selected ufo cases
Cases by Decade: 1970s
Metallic, saucer-shaped object with loud 'humming' sound over Michigan farmland
June, 15, 1978 - Mancelona, Michigan, United States
From the witness: "I looked up and saw the object, hovering, over the field behind our house. I estimate it was no farther than 250 yards away from me, hovering about 200 to 300 feet in the air. It was metallic and disk-shaped...and all along the rim it exhibited colors changing from red-orange-white-blue... it was [making] a loud-vibrating-humming low pitched tone..." View full report
Source: NUFORC (National UFO Reportin Center), Peter Davenport, Director ID: 1067
Case Type: RawReport Features: Humming
UFO crash in Bolivia witnessed by thousands of people
May, 6, 1978 - El Taire Mountain, Bolivia
On May 6, 1978, at about 4:15 p.m., something crashed into a mountain near El Taire on the Bermejo River, the border between the Bolivian province of Tarija and Argentina. Thousands of people saw this happening and later described the object as being cylindrical in shape with a flaming tail. It had caused a supersonic bang that was heard up to 150 miles away. View full report
Source: Michael Hesemann, 1998 ID: 635
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Crash/Retrieval, Mass Sighting
Police officer observes and photographs disc in Colfax, Wisconsin
April, 19, 1978 - Colfax, Wisconsin, United States
On April 19, 1978, police officer Mark Coltrane was on patrol in the vicinity of Colfax. He then noticed a metalic looking disc raising towards the the sky at a short distance from the parking space. While the object seemed to move towards him, Coltrane picked up his Polaroid camera, came out of the car and snapped some photographs. The object was so close in one of the images that it is possible to notice some details of its lower surface. View full report
Source: Wendelle Stevens (credit: UFOs at Close Sight (Ufologie.net) ID: 877
Case Type: SummaryReport Features: Photo, E-M Effects, Police
Large triangular object hovers near campers in Patapsco State Park
March, 22, 1978 - Patapsco State Park, Maryland, United States
Gary Oickle, 24, his brother David, 22, and two friends were camping in Patapsco State Park, when they encountered a huge triangular shaped object with large windows and three white lights at the corners. The object moved very slowly, hovering at times. When it appeared above them it was very low, approximately 200-250 feet, and made a sound like a "quiet wind" or "quietly rushing waterfall". View full report
Source: APRO, April 1978 ID: 828
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Group Sighting
Construction worker sees massive disc-shaped object
March, 1, 1978 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
A Pittsburgh construction worker and his girlfriend claimed they saw a massive disc-shaped object settle about 2,000 feet over Highland Reservoir. He estimated its size as larger than the reservoir itself. Paul Oles, program director for Buhl Planetarium, also saw a bright light which he "can't explain," about one hour earlier. View full report
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, PA), March 4, 1978 ID: 438
Case Type: PressReport Features: Humming
Long cigar-shape object with portholes, colored lights flying above treetops
March, 1, 1978 - Middlebury , Connecticut, United States
"I saw this long cigar shaped object just above the treetops, not more than 150 feet away. Probably even closer than that. It was right beside me flying parallel to me, but slightly faster... It was about 100 feet long, and 15 feet high. It had rounded ends on the front and back. It looked just like a cigar or a hot dog." View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 474
Case Type: RawReport Features: Witness Sketch, Portholes/Windows
Fort Dix / McGuire AFB Case
January, 18, 1978 - Fort Dix/McGuire AFB, New Jersey, United States
The primary eyewitness in the case, Jeffrey Morse, alleged (i) that he had been working as a security policeman at McGuire AFB when he was notified about UFO activity over Fort Dix army base. (ii) Morse alleged that he heard that a non-human entity had been shot and he later saw the dead body of the entity lying on the ground on a disused runway at McGuire AFB. View full report
Source: NIDS, National Institute for Discovery Science ID: 317
Case Type: MajorCase Features: Military, Humanoid/Occupant, Witness Sketch
Veteran Pilot Encounters UFO With Portholes
January, 1, 1978 - Santa Monica, California, United States
A dome-shaped UFO with portholes was seen in broad daylight by veteran pilot Floyd P. Hallstrom of Oxnard, California. Hallstrom had been flying for 37 years, 17½ as a Navy combat air crewman and personal crew chief to admirals, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. View full report
Source: FUFOR, MUFON UFO Journal, January 1978 ID: 37
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Pilot/Aircrew, Portholes/Windows
