DJK

Other organizations just report UFOs—We investigate.

MUFON (The Mutual UFO Network) is a volunteer organization established in 1969 and has grown into the largest UFO investigative organization in the world. Its mission statement is the “Scientific study of UFOs for the benefit of humanity.” Currently, MUFON has around 4,000 members, 800 field investigators, and is represented in all 50 states and 25 countries. MUFON has a data base of over 50,000 UFO reports, which have been compiled over the last 40 years, a monthly journal, and an annual Symposium.

For more information visit mufon.com.

My interest in extraterrestrial visitation can be traced back to my childhood, but it wasn’t until July of 2009, when contemplating retirement, that I decided to join MUFON. Within a year of joining and attending meetings, I passed the requirements to become a field investigator. My first case assignment was in April of 2010 involving a sighting in Dubuque, Iowa. Since that time, I have investigated over 400 cases.

In August of 2012, I became a member of the “Star Team” (Strike Team Area Research). Members of the Star Team are required to respond within 24 hours to any site in Iowa in which the presence of physical evidence of an extraterrestrial encounter is suspected. This might include such things as residual trace evidence from a landing site, crop circles, or animal mutilations to name a few.

In 2020, I became Iowa Chief Investigator. In addition to doing field investigations, my new duties require me to assign cases to other field investigators in Iowa according to the location of the sighting event, and then, to edit and approve completed cases from those field investigators.

Below I've listed summaries of some of my best UFO cases. Click on the small pictures to see them enlarged.

Walcott, Iowa—August 18, 2023--Case # 133392

This sighting took place at the I-80 truck stop near Walcott, Iowa. The huge sign near the interstate boast that they are the World’s largest truck stop.



I met with the witness on a scorching hot day on August 22nd just four days after the sighting. During this meeting, he stated that after attending to janitorial duties outside one of the restaurants, he decided to move his personal vehicle closer to the building where he was working. After he parked, he noticed a bright fluorescent-green object that was hovering and pulsating in the western sky. He got off the phone with his wife and began to take pictures and video with his cell phone. [Video not shown here] At one point, while video recording, a customer came to his side to see what was going on. This is how the witness describe the situation in his own words. ‘“[A] customer came to my side [and] said, ‘is that what I think it is?’ I replied, ‘yes, a UFO craft.’ [Then the fluorescent-green object began to move toward them and explosively brightened about twenty times its former luminosity according to the witness.] The customer’s wife then said, ‘Let’s get the [expletive] out of here!’” The witness never saw the object again. The witness said that when the object approached, he could see that the fluorescent lights were within a sphere of some kind. [See photos]





While at the site, the witness pointed out where the object was in the sky using points of reference and I took measurements of azimuth and altitude. I determined that the object was at 250 degrees azimuth and 25 degrees altitude.


Summary and conclusion: I found the witness in this case to be a good observer and very credible. The photographic and video evidence he presented was compelling. I could find no conventional explanation for the pulsating fluorescent-green object that hovered for up to one-half hour and then suddenly brightened and then disappeared. As a result of my investigation, I assigned this case a disposition of Unknown-UAV [UFO]

Martensdale, Iowa—June 17, 2023—Case # 131707

On August 18th, 2016, at approximately 7:00 p.m. [CDT], a Martensdale, Iowa witness was headed home after work traveling west on highway 92 south of Des Moines, Iowa when she observed a small, grey, disk-shaped object with a dome on top cross the highway just 500 feet in front of her at a very low altitude.



She was traveling at about 65 mph and then slowed when she saw the object. She estimated that the object was traveling at around 30 mph.
The object was first seen to her right traveling along the creek-line at only 20 feet in elevation, descending to around 12 feet in elevation as it crossed the highway in front of her car. The object then disappeared from sight as it went behind a dam that separates a pond from the creek that feeds it on the left side of the road.



After passing the pond and dam, she looked around to see if she could still see the object but it was no longer visible. She speculated that it might have gone into the water.


Investigator’s 3-D digital image depicting what the witness observed based on her testimony.

The witness did not report the sighting when it happened because she didn’t know where to report. It wasn’t until June of 2023 that she heard about MUFON and then filed the case.

The witness seemed very credible, sincere, and didn’t embellish.

As a result of my investigation this case received a disposition of Unknown-UAV.

Fairfield, Iowa July 17th 2020 Case# 122681

On the approximate date of July 17th, 2020, at around 2:00 in the afternoon, the witness was on site at 7 Hills Development located about 7 miles southeast of Fairfield, Iowa servicing a cable for the internet optics company he worked for, when his co-worker spotted a silver disc in the southern sky. He then alerted the reporting witness. The reporting witness went to his ‘bucket’ truck to get a pair of binoculars. The day was partly cloudy and at times the object was obscured by the clouds. He stated that when they looked at the object through binoculars or through his cell phone camera lens, the object appeared as a disc or sphere, but when they looked with their naked eye it appeared as a cloud. He believed that the object was cloaking itself. During this two-hour period, the object and its associated cloud remained stationary while the other clouds passed by. At one point, a cluster or swarm of small objects came from all directions and entered the cloud. The witness said that it appeared that they were sucked into the cloud. After completing the job, they headed back to their office in Fairfield where they viewed what they believed was the same object they saw two hours earlier at 7 Hills. They checked the sky intermittently after that time period but the object was no longer visible. According to the witness' statements, the object appeared in the southern sky about 10 degrees east of the sun's location, about the same altitude, and was stationary for over two hours. I began to suspect that the object might be a Google Loon. (Google has constructed and deployed huge two-story-sized balloons used for internet access that are capable of remaining stationary in the sky for long periods of time.)

Checking my Stellarium program for the position of the sun in the sky relative to the observer on various dates close to July 17th, 2020 in the mid-afternoon [CDT], enabled me to establish a sight-line along which I could check another program, Flight Radar 24, to see if there were any large balloons in the area at that time and date. [Flight Radar 24 tracks all private and commercial aircraft in the sky past and present.] The search turned up no candidates.

During my search of Stellarium, I noticed that on July 21st, just a few days after the witness' estimate of the date of the sighting, the Sun was at altitude of about 58 degrees with an azimuth of about 218 degrees at around 2:30 p.m. [CDT]. I also noticed that the Moon was approximately 10 degrees east of the Sun's position and at the approximate same altitude as the Sun prompting me to speculate that the witness' sighting was that of the Moon.

In response to that supposition the witness replied: “Definitely not, the disc I saw was silver and not white.” I was still not convinced the object was not the Moon: First, the witnesses said that the object looked no bigger through binoculars, indicating that it was at a great distance and second, it remained stationary relative to the moving clouds. But I wondered if the position of the Sun and the Moon would stay constant over a period of at least 2 and one-half hours.

The answer was yes! The size of the object also corresponds to the relative size of the Moon. I asked the witness which object in the photo most closely represents the size of the object he saw.

He said that it was about 20 % smaller than # 1 in the photo. That would make it .5 degrees which is the relative size of the moon.

Still, I had questions. I wondered whether or not one could see the Moon that close to the Sun. I also wondered why the ‘cloaking’ cloud was stationary relative to the other clouds. And finally, I could not explain the cluster of small objects that entered the cloud from all directions. Because of these unknowns, I assigned this case a disposition of Unknown--UAV. [Unidentified Aerial Vehicle]

Burlington, Iowa—June 16th, 2021—Case # 116599

Approximately two weeks after a suspected landing of an unidentified object and five days after receiving the MUFON report, State Director Greg Andersen and I arrived at the witness’ home in Burlington, Iowa where the witness and his wife, both retired, greeted us.

He said that he awoke at about 2:30 a.m. on the approximate date of June 16th 2021 to make a trip to the bathroom. He looked out his west-facing bedroom window, which is about 25 feet above ground, and noticed a domed-shaped object about 10 to 12 feet in diameter shrouded in a mist in the commons area of his duplex. [See window view image]

Despite being dark with no outside lights, he was able to see a domed-shaped object that seemed to be slightly illuminated. He continued to the bathroom and when he came back again to the window the object was no longer visible.

Measurements showed that he was only 64 feet from the object.

He said that he didn’t report the sighting immediately but when he noticed that the approximate 100 square foot amorphous light, greenish-yellow pattern in the lawn remained visible for more than two weeks, he decided to file a report with MUFON. He took photos of the lawn patch and included them in his report. [See lawn image] .

The witness said that around the same time as his reported sighting, he saw a string of bright lights quickly move across his yard one night. Other irregularities included electronic anomalies experienced at their home such as watches stopping simultaneously and phones going dead. The witness stated, “... I believe it was the morning after when our battery powered watches and cell phones were blank. The phones came back on after re-booting and the watches required resetting.”

After the interview, the witness led us to the outside commons area where the light, greenish, yellow patch was evident.

While I took photos in the visual and infrared spectrum, Greg took electric and magnetic field readings as well as Geiger counter readings. All readings proved to be at normal level and as a result no soil samples were taken. After returning home, I looked at my photos taken on site, and noticed that two consecutive infrared photos taken just 13 seconds apart featured a small orb. Here is the first infrared photo [See Orb image 1] .

