UFO Case Report:

The Buff Ledge Abduction (two teenagers abducted in Vermont)

Date: August 7, 1969
Location: Buff Ledge Camp, Vermont, United States

"Michael" and "Janet", two teenage employees at Buff Ledge summer camp were sitting on a boat dock, when a UFO approached them. Two occupants were visible inside the craft. When it was directly over them, a beam of light shone from the craft. The next thing they remembered was sitting on the dock watching the now distant light. Ten years later under hypnosis, Michael and Janet each recounted a similar detailed story of abduction, a medical examination, and being taken on board a "mother ship."

Michael's drawing of the UFO and entities as seen from the dock. (credit: Ronald Story)

Michael's drawing of one of the alien beings. (credit: Ronald Story)

Classification & Features

Type of Case/Report: MajorCase
Hynek Classification: CE4
Shape of Object(s): Disc
# of Witnesses: Multiple
Special Features/Characteristics: Abduction, Witness Sketch, Water-Related, 'Dyad Scout Craft', Children

Full Report / Article

Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com

Buff Ledge (The Vermont Abduction)

On August 7, 1969, an abduction event took place at Buff Ledge summer camp for girls on the shores of Lake Champlain north of Burlington in Vermont. The case was investigated by Walter N. Webb, who spent 32 years at the Charles Hayden Planetarium in Boston as senior lecturer, assistant director, and manager of operations. Mr. Webb, who has had a lifelong interest in UFOs and who worked with J. Allen Hynek, wrote a book about his investigation called "Encounter at Buff Ledge: A UFO Case History."

Two teenage camp employees, a sixteen year old boy called "Michael", and a nineteen year old girl called "Janet", were sitting on a boat dock late in the afternoon. The camp was mostly deserted because most everyone was gone into Burlington for a swim meet. As the sun dropped and the sky darkened, a bright light suddenly appeared. Michael said that he at first thought it was Venus.(It couldn't have been Venus. Venus was a morning star on that date, rising at about 2:00 am on the Eastern horizon, not visible in the late afternoon over Lake Champlain. - Loy)

As they watched, the light seemed to grow brighter and to come closer. Then, to their surprise, three smaller lights separated from the light and began to perform maneuvers in the darkening sky over Lake Champlain. After a moment, two of the lights receded, but one of them flew straight up and then dove down into the lake itself.

A few minutes later the object surfaced and began coming towards the two teenagers. Michael later said that he could see two small beings inside. The craft came on, until it was directly over them. Suddenly, a beam of light show from the craft. Michael screamed "We don't want to go!", and put his arms around Janet. Michael later remembered a floating sensation and then nothing for an indeterminate amount of time. Then, hearing the sounds of the others returning from the swim meet, they seemed to come to themselves. They found themselves sitting on the dock watching the now distant light, which flashed an occasional beam until it vanished completely. The UFO may have been seen as it left by three of the people returning from the swim meet.

Michael and Janet didn't discuss their experience that summer. Later, Michael would find that Janet didn't remember anything except seeing strange lights in the sky.

Ten years later, plagued by bad dreams, and having read of similar experiences by others, Michael contacted CUFOs (Center for UFO studies). Walter Webb investigated the case and suggested regression hypnosis. Under hypnosis, Michael recounted a detailed story of abduction, a medical examination, and being taken on board a "mother ship." After Michael's story of what had occurred came out during hypnosis, Janet was located and hypnotized as well. Although she consciously recalled only seeing some lights in the sky, under hypnosis she recounted a similar story of abduction to that Michael had told, although she had never heard his story.

The full story can be found in Walter N. Webb's book, "Encounter at Buff Ledge: A UFO Case History."

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Further information regarding the abduction experience, recalled during the regression hypnosis, from B. J. Booth, UFO Casebook:

During Michael's hypnosis, he vividly recalled his experiences on that night in August 1968. He remembered how the beam of light lifted him into the craft's interior; how he entered a bigger craft, and how he saw Janet lying on a table being examined. The small beings shined a light into her eyes, scraped her skin, and took fluids from her body. "The aliens all looked alike, Michael recalled, and had those large eyes, a mouth without lips, no ears, and two small openings for a nose." MIchael also described the beings as having three pointed, web-like digits for fingers, and their bodies felt "damp and clammy." The aliens related to Michael that their mission was to "make life like ours...other places."

Janet also underwent the regression, and her descriptions only went to verify Michael's. She recalled feeling "cold" on the examining table, with something "pulling her hair and pinching her neck." The abduction of Michael Lapp and Janet Cornell certainly falls within the general pattern of abductions reported by many others. To confirm the facts of their fantastic story, Webb located several other members of the camp who had witnessed the strange lights over Lake Champlain the very night of the abduction! Two other employees reported a similar experience which had occurred earlier that same summer, when they observed unidentified flying objects hovering over the lake for about twenty minutes. Although Michael and Janet's experience was not reported for ten years after the fact, it is still a well documented case of alien abduction. -- B. J. Booth

Case ID: 658 edit: 658

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