grandmothers house in
Wadena, MN. My friend was on his way back home from my house, so I
caught a ride with him to go pick the car up. As we were driving in
the area of the Camp Ripley military base, we both started to feel
very strange, almost like static electricity in the air. then, as we
rounded a bend we saw two very bright amber lights appear directly
in front of us, aprox. 500-1000 feet off the ground, I would say. One
was slightly higher than the other, and both remained in the same spot
for about 25 or so miles, until we saw them finally fall very slowly
behind the tree line. Also along with the lights were bright
blueish/green flashes, that appered somewhat like lightning, but were
eminating from the ground, just to the east of Hwy. 10. Many other
very strange, but somewhat hard to explain things also occured from
that time on that night, but I don't know if they are related or not.
***
Occurred : 8/5/1999 19:00 (Entered as : 08/05/99 19:00)
Reported: 8/6/1999 03:39
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Northfield, MN
Shape: Egg
Duration:10 min.
they buzzed over hyw.35 and stoped over my appartment building and then they
rose up into the clouds and vanished. they were flying slow so we thought that they
were planes at first but then they sped up then stopped altogeth then at a hi rate of
speed they were doing loopes and other moves that a plane couldn't do.
***
Occurred : 8/5/1999 10:30 (Entered as : 08/05/99 10:30)
Reported: 8/6/1999 07:05
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Cannon Falls, MN
Shape: Unknown
Duration:30 minutes
I'm not sure what I saw, could be satelites, maybe?
I saw one dot of light moving quite fast in a south-south west
direction, and about a half-hour later another object or the same
object flew along the same flight path in the oppisite direction. I
would like to know if there are any satelites with that flight path.
Oh, it took them about 7-10 seconds to fly horizion to horizion.
***
Occurred : 8/15/1999 22:00 (Entered as : 08/15/99 22:00)
Reported: 3/7/2000 09:01
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Little Falls, MN
Shape: Light
Duration:20 seconds
I was walking a dog with my cousin in Little falls, MN atw about 10:00 p.m. On our
way back I looked up at the sky for no reason as did my cousin. We both saw a light
traveling through the clouds then two more lights followed, each light about 2 or 3
seconds apart. They were traveling quite fast and were about 800 feet above us.
There was no noise or any change in direction. We only saw each light for about 3
seconds each. We only saw the light through the dark clouds in the sky. I really
don't believe in extraterestrial UFOs, but I know this wasn't an ordianary experience.
***
Occurred : 8/20/1999 23:00 (Entered as : 08201999 2300)
Reported: 9/9/1999 03:36
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Shape: Sphere
Duration:3mins
Two bright Spherical shapes chasing each other at high speed
I was flying into Minneapolis Saint Paul airport and we had started
our descent. I was looking out of the left side of the aircraft when
I noticed two bright spherical shapes chasing each other at high speed
in a circle and then a figure of eight just below cloud level. They
seemed to take turns in chasing each other. I thought at first it was
a reflection from the plane but as the plane was flying I was having
to look back to see them as the plane was flying away from them. They
were much too fast and turning too quickly to be any kind of aircraft.
***
Occurred : 8/29/1999 22:00 (Entered as : 10:00 p.m. 22:00)
Reported: 8/29/1999 20:31
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Bloomington (East Bloomington), MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:Several Days at the same
This seemingly craft has been hanging around here all summer! But
tonight it came closer and we could see three lights in the shape of
a triangle. It circled our house for awhile. It seemed to hide on the
horizon and when I went outside to let the dog in from the backyard
it came up towards me. I didn't hear a sound the whole time. We live
right by the main international airport and we also live by the
military base. Is this a new aircraft they are trying? It hovers! It
sits in one place for a while (3 minutes, 15 minutes, hours... then
with no warning it flys. It flys like an airplane, but I get the sense
that it, or they can see me because it reacts to me when I go out of
doors! Very strange! Have seen similar triangular lights following jet
contrails in the sky throughout the summer! I pulled my husband out
twice to look because I didn't want to think I was seeing something
that could be explained away as a regular aircraft. The oddest thing
about this experience was that there was no sound at all the whole
time!