And below that is the second Orb photo taken just 13 seconds later. [See Orb image 2]

I was not sure if these were actual orbs or merely camera artifacts so I decided to send them to Greg for analysis...
[It looks like the object moved in an angle from near where I was standing toward the tree and would have been parallel to the back of the house. The orb gets smaller between the 13 second difference in time of the photo. It has been established that the photos were taken from the same spot. As the size of the orb in each photo is different, getting smaller as it travels right to left, this indicates the direction of travel was at an angle to the photographer and going further away… The EXIF data, Exchangeable Image File, a format that is a standard for storing interchange information in digital photography image files using JPEG compression, is mostly the same for each photo so the only thing changing in the photos is where you stood. If this was a dust mote you would think that it would have moved completely off frame in 13 seconds. It was not something on the lens as the pictures before and after don't have any indication of an orb. I did some calculations and found that the EXIF data showed F2.8 and the FOV angle would have been around 110 degrees. (Greg Andersen)]

Our investigation confirmed the witness’ report on many aspects. We saw that the greenish-yellow pattern in the lawn was still visible though less apparent than it appeared almost three weeks previous to our visit. His statements remained consistent as well.

The unexpected capture of the orbs on infrared photos was an added bonus to the investigation. It is unclear whether or not the orbs are connected to the reported landing. Because of the credibility of the witness and our in-depth investigation I have given this case a disposition of Unknown-UAV.

Independence, Iowa—May 3rd 2021

The Independence, Iowa witness was sitting in a chair in his backyard after getting out of his back porch hot tub at around 10:10 p.m. [CDT] on May 3rd 2021. He reported seeing a very large rectangular or cylindrical object pass overhead going from the NNW to the SSE. The object had 5 or 6 very bright white lights in a row on the bottom side. He sent me this drawing of what he saw. [See top image]

We visited him at his home and I took several measurements including azimuth, degrees above the horizon, and apparent size. I asked the witness how the event affected him and he said, “I was freaked-out. I wasn’t a believer before, but I am now.”

Since the cloud ceiling was found to be 1,312 feet at the time and date of the sighting, and the object was apparently going in and out of the cloud cover, it was possible to estimate the altitude of the object to also be 1,312 feet. The apparent size was estimated to be 11 inches at arm’s length or 28 centimeters. One centimeter at arm’s length is equal to 1 degree of arc. Using this information, it was possible to estimate the length of the object at 648 feet! [See bottom drawing]

This case was closed as an Unknown-UAV.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa—September 2020—Case # 115114

This sighting took place in the early part of September 2020. Exact date unknown.

The witness was parked in a small parking lot at Don Murphy Lake Park near the Indian Creek Nature Center on the east side of Cedar Rapids at 3:00 a.m. listening to music. Ahead and over the lake he noticed a pyramid-shaped object that had various colored lights on each corner that changed colors. [See top image.]

These colors included red, yellow, and blue. He then noticed 4 to 5 other similar objects hovering on either side of the lake. He said that the pyramid-shaped object over the lake, closest to him, just hovered and did not move while the others seemed to move and abruptly change directions. He watched them for 25 minutes.

Using Google Earth’s measuring tool, I found that he was 1,800 feet from the center of the lake. [See middle image.]

I still needed to find the altitude and degrees above the horizon, but because witness’ estimates of apparent size and distance above the horizon are almost always over-estimated, the air-distance and altitude were derived from a new technique I devised called photo visualization. [See bottom image.]

From that information we can figure the actual size of the pyramid-shaped object. With the air-distance being 1,914 feet and the arc angle being 1.7 degrees, we have two sides of a triangle and an angle. The result of the calculation is that the pyramid-shaped object was 57 feet in height.

The witness seemed credible and he didn’t try to embellish. This case was categorized an Unknown-UAV

Waterloo, Iowa---August 2019—Case # 102768

The witness in this case was a retired Navy veteran. He worked on the forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR) and the advanced targeting forward-looking infrared radar (ATFLIR) systems in both Navy and US Marine Corp jets. These systems captured, on infrared radar, the now famous Tic-Tack UFO near the Navy’s USS Nimitz in 2004 which only recently came to light.

Referring to case # 102768, the witness was looking toward the north when he saw a slow-moving light cross the sky from west to east at high altitude. It flashed randomly, about every 10 to 15 seconds on average. He provided a video of his sighting, but it was very low quality and not usable as evidence. More importantly, the video had a timestamp giving the time and date of the sighting.

To test the accuracy of the time stamp, I asked the witness to take a photo, using the same camera, of anything he wished, note the clock time, and send me the photo. I found that the time he took the photo and the time stamped matched perfectly. Now we knew for certain that the observation happened at 10:10 p.m. on August 16th, 2019.

Using this information, State Director Greg Andersen checked his “Flightradar 24” website and found three commercial aircraft over Waterloo, Iowa at the time and date of the witness’ sighting.

But the witness, who is very familiar with aircraft, said that what he saw was not an aircraft in his opinion, but a satellite, specifically, a Starlink satellite. Elon Musk has been given permission by the FCC to launch a total of 7,000 of these Starlink satellites in low-earth orbit, blanking the globe, thereby, providing nearly instantaneous internet service to everyone on the planet. He recently began the project by placing 60 satellite in a low-earth orbit of 340 miles.

The witness checked the website “Heavens Above” to find out where the satellites were orbiting during the time and date of the sighting and he noted that they were passing over the tip of Lake Superior at about 46.5 latitude. The witness also told me that the light moved from the handle of the big dipper [Ursa Major] to the constellation Cassiopeia. This gave me much information to work with.

I wanted to find out if his angle of observation to the north matched the latitude of the passing satellites. Using the Google Earth measuring tool, I found the distance from his position in Waterloo, Iowa to the tip of Lake Superior (46.5 degrees latitude) to be 320 miles. [See Illustration]. That gave me the length of the lateral side of the triangle. I knew that the satellites were in a 340-mile-high orbit. That gave me the vertical length of the triangle. I then found the air-distance to be 467 miles giving me the length of the hypotenuse. But the important measurement would be the angle of observation. Would it match the altitude of the constellations which were at 42 degrees altitude? The observation angle was 46 degrees! Close enough to confirm our suspicions that the witness probably saw a Starlink satellite.

This case was closed as an IFO-manmade.

Waterloo, Iowa---August 2018—Case # 93940

In a phone interview, the sixty-four-year-old witness said that she left her house to walk her dog. She headed north on the sidewalk next to her house in Waterloo, Iowa at about 10:15 pm. (CDT) on August 6th 2018. As she reached the corner of her block diagonally across the street from a car sales business, she looked up and noticed a three-dimensional round glowing object. She said that she couldn’t be certain, but she thought that the object was dimly-lit from the inside. She also stated that there was no noise that she could detect.

Her dog seemed agitated and began to bark which typically only happened when her dog saw another dog. Odd-shaped clouds were uniformly covering the sky, but there was a “hole” in the clouds where the object was hovering. She said that at one point a cloud partially covered the object so we can assume that the object was at the base of the cloud cover. She thought that the apparent size of the object was about one and one-half times larger than the full moon appears in the sky—about ¾ of a degree.

She walked back to her house to get her friend as a second witness. They walked back to the end of the block and she asked him what he saw. He said it looks like a “UFO.” She tried to take a photo of the object with her cell phone, but when she raised it to the sky, it disappeared from view. I asked her if her friend also noticed that it disappeared at that time and she said yes. Her friend then walked back to the house as he apparently didn’t want to deal with it. She said that when she got home she was a bit “shaky” from the experience, but did not have any linear missing time nor did she have any unusual dreams relating to the experience. Her dog still seemed agitated and paced back and forth.

This was an intriguing case because of the credibility of the witness and the circumstances that allowed me to calculate the size and distance of the object. Of course, calculations are only as reliable as the input data. My first task was to find the altitude of the object. The witness stated that the object she saw appeared about three times higher in the sky than some very tall lights (100 feet) adjacent to interstate 380. I found that she was approximately 660 feet from those lights so that altitude figured to be 24 degrees (see first sketch A). Next, I wanted to find the distance and size of the object if possible.

She described the object as being just below the cloud cover as if the object punched a hole in the clouds. (See investigator’s painting B) I found that the cloud ceiling on that evening was 1,117 feet. This gave me two pieces of information, the degrees above the horizon (24 degrees) and the actual height of the object (1,117 feet). From that information, I was able to establish the ground distance to the object as 2,508 feet, the air distance as 2,744 feet, and the actual size of the object as 46 feet in diameter. (see sketch C)

Unfortunately for this case, the secondary witness, the primary witness’ friend, did not want to be interviewed. She said that he did not want to entertain the idea of extraterrestrial life visiting our planet even though he concluded that the object he saw in the sky looked like a “UFO.”

I found the dog’s behavior to be intriguing as well. She said that the dog was old and rarely got excited, yet it barked during the sighting and continued to be agitated after they got home. Given the credibility of the witness I have assigned this case a disposition of Unknown UAV.
THIS CASE IS CLOSED/DJK.

Madeira Beach, Florida—January 2018—Case # 88792

At about dusk (8:15 P.M. EST) in early March of 2009, 2010, or 2011 the witness was sitting on the 4th floor balcony of her Madeira Beach, Florida condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, when she spotted two glowing, white orbs moving along the beach from north to south.

They moved slowly and silently, maintaining the distance between them as they traveled. When they were directly west of her position, the lead orb shot-off to the southwest and the other orb simultaneously shot-off to the northwest. They disappeared almost instantly.

