During the past 50 years, there have been several occurrences during which UFOs were seen over specific areas for an extended period of time. Ufologists refer to these pockets of activity as "UFO flaps". One of the most memorable waves of UFO sightings occurred during the months of October and November 1975. Most UFO researchers, however, are only familiar with the events which took place at several American military bases in the states of Maine, Michigan, North Dakota, and Montana, where unidentified objects were reported over or near nuclear weapon storage areas. But there's another part of the story that hasn't been covered as meticulously as the aforementioned American incidents.

Canadian Forces Station Falconbridge -- which is located near the city of Sudbury, in the province of Ontario, Canada -- was also involved in the October-November flap of 1975. And on a much larger scale than what has been written about it in books and in the local newspaper. But as you will see, October and November weren't the only months during which people were reporting UFOs in the Sudbury area. The following information, most of which was retrieved from NRC (National Research Council) and CFS Falconbridge documents found on microfilm reels purchased from the National Archives, is being mentioned here for the first time. Also included are accounts that were reported to the Sudbury Star and to myself.

The story begins in July 1975 with an incident that was witnessed by members of the nursing staff at the Sudbury General Hospital:

Five different people working on three different nights at the Sudbury General Hospital reported seeing the same inexplicable bright silver, oval-shaped light as it moved across Lake Ramsey and disappeared behind the Hospital. On July 28, 1975, at 11:35 p.m., Dee Lachance saw 'a great big whitish light come over Lake Ramsey, turning around.' At the same time, Kay Duffy saw a 'very large lightbulb-kind of a thing, the size of a kitchen saucer traveling slow enough to follow it with the eye with no difficulty.' She said it was really bright and that she and another nurse had seen the same light at the same place, four nights before, at about 10:45 p.m. Later, on August 11, Mrs. Lachance again saw the same light in the same place at the same time. 'It wasn't a plane or anything similar,' she said, 'because there were no green or red lights and no sound.' Rich O'Connor and another nurse who did not wish to be identified said they both saw it, the same night.

The month of August began with a rash of sightings on Manitoulin Island. One of the main witnesses was 13-year-old John Dunlop of Sheguiandah, who, along with other people, had seen several UFOs in the area. The following is a chronology of those Manitoulin Island sightings, including others reported by people within the Sudbury District:

On August 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, 1975, John Dunlop, a 13-year-old boy from Sheguiandah (near Little Current), Manitoulin Island, and four other witnesses, reported seeing an oval craft about the size of two cars, flashing red, orange and yellow lights. It landed on the bay, hovered and then moved away in the early morning. The boy had seen three of them on a previous evening. The weather was clear. On each day, the sighting lasted from approximately 10:00 p.m. until early, the next morning.

On Saturday, August 9, from 11:15 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., a Mrs. Kosiba, her husband and a friend reported seeing an 'object' with no shape, but a very light red, bluish and bright yellow. At first, one 'object' was seen, then later, they saw about eight of them. The weather was very clear and the sky was full of stars. The sighting took place near Lake Nipawasa (32 miles south of Sudbury, off Highway 69 S.) and lasted approximately five hours.

On Saturday, August 16, John Dunlop saw a strange flying object for the tenth time, hovering in the skies above Sheguiandah. As in previous times, it loomed in the distance about 1,000 feet in the air, radiating alternating yellow and red. It sped away after a little more than a minute.

On Tuesday, August 19, at 3:30 p.m., Darlene and Ross Chadwick from Sudbury were at the south side of Lake Nelson when they witnessed an oval-shaped object, which was very bright when compared to the moon, and it had whitish lights that turned pink. It was seen flying in north to west, descending in the hills west of Lake Nelson (approx. 36 miles north of Sudbury). The sighting lasted from one and a half to two minutes.

On Wednesday, August 20, at 10:25 p.m., John Dunlop of Sheguiandah, Manitoulin Island, reported seeing one main object, yellow and oval-shaped, with smaller objects coming from it, as it hovered overhead. It disappeared in the eastern sky. It was intermittently bright, and extremely bright when it disappeared. There were scattered clouds in the sky. The sighting lasted forty-five minutes.

On the same night, at 10:35 p.m., Tim Taylor and Marlene Howard, also of Sheguiandah, reported seeing a sphere-shaped object with a soft luminescence, red and white intermittently. The object was located in the north. The weather was clear. The sighting lasted 30 minutes.