***
Sighting Date/Time: 8/99 through 12/99 late nights
Sighting Location: Between Little Falls and Motley, MN
Sighting Description: I have had many (3 or 4) sightings in the past couple of months
in this region. I make the trip from Minneapolis to Wadena quite often, since my wifes
grandmother resides in Wadena. The ufo always consists of some form of two bright
amber lights one slightly higher than the other, accompanied by bright lightning like
flashes. I know the military base is right by there so maybe its something they're using.
I don't know. I've been carrying a polaroid camera in my car, but, quite honestly, have
been to scared to take any pictures.
***
Sept. '99 Reports
MINNEAPOLIS --
"On September 2, 1999, a woman who is a financial/business
administrator for a major local corporation was driving in the northwest
suburb of Plymouth. She was driving along a road leading onto a peninsula
that extends out into Medicine Lake, which is near the intersection of
Highway 55 and 169. She observed a pair of bright white and very intense
lights located to the northwest ahead. She felt that they resembled two
landing lights. To her they seemed to be out of place, and were searching
for something. She continued to drive up the peninsula a few hundred feet
and reached a point where the trees no longer obscured her view. The lights
were no longer visible but above the treetops was a large, dark triangular
object. Its size was as large as her hand at arm's length that she felt was
slightly less than that of a house. This might put it in the 30 to 60 foot
range. The object was black to charcoal-gray matte-colored (see illustration
below). The closest vertex of the triangle was pointed in her direction, with
the object moving toward her. There were lights at the two rear vertices,
one red and one green. Also, all over the underside of the object was a
pattern of three dimensional rectangular relief concealing something within.
***
Occurred : 9/5/1999 20:50 (Entered as : 09/5/99 20:50)
Reported: 9/16/1999 17:01
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Zumbrota, MN
Shape: Circle
Duration:3-4 seconds
Two circular shaped objects came from the north, northwest and flew at
a 45 degree angle to eachother. They kept the same distance apart and
flew towards the south, southeast. Three of us were standing just
outside of our house facing the east, looking up at the clear night
sky. When from our left came two circular, hazy donut shaped objects.
The two forms were situated 45 degrees from eachother. With the forward
most shape being to the southeast of the other one. They traveled to
the South, southeast. It took about three seconds for the objects to
be out of our field of vision.
***
Occurred : 9/6/1999 00:40 (Entered as : 9/6/99 00:40)
Reported: 9/6/1999 09:37
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Shape: Unknown
Duration::02
Fast moving blue-white light.
I went outside in my back yard to have a cigarette at 12:40 Sunday
night. I was sitting on a picnic tale looking up at the stars in the
eastern sky when I saw a large blue-white light moving very quickly
from southeast to northwest. It startled me. It was gone behind my
house before I could stand up to see where it went. I remember
thinking, "Shit, that thing is moving fast!" I thought it might be a
shooting star, but it was very bright, moved incredibly fast, and did
not have a tail. It did not look like any other shooting stars I have
ever seen. I did not hear any sound associated with this object. I am
a 30 year old, college educated male. I work in the vocational
rehabilitation field.
***
Occurred : 9/10/1999 22:00 (Entered as : 9/10/99 10pm)
Reported: 12/7/1999 01:06
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Cotton, MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:5 seconds
I was sitting on my deck and the craft came over. It was an inverted
V shaped craft. It took about 5 seconds to fly over. There was no
sound. Later my wife came out and we viewed it off in a distance with
our binoculars. It moved around in a lot of different directions...
like jumping around. At that point in time, it appeared as a red dot
in the sky. Later two jets flew towards the object and it just
disappeared. Sorry we have no pictures to share.