Woman in Guernsey, UK watches circular UFO for 20 minutes
1978 - Grandes Rocques, Guernsey, United Kingdom
A woman from Grandes Rocques awoke in the early morning hours and saw a bright golden light, going very slowly. The circular object was in her view for around 20 minutes before it vanished from her sight, allowing Mrs Wilson to get a good look at it. 'It stopped quite often, and just hung in the air. As it stopped, it let out some stuff.' View full report
Source: Mark Ogier, Guernsey Evening Press (Guernsey, England), Jan. 12, 1993 ID: 763
Case Type: PressReport Features: Witness Sketch
Retired Chilean General in air encounter with large 'banana-shaped' UFO
1978 - Antofagasta, Chile
Retired General Hernan Gabrielli Rojas had squared off against a gigantic UFO while engaging in a training flight in the skies of northern Chile. According to the military man, the object was the size of 10 or 15 aircraft carriers, and its presence was picked up by the radars aboard two F-5 jet fighters as well as the Cerro Moreno airport in Antofagasta. View full report
Source: Inexplicata, Scott Corrales, editor / Ovnivisión (Chile) / Revista TOC / Terra Chile ID: 997
Case Type: PressReport Features: Military, Pilot/Aircrew, Witness Photo, Radar
Family sees UFO hovering over Camas, WA
December, 24, 1977 - Camas, Washington, United States
Barbara Siewell of Springfield, OR and her family witnessed a UFO hovering over Camas, WA on Christmas Eve, 1977. Two other adult witnesses reported seeing the same thing on the same date, also in Camas, WA. View full report
Source: Camas Post-Record (Camas, WA), Jan. 25, 1978 ID: 439
Case Type: PressReport Features: Portholes/Windows
Security guard sees oval UFO with bright headlights
October, 1977 - Walcott, Iowa, United States
An 18-year-old woman saw a pair of bright "headlights" flashing from an oval object moving silently through the skies over Walcott, Iowa, where she worked as a security guard. Her radio and walkie-talkie stopped working, and cows and crickets in a nearby field stood silent. A television in a nearby farm house went blank, she learned later. View full report
Source: Moline Daily Dispatch (Moline, IL), Jan. 7, 1978 ID: 440
Case Type: PressReport Features: E-M Effects, Animal Reaction
Mass sighting of large jellyfish-like UFO over Petrosavodsk, USSR
September, 20, 1977 - Petrosavodsk, Russian Federation
Early risers in Petrosavodsk saw a bright light suddenly appearing amid the clouds at about 4:05 a.m. The star-like light came nearer and descended in a spiral trajectory, and soon looked like a ball of fire. Soon, it looked like an reddish-orange hemisphere surrounded by a bright zone. During the next few seconds, hundreds of thin rays of light, like thin arrows, were showered upon the earth. The thing now looked like a big jellyfish with golden tentacles, shining in beautiful colors. View full report
Source: Michael Hesemann, 1998 ID: 636
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Sound, Physical Trace, Mass Sighting
Abduction by robot-like beings in Brazil (La Rubia case)
September, 15, 1977 - Paciencia (near Rio de Janeiro), Brazil
Antonio La Rubia, a 33-year-old bus driver, encountered a huge object, which he estimated to be 70 meters (235 feet) across, sitting in a field near his home. He decided to retreat, but was unable to do so, for at the moment he started to run, an intensely bright light lit up the area, and he was unable to move. At that moment Antonio saw three "robots" positioned near him, and he was captured and taken into the disc. View full report
Source: APRO Bulletin, Vol. 26 No. 4, Oct. 1977 ID: 464
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Abduction, Physiological Effects, Injury, Humanoid/Occupant
UFO with two occupants seen by Dorset, UK woman
September, 1977 - Parkstone, United Kingdom
Mrs. Ethel May Field, 62, a housewife, had gone out to the back garden to take in washing from the clothes-line, when she heard a humming sound which prompted her to look at the sky. She encountered a round object with a dome on top. Standing inside the windows of the object were two humanoid occupants, one at each window. View full report
Source: Leslie Harris, FSR Vol. 24 No. 2 (1978) ID: 632
Case Type: StandardCase Features: 'Dyad Scout Craft', Humanoid/Occupant, Physiological Effects, Humming, Witness Photo, Communication
Man has close encounter with UFO occupants (the Dawson encounter)
August, 6, 1977 - Pelham, Georgia, United States
Retired automobile salesman Tom Dawson, 63, was walking with his two dogs from his trailer home to a nearby farm when a "circular shaped space ship" with a dome and portholes, 40-50 ft in diameter and 12-14 ft high, set down in a field in front of him. He found he was unable to move a muscle. A hatch in the object opened, a ramp was extended, and 7 strange looking humans 5 ft tall emerged, five men and two women. View full report
Source: Billy Rachels / Ronald Story (2001) ID: 657
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, 'Dyad Scout Craft'