One hour later, at 11:30 p.m., Mike Taylor, a cottager in Sheguiandah, witnessed an oval-shaped, intermittent red and white object as it moved from the eastern sky and terminated in the western sky. The object was intermittently bright. There were scattered clouds in the sky. This sighting lasted 30 minutes.

Only one sighting was reported for the month of September. Using the Falconbridge document, I was able to track down the witness. When I phoned him, he told me that the objects looked like two car headlights moving across the sky in tandem:

On Sunday, September 28, at 12:40 a.m., Mr. Ray Preddiger saw two clear white objects while driving near Rock Lake, but could not tell the shape. It was 95 degrees magnetic from Richard Lake, down Highway 69 South. Rock Lake is located 25 miles south of Sudbury. The sky was clear. The sighting lasted 30 minutes.

Then came October, and things began to pick up near the end of the month. Again, using the Falconbridge documents, I managed to get in touch with this next witness, who provided me with additional information about his sighting that was not mentioned in the report. His account, which contains that additional information, is found in the addendum.

On Tuesday, October 28, at 0515Z, Jim Bett observed one hat-shaped object near the slag pit at Murray Mine, while driving home from Levack on Highway 144. The object was very bright (like looking at a 150-watt bulb a couple of feet away), and low about 500 feet. There was a band of bright gold around the object approximately 3/4 of the way up. There was no noise at all. It hovered over the slag pit for a minute, then departed at an extremely high speed (out of sight) eastward towards Highway 17, then returned for another minute and left again in the same direction. The weather was clear. The sighting lasted approximately two minutes.

On Thursday, October 30, between 8 and 11:40 p.m., an unexplained bright white light which has been sighted several times in the Lake Nipissing area during recent weeks, was again reported by witnesses, including police officers. They said they saw the bright white light hovering over Iron Island, about 20 miles west of the North Bay government dock. It remained stationary for about three hours, then disappeared.

The sightings spilled over into the month of November, with police officers reporting UFO sightings near Sturgeon Falls and North Bay. It wasn't long before UFO sightings would spread to others towns and cities such as Haileybury, Sudbury, Coniston, Chelmsford and Hanmer.

On Sunday, November 2, at 3:30 a.m., police again sighted a light hovering over Lake Nipissing, this time from a point eight miles east of Sturgeon Falls, with the light seen in the southwest. Const. J. J. Culkeen observed the light, which seemed to be at a greater altitude than that seen Thursday, for a period of about 15 minutes and called the North Bay Provincial Police detachment. Intermittent observation was maintained until the object disappeared at about 4:30 a.m., an hour after it was first noticed in the sky.

On Tuesday, November 11, at 0800Z, six nurses from the nursing staff at Pioneer Manor (nursing home) in Sudbury, reported seeing an object that seemed to hover over the Sudbury stadium (baseball park). It was very bright and very low at first, and suddenly shot into the cloudy sky. The sighting lasted 1 hour and 55 minutes. It was still visible when Sudbury Regional Police arrived at 0955Z.

At 0955Z, Constables Chrapchynski and Dreighton of the Sudbury Regional Police made this follow-up report from the call made by the nurses at Pioneer Manor. From two separate locations, they reported the following: 4 objects were observed clearly in the sky. The brightest in the east remained in a stationary position. One in the southwest moved at times in a jerky motion. One in the northwest remained stationary. The one in the northeast was the dimest, also stationary. They were still plainly visible after daybreak when all regular bright objects in the sky had disappeared. The sighting lasted intermittently for 1 hour.

At approximately 1000Z, Constables Keables and Whiteside of the Sudbury Regional Police, reported sighting a UFO from two separate locations: 1st sighting - near Industrial Road in Sudbury; 2nd sighting - near the southwest bypass, just west of Highway 69. It was observed southwest from this location. One object was seen. At times, it appeared to be cylindrical with shafts of light, bright enough to light up the clouds in the immediate area. It appeared, at times, to travel in circles. At one point, it came quite close. It was still visible to the naked eye after the sun came up. The above observations were made with the use of binoculars. The sighting lasted from 1000Z intermittently until 1200Z.

At approximately 1000Z, while on patrol on Highway 17E, Constable Marsh of the Sudbury Regional Police observed a very bright, star-like object moving in a jerky circular manner, southeast of Coniston. When covered with clouds, it was still bright enough to shine through, as well as light up an area around it. While observing this object, he saw two other similar objects, one in the south and one southwest of Coniston. All seemed to be moving in a jerky circular manner. They seemed to emit a pulsating type of light varying in colours, easily distinguishable from the stars.