***
Occurred : 9/11/1999 23:00 (Entered as : 09-11-99 2300)
Reported: 10/2/1999 07:27
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Jordon (Minneapolis), MN
Shape: Light
Duration:5 min
Satalite looking object, changed direction,stopped
It was a clear star filled night about 2330 hrs. My wife and I went
to a state park near Jordon, Mn., just south of Minneapolis. I noticed
what at first I thought was a satellite moving across the sky. However,
the object was not traveling in a straight line, and the intensity
was growing brighter. Next the object stopped, this really got my
attention. This did not behave like any conventional aircraft. I
instructed my wife to not lose sight of the object as I ran to the
car to get my binoculars. I returned and quickly regained view of
object which had the appearence of a bright star. You would have to
be looking for this as it was not easily noticeable. To my amazement
the object began to move again, this time in a different direction.
The object stopped again. Very shortly later it began to move again.
Only this time it appeared to be moving out to space as it began to
get dimmer and dimmer. I watched it dissapear with my binoculars. It
did not dissappear over the horizon, it dissapeared out in to space
until it was no longer visable. I was very impressed, much more then
my wife.
***
Occurred : 9/15/1999 18:50 (Entered as : 09/15/99 18:50)
Reported: 9/19/2000 15:42
Posted: 9/21/2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Shape: Circle
Duration:1/0 of a second?
Two witnesses to a large unidentified craft that moved but made no sound.
Very large bright ball of light. Silvery and left two small ball of light 'trails. Lit up the
field around us, we were in a large park called Boom Island. We noticed it moved
but made no sound. It was there, then gone. We both looked at each other.
Clear evening.
***
Sighting Date: 9/16/99
From http://www.pioneerplanet.com/seven-days/1/news/docs/014768.htm
Published: Friday, September 17, 1999
Unidentified flashing object a puzzle for Menomonie man
by GARY DAWSON STAFF WRITER, MENOMONIE, WIS.
Did an unidentified flying object with bright flashing lights visit the
Menomonie area early Thursday morning?
James Emerson, who lives on a farm about two miles west of here, isn't
sure but said some kind of airborne craft hovered to the southeast of
his house for more than a half hour about 4 a.m. It reappeared once more
before dawn.
Dunn County Sheriff Robert Zebro, whose deputy sent to the scene also
observed the lights, said he isn't sure what the object was but
theorized it was either a helicopter or northern lights.
Emerson, a road construction cement worker recovering at home from back
surgery, doesn't agree. ``No, not a helicopter, when it sat there in one spot
for a half-hour or 45 minutes. ``It wasn't northern lights either. I know the
northern lights. It was a bright glow like the sun,'' he said. ``It was weird. I
don't know what it was and I wasn't drinkin' either.''
Emerson said the sheriff's department told him it might also have been
reflections off Mars and Venus, but he discounted that, too, because the
planets were not lined up at that position in the sky.
``The wife (Renee) was getting up for work about 4 a.m. I got up with
her,'' Emerson said. ``I was looking out the window and saw this flash,
a red light way up in sky but like it was on the other side of the
county.''
That would have been to the southeast. He said the object had red, blue
and yellow flashing lights and would move sideways back and forth,
alternately shoot high up in the air and then descend, hovering down
just above the treetops. He called the sheriff's office, and the deputy who
responded and observed the object described it in his report as a craft
with green, red and white lights.
``He couldn't identify it. He thought it might be a helicopter,''
Sheriff Zebro said. ``Or they had another theory, that it was the
northern lights or aurora borealis.''
The deputy left, saying he would try to get closer to the object. Then,
20 minutes later, Emerson said, the object reappeared, this time with a
bright yellow light that pulsated and went from bright to dim.
``I called back down to the sheriff's office and said, `You ain't going
to believe this, there's another one.' '' He said the sheriff's office told
him they would check it out but he didn't hear from them again.
Gary Dawson, who covers western Wisconsin, can be reached at
gddawsonpioneerpress.com, toll free at (800) 739-3921 or at (715)
381-1808.