About 10 minutes later, the above scenario repeated itself exactly as if it were a movie rerun. She was unsure if the second pair of orbs were the same or different than the first pair, but they did exactly the same thing as the first pair of orbs.

She believed that the orbs were very close and not very large. I produced a Google Earth map and asked her to approximate the distance. She thought that they were only about two hundred yards (600 feet) from her balcony, just offshore, and they were slightly above eye-level. (Approximately 5 degrees from ground level.) (See first image.) Using this information I drew a triangle and calculated the altitude (52 feet) and air-distance (602 feet).

Next, I tried an unconventional method to determine “apparent size” (how big do they appear to be in the sky). Normally I ask the witness “what object held at arm’s length would completely cover the object you saw in the sky”. Witnesses usually over-estimate apparent size using this method, so I presented the witness with a photograph of the beach and asked her to draw how large they appeared taking into account the altitude and the distance between the orbs. She drew two circles about 1/4 inch in diameter. (See image 2)

A typical 100 mm lens full-field camera has a 14-degree vertical field of view. So, my task was to determine what percent of the vertical distance was represented by the orbs. I used a ruler and found that the vertical distance of the photo was 6.5 inches and the orbs were .25 inches in diameter. Therefore, the orbs were only 4 percent (.04) of the total vertical distance or .56 degrees (.04 X 14 degrees = .56 degrees). Using this information, I constructed a triangle with sides of 602 feet (the air-distance to the orbs) and an angle of .56 degrees and found that the orbs were only about 5 feet in diameter. Using the same technique, I found their separation to be about 20 feet.

Waterloo, Iowa—September 2017—Case # 86599

Synopsis: The witness and her husband were driving down Ansburough Avenue in Waterloo, Iowa, headed north, at around 9:45 p.m. DST on September 9th 2017 when they spotted bright lights at low altitude.  The object made a couple of maneuvers, first going to the right (east) several degrees, and then going left and heading west. The duration of the sighting was about 10 minutes.

Detailed description: When the witnesses first spotted the object on Ansburough Avenue headed north, all they could see was a cluster of lights.  At this time, the lights were due north of their position.  The reporting witness said that they then saw the lights move to the right (east) several degrees maintaining the same altitude.  As they reached the bridge the object moved left (west) passing in front of their car at about 35 degrees altitude. Now they were able to see that the lights were on the ventral side of a large triangular object, with a white light on each corner, one on the middle back (noticed only by the reporting witness) and one large red light in the middle.  They never stopped driving but continued forward as the object moved west.  They crossed the bridge and then turned west onto Black Hawk Road, turned onto Huntington Road, then south onto Wren Road, and finally West again onto Lark Lane to follow the object as the once unwavering lights pulsated and then dimmed as it disappeared into the distance.

Evidence-evaluation: The reporting witness took a day-time photo of the bridge in Waterloo, Iowa that they had approached on the night of September 9th. She also photographed a street sign that was at the same altitude as the triangular object and used a program on her phone to find the angle from her position sitting in the car to the top of the sign. This angle was determined to be 35 degrees matching the altitude of the object they saw that night.  Thinking that I might be able to get enough information to find the size and distance of the object, I asked her to ascertain the apparent size of the object and explained the procedure for obtaining this measurement. She said that it was about the size of a penny held at arm’s length.  Now I needed only the actual size of the object to calculate its distance from the observers.  Based on previous cases in which I was able to calculate the size of triangular objects I extrapolated the size to be about 100 feet in length.  Though highly speculative, I thought I would plug this into the calculations to see if it would match observations. Using the size of 100 feet for the object and the witness’ estimation that it was the size of a penny, or 2 degrees of arc, at arm’s length, I calculated the air-distance to be 2,865 feet. (See photos) Utilizing the air distance of 2,865 feet and the angle of altitude (35 degrees) provided by the witness’ measurement, I was then able to calculate the ground distance and altitude of 2,346 feet and 1,6423 feet respectively. (See photos).   As it turned out, the calculations of size and distance fit perfectly with the circumstances of the witness’ observation because the land distance of 2,346 feet put the object approximately over the water of the tributary and Black Hawk Road, which the witnesses traveled after they crossed the bridge and turned west to follow the object.  When they made that westerly turn on Black Hawk Road, the object was at about 270 degrees azimuth or due west of their position. This fact demonstrates that, the object was almost certainly 2,346 feet in land distance, which along with the air distance, was calculated using a size for the object of 100 feet!  Together, all of the information of distance and size correlated perfectly.

Conclusion: The evidence which included the witness’ observation and testimony, coupled with calculations, reveals that she most likely saw a triangular object of unknown origin at a distance of less    than ½ mile.  As a result, I have assigned this case a disposition of Unknown—UAV.

Cascade, Iowa—August 2017—Case # 85693

BACKGROUND: I traveled to Cascade, Iowa and camped along the Maquoketa River at the River View Ridge private campground on 08/09/2017 (see photo 1). The next morning, I met with the witness. After spending a couple of hours unraveling the details of the sighting we traveled to St. Patrick’s Church (see photo 2) about 10 miles east of Cascade and walked to the exact location in the cemetery where she and her friend had their experiences (see photo 3). Photography and paranormal investigation are two of the witness’ hobbies so that was the reason she and her friend were at the old pre-Civil War cemetery around 8:15 p.m. on July 23rd, 2017, (originally reported by the witness to be 9:15) and the reason she had a quality camera to document their sightings.

She stated that she was facing north, at the north edge of the cemetery when she spotted a very unusual grey cloud that continued to grow rapidly (see photo 4). Her friend was still in the car at this point in time. The cloud, which was thin and not a heavy cumulus rain cloud, flashed a white light and then moved toward her as if it “noticed” her, according to the witness. The cloud continued to move to the southeast while she took numerous photos. In her peripheral vision, she noticed about 6 to 8 white orbs to her left (northwest). She yelled to her friend to get out of the car, she emerged, and they both watched the cloud as it got closer, and then, a disk-shaped, solid object split off from the main cloud and headed off in the opposite direction toward the NNW.

According to the reporting witness, they both jumped into the car, left the cemetery grounds, and turned onto a north/south gravel road so that they could follow the object (see photo 5). By the time they reached the gravel road heading north, the cloud and disk-shaped object were gone. They got out of the car at the crest of a hill, and, as they were standing there, they noticed a very large ringed cloud with an open center nearly straight overhead that covered about 15 degrees of sky. Then, according to both witnesses the telephone lines began to shake violently up and down, yet there was only a very slight wind and they could feel a vibration coming from the ground that came up through their legs and permeated their bodies. She phoned her brother in Dubuque to tell him about what was happening and he told them to get back in the car and get out of there, which they did.

EVALUATION AND INVESTIGATION: At the time and date of that sighting (07/23/2017) there was a 5-mph wind coming from the NNW which would explain the movement of the clouds in the direction of the witnesses who were standing on the north side of the St. Patrick’s cemetery. It was a mostly clear evening and the dark grey cloud was very small and inauspicious as one can see from the witness’ photo, making it unlikely that the bright light was a flash of lightening.

To the west of the witnesses’ positions they spotted 6 to 8 white orbs which are unexplained. It is possible that they were Chinese lanterns because their normal red/orange appearance would have been washed out by the sun which had just set at the time of the sighting, about 8:15 local time. But upwind from the orbs are only open fields for four miles with only one farmstead making it unlikely that the orbs were Chinese lanterns in my opinion. A lantern’s time aloft is only 7 to 8 minutes so at 5-mph the launch site would have to be within one mile or less.

The disk-shaped cloud moved away from the main cloud and headed toward the NNW in the opposite direction of the wind. That is when the two witnesses jumped into their car and headed for the north/south gravel road adjacent to the church. But by the time they got turned around and were on the gravel road, the grey cloud and the disk-shaped cloud were gone. When they approached the top of the hill, they got out of their car and observed a huge ringed cloud with an open center whose diameter covered about 15 degrees of the sky. They then saw the telephone lines begin to shake violently and they felt vibration moving though their bodies. As I stood in the position where they had been, I could see no traditional explanation as to why there would be any shaking of the power lines. At the time and date of the sighting the wind speed was only 5-mph.

The case was strengthened when on 08/17/2017, I was able to contact the second witness who accompanied the reporting witness out to the cemetery on July 23rd. She corroborated the reporting witness’ testimony on all points. She also saw the bright light coming from the grey cloud and emphasized how fast the cloud moved toward their position at the north side of the cemetery. She also said that she saw the 6-8 white orbs but could not remember how or when they disappeared from view.

Most impressively, she described what happened when they drove down the gravel road in pursuit of the disk-shaped cloud. By the time they got to that road, the disk-shaped cloud and the grey cloud were gone, but they continued on and stopped at the crest of the hill. She said that they both got out of the car and the telephone lines began to shake violently. She said that her friend called her brother in Dubuque and he told them to get out of there. Before they got back into the car, she said that a vibration came up from the ground and into her legs permeating her whole body and making her hands numb. They then drove home.

CONCLUSION: Based on the independent testimony of the two witnesses and my investigation I have assigned this case a disposition of UNKNOWN—OTHER. THIS CASE IS CLOSED/DJK.