At 1030Z, MCPL Kreutz and CPL Lawrenson in the Operations Building at CFS Falconbridge, saw an object which appeared to be a very bright, stationary light at approximately 30,000 feet. It was first observed by Sudbury Police to be overhead Falconbridge. The sighting lasted 30 seconds.

At 1030Z, while driving on Highway 144, 1 mile east of Chelmsford, Constables Ryan and Laderoute of the Sudbury Regional Police reported seeing one bright, white object. It appeared to be over the north end of the city of Sudbury, moving in a northwesterly direction, at a high rate of speed. It was seen for 1 minute, until covered by a large cloud.

At 1115Z, Major Oliver, along with Captain Carson, MCPL Kreutz and CPL Lawrenson, observed a circular object, brilliantly lighted with two black spots in the centre, moving upwards at high speed, from 42,000 feet to 72,000 feet (No horizontal movement). The sighting lasted 14 minutes. This object was sighted visually and by radar, bearing 210 degrees magnetic, at 30 NM (Nautical Miles) from CFS Falconbridge. Major Oliver took pictures, but is not sure if they will turn out. A similar object was sighted by the same observers, bearing 270 degrees magnetic, but at too great a distance to provide any details. Many other reports were received from Sudbury Ontario Provincial Police.

At 1115Z, Maj. Oliver, Capt. Garson and Cpl Lawrenson in the Operations Building at CFS Falconbridge, saw an object that was spherical-shaped and appeared to be rotating. It appeared to have a surface area similar to the moon and was ascending and descending. The sighting lasted 2 hours intermittently due to the cloud cover. It was also observed on both height finder and search radars. The first position was at 210 degrees, 30 miles; altitude: 42,000 feet at 1115Z. The second position was at 200 degrees, 30 miles; altitude: 50,000 feet at 1120Z. And the final position was at 190 degrees, 25 miles; altitude: 72,000 feet at 1129Z.

On Wednesday, November 12, at 0500Z, Samuel Harriman was at his residence, looking out of an open bedroom window, when he saw an unusual object. It first appeared as a single blue-white light, and was subsequently joined by four more lights. The altitude was approximately the same as the clouds.

At 0515Z, Mr. Julian Prince of McRae Heights, Sudbury, and Constables Garry Zadow and Barry Brett of the Sudbury Regional Police, saw what looked like an artificial light that would fade on and off, increasing in intensity until very bright. Two objects with the same actions were also sighted. These objects appeared to move with a jerky motion. They were still visible until 0700Z.

At 0615 Local, Mrs. Smith, along with her 11-year-old son, saw what she described as a bright white light over the radar station, much brighter than a star. It was the only light in the sky and looked like it was fading away and coming back, then was covered by a cloud.

On Friday, November 14, at 0830Z, Mr. Ted Majkot of Sudbury, was 30 miles north of Parry Sound on Highway 69, when he sighted an object opposite the star group Orion. It was spherical, white and 30 degrees in the sky. It stayed in the same general area. It appeared and disappeared at 4-second intervals. The sighting lasted 2 hours. Photos were taken with 1 second fastest speed, on auto setting, 8 second slowest speed. Photos sent through government mail services.

At 1945 Local, Raymond Chayka of Coniston, was at home with Tom Donneley, who was there on visit. They saw what looked like a dot with blue, red and white. It was having a rotation of colours, going away and back. The sighting lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes or more.

On Saturday, November 15, at 0615Z, Oliver Kivioja of Riverside Drive in Sudbury, was at home in the backyard, looking south, when he saw a bright yellow object. It moved upward and back, and when it was moving, it left a tail. The object was very high and it did not seem to change its position in the sky. The sighting lasted 15 minutes.

At 1130Z, Lyman Paquette was in the married students residence at Laurentian University, when he was looking approximately due east, 70 degrees elevation. His wife, brother and sister-in-law (names not given) were at the same location. Using binoculars, they saw one object, bright white, which looked like a cup in a bowl. It had climbed quite high since the first observation and could hardly be seen without the aid of binoculars. The sighting lasted 20 minutes.

On Sunday, November 23, at 1000Z, Joann McGraw of Chelmsford was in an automobile with her parents, driving on Frood Road in Sudbury, when they saw a huge oval-shaped object. It was really bright, and was blinking on and off. The observer stated that the very bright white light was lower than the clouds. The observer also stated that the object followed them until they arrived at home in Chelmsford. The object was moving in an east to west direction. The sighting lasted 20 minutes.