Follow-up coverage from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Original URL: http://www.jsonline.com/WI/091699/wi--strangelights091699.asp
Family sees bright lights, moving colors in the sky
Last Updated: Sept. 16, 1999 at 7:37:41 p.m.
MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) - James J. Emerson swears the strange configuration
of lights he saw in the sky Thursday morning wasn't a reflection off a planet.
"It was changing colors in the air, from red to blue to yellow," he said.
"It was going back and forth, side to side. Then it would shoot up,
straight in the air, about a million miles an hour, then come back down and
sit there and go side to side."
A few minutes later, Emerson said he saw a triangular shape that pulsated
bright yellow, then die down and get dim.
Emerson, a 35-year-old construction worker, and his wife, Renee, called 911
to report the lights. "I told the cops when I called them, I said, "I haven't been
drinking. I'm not nuts. I'm not hallucinating,"' he said.
Dunn County Deputy Sheriff Rod Dicus investigated and reported seeing
green, red and white lights in the sky south of Dunn County. He got in his
squad car and drove to the southeast portion of the county, trying to identify
the object. Dicus said after contemplating the situation and getting input from
the Pepin County Sheriff's Department, he believes it may have been a
reflection from planets low in the sky this time of year.
The Pepin County Sheriff's Department reported it was alerted by Dunn
County of the colored lights shining down from the sky. A Pepin
County deputy suggested the lights were reflections from the planet Venus.
Emerson disagreed. "I guarantee you it wasn't. I don't see how a planet
can change colors and turn red and yellow and blue," Emerson said. "I was
kind of excited. I've never seen anything like it before."
Donald Cox, professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison,
said reflections from planets are usually tiny spots, unless they
are close to the horizon, which can sometimes cause images to break up.
But he doubted the planet-reflection theory. "It sounds kind of nutty to me,"
he said. And he doubted the colors came from flying saucers. "I would say the
chance is about zero, but that is a prejudice. When I see one, I will change my
mind," Cox said. "Perhaps it was the northern lights or some reflections caused
by swamp gases or some such thing", he said.
In the 1980s, Elmwood, located about 20 miles southwest Menomonie, had a
number of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects and strange lights in
the sky. The sightings spun off an annual village festival called UFO Days.
***
Occurred : 9/22/1999 23:45 (Entered as : 09/22/99 23:45 pm)
Reported: 3/1/2001 11:49
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Maple Grove, MN
Shape: Oval
Duration:45 seconds to one minute
It hovered above us for about 1 minute without a sound and then took off.
My friends and I had stopped at a park, kind of for a small party. We were there
for about two minutes just talking when right in front of our eyes my friend's truck
stopped running on its own. I looked at my friend's but they were baffled too. They
didn't have any kind of remote starter mechanism either. I got in the car to try and
figure out what was wrong and about 30 seconds later my friend's told me to get
out of the truck NOW. I got out because they actually sounded serious. I looked up
and saw three bright lights about 150 yards up. It was dark out so I'm not sure it
was that high. It didn't make a sound AT ALL. The ovalish shaped object didn't do
anything to us. It was dead quiet and the small breeze seemed to stop on its own.
It hovered above us not doing anything for about 45 seconds to a minute. Then it
just took off. The truck started right up too. We booked out of there like nothing else.
***
Occurred : 9/28/1999 21:50 (Entered as : 09/28/99 2150)
Location : St. Paul, MN
Shape : Unknown
5 dots of light to my east. I noticed no paralax as I drove north.
No symmetrical formation. They did not move or change formation the
whole time I saw them. I was driving down I94 eastbound, toward
downtown St. Paul, on my way to my Taekwondo. Directly in front of me
I saw 5 very bright white dots of light in the sky. They were in this
formation: x x x x x The bottom ones were very close to the horizon,
the top one was about 30 to 35 degrees above the horizon. At first, I
thought they may be helecoptors as there are hospitals right in that
area and perhaps they were hovering and waiting for a landing pad. But
the top ones seemed too high up. Then I thought that perhaps they were
jet liners as there is a often-used flight path over downtown to Twin
Cities International. But I saw them up there for a full 20 minutes.