Britt, Iowa—September 2015—Case # 71566

INVESTIGATION LOG: 10/21/2015—A meeting with witness A and B convened on 10/21/2015 in Britt, Iowa at the residence of witness B. After an interview with the witnesses at that location we all traveled to witness C’s home on the northwest edge of town where most of the sightings took place. Witness C was not home, but a speaker phone interview was conducted between witness C and all of us present, which included the two primary witnesses and us three investigators. Later that afternoon both witness A and B accompanied us to Crystal Lake located 9 miles north of Britt to see the location were many unidentified objects have been sighted over the past few years.
10/22/2015—through 12/15/2015 – Further numerous email dialogues with witnesses continue.
10/26/2015 Greg Andersen sent out a press release to the Britt Tribune.

FINAL REPORT DATE: 11/13/2015
FI ID #: 16964
CASE #: 71566
BGE RESULTS: Total certainty index is 45%
Latitude/longitude: (43.0977399,-093.8018875)

Synopsis: The reporting witness A and his friend witness B were at an eclipse viewing party at a friend’s house on the northwest edge of Britt, Iowa on 09/27/2015. At around 9:30 just before the Moon was in total eclipse the witnesses noticed several flashes of light in front of the Moon that “resembled flashes from cameras going off at the same time.” Shortly thereafter, they observed a triangular shaped object appear in the southeast and move toward the northwest passing nearly overhead. As the first object was approaching, they observed a second triangular shaped object coming from a position slightly below and slightly south of the first object. It began to ascend and move toward the first object and their flight paths nearly intersected. (See attached sketch) During that evening, they observed approximately 14 triangular objects moving in various directions.

OBJECT DESCRIPTION: All of the fourteen objects observed were triangular in shape and all had lights. Their flight paths took them in all directions and some hovered in place for hours. The two primary witnesses described one of the triangles that passed nearly overhead as being triangular shaped but slightly curved (see attacked sketch). They said that the visible surface of the craft was dark in appearance but the object had a flashing, alternating red/green light coming from somewhere underneath. In addition, the object had a white light on each of the three corners. None of the triangles made any sound.

INTERVIEW/STATEMENTS: We met the two witnesses at witness B’s home in Britt, Iowa. They informed us that they were at their friend’s house on the northwest edge of town at an eclipse viewing party on the night of 09/27/2015 when they saw the first of approximately 14 triangular objects. Witness A said that over the next hour and a half while they were at their friend’s home they saw 12 UFOs. Of interest, the first object coming from the east and eventually passing overhead seemed to be targeted by a second object that was lower in altitude and originating further south than the first object. He stated that the second object seemed to target the first object and they missed by what appeared to be “inches.” The second object moved to the northeast where it hovered for hours. The first object continued a straight-line path, passed overhead, and hovered in the northwest. Around 10:30 that night, a third triangular object “appeared out of nowhere in the east,” according to the witness report. It passed overhead and hovered above the first object in the northwest. Eventually the first object drifted off toward the west and the third object hovered in place for hours. A fourth triangular object appeared “out of nowhere” and hovered near the second object in the northeast. A fifth triangle appeared in the north and headed south. Objects 2, 3, and 4 were still hovering in place when they went to bed at 2:00 a.m.
At around 11:00 p.m. they left and went to witness B’s home near the center of town. They “took a break” and watched some TV, and though they were scared they went outside several times to see what was happening in the sky. During those intervals they saw two more triangles, 13 and 14. Triangle 13 moved nearly overhead from east to west and triangle 14 moved from west to east, also passing overhead. Witness B described triangle 13 as a “rounded-off” triangle (see attached sketch). It had a flashing, alternating red/green light emanating from underneath with a white light on each corner. None of the triangles made any sound. All the triangles had lights.

Electronic anomalies and physical effects occurred in the aftermath of the incident. With the two witnesses and all three investigators present a phone call was placed to witness C, the owner of the home on the northwest edge of town where everyone was gathered for the eclipse event. She affirmed that many triangles were seen that night. She also spoke about a triangle shaped object that hovered in the field just north of her house in 2013.
Both witness B and witness C ,who we spoke with on speaker phone, said that while they were camping with their families at Crystal Lake, Iowa, located just 9 miles north of Britt, they had sightings of triangular objects and an oval shaped objects. We investigators followed witness A and B out to Crystal Lake so that witness B could show us where he and his family were camping when they saw a dull, silent, aluminum-colored, oval shaped object that passed overhead in broad daylight.

NATURAL/MANMADE PHENOMENON: Our investigation revealed that the objects observed did not fit the description of human-made objects.

WEATHER INFORMATION: The temperature in Britt, Iowa on the 27th of September was 63 degrees with a clear sky and winds from the SSE at about 6 miles per hour.

LOCATION: The sightings occurred in the small town of Britt, Iowa, Latitude 43.0977399, longitude -093.8018875. This region of Iowa is noted for wind turbines numbering in the hundreds and spanning thousands of acres (see photo). Wind turbine fields are located just three miles east of Britt, and to the north between Britt and Crystal Lake. This investigator wonders if there is a connection between the turbines, the generation and transport of electrical power, and sightings of triangular objects.

EVIDENCE/INVESTIGATION: Because of the significance of the case, the investigation was carried out by State Director Greg Andersen, Chief investigator and Assistant State Director Beverly Trout, and myself, Star Team investigator David Kreiter. All converged at Britt, Iowa on 10/21/2015. The interview lasted approximately 4 hours and much data was gathered, including photographs, measurements, and eyewitness accounts.

CONCLUSION: It is the conclusion of all three investigators that the witness reported what they saw as accurately as possible. Their credibility seemed impeccable and the facts as far as we could ascertain seemed to match their statements. As a result we have given this case a disposition of Unknown—UAV. This case is closed/ DJK.

                

 

Marengo, Iowa—June 2015—Case # 69105   (This case was one of six selected from a 2015 data base of over 8,000 cases world-wide by MUFON'S Science Board.)

INVESTIGATION LOG: An initial email was sent to both witnesses on 08/09/2015. No reply was received. Because of the importance of the case Chief Investigator Bev Trout called witness B on 8/11/2015, requesting an interview with both witnesses. Investigators Trout and I (Kreiter) met with both witnesses on 08/19/2015 and measurements were taken at the site. Subsequently, a second trip to the site occurred on 08/25/2015 to confirm measurements.

FINAL REPORT DATE: 08/28/2015
FI ID # 16964
CASE # 69105
BGE RESULTS: Total Certainty Index is: 22.18%
LATITUDE/LONGITUDE: (+41.800104, -092.069382)

SYNOPSIS: The primary witness (A) filed a report with Mufon on 08/08/2015. She stated that her friend witness (B) was bringing her back to her home in Marengo, Iowa on county rd. V 77 in early June of 2015 at around 10:30 at night. They were headed north and just before they reached highway 6 they noticed a bright light in the western sky. At first they thought it was a planet (probably Jupiter), but then realized the planet was not in the correct position to explain the sighting. They turned left, (West) toward Marengo never taking their eyes off of the light. They traveled the 4 miles to Marengo getting closer and closer to the light and by the time they got to Marengo they noticed that the object was now directly south of their position, so they turned into the Ampride Gas Station and continued to watch the object which they described as a large solid-black triangular shaped object with a fluorescent looking bluish/white crisscross pattern on its edge. (See investigator’s drawing) They believed the object to be only about 25 feet off the highway and about 75 feet in the air. The object then began to move slowly to the East, and then, according to the witnesses “went 4 miles in approximately 2 seconds!” They believed that the object was now at the approximate location of where they were when they first saw it. It soon vanished from sight.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: A web search of the weather conditions on the night of June 11th showed the presence of rain and thunderstorms; however, when witness A filed the report she checked the box for “approximate” date. An interview with the witnesses revealed that they were only certain of the day of the week (Thursday), but not the calendar date. Witness B thought that their experience might have been about a week earlier. A check of weather conditions for June 4th, one week earlier, showed clear skies. This is the most probable date of the sighting.

LOCATION: The sighting occurred near Marengo, Iowa over farmland. Electrical transmission lines running perpendicular to highway 6 were noted at 2.3 miles from the Ampride gas station in Marengo.

EVIDENCE/INVESTIGATION: Google maps of the area were presented to the two witnesses during the interview. They were asked to: 1) Mark the location, on county rd. V77, where they first saw the unidentified light. 2) Mark the location of the unidentified light in the sky. And 3) Mark the place where they had “passed” the location of the object from an imaginary north/south line. Their location marks showed that when they first saw the light on county rd. V77, the light was 3 miles in distance at a heading of 281 degrees azimuth. After turning onto highway 6 and heading west toward the object, they turned into the Ampride gas station at the outskirts of Marengo. Now they were nearly directly north of the object.
Witness B drew a rough sketch of the object showing the edge of the triangle, which he said was about 10 feet thick. His sketch depicted an X configuration of fluorescent-like bluish-white lights that traversed the entire length of the triangle’s side. (See investigators drawing) Both witnesses agreed with this configuration of lights. Witness B estimated the size of the triangle to be between 20 and 30 yards on each side, making it about ¼ the size of a football field.