Saucer-type 'ship' with multi-colored lights, landed in yard
July, 1977 - Eliot, Maine, United States
This was a saucer type "ship" with multi colored lights on the edge that landed in the back yard after appearing behind some trees 20 yards behind the house. I woke up in my girlfriend an my bedroom on the second floor, looked out the window and saw the lights. View full report
Source: UFOEvidence.org ID: 332
Case Type: RawReport Features: Missing Time, Landing
Rotating disc with white lights
July, 1977 - Anderson, Indiana, United States
"I was staying in a motel in Anderson, Indiana, in the month of July of 1977, when my travelling companion burst in through the door to summon me outside. Once in the parking lot, I gazed up above the rooftop to witness a great disc gliding gently across our field of view, moving slowly and tilted at an angle." View full report
Source: APRO Bulletin, Vol. 32 No. 7 (September 1984) ID: 268
Case Type: RawReport
Man has encounter with 35 beings from landed UFO
June, 22, 1977 - Bulloo River, Australia
Gold prospector "Albert Smith" noticed three lights in the sky, which moved down toward him and then nestled in a clump of trees near his camp. He saw figures emerge amid dazzling lights. Thus began the most incredible, two days in the life of 47-rear-old Albert, in which he claims he was visited by people from another world at his lonely camp on the Bulloo River in far southwest Queensland. View full report
Source: Brisbane Sunday Sun (Brisbane, Australia), Jan. 8, 1978 ID: 441
Case Type: PressReport Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Communication, Landing, Portholes/Windows
Three boys frightened by strange creatures from landed UFO
May, 20, 1977 - West Pittsburg, California, United States
On the night of May 20, 1977, three Contra Costa County boys say they saw an object resembling a flying saucer land in West Pittsburg. They fled in terror when strange creatures came toward them, walking like stiff robots surrounded by smoke or steam vapor. The Center for UFO Studies, directed by J. Allen Hynek, considered this to be one of only three credible humanoid encounter cases of the year. View full report
Source: Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), Apr. 2, 1978 ID: 452
Case Type: PressReport Features: Humanoid/Occupant, Landing, Children, Portholes/Windows, Witness Photo
Chilean soldier loses five days to UFO (The Valdes Case)
April, 25, 1977 - Pampa Lluscuma (near Putre), Chile
A Chilean soldier was in shock after a weird, five-day ordeal with a UFO. Six members of an army patrol saw two bright objects descending from the sky. Cpl. Armando Valdes, the patrol leader, set out alone to investigate and, according to the men, simply vanished. Fifteen minutes later, they said, he reappeared, tried to speak and passed out. The date on his watch had been advanced five days, and he now had about a week's growth of beard. View full report
Source: Associated Press / San Antonio News, May 23, 1977 ID: 460
Case Type: PressReport Features: Missing Time, Military
Pennsylvania man encounters UFO hovering over field next to home
March, 29, 1977 - Morgan Run, Pennsylvania, United States
Burton Woods, 45, of Morgan Run, PA, said he saw a craft hovering over a field near his mobile home. Woods suffered from headaches and blurred vision after the sighting. Much excitement was stirred by his UFO encounter, since he was able to get so close to the craft before it veered up and out of sight. The object was described as 170-200 feet in length. View full report
Source: The Clearfield Progress (Clearfield, PA), Apr. 4, 1977 ID: 694
Case Type: PressReport Features: Physiological Effects, Witness Sketch
Cigar-shaped UFO with smaller objects observed in Jemgum, Germany
March, 7, 1977 - Jemgum, Germany
A 16 year old student, standing in front of his parents house, observed a bright spot in the sky. Through his binoculars, he could see that the object was cigar-shaped and surrounded by an orange-colored halo. This object filled 4/5 of his field-of-view in the binoculars. It appeared reflective, almost glaring. Smaller objects were also observed. View full report
Source: Illobrand von Ludwiger / MUFON-CES (1998) ID: 654
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Multiple UFOs, Children
Dog dies after close encounter on ranch in Uruguay
February, 18, 1977 - Salto, Uruguay
Angel Maria Tonna, a 52-year-old rancher, and his foreman, witnessed a fiery disc like two plates placed face to face hovering a short distance above the ground behind the barn. The cows "were going crazy" and all the dogs were barking. The object approached, and Tonna felt electric shocks which went all through his body and a very intense heat hit him. Three days after the event, Tonna's dog, who had been 15 from the object, was found dead. View full report
Source: APRO, August, 1977 ID: 825
Case Type: StandardCase Features: Animal Reaction, Physiological Effects