Their position never changed. I thought they could be stars, but they
were brighter than Venus in full phase on a clear night. I exited onto
Lexington avenue northbound. When I got to my school in Arden Hills
about 15 minutes later, they were still there and showed a very small
parallax shift to the south. When I came out of the school 1 1/2 hours
later, they were gone. I never saw them change color and they always
looked the same.
***
Oct. '99 Reports
Occurred : 10/4/1999 03:00 (Entered as : 10/04/99 03:00am)
Reported: 10/4/1999 03:54
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Rochester (MN)/to LaCrosse (WI) (driving), MN
Shape: Light
Duration:2+ hours
Bright lights in the sky witnessed from highway
The first one looked like a star at first, then it moved so we thought
it was a plane, then it stopped, and started changing color from red
to white to blue. it stayed relatively still for awhile, then
zigzagged, then stopped again. Hung hovering in sky for about an hour
and a half, brightening and dimming. I saw a plane fly directly past
it. Then the driver of the car I was in spotted another one on the
other side of the sky brighter than the first. This one was going
from red to blue to yellow, and brightening and dimming, it was so low
in the horizon that we lost it behind some trees for awhile, but it
was definately moving. Then we drove into La Crosse which was covered
in a fog and we did not see them again
((NUFORC Note: Except for the reported movement of the objects, the
description is consistent with "twinkling" stars. Movement is very
difficult to establish by a witness who is in a moving vehicle.
However, we were not there to witness the objects.))
***
Occurred : 10/5/1999 20:35 (Entered as : 10/05/99 20:35)
Reported: 1/5/2000 00:09
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Rosemount, MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:5 seconds
I observed 2 rather small, dimly-lit long, triangular shaped objects flying in formation
heading north at a rater low altitude at somewhere between 500 to 800 mph.
At 8:35pm on the night of October 5th 1999, a friend and myself had
just put his kids to bed and had stepped outside for a cigarette. It
was an exceptionally clear evening and we were marveling at all of the
stars out that night, when I asked him if he had ever seen one of
those hundreds of satellites we have orbiting our planet. He responded
that he hadn't, and so I told him that I could probably spot one for
him within 10 or 15 minutes, and began scanning the skies for one. We
were in a quiet neigborhood, but the neighbors porch-lights were
making it difficult to see good, so I walked north between the two
houses where the night-sky became more "observable". I was looking
straight above me, when out the corner of my eye I saw a really fast
moving blur to which I began to blurt out to my frind, "Look!, a
shooting star"....But I only got out the words "Look! a shoo......."
when My eyes were able to focus on the object. This was NO shooting
star, NO aircraft man has ever built, and NO weather related phenomena!
I could very CLEARLY see a long, thinly shaped triangle with only
the edges lit up in a pale whitish outline. I had only focused on it
for maybe a second or two when I noticed a 2nd one behind it a ways
and to the right of the first one. They were flying precisely at the
same speed and kept the distance between them so steady that they
could have been flying as ONE! (unlike our known aircraft that fly
in formation.....they always seem to deviate a little from one another
as they fly overhead) There were no blinking lights at all, only the
complete outline of the triangles were dimly lit and the light seemed
to gently fade from the outside edges inward, where the center of the
craft appeared almost translucent......sky-black with just a hint of
reflected "ground-light" of whitish-green. It is very hard to determine
the altitude of anything in the night sky, but to the best of my
knowledge, they seemed to be flying rather low, maybe at an altitude
of between 1,000 and 3,000 ft. Agai! n, in a night sky, size is
difficult to determine also, and once again, I believe they seemed to
be rather small craft, somewhere between 8 to 15 ft. in length, and
maybe 5 to 9 ft. at their widest point, which would have been at the
aft end of the triangular shapes. At this relatively low altitude,
one would think that you would be able to hear some kind of sound,
even if it was the sound of air rushing around them, as they flew at
a very high rate of speed,.....but there was NO sound whatsoever! I
would have to guess they were traveling at a rate of maybe 500 to
800 mph, heading north in a straight line. At this speed and altitude,
and given their rather dimly-lit appearance, I only observed them for
maybe 5 seconds and they were out of sight. During this time of
observaton, I was calling out to my friend and pointing towards them,
asking if he was seeing what I was, and wondering why I wasn't hearing
a response. Turns out, unfortunately, that one of his kids had called
out to him, and he had turned and gone inside the house and didn't
even hear me talking to him, much less SEE anything! I am a 50 yr.