Both witnesses were unsure of the exact date in June when the sighting took place, but both agreed that it was on a clear starry Thursday night, and both agreed that it might have been a week or two earlier than their initial CMS report of June 11th. Historic weather data records showed that it was cloudy with rain and thunderstorms on the night of Thursday June 11th; however, conditions were clear on the night of June 4th. Records for Thursday May 28th showed that conditions ranged from partly cloudy, to cloudy, to overcast during most of the evening with a brief clearing around 10:00 p.m. This information makes it very likely that the sighting occurred on Thursday June 4th since the previous week and the following week were cloudy to overcast.
The witnesses said that they were shocked by the incident and that they talked about it often. Witness A believed that she was more affected by the incident than her friend, witness B. Witness B said that when he returned home that night, he called the Ampride gas station shortly after 11:00 p.m. to see if anyone else had seen the object. The recipient of the call said he had not. Neither witness experienced any LINEAR “missing time” on this occasion, although the female witness related a missing time experience at the age of 10, along with her mother and a childhood friend.

The witnesses were asked to walk to the place near the Ampride gas station where they were closest to the huge triangular object. When asked how high above the horizon the object appeared he stated that it was the height of the power lines that ran along the north side of the highway. Measurements were taken by this investigator with a clinometer showing 15 degrees above the horizon. To satisfy doubts about the accuracy of the measurement a second trip was made to the site by this investigator and a friend on 08/25/2015 to retake the measurements. This time two clinometers were used by two separate individuals and in addition a string and protractor were used as a second method of measurement. The initial readings were confirmed. Normally, estimates of degrees above the horizon are inaccurate due to the lack of reference points. This was certainly true in this case as both witnesses believed that the object was about 45 to 50 degrees above the horizon. Fortunately, a reference point was available in this case. The witness stated that the object appeared to be at the height of a nearby power line. Measurements, (degrees above the horizon) of the power line conclusively showed the power line to be at 15 degrees above the horizon from the position of the observing witness. If the witnesses’ estimate of the height of the triangular object is accurate, (75 feet) then the land distance would have been 278 feet, and the air distance 288 feet (see investigator’s sketch). An object of that size would indeed appear very close and therefore the witnesses’ estimate of a land distance of only 25 feet is understandable, though probably inaccurate.

WITNESS CREDIBILITY: Both witnesses seemed credible to investigators Kreiter and Trout.

CORRELATING CASES: Of interest are several other cases I investigated and for which drawings were made. These cases are the Martel Iowa case # 43277, The University of Iowa Campus sighting of 2011—case # 33432, and the I- 35, 2004 sighting—case # 48965. All of these triangular objects were described as having crisscross patterns although the similarities are somewhat diverse and not all that apparent.

CONCLUSION: After an extensive investigation, the conclusion reached by Chief Investigator Trout and I, is that the object seen and described by the two witnesses was a large triangular shaped object of unknown origin. As a result I have given this case a disposition of Unknown—UAV. THIS CASE IS CLOSED/DJK.

       

 

 

Oelwein, Iowa—August 2014—Case # 59244
SYNOPSIS: An Illinois witness was staying at a motel while visiting his family in Oelwein, Iowa on 08/16/2014. At about 8:30 pm (CDT) he stepped out of the motel to look at the lights from a radio station that he remembered seeing when he was a child. He was looking south when he noticed a vertical oval or egg-shaped dark red light moving north toward his position. He could not see structure at this point. As the object approached, he could no longer see the red light which he believed was emanating from the front half of the object. Now, as he looked up, he saw only a disk-shaped or oval black object. The object continued moving north at a steady pace until it was no longer visible. The witness then noticed a second object of identical appearance, shape, and trajectory following the same path as the first object. Total duration of the event was about 4 minutes.

OBJECT DESCRIPTION: According to the witness both objects were vertical egg-shaped or elongated oval objects with a dim dark-red light in the front part of the object when seen on approach. It did not cast a beam. Viewed from the bottom, the object appeared to be a dark black oval. [See first drawing] They both moved at a steady speed calculated to be about 31 mph and followed identical paths. As they moved overhead and to the north the witness could only see a dark oval without any glow.

INTERVIEW/STATEMENTS: The witness stated that he had never seen any unusual objects in the sky despite his 40 years of flying as an instrument-rated private pilot. He said that he believed the objects to be at approximately 2,000 feet altitude and moving at about 40 mph. I asked him how he was able to judge the speed and altitude of the object and he replied that it was from his experience as a pilot. He then stated that although it was mostly clear, there were a few clouds at what he judged to be 3,000 feet altitude and that the objects were underneath a cloud as they passed overhead. The witness stated that he remembered looking at a flag that was hanging limp at the pole indicating that there was little wind. When queried he said he was unfamiliar with Chinese lanterns.

WEATHER INFORMATION: The temperature was 72 degrees with calm to 6 mph wind speeds from the south under clear skies. A check of METARS described conditions as clear at all altitudes, but the witness stated that there were a few clouds.

LOCATION: The sighting occurred outside the super 8 hotel in Oelwein, Iowa. Open fields are present south, east and west of the motel. A large power station is located just six miles south of Oelwein where a previous UFO sighting was reported.

EVIDENCE/INVESTIGATION: An interview was conducted with several phone calls and email exchanges. Chinese lanterns were initially suspected as the objects of the sighting since they were traveling in the same direction as the wind at the time and date of the sighting, but the investigation suggested otherwise. Several facts did not correspond to the characteristics of a Chinese lantern: 1) the witness said that the front part of the object had a deep red appearance and not a red/orange flickering glow characteristic of Chinese lanterns. 2) Though the object was judged to be at about 2,000 ft. by the witness, approximately the height achieved by lanterns, the objects’ speed was much in excess of a lantern being propelled by calm to near calm conditions. Calculations show that the object was traveling at least 31 mph. [see second drawing for details] 3) The witness saw no light as it neared, passed overhead, and then continued its flight; rather, the object appeared as a black oval or disk as it approached overhead. The glow from a Chinese lantern would be very apparent at those angles. 4) The objects maintained altitude. A lantern without a flame, on the other hand, would plummet quickly to the ground, yet the two objects continued their steady flight path for at least another minute after they passed overhead and then faded from view without losing altitude.
Interestingly, both a Chinese lantern and a UFO could have produced what the witness called a black disk as the objects traveled overhead. In the first scenario if the objects were lanterns, they would have been launched below the terminator line. The sun had set only 30 minutes previously, so they might have appeared red until they gained enough altitude to be lit by the sun. At that point, the sun light would have “washed out” the glow from the lantern, and as it passed overhead, it might have looked like a dark disk against the relatively brighter sky.
In the second scenario, if the object was a UFO, it might have initially been observed above the terminator line and appeared red because it was lit by the sun. As it approached the observer, it might have lost a bit of altitude and passed into the dark. The red appearance would no longer be apparent. It would simply look like a dark disk as it passed overhead. This might also explain why he thought that only the front half of the object was red. When he first saw the object in the distance, he could only see the front half of the object which appeared red. As the object got closer, lost altitude, dropped into the dark area of the sky and then eventually passed overhead he could no longer see what he called the front red part of the craft from his angle of observation. He therefore might have assumed that only the front part of the craft was red, when in reality the entire craft was probably red but the color was no longer visible once in dropped beneath the terminator line. It simple looked like a dark disk as it passed overhead in the dark portion of the sky.
Of interest, and possibly significant as it pertains to this case, a large electric power station located just over six miles to the south of Oelwein, near the town of Hazelton, Iowa, was the site of an investigation in June of 2012 by this investigator(case #39858) . The facts of the Hazelton case revealed that a white egg-shaped object witnessed by a family moved south (winds were from the SE) along, and just above, the power lines a couple hundred feet from the power station in full afternoon sunlight. The object in the Hazelton case was described as white with an orange-rust colored bottom. The object described in the Hazelton case was obviously not a balloon as it moved against the wind. The similarities between the Hazelton case and Oelwein case are too similar to ignore. The objects were similar in shape, movement, and color, and were both close to the power station. Unidentified objects have often been reported near electrical power stations.

WITNESS CREDIBILITY: The witness is a 62 year-old instrument-rated private pilot, amateur astronomer, and a national weather service storm spotter, all requiring good observation skills. He was very helpful during the investigation and provided all relevant information. I consider him to be highly credible witness.

CORRELATING CASES: The June 2012 Hazelton, Iowa case #39858, located about 6 miles south of Oelwein, was referenced because it had similarities and possible implications for the present Oelwein case.

CONCLUSION: Based on the witness’ information and data bases searches, I have given this case a disposition of Unknown--UAV. THIS CASE IS CLOSED/DJK.

 

Dows, Iowa— July 1981—Case # 56335
SYNOPSIS: On the approximate date of July, 1981 the witness and his mother were driving toward Dows, Iowa from the north, when they noticed an unusual object in the sky just north of the football field. The object was stationary and emitting flashes of light or flame. They drove to a position SW of the object and pulled off on a gravel road so that they could turn their car around and face the object which was now NE of their position. The driver (witness) shut-off the car engine and both he and his mother got out of the car to view the object. They observed a disk shaped object with a cone-shaped top and bottom truncated at about 2/3 of the length of the cones creating a flattened surfaced top and bottom. (Refer to sketch) They heard no sound but noticed flames shooting off the perimeter of the object perpendicular to the sides of the sloped bottom. They got back into the car and drove along the west side of the football field to get closer to the object. When they got to a position nearly due west of the object they watched it for another moment or two as it hovered motionless and continued to shoot out flashes of light. After another moment or two, it moved silently at a high rate of speed to the Northwest and then stopped and hovered once again. It disappeared from view by “blinking out” about one minute later. The total duration of the event was about 10 minutes.
The next day the witness called the local newspaper office to see if anyone had reported seeing anything unusual. No other reports were received according to the official. Interestingly, following the event, reports of unexplained burned grassy areas on the local public golf course, located about one mile to the SE. of the sighting event, were reported in the local newspaper. In the weeks that followed, the witness heard that several farmers had also reported mysterious burn marks in their fields.

