UFO Case Report:

Ball of fire moves over 4 witnesses in boat on Bear Lake, Florida

Date: July, 1983
Location: Bear Lake, Forest City, Florida, United States

The four witnesses had gone out in their boat to the middle of the lake, when they noticed a strange light that apeared as a flaming ball, orange and red with flames licking upward then like tongues of fire vanishing over the ball. The light then went out, but after a minute or two the fireball appeared again, directly over the witness' boat, before shooting away.

Classification & Features

Type of Case/Report: RawReport
Hynek Classification: NL
Shape of Object(s): Round
# of Witnesses: Multiple
Special Features/Characteristics: Water-Related

Full Report / Article

Source: UFOEvidence.org

Summary: A ball of fire apearing to be the size of a soft ball moving slowly from west to east on the north end of the lake it seemed to be about 500 up feet from the water, moving at an estamated speed of 50 miles per hour

Date Reported: 6/5/2006 12:48:12 AM

Sighting Time: 12 midnight
Day/Night: Nighttime
No. of Witnesses: 4
Duration: all together about 2 and a half minutes

Appearance / Description of Object(s)
The object was round like a soft ball and seemed about the same size from the distance we were from it. it had the apearance of fire around it the flames like toungs licking up around the ball then shooting upward above it before fading out. It was about the same brightness as a camp fire and about the same colors with mostly orange, yellow and red.

Size of Object(s)
At first it apeared to be the size of a golf ball if held at arms lenth. the second time when it hovered above it apeared to be the size of a soft ball at arms lenth. I would guess from the fire and knowing how fast flames travel the actual size to be about 40 to 50 feet across and round.

Description of Area / Surroundings
Bear Lake is about one mile wide from north to south and is about 15 miles north of Orlando Florida. It was at that time mostly residental with some near by shopping centers about 2 miles away.

Full Description & Details
To start with I was sober and with 3 other people who were also sober or I would never have told anyone of this experance. We were living in a lake front house and often went out to the middle of the lake at any hour of day or night just to park and be romantic with my roommate Larry and his girl, and my now current wife Kristen. This night I noticed a strange light that apeared as a flaming ball, orange and red with flames licking upward then like tongues of fire vanishing over the ball. It was moving from west to east and was to the north of us , how far away we could only estamate by the upward speed of the flames. It apeared to be about 500 feet up traveling at about 50 miles per houre and aproxamatly 1000 feet from where we were parked in our 12 foot sears fishing boat.

After traveling about 1000 feet in a straight horazontal line the light went out. I tried to make sence of it thinking it must have been a helicopter with some kind of weard light on it, yet it made no sence that we could not hear it on such a calm and quiet night. It had to be close enough to hear as the light had lit up the shore line less than a half a mile away as well as the water between us and the shore.

We all wondered what we had seen then said oh well what ever it was it was sure strange.

After a minit or two we had changed the subject when from the eastern horizon the same ball of fire shot up from what apeared to be to be around the world at a incredible high rate of speed, then stoped instantly in the sky directly above our boat. It was hard to tell how far up it was hovering, we could see the flames moving up adn around the soft ball sized object, as though we could almost reach out and grab it yet it was out of reach.

I start jumping up and waving my arms at it and hollering here we are hello. My friend Larry soon joined me as the girls screamed and cried, beging us to stop it.

My thoughts were that the water was about 25 feet deep and I could swim to the bottom of the lake if it came after us and hold my breath as long as I could to avoid contact or abduction if need be. Fire and water don't mix was my reasoning and I would be safe there.

It stayed directly above us for what seemed to be a minit or two, lighting up the water all around us and the inside of the boat just like the same kind of light a camp fire would cast at 15 feet away. I was reaching up to try to grasp it just to make sure it was not with in reach.

It could have been no more than 500 feet or so above us it was hard to tell except for knowinf the speed that flames travel upward, as we could see the flames clearer than before.

After a period of time in the same place the object shot almost straight up and toward the south east leaving a streak of light or trail behind it and then disapeared among the stars getting smaller untill it was the size of a pin head before it disapeared, all in less than a hundredth of a second.

It went from still to what seemed to be the speed of light with out any transition or graduation in speed just instant acceleration like nothing I have ever seen.

The girls were pretty shaken up and wanted to go back to the house. I was also shaken but pretended not to be afraid and did not hesitate to start the motor and head for shore calling it a night.

Can sighting be explained as any conventional man-made or natural object?
Not a chance

Witness Background
at the time of the sighting my wife and child hood sweetheart was 18 and just graduated high school I was a contractor at the age of 22. we were renting a house on the lake I grew up on just 7 doors down.

Views on UFOs, before and after sighting
I would have thought you were crazy if you told me you saw what I saw or you were fibbing. Now I beleve in some stories and am more open minded to accept the fact that there are other beings exploring the universe and even our planet on occasion, but still do not beleve all sightings to be true.

Other Comments
I wish I had a camera that night, and would like to see a picture of the same thing if anyone else has such a photo. or even hear of the same sighting experance from other eye witnesses.

Reported Sighting? Yes
Reported To: I told some close friends only when one of the other witness were there to support the sighting
Name: Herman
Location: Orlando FL
Age: 42

Case ID: 932 edit: 932

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