The last reported sighting of a UFO occurred in the month of December, on Christmas Eve:

On Wednesday, December 24, at 0200Z, Mr. Reggie Pigeau of Dill Lake Road, Highway 69 S., and his two sons, observed a bright object with flashing blue and red lights. No movement. Previous sighting lasted approximately 12 hours on Sunday (December 21) and Tuesday (December 23) evenings.

Some of the interesting things about the whole incident are the contradictions and denials that have arisen from this case. The information found in the Falconbridge documents contradicts the information that was given to the newspaper by the public relations officer at the base -- information which, in turn, was fed to the public. First, there was the question of whether or not pictures had been taken of the UFO(s) by base personnel:

Sudbury Star, November 15, 1975:

"There were no photographs taken of the Sudbury UFO Tuesday morning, a base spokesman at CFS Falconbridge now says."

Falconbridge Report, November 11, 1975:

"...Major Oliver took pictures, but is not sure if they will turn out"...

Then, there was the first "official explanation" given by National Research Council UFO expert Ian Halliday:

Sudbury Star, November 15, 1975:

"Regional police sources meanwhile disputed a contention by National Research Council UFO expert Ian Halliday that what policemen saw Tuesday morning were the planets Jupiter and Venus. Police said the objects were too big and too bright to be a star."

"One policeman apparently reported one object was bright enough to hurt his eyes while another saw one object moving upward, a motion that tallies with what was seen on the radar screen at CFS Falconbridge."

Later, a second "cover story" was given, replacing the old Jupiter - Venus explanation. A Sudbury Star article dated January 24, 1979 and entitled "Well thought-out answer", reads:

"... Know what they were seeing all along? Crystallized ice in the atmosphere, that's what. But that enlightening tidbit is not part of the story as it unfolded back in 1975. That's the pronouncement of the National Research Council. . .made public just this week."

It's become quite clear that the crystallized ice explanation cannot account for what was seen visually and on radar by so many credible witnesses. Makes you wonder why the folks at the NRC go to such lengths to explain away UFO sightings. And why it took four years for them to come up with this second explanation!?

The manner in which military personnel and government scientists downplayed the incident caused little or no reaction amongst the public. If people had been told the truth about the alien intrusion, there would have been great alarm. For those of us who know what really happened, the Falconbridge Incident will go down in history as one of the biggest UFO cases of all time. Between 1986 and 1987, CFS Falconbridge was closed down because of military cuts. Today, it is an eerie reminder of a mysterious event that will forever remain unexplained.

But the story doesn't end there. On the evening of October 9th, 1990, an unidentified flying object was seen hovering near the abandoned installation. And in this particular case, I was one of those who saw it:

"It was about 8:30 in the evening, and I had just finished making photocopies at the car dealership where I worked. As I walked toward my car, I noticed an unusually bright light in the southern sky. I took a few more steps, and as I watched the light, I realized that it was gradually coming down from the sky in a vertical drop. It seemed to be getting brighter and brighter, indicating to me that the object was coming down at an angle, in a northerly direction. It got so bright, it looked about 3 to 4 times the size of Venus. Keeping an eye on the light, I walked back to the showroom and got one of the salesmen to take a look. He looked at it, shrugged his shoulders and walked away. I decided to leave in the hopes of getting a closer look. As I drove down the road, I could see the object up in the sky, between the houses and the trees. I noticed that the brightness of the light had dimmed, revealing the object as egg-shaped in appearance. I got home as fast as I could, grabbed my binoculars and drove out to a second location from which I could look at the object some more (I wound up in a wooded area, which gave me a limited view of the sky). Between the bare branches, I could see the object as it moved slowly to the east. I noticed some bright lights to the left of the object, but these were part of a Ontario Hydro substation; there was a noticeable difference between those lights and the egg-shaped object. As I watched, the light moved slightly from side to side about 3 times, then suddenly went out, like someone had switched it off. I looked all over with the binoculars, but I couldn't see it. Then, as quickly as it had disappeared, the object re-appeared, but at a lower elevation (Despite the darkness, I was able to tell that it wasn't at the same place it had been a few seconds before)."