LOCATION: The object was sighted over a pasture area less than one mile to the north west of the small town of Dows, Iowa.

EVIDENCE/INVESTIGATION: The investigation yielded valuable information. The witness accurately provided: two key observation points, the altitude of the object in degrees, the apparent size of the object, and the position of the object using Google maps. This information allowed me to calculate the air-distance of the object, (just over one thousand feet at its closest point to the observer) the land distance (just over one thousand feet.) the altitude of the object (just over one hundred feet) and the size of the object (about one hundred thirty feet in diameter). Of these measurements, only the size of the object is questionable due to the fact that most observers overestimate the apparent size of an object, especially when it is near the horizon. An object size of one-half of my calculation is reasonable. A detailed photo/sketch of this investigator’s calculations is included in this report. (See sketch) The witness said that he had no “after-effects” from the sighting and no missing time; therefore, abduction is not suspected.
A call was placed to the Dows, Public Library by this investigator to ascertain whether or not an article concerning the burned areas of the golf course was published during the time period between late June through early August of 1981, 1982, or 1983. No articles were found for 1982 or 1982; however, no records were kept of articles published in 1983. This search was inconclusive because the librarian said that if the article was just a paragraph or two inside of a category called “News” she would not have been able to access it. My assumption is that burn marks on a local golf course would only warrant a paragraph or two in the local newspaper explaining why no article was found.

CONCLUSION: Based on the credibility of the witness, the quality of the information provided, and the corroborating data, I have given this case a disposition of Unknown-UAV. THIS CASE IS CLOSED/DJK.

   

 

Marion (rural), Iowa—02/09/2014—Case # 53932
INVESTIGATION LOG: The first part of this log entry is identical to the log entry for case # 53821 as both cases were investigated simultaneously. The first email sent to the witness on 01/31/2014 was returned to sender because of an incorrect email address. A call was made to the witness the same day and a message was left. A return call was received later that day. Arrangements were made and an interview ensued on 02/02/2014. Two more emails were exchanged later that day.

Subsequent activity: An email and text messages were sent on 02/08/2014, and in response an email and phone call were received 02/08/2014.

FINAL REPORT DATE: 02/09/2014

FI ID # 16964

CASE #: 53932

BGE RESULTS: Total certainty index is: 17%

LATITUDE/LONGITUDE: (+42.000850. -091.53333)

SYNOPSIS: A twenty-six year-old witness (witness A) and his father (witness B) were watching the Perseid meteor showers late at night in the middle of August 2013. They were watching from a location where a farm house once stood off of a little-traveled gravel road northeast of Marion, Iowa. It was a clear night with a 360 degree unobstructed view. Witness B was the first to notice a dark object that blocked star light coming from due north. Two military jets seemed to be in pursuit of the object. Both witnesses trained their binoculars on the object. The object which was tear-dropped or oval shaped zigzagged back and forth as if it were trying to out-maneuver the jets. The jets and the object were headed generally in an ESE direction, and after a few minutes they all disappeared from view. To their surprise, the object, with the jets still in pursuit, returned from the ESE about 10 to 15 minutes later moving in a northerly direction at about 20 degrees above the horizon. All three disappeared in the northeast relative to the observers.

OBJECT DESCRIPTION: No color was discernible. The object appeared dark to the observers as it moved from a position due north to the ESE. The object traveled erratically in an apparent attempt to out-maneuver two military jets that appeared to be in pursuit of the object. The object and jets disappeared from view in the ESE. Ten to fifteen minutes later the object reappeared from the same direction followed by the jets and all three once again disappeared from view in the northeast. The oval or tear-dropped shaped object appeared solid to the observers, blocking out star light as it traveled.

INTERVIEW/STATEMENTS: This case came to light during a two-hour interview I conducted on a recently completed case (53821). Both witnesses, who have served in the military, were equipped with binoculars because they had planned to view the Perseid meteor showers on a clear night in mid- August of 2013. When witness, B saw the object and alerted witness A, they both trained their binoculars on the object being pursued by military jets. Witness A said that the jets were employing after-burners suggesting that they needed extra power and speed to keep up with the object. Both witnesses described the object from 1) when it first appeared in the North, 2) to its erratic movements in attempting to out-maneuver the jets, 3) to its disappearance in the ESE, 4) to its return at a slightly lower altitude from the ESE, 5) and finally its eventual disappearance in the NE.

NATURAL/MANMADE PHENOMENON: The unconventional flight characteristics of the object, the lack of lights, and the fact that it seemed to be out-maneuvering two military jets indicate that this was not a natural or man-made object.

WEATHER INFORMATION: An exact date for the sighting could not be established; therefore, temperature, wind speed, and wind direction could not be determined, but the witnesses reported a clear sky during their observations.

LOCATION: The location of the sighting was at a former farm house five miles NE of Marion, Iowa on Big Spring Road. (Latitude: 42degrees, 04’ 45”, longitude: -091 degrees, 32’). Farm fields surround the location. The observers had a clear 360 degree panoramic view.

EVIDENCE/INVESTIGATION: The witnesses took me to the site where they saw the object in August of 2013. Using a compass, clinometer, and apparent size indicator instruments provided by this investigator, the witnesses located and verified the various positions of the object in temporal sequence. The object first appeared due north at 25 degrees above the horizon at azimuth zero degrees. At the object’s nearest approach it was 3/4” in apparent size. The object followed a zigzag path in an apparent attempt to out-maneuver pursuing jets. The object and jets disappeared at approximately 95 degrees azimuth and reappeared about 10 to fifteen minutes later at approximately 120 degrees azimuth reaching an altitude of about 20 degrees above the horizon. At closest approach on the return trip the object was about ½” in apparent size.
Both witnesses, who are familiar with jet aircraft, speculated that the jets were most probably F-18s or F-22 fighters. The length and wing span for both planes are nearly identical—about 62 feet in length with a 44 foot wingspan. The military jets were about 1/3 to 1/2 the apparent size of the object according to the witness’ testimony. Assuming that the jets, which were in pursuit of the object were flying at the same altitude as the object, and the object was two to three times the apparent size of the jets, the object would be about 124 to 186 feet in diameter. Averaging the two figures we get approximately 150 feet in diameter. According to the witnesses the apparent size of the object was about ¾ of an inch at arm’s length. Using this figure, the angle created at the vertex of a triangle from the observation point would be about 1.9 degrees. This gives us enough information to calculate the distance of the object. Using 1.9 degrees as the angle and 150 feet as the opposite side of the triangle, we can use trigonometry to calculate the distance of the object from the observers. That distance is 4,545 feet. This figure gives us the hypotenuse of the triangle that allows us to determine altitude and land distance. (See attached sketch). These calculations produce a land distance of 4,117 feet and an altitude of 1,922 feet.

WITNESS CREDIBILITY: Both witnesses appeared sincere and credible.

CORRELATING CASES: No check conducted.

CONCLUSION: Based on the witness testimony and the ensuing investigation, I have concluded that an oval-shaped object about 150 feet in diameter flying at an altitude of 1,922 feet was being pursued by two military aircraft. This object did not display the characteristics of a conventional aircraft and as a result I have given this case a disposition of Unknown-UAV. THIS CASE IS CLOSED/ DJK.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa—06/15/2013—Case # 47469
The witness reported seeing strange objects in her backyard on the approximate date of 10/15/2011 just after dark. She told me that she was not certain that her identity would be protected so she waited until now to report the incident. She viewed these objects from her kitchen window. The objects consisted of nine oval shapes, each about one foot high, resting on a three tiered platform. She viewed the objects for about 10 minutes. The witness submitted a very good drawing of what she saw, but there were a few things I had to change in the drawing to make it consistent with the witness’ description of the event during the interview. (Show drawing here)
The anomalous objects consisted of a tiered platform and nine oval shaped objects about one foot in height. The nine objects along with the anomalous platform were resting on the “Yardy” (a trash can on wheels). The platform, which consisted of a vertical part containing the steps and a horizontal part which appeared to rest upon the yardy, was rimmed by a frame that the witness said reminded her of Legos. She viewed the objects for about 10 minutes. She left her viewing position at the window and when she returned they were gone.
In the interview the witness stated that she noticed an orange light outside of her kitchen window. She looked out and noticed the strange objects described above. The objects were only about 20 feet from her position in the kitchen. After watching them for several minutes she decided to go outside, but after unlocking the door she became fearful and went back to the window where she viewed them for a couple more minutes. It was then that she noticed the frame of the platform holding the nine objects had become illuminated. She then went into the living room to plan her next move, but when she came back to the window the objects were gone. When asked about the identity of the objects she stated that she thought they were demons and that they were transmitting some sort of signal, but she was not able to verbalize why she believed that.
I asked the witness what kind of lights she had in that room thinking that she might have seen a reflection off the window from lights behind her viewing position but she said that she only had a fluorescent light in the ceiling and it was turned off at the time of the incident.
She stated that she did not experience any missing time after the event, nor did she experience any other strange happenings since that time. I gave this case a disposition of “Unknown- Other.”

