UFO Case Report:

The Washington State Elk Abduction

Date: February 25, 1999
Location: Cascade Mountains, Near Mt. St. Helens, Washington, United States

A team of forestry workers allegedly had been witness to an incident on Thursday, February 25, 1999, during which time an elk was lifted off the ground and carried away by a very peculiar, disc-shaped object.

Classification & Features

Type of Case/Report: StandardCase
Hynek Classification: DD
Shape of Object(s): Disc
# of Witnesses: Multiple
Special Features/Characteristics: Animal Reaction, Witness Photo, Group Sighting

More Articles on this Case

Full Report / Article

Source: National UFO Reporting Center
[go to original source]

UFO Elk Abduction Said Witnessed In Washington State

On Monday, March 01, 1999, the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) received a call over its telephone Hotline (206-722-3000) from an individual who identified himself as an employee in the forestry industry in Washington State. The individual left a message, in which he reported that a team of forestry workers allegedly had been witness to an incident on Thursday, February 25, 1999, during which time an elk was lifted off the ground and carried away by a very peculiar, disc-shaped object. [*Click here to hear an excerpt from the hotline recording.]

Peter B. Davenport, Director of NUFORC, contacted several of the individuals whose names and telephone numbers had been provided by the first contact. Based on those telephone conversations, he elected to initiate a preliminary investigation of the incident.

Because NUFORC traditionally does not serve as an investigative body, Mr. Davenport contacted Mr. Robert A. Fairfax, Director of Investigations for the Washington State Chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, which does conduct investigations of alleged UFO sightings. Messrs. Davenport and Fairfax traveled to the location of the alleged incident, and jointly have been conducting an investigation of this elk abduction case since Friday, March 05.

Their investigation to date has included a trip to the site of the incident, an interview of three of the alleged fourteen witnesses to the actual abduction, and several conversations with individuals who work with the eyewitnesses. In addition, the investigators inspected the carcass of an adult elk, a pregnant cow, which was found dead beside a logging road on March 01 by other forestry employees within a few miles of the principal event.

The investigation and collection of facts surrounding the case will continue. This preliminary summary of their findings to date is submitted jointly by Messrs. Davenport and Fairfax.

Incident Summary:

On Thursday, February 25, 1999, at just a few minutes before noon, three forestry workers, who were planting seedling trees in the mountains of Washington State, witnessed a small, disc-shaped object slowly drift over a nearby ridge to their south, and descend into the valley to the north of their position. The object descended silently with what seemed to the witnesses a purposeful manner, exhibiting a slight "wobble" to its flight.

The three workers at first thought the object was some kind of parachute that was drifting and descending, but they quickly realized that their initial impression was not correct. Hence, they shouted to their eleven co-workers nearby, who were working on the north-facing hillside, and all fourteen members of the work crew watched the object for an estimated 3-5 minutes.

Within seconds of their first observation of the object, the witnesses became aware that the object was travelling generally in the direction of a herd of elk that they had been watching all morning. They continued to watch as the object proceeded toward the herd until it succeeded in getting quite close to the animals. The animals apparently remained unaware of the objectís presence until it was within a very short distance of the herd.

Suddenly, the animals bolted, most of the them running up the slope to their east. However, one adult animal was seen by the witnesses to separate itself from the herd and run or trot to generally to the north, perhaps along a logging road. The witnesses report that at this point, the object quickly moved directly above the lone elk and seemed to lift it off the ground, although no visible means of support of the animal was evident to the observers.

[Photo of incident site and reported path of craft (graphic by Robert Fairfax)]

The witnesses added that shortly after lifting the elk off the ground, the object seemed to begin to "wobble" to a more pronounced degree than it had exhibited earlier. In addition, as the object appeared to increase its altitude, the elk, which was suspended upright below the disc, rotated slowly beneath it and appeared to be getting closer to the ventral surface of the disc. They also commented that the object seemed to increase in size slightly after it had picked up the animal.

With the elk suspended below it, the object began to ascend slowly up a clear-cut slope to the east. However, the witnesses watched it apparently brush the tops of nearby trees to the east, at which point it reversed its course and proceeded to the west. It executed a 360-degree turn to the left and may have gained some slight altitude in the process, the witnesses thought.

After the object had completed its turn and was once again proceeding in a generally easterly direction, it began ascending very quickly at what seemed to the witnesses to be a rather steep angle. It continued to ascend, and simply disappeared from sight of the witnesses.

The witnesses stated that once the object had started to ascend and had climbed to an altitude above their vantage point, they no longer could see the animal suspended below the craft. Their presumption was that the animal had somehow been taken into the craft, although the witnesses could discern no "door," or any kind of aperture through which the animal might have been conveyed into the craft.

The witnesses also stated that following the incident, the herd of elk remained in the same general area, although remained more closely huddled to one another than had been the case earlier in the morning. The workers added that they, too, had remained closer to one another until their departure from the area at the end of the work day.

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Investigation summary prepared by Peter B. Davenport, Director, National UFO Reporting Center, and Robert A. Fairfax, Director of Investigations, Mutual UFO Network, for the Washington State


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By Low Lawhon, About.com

The Washington State Elk Abduction
February 25, 1999
11:58 A.M.

On this winter morning, fourteen forestry workers, employees of a large, unnamed company, were planting trees in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State about 20 miles west of Mt. St. Helens. Three of the men had been watching a nearby herd of elk in the valley below them all morning.
Suddenly, a heel-shaped object with two stripes on its back appeared over a nearby ridge and began drifting in a northeast direction. Initially, the three men thought it was something like a parachute, but it maintained a steady altitude, following the contours of the terrain below it.

As the object began to move toward the herd of elk, the three men called out to the other eleven members of the work crew. All fourteen men stood on the hillside and watched as the object floated down into the valley towards the elk.

The silent object was able to get quite near the elk before the animals noticed it. When they did notice it, most of the herd ran to the east, toward a densely wooded area. One elk, though, trotted off toward the north, down a logging road. It was to this lone elk that the object flew. The amazed workers watched as the object floated above the elk and then appeared to lift the elk off the ground with some sort of invisible force. The object then moved off, with the elk slowly rotating beneath it. It moved up the ridge, barely clearing the trees, and then down into the next valley, out of sight of the forestry workers. After a few minutes, the object then reappeared, apparently without the elk, and rose at high speed until it disappeared into the sky.

The case was reported to NUFORC, and Peter Davenport of NUFORC and Robert Fairfax of MUFON Washington traveled to the site and interviewed the witnesses. For their report go to NUFORC. They also examined the body of a female elk that was found to the north of the site. It could not be determined if this was the same elk. Many of the witnesses had been with the company for years and they were generally deemed to be reliable.

Case ID: 14 edit: 14

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