"Immediately, the hairs at the back of my neck went straight up. I got back into the car and drove toward a hilltop located to the east of town. From there, I'd be able to see the object more clearly against the dark sky and pinpoint its location. On my way there, I looked to my right and scanned the sky for the object but could no longer see it. Once I crested the top of the hill, I parked the car on the side of the road and began looking for the object. At first, I looked to the south and I didn't see anything at all. But then, I looked to the southeast in the direction of the Radar base and I was shocked to see a big, pinkish-white light hanging very low in the sky, and pulsating like an emergency road flare. Because of its brilliance, I was unable to determine its shape, but it looked more oval than circular. It was at least 3 times brighter, and the colour differed from the pink or red lights we find on communication towers. Also noticeable were the airport lights (further to the east) and lamp posts along the highway; using those as reference points, I knew that the object was exactly where the base was located. I watched the UFO as it remained motionless, hovering above the ground at an estimated altitude of 50 - 100 feet. When I saw that the object wasn't moving at all, I thought that perhaps I'd have time to go home and get other members of my family as additional witnesses. I got in the car, switched the headlights on and headed home as fast as I could, with my hazard lights flashing. A few minutes went by before I could convince someone to come with me. I made a mistake because when we went back, the object had gone; I never got to see how it left the area and I've been kicking myself ever since."

In all, the sighting lasted about 20 minutes. During all that time, I had looked at the UFO with my binoculars from two separate vantage points. Later, I purchased a map of the area and was able to determine that when first spotted, the object was approximately 6 or 7 miles away from me. When I last saw it at the base, it was exactly 4 miles away from my eyes. I also checked with a local amateur astronomer to find out where Venus and Jupiter were located at the time of my sighting. I found out that on October 9th, 1990, Venus had set with the Sun and Jupiter did not rise until 12:00 a.m. Then, I wanted to know the approximate size of the object, so I returned to the hilltop during daylight and looked at the base with my binoculars. One building on the western side of the installation is shaped like a cube, which I estimated to be between 40 to 50 feet square. Through my binoculars, it looked as wide as the UFO had been in my field of view. During the next three years, I hiked up to the base on three separate occasions. The first time I went up there, I brought with me a reporter and the editor of a small local paper. With their help, I measured the one section of the base in front of which I placed the UFO at the time of the sighting; It was EXACTLY 40> by 40'. From this, I determined that the UFO had an approximate diameter of 40', give or take a few inches.

ADDENDUM

The following are the personal accounts of two eyewitnesses who said they saw UFOs during the fall of 1975. They are listed in chronological order:

Name of witness: Jim Bett
Date of incident: October 23, 1975
Interviewed on: Monday, December 8, 1997

"Okay. My name is Jim Bett. I was transferred to Levack in 1958 from Sudbury. And as the years went by, in 1972, I transferred to McReedy West Mine, near Levack. And I've been working there for about 15 - 20 years on heavy machinery equipment. One night, October 23, 1975, at approximately about 12:20, I was working 4 to 12 shift on that week. And that particular night, I was driving home, close to Sudbury, at Murray Mine on the old Levack highway. And there was a railroad track just before you get to the underpass, at that time. While I was driving past the railroad track, on my left-hand side, I seen something quite bright, which I thought was the moon. And then I got thinking there for a few seconds. I was still driving on the highway, slowing down. And I looked on my right-hand side and I could see the moon there. That night was very clear. I drove slowly underneath the old underpass close to Copper Cliff. And when I passed that, I could still see the moon on my right-hand side. And I was slowly driving down again, towards the old slag dump. And there was a conveyer belt that was going across the highway, at that time. And there was kind of a little stretch there, pretty straight down, I would say. And then, I lost that light, there, where I had seen it just a few minutes before. It was kind of standing still...it was right above an aerial. I think it must have been a radio lantern or something? (Television tower -- MMD). It was quite high, anyway. And I could see that object there, roughly fifteen-hundred feet above it and it was still. I had my window down and I couldn't hear any noise. And as I was driving, going towards it for a little ways, I had a feeling it was kind of draining my mind or something. And I got even closer, and then, there was a right-hand turn on that road, at that time going by the old Belton Hotel. And as I was getting closer to the Belton Hotel, this object just took off within seconds...with a flash. It seemed to me that it disappeared on its way down above Elm Street. In other words, it went from the Mine Mill Hall, going down to the old YMCA there, on Elm Street. So I stopped at the corner there, close to the Mine Mill Hall, just to see if I could see anything else. Then, all of a sudden, it came right back...just like a flash. And it came right above my car, there, maybe two thousand feet high. And it stopped again, just a couple of blocks past the Mine Mill Hall. I stayed there for another couple of minutes to watch it which, at that time, it was on my left-hand side. It could have been there maybe 15 - 20 seconds. And then, it disappeared again, the same way as it did, the first time...coming down Elm Street. It disappeared just like a flash. I stayed there for a couple more minutes to see it again, and no, I didn't see anything else. It didn't come back."