 

Calmar, Iowa—04/05/2013—Case # 45483
A Calmar, Iowa witness took a series of thirteen photos in quick succession of a sunrise on 03/27/2013 at 6:25 am CDT. The witness saw nothing unusual in the sky while taking the photos, but later, when he was looking at the photos, he noticed something that looked like a reflective red glare about 5 degrees above the horizon. The object changed position with each photo in the series. He submitted 10 of these photos to the CMS reporting form.
The object in the photos appears as a red oval. Its direction of movement from one photo to the next is erratic. Analysis of the photos suggests that the object was a particle on the lens of the camera. The movement of the camera in each frame coincided with movement of the object. I submitted two photos demonstrating the movement of the object.
Upon receiving the report and the photos, I first checked the exit data to determine the time and date the photos were taken, the exposure time, and the length of time between each exposure along with other information. The information coincided with the witness’ statements. I then set up the individual photos in temporal sequence so that I could view them in rapid succession. It became apparent fairly quickly that the change in camera position coincided with the movement of the object. When the frame moved to the right the object moved to the right. When the frame moved to the left the object moved to the left. Likewise, when the frame moved up or down the object moved with the movement of the camera.
CONCLUSION: It is my conclusion that the red glare on the photographs taken and submitted by the witness was a result of a particle on the lens of the camera.

 

Dubuque, Iowa—12/26/2012—Case # 44662
On December 12th 2012 at around 11:15 am CST, a witness working on some power lines in Dubuque, Iowa noticed a fast moving object traverse the sky at about 11 degrees above the horizon. According to the witness, the object was a gun metal grey and about the size of a BB at arm’s length. The object was seen due east of the observer and the witness said that the object was moving in an east-southeast direction. The duration of the sighting event was only about 7 seconds. He believed that the object was moving away from his position at about 30 degrees to the perpendicular. The witness estimated the object to be over one mile in distance and traveling at between 200 to 300 miles per hour. My calculations showed that the object was about 22 feet in diameter and moving at least 360 MPH (See attached drawing).
After my investigation the original CMS report filed by the witness had to be modified slightly. This is not unusual. The apparent size of the object and the degrees above the horizon are almost always overestimated. Initially, the witness stated that the object was larger than a basketball. This was a result of misunderstanding the meaning of the question. After my correspondence with the witness he quite confidently stated that the apparent size of the object was about the size of a BB (BB gun pellet) at arm’s length. In addition he reported that the object was about 20 degrees above the horizon. My calculations using information from Google earth suggests that the object was about 11 degrees above the horizon. (Refer to the attached drawing). The witness also underestimated the speed of the object, in part, because the object was not moving perpendicular to his line of sight, but rather, was moving at an acute angle of about 30 degrees away from his position. Using his estimates of distance and duration of the event, which both the witness and I agreed were quite arbitrary, my calculations showed that the object was initially at least one mile in distance and traveling at a minimum of 360 miles per hour. It is possible that the object sighted could have been a balloon if the witness’ perceptions of size, distance and speed were errant. The wind was coming from the WSW and the object was moving ESE, so it would have been moving counter to the wind direction by about 25 degrees.
CONCLUSION: Calculations using data from the witness and various data bases produced a graphic presentation of the events of the sighting. If the estimates provided by the witness of the distance, size, and duration of the sighting were fairly accurate, then I can conclude that a 22 foot diameter gunmetal grey object seen due east of the witness’ position in Dubuque, Iowa moved at a 30 degree angle to the ESE. The object traveled about .74 miles in about seven seconds at an altitude of about 1,300 feet at a speed of about 360 mph. Based on the witness testimony and information gathered from various data bases my conclusion is that the object seen by the Dubuque witness was likely an UNKNOWN-UAV.

Martelle, Iowa—10/15/2012—Case # 43277
The drawing below indicates what the witness saw on a dark cold night in November of 1996 or 1997. The drawing does not depict the actual color of the craft. The color of the craft could have been almost any color, but on the dark moonless night it appeared to the witness as a dark grey. He was on his way to work in Marion, Iowa as a maintenance worker at about midnight on a cold November night. He was about 2 miles west of Martelle, Iowa on a lonely gravel road when he noticed a barely visible silhouetted object moving toward him from his direction of travel. He stopped his pick-up truck in the middle of the road. Leaving his headlights on he turned the engine off, and got out of his truck to watch as the object approached going from west to east. It was slightly north of his position. Then, incredibly, it made a course correction and came nearly directly overhead of where he was standing. Now he could make out some detail. The object was a dark color and it appeared to have tiles on the bottom of the object. He said it reminded him of the tiles on the bottom of the space shuttle. He also noticed a horizontal dark grey stripe that went from stem to stern about half way up the side. He thought that is was probably a 100 ft. in length.
He said that the object hovered above him for almost 8 minutes as if it were watching him. It then slowly moved off toward the east. The fear finally overtook him and he jumped into his truck and accelerated at almost 80 mph until he got to work.
He said to me, “I ain’t scared of much, but this thing really spooked me. I jumped in that truck and never had it below 80 mph. All the way to Marion I was looking into the rear view mirror hoping that the object would not turn around and come back.”
When asked, he told me that he did not experience any missing time and that he arrived at work at the time he expected. He said that he didn’t think he was negatively affected by the experience, but that he will never forget it.
Conclusion: Unknown-UAV

Fairfax, Iowa—07/09/2012—Case # 40629 (The first part of this report by investigator Steve Junge)
The reporting witness stated that on 07/08/12 at approximately 10:01pm, she and her husband were sitting on their deck when they noticed a fairly large orange-red-yellow glowing orb in the sky over their house. She stated that it was fairly low, moving SSW. They moved out onto their driveway to watch it until it was out of sight. They noticed a slight, distant humming noise as it went by which started a little after the object passed overhead. They also stated that the direction of the orb did not fit with where the airport is (approximately 7 miles SSE) and was not a normal pattern for a plane coming in for a landing. The object was also void of any blinking lights and it moved at a steady pace in a direct line until it was no longer visible on the horizon.
OBJECT DESCRIPTION - According to the witness statements as well as the boxes checked in the CMS, the object observed on 07/08/12 was a dark red-orange orb or sphere that glowed brightly. The witnesses described it like a really hot coal or ember color, right after you take it out of the fire. They also stated that it was so bright that they had trouble looking at it intensely and that made it difficult to make out a definite edge. The light was steady and did not pulsate at all and did not illuminate anything on the ground. The initial box checked by the reporting witness stated that the object maybe was the size of a basketball or larger. They reported that the object made a humming or whirring noise but it was very faint. The noise appeared after the object had passed overhead. The total duration of the event was estimated between 45 and 60 seconds. They stated that the object moved in a straight line and did not deviate from its path. The thing that drew their attention to it first was its brightness. Then after it passed over, they heard a faint humming or whirring noise coming from it. During the interview, both witnesses agreed that the size of the object was best described as what a dime would look like holding it at arm’s length. Witness A snapped a photo of the object with her cell phone, which she uploaded to the CMS. Witness B stated that their house is about 7 miles from the Eastern Iowa Airport and that they are used to seeing planes and aircraft going over. This particular event did not match anything that they had witnessed before. They stated that they did not report this event to the police or any other organization except MUFON.
When assigned the case, from first glance, it appeared that this could be a misidentification of a known object. More specific, the object may have been a Chinese lantern. As the investigation and analysis evolved, several facts now lead the investigative team to think otherwise.
The following analysis in the Evidence and Investigation section was completed by Investigator David Kreiter and is submitted here:
Azimuth readings were taken from the witness’ observation point. The object was first sighted at azimuth 70 degrees (ENE). The object was last seen at azimuth 190 degrees (SSW). The wind direction at the time of the sighting was due north. Upon receiving the case, Investigators Junge and Kreiter wanted to determine whether or not the object seen by the witnesses was consistent with a wind-driven Chinese lantern. Chinese lanterns are small hot-air balloons that travel with the direction of the wind. Using trigonometry, this question could be answered with some degree of accuracy (see sketch1-azimuth). The results indicated that the object’s flight path was askew of the wind direction by 40 degrees a significant discrepancy. Inclination readings were also taken from the witness’ observation point. The object was first spotted at 20 degrees inclination above the ENE horizon. The object traveled in a straight-line path and was last seen at about 25 degrees inclination above the SSW horizon. The witnesses said that the duration of the event was approximately 1 minute. An average altitude of a Chinese lantern is about .5 miles. This figure was used in the calculations (see sketch2-velocity). As mentioned above, we wanted to rule-out the possibility that the object observed was a Chinese lantern. Using trigonometry, the angles and distances were calculated and the results show that the object traveled 2.49 miles in one minute. This means that the object was traveling at about 150 mph. This high speed motion is not consistent with an object propelled by a 7mph wind. The Azimuth results and the Inclination results seem to rule out the possibility that the object observed was a Chinese lantern.