old aircraft mechanic of 32 years, living in Minnesota for the past
20 yrs. I often fly comercially and recreationally, even though I do
not possess a pilots license. I have always been interested in
astronomy and enjoy observing our night skies, and believe me......
I will be observing our skies even more now, after witnessing this
account, even though I don't really believe I will ever see anything
so compelling as what I saw on that night in early October, 1999.
***
Witness location: Brainerd, MN - SE side of city
Date: October 5, 1999, 2:30-3:30 am
A whitish-yellow light was first seen in the NW sky while he was looking
through a window. "It appeared to be pretty far away. It hovered in the
sky, would sit a couple of minutes, flickering, then did zigzags and loops
pretty fast. I ruled out a helicopter. It did that for about half an hour and
then just disappeared and about 2 minutes later it reappeared about two inches
over (using my fingers to gauge it) to the right and a little lower." He
watched it for another half an hour until it went behind some trees and he
couldn't see it any more. (Investigators note: We have had other reports
of a similar light doing loops and zigzags in that area. See July 4-5, 1999.)
***
Occurred : 10/8/1999 23:15 (Entered as : 10/08/99 23:15)
Reported: 10/10/1999 17:45
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Detroit Lakes (18 miles east of), MN
Shape: Triangle
Duration:2 minutes
Triangular Formation of 3 lights moving at the speed and appearance of satelites.
The center blocked out stars as it moved from West/NW to South/SE
My wife and I have a weekend cabin 18 miles from Detroit Lakes, MN.
It is isolated from all city lights as it is located in the Minnesota
lakes country. On Oct. 8th, 1999 at 11:15PM My wife and I were outside
in the backyard looking for satelites and shooting stars. The sky was
very clear. I first thought I saw a satelite, but noticed there were
3 lights moving in a triangle. I showed it to my wife to make sure she
saw the same thing. They were moving at the speed and brightness of a
satelite. It was fairly large and moving at a steady speed. The center
of the three lights would block out background stars, as it moved from
West/Northwest to South/Southeast.It is very quiet in the woods as we
have no close neighbors. There was no sound at all, we can hear
commercial airliners at very high altitudes when it is that still and
quiet. After about 2 to 3 minutes the lights disappered.
((NUFORC NOTE: These satellites may be U. S. Navy satellites, flying
in formation. The same type of phenomenon was reported to us during
August and September 1996, and Mr. Terence Dickinson, astronomy
journalist for the Toronto (Canada) Star newspaper, apparently was
able to identify their origin.))
***
Occurred : 10/12/1999 23:00 (Entered as : 10/12/99 23:00)
Reported: 11/15/1999 23:12
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Little Falls (North of), MN
Shape: Formation
Duration:1 hr.
Two bright amber lights. About 300 to 500 feet up. One slightly lower.
The lights might have been from one single object, but it was hard to
tell for sure. No sound was made by the lights. They hovered for about
an hour, and then slowly descended below the tree line. They were very
bright, and amber in color.
***
Occurred : 10/12/1999 21:33 (Entered as : 10/12/99 21:33)
Reported: 10/16/1999 07:36
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Minnesota (central, rural), MN
Shape: Chevron
Duration:90 seconds
observed two chevron crafts hovering 225 & 300 feet. aprox. 500 feet from my
location. They were directly to my west, and also observed from north. rear one
then lifted and both left.
I was driving North on a single lane Gravel road that bends to the
West. Before the bend I noticed 2 sets of lights hovering above the
trees. When I was directly to the East of them, I stopped my car and
shut it off, trying to listen for rotors. There was no noise made
by these crafts. They were only about 500 feet to my west and hovering
about 225' (Northern most one) and 300'. I observed these for
aproximately 60 seconds, then started the car and drove around the
bend until I was directly North of them. I could not see an object
due to the blackness of the night, however the lights (4 on each side,
and one in the center rear) formed a triangular/chevron shape. As I
came to a stop directly behind them (Aprox. 150' away) the rear one
lifted to the altitude of the other (very slowly) and both, slowly
proceeded South. I immediately lost sight of them. I would estimate
the size of these to be about 150' width furthest light to furthest
light. x 100' tip to Chevron indent.
***
Occurred : 10/13/99 17:30
Location : Edina, MN
Shape : Diamond
Pulsating white light from object. Northern sky, 30 deg. up, some
distance away but close enough to make-out object.
Driving north, notice flashing, bright white light in sky ahead of
me. It remain in same location for the entire time. I could see the
object between flashes. Light was in a wide diamond shape. When I
came to an intersection, I kept watching it. I looked away for a
few seconds to turn, looked up as I was turning a object was gone. I
had a very open view of skyline and saw nothing anywhere. The light
was extremely bright concidering there was no cloud cover and the
sun was still 1+ hours from setting. Shortly after, airline jets came
in on their approach to MPLS Int'l airport whith their lights on not
even close to brightness of object.
***
Occurred : 10/21/1999 03:45 (Entered as : 10/21/99 3:45am)
Reported: 10/22/1999 03:51
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Lakeville (south of Twin Cities about 15 miles), MN
Shape: Light
Duration:2 1/2 hrs
Light with green flashing light on bottom, east of me about 10 o'clock position over
next county, noticed while trying to view northern lights & looking at stars. Not sure
what it was but zigzaged slightly & hovered. Took several pictures
Only saw one. About 10 minutes later noticed several aircraft "flying" around object,
with one doing a "summersault". All of a sudden they left, & "light" hovered for the
next 2 to 3 hours, while rising slowly &zig~zaging slghtly. It also seemed to "bounce"
a few times. All I could see was a bright light, really small, & thru my binoculars I could
see a flashing green light under the bright light. I took several pictures. Not sure what
it was. For all I know, It could have been a planet, as it was east of me before sunrise.
I'll see what the pictures say. However, the green flashing light is what made me
wonder more! Note: there were the brihtest northern lights from a sun solar flare &
magnetic storm. Supposedly the brightest of this century.
***
Nov. '99 Reports
Occurred : 11/15/1999 07:45 (Entered as : 11/??/99 07:45)
Reported: 4/14/2000 20:27
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Shape: Cylinder
Duration:10-15 min
Small Cylinder seen in absolutely clear sky in morning. Heading north on Hwy 35w.
No other objects in sky whatsoever.
I and a friend were car pooling to our job from Edina to Roseville, Mn. Heading north
on Hwy 35w. I noticed it first and was unsure of what I was seeing. I wached it for
about 3-4 minutes w/o saying anything so that I could be sure. The sky was
completely clear. The weather was crisp and slightly cold. It was low in the sky
(say about the size of a pen point at first sighting and as we drew closer by about
10 miles about the size of a pencil eraser at arms length). It was a very dark
color...Gray bordering on black. At first it had definite edges. It reflected light at the
edges. It stayed in one spot, seemingly motionless. I mentioned to my friend after
a few minutes who is a skeptic and asked him, "What the h*ll is that?". He didn't
know either. By the time we were as close to it as we were going to get it had
dissipated into a cylinder shaped "cloud" or "mist" and was losing shape slowly.