Hazelton, Iowa—07/08/2012—Case # 39858
A Hazelton, Iowa man and his family were northbound on highway 150 headed toward Fontana Park in Buchanan County when their son spotted a low flying object in the eastern sky. This event occurred on a warm clear late afternoon at around 6:00 p.m. on the 26th of June 2012. The driver’s wife, who was in the passenger’s seat, then looked to the east and she too saw the object hovering above some power lines that were less than one-half mile away. The driver was a bit skeptical when his wife excitedly asked him to pull off the road, because he still couldn’t see the object from his position, but he turned onto the nearest gravel road less than one mile from where they first spotted the object. He got out of his car and looked to the southeast where they were pointing and he too spotted the object hovering above the power lines. He noticed that the object was egg shaped and mostly white with an orange/rust colored bottom, and that the surface was dull, yet still reflected the afternoon light. They watched the object for about another minute. He leaned into the car to get his cell phone to take a photo, but by the time he stood up again the object had disappeared from view. His wife and son who had been viewing the object the whole time said that it moved in a southeasterly direction above the power lines and then it simply “flicked out.” They decided to back-track their route in hopes of seeing it again to no avail.
He stated that it was clearly not a plane, helicopter, or a balloon. He wrote: “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was not a disk or a saucer shape, but really a sort of egg shape, absolutely weird.” When asked how the incident affected him he said: “I’m not really at the point where I could say, this thing was an alien spaceship from some other planet, but I can absolutely say that: (1) I feel terrible now for people who have seen strange things and [have] been ridiculed for reporting it, and (2) that [the] object is unlike anything I have ever seen in my life that was operated or made by human beings, yet I still feel a bit shocked when thinking about the fact that we saw it.”
Because the witnesses moved from one location to another, they provided two distinct observational points. This made triangulation of the position of the object possible; therefore, about a week after the sighting I visited the area to take distance, azimuth, and altitude measurements. With this information I was able to determine distance, altitude, and size of the object. The data showed that initially the two passengers observed the object from about one-half mile distance. After driving to the second location .9 miles away, the distance of observation was about 1.04 miles. The altitude of the object was about 100 feet, and the size of the object was between 25 and 48 feet in diameter.
Measurements taken at the site indicated that the sphere was between 25ft and 48 ft. in diameter and that it was seen from a distance of one-half mile at the first point of observation and about 1.04 miles at the second point of observation. The objects inclination was about 5 degrees above the horizon at 90 degrees azimuth (E) at the first point of observation and 150 degrees azimuth (SSE) at the second point of observation. The sighting lasted about two minutes. The objects altitude was about 100 ft. It hovered for about 2 minutes and then moved in a SSE direction, and disappeared from view.
Conclusion: The credible and substantial information provided by the witness gave me confidence in giving this case a disposition of “Unknown-UAV.”

The University of Iowa campus—12/15/2011--Case # 33432
Two University of Iowa students were standing in a small parking lot near the University of Iowa dormitories in Iowa City having a conversation when they spotted a large triangular craft in the Northern sky moving slowly toward the South. The sighting occurred on a dark, clear night just before moon rise at around 9:45 pm CST on Wednesday November 16. They estimated the craft to be flying at about 500 ft. to one mile in altitude. During the sighting of the craft they also noticed an air-care helicopter preparing to land at the University Hospital’s landing pad about one-half mile away and another small plane in the sky.
The witness stated that the air-space around the hospital is highly regulated ruling out the possibility that the triangular shaped object was a military aircraft. Because the object had no lights it was difficult to see according to the witnesses. Just fifteen minutes later, after the first craft faded out of sight, another similar triangular shaped object appeared from the north in the same flight path as the first object and it too headed in a southerly direction. This second object was going a bit faster, and seemed to be a bit higher, according to the witnesses, and it changed direction slightly before fading from sight.
About 5 to 10 minutes later, in the same directional flight path, a third object shaped like a “Y” moved across the sky. Like the first two objects the third craft had no lights, but because it was flying very low, the witnesses were able to make out markings on the underside of the craft. Each segment of the “Y” shaped craft had a straight white line running down the center with short lines protruding at slight angles from the center line--similar to a line of connected arrows (drawing attached). The craft hovered for about 5 to 10 seconds above a building just across the street from the witnesses and then moved and was obscured by a tree. They ran in a direction that would allow them to again see the object, but in the few seconds it took to get another observation the craft had disappeared.
The witness believed that the crafts were between 500 ft. and a mile in altitude. I asked the witness to estimate the apparent size of the crafts using two methods: The first method was an estimation of size holding a ruler at arm’s length. The second method was an estimation of size relative to the apparent size of the moon. She stated that the first and second craft were between 1 and 1 ½ inches in size at arm’s length respectively, and the third craft between 3- 4 inches at arm’s length. She then compared the size of the third craft to the apparent size of the full moon, stating that the third object was a little over two times the apparent size of the full moon. These estimates demonstrate the difficulty in judging size and distance. The moon’s apparent size is about ½ inch at arm’s length, and, therefore, there is a large disparity between the two methods of measure. As a result the calculation of the actual size of the craft was not possible with any accuracy. Gary Snyder, the secondary investigator, and I found the witness to be credible. Both of us visited the location of the sighting and found the details of the location and landmarks to be accurate. We have designated this sighting report as an "Unknown-UAV" “CE-1.”
About the Drawing: The drawing below depicts one of three similar triangular shaped objects with peculiar arrow-like markings on the underside as described by a University of Iowa student in Iowa City.

 

Swisher, Iowa----06/18/2011—Case # 33432
A Swisher, Iowa man was driving southbound on Interstate 380 with his young children when he observed a patrol car with its flashers on parked alongside of the highway near the entrance to a rest stop. As he passed the highway patrol car he looked into his rear-view mirror and noticed that the patrol car had on only its parking lights. He wondered if perhaps the patrolman was there observing something. Almost simultaneously, he noticed three or four orange lights in the sky in the direction of Shueyville, Iowa. Since they were fairly low in the sky, he thought that they might be cell tower lights, but then he remembered that there are no cell towers or tall buildings in the area. He then noticed that the lights were slowly changing position relative to each other, and wondered if they could be flares or fireworks, but as he continued to drive south the lights did not change intensity, blink, or change altitude.
Soon he approached the Shueyville/Swisher exit. Swisher, his hometown, is due West, and Shueyville due East. He pulled over on the ramp, opened his window and took a picture looking due East with his Blackberry camera. He could hear no sound other than the roar of the traffic on the interstate. He watched for approximately 2 minutes as the lights began to fade out one at a time. Unfortunately, the camera was not sensitive enough to pick up the pale orange lights. Nothing showed up on the photos when he loaded them into his computer. He reported that he has lived in the area all his life, and he has never seen flares dropped as there are no military bases in the area, nor any reason for flares to be dropped over the small town.
The witness provided an excellent account of the sighting, and over the next several days following the sighting, he gathered more vital information. He returned to the rest stop exit, which was very near the place he first saw the lights in the sky. He took photographs of the area just above the tree tops where he saw the lights and, using his computer, superimposed a close approximation of where he saw the lights relative to these landmarks. He also took photos of the place where the patrol car was parked and the location where he first saw the lights. He then obtained a Google Earth photo of the entire area, including the observation point on interstate 380, the town of Shueyville, and the Swisher/Shueyville exit where he pulled over and took some photos of the lights. On his computer he over-laid a drawing of a triangle that clearly showed his various positions during the sighting. The hypotenuse of the isosceles right triangle points the way across the fields toward the town of Shueyville. The other two sides of the triangle were the 1 mile distance he drove straight south to the Shueyville/Swisher exit, and the 1 mile straight east to Shueyville where he last observed the lights—a typical Pythagorean right triangle with sides of “1” and a hypotenuse of the square root of 2.
When interviewed days later, he judged the individual lights to have an apparent separation of about 1 inch at arm’s length. He was a bit unsure of this, and I believe that this was an over estimation, which in my experience typically occurs. I arbitrarily used a bit smaller estimate in this regard.
Either way, this was all the information needed to make a good case, specifically, to determine the distance from the observer, the height of the lights, and the distance between the individual lights. When he was at the first location of the sighting the object was at 45 degrees southeast. He drove just one mile south on the interstate to the exit, and at that point he noticed that the lights were directly east. This information told me that the object was relatively close. Using triangulation I was able to tell that the land distance from his original position was 1.27 miles.
The witness was also able to accurately determine the altitude of the object to be 15 degrees. Since we already knew the distance of the lights from the observer, the 15 degrees of altitude provided the information needed to find the altitude of the object above ground. The object was .34 miles above the town of Shueyville. I determined that the distance between the individual lights was 150 to 300 ft. If the lights were part of a single craft, it would have been about as large as a football field. I have given this case a disposition of unknown-other.
About the drawing below: The drawing shows the route of the witness as he heads south along interstate 380. The location of the first sighting was at the rest area. He drove one mile to his exit and pulled over to view it again and take photos. With the information presented by the witness I was able to draw three triangles to calculate distance and size. The first triangle, depicted lying flat, is a perfect isosceles right triangle of sides 1 mile each, with a hypotenuse of the square root of 2, approximately 1.27 miles. The hypotenuse represents the land distance from the first sighting location. This hypotenuse provides the base dimension of the upright triangle (1.27 miles). The object was calculated to be about 15 degrees above the horizon so a second right triangle could be created with angles of 90 degrees, 15 degrees, and 75 degrees. Using trigonometry it was possible to calculate the length of the other two sides, resulting in an altitude of .34 miles, and an air distance of 1.31 miles. Extrapolating from the witness report, the object was about the size of an aspirin held at arm’s length (An arc of 1/2 degree). From this information a third triangle (broken lines) could be created using the 1.31 miles for both sides of the triangle with ½ degree of arc. This was enough information to calculate that the size of the object was between 150 and 300 feet.
Conclusion: Unknown-UAV

 

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