My father being a pilot I grew up around airports, airplanes and airshows and have
always kept an eye to the sky. I have never seen anything like it. If it was a "cloud",
why would one tiny, dark cloud form in a sky barren of any other weather formations?
My friend was a little bothered by it and chalked it up to weather. I'm not so sure.
***
Occurred : 11/16/1999 23:15 (Entered as : 11/16/99 23:15)
Reported: 11/16/1999 23:54
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Woodbury, MN
Shape: Rectangle
Duration:4-5 hours
I saw 4 craft floating in the sky in and near the constellation Ursa Major. They
remained there for quite some time and then sped off.
I saw 4 craft at around 11:15 p.m. last night floating in the sky around the Big
Dipper. They floated about rather slowly in circular patterns and one sped off
almost immediately after I first saw them. The other three remained for nearly
five hours and didn't really do much except float around. They remained in motion
constantly (not much motion, but it was noticeable) all the time I watched. The
craft themselves appeared to be rectangular or oval in shape and didn't appear
to have three dimensions at all (i.e., flat or something?). They were primarily
yellow, green and red in color, with two yellow bands (apparently glowing) on
their "top" and "bottom," running all the way across, from "front" to "back" on all
four of them. In between the two yellow bands was a section of alternating red
and green lights that appeared to either move or change colors in a regular pattern.
I am a 19 year old student with an interest in the sciences (primarily physics and
astronomy). I don't really know what other information about me you want -- I'm
not a "wacko" or mentally unstable or anything. Also: this isn't the first time I have
seen these craft, either. I see them usually a few times a year, but never this
many and never for this long, so I decided this was noteworthy. Thank you for
your time.
***
Occurred : 11/16/1999 17:15 (Entered as : 11/16/99 5:15pm)
Reported: 11/16/1999 23:12
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Winona, MN
Shape: Fireball
Duration:5 Min.
Appeared to be a plane crashing leaving a smoke trail.
***
Occurred : 11/16/1999 18:05 (Entered as : 11/16/99 18:05)
Reported: 11/17/1999 13:52
Posted: 3/21/2003
Location: Apple Valley, MN
Shape: Circle
Duration:30 second
Slow moving light very simular to airplane landing light with long trail of red sparks.
I was riding in our minivan stopped at a red light waiting to make a left hand turn.
I noticed what appeared to me as a airplane landing light slowly moving towards
the north-east. While looking at the bright white light I noticed a trail of red sparks
coming from the light,formimg a tail. It appeared as a airplane was crashing to
the ground. I followed the light until it dissapeared over the horizon. I did not tell
others until after it was gone, what I had seen,Because I was unsure of what I
had seen. Within two minutes I explianed to my wife what I saw and she told me
she had read about a meteor shower in the newspaper that morning.I did not
see any sign of it hitting the ground.I am a computer specialist with a B.A. degree
in Earth Science.
***
Sighting Date/Time: 11/20/99, 8:00 pm
Sighting Location: Makinen, MN at home.
Sighting Description: Four of us, myself, C**** and our two boy's were
watching a movie when one of our boys noticed a bright red light
outside in the sky. I got up to look and it was obvious immediately
that it was something we have never seen before. So I yelled for
everyone to go outside. It was so stunning to us that we all ran out
in our socks and barefoot. We watched it for approximately 5 minutes.
It seemed to be under the cloud cover. It was a very bright red. No
blinking lights. No sound whatsoever. A very intense glow. It had no
tail. It seemed to be under control, because when I went into the
house to call 911, it stopped for about a minute then took of again.
It was heading north. The sheriff called me back from Zim, MN and said
he was going to call other deputies further north to see if anyone
could spot it. We took pictures but don't know how they will turn
out. Myself and T**** ,while looking at it thru our cameras believe
we could make out a disk shape. I believe I could make it out like it
was changing configuration. Four lights square then it would change
to what looked like a row of about 50 lights right in the middle of
the four lights.
***
Dec. '99 Reports
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