"And...I'm just coming back there for...on my track here just for a couple of seconds here. When I was seeing this, as I was approaching it, it was draining my mind. It looked something like a big birthday cake with three stages. The bottom part was kind of bigger, and the middle was a little smaller and the top was a little smaller yet. And it had something like gold colour, and some white colour, and some light blue. As I was coming down Elm Street, I noticed a police car by the court house. I was kind of driving slowly >cause I was feeling kind of drained. And I was debating if I was gonna let those officers know what I just saw, a few minutes ago. So anyway, I approached the car by the court house on Elm Street, and I decide to stop. So I go ahead of the car, then I came back and I was talking to the two police officers in the car. And I mentioned that to them. They told me they didn't see anything because they were writing some kind of a report and their light in the car was on, so they were not looking outside at the time. I just told them what I just saw. And I got the feeling they were kind of...maybe laughing or grinning a little bit, but I was expecting that. So anyway, I told them what I saw. And I said: well, if you believe me, fine. If you don't, I don't care, I said. I'm going right now to the bowling alley, which was on Notre Dame (Avenue). I said I'm going down there to have a bite to eat, then I'll be going home. The police officer asked me where I lived, so I told him I lived in the Flour Mill area. And I said I work in Levack and this is the 4 to 12 shift, and I mentioned to the officers I have not been drinking and I'm not on dope. I'm perfectly healthy. I work in heavy equipment machinery in which you've got to be on your toes."

"Anyway, I gave my report to them and then I drove to the bowling alley on Notre Dame and I had a hamburger and a coffee. And then, I got home at one-thirty (a.m.). When I got home, I sat at the table, reading my Star and then, I got a phone call from the radar station. And I was kind of surprised >cause I figured, well heck, maybe they (the police) wouldn't even bother reporting to them. The radar station asked me some questions. So I told them exactly what I had just mentioned in my story. The radar station, they answered me back that what I had seen was below the radar line. This is what they had mentioned to me and they told me that they did not see anything on their radar. I said: I don't care if you seen something on the radar or not, but I'm just telling you what I saw."

"After the phone call from the radar station, I did not tell my wife or family anything, at that time. I took a sleeping pill and I went to bed. The next day, I went back to work. The following night, I was still kind of pale-looking from what my family had told me. And I had to take another pill for that night, as well. On the third night, I did not take any pill. But I was feeling kind of drained or something like that. And the family knew all about it."

(NOTE: Mr. Bett said that the draining feeling was like someone had placed a vacuum cleaner to his face and was sucking the energy right out of him.)

Name of witness: Ed Davies
Date of incident: November 11, 1975
Interviewed on: Sunday, March 9, 1997

"My name is Ed Davies. I worked for INCO for thirty years. Back in November 11th, 1975, my wife and I were on our way back from Sundridge, at 10 or 11 o'clock at night. On this side of Wannapitae, we seen what looked like just a pencil of light. And I figured, well, maybe a DC9 with, you know, just the cabin lights on. I got up over a hill and around a corner, and started down toward the village of Wannapitae, and it turned on its side. It took a swoop down across the river so fast, I couldn't believe it. And then, it swung and went parallel to the highway and I chased it...I chased it up the highway...80 miles an hour...all the way to the Garson-Coniston road. No flashing lights... there was no flashing lights whatsoever. Just, for all the world, a full moon. And it was so quick, coming down, when it took that run down and swooped over the river, if there was a dome on top, it was too quick for you to see. When I followed it up the highway, it never changed one way or another. It was just like a full moon coming along with you, and that was it. No exhaust trail. No noise, either. And then it swung...it took a turn to the right and it went over them big rocky hills there alongside the Garson-Coniston road, and that's the last I seen of it. I've never seen one since."

"The guy in front, boy, he flew around the blinders, I'll tell ya. I don't know how he didn't upset her (his car -- MMD). Swerved off to the side of the road, and I just went by him 'cause he wasn't in my way. But it sure scared the hell out of him, I'll tell ya. It had to, the way he stopped."

"But you see, I can understand a lot of people if they don't want to say anything. They THINK they might have seen something. But I have no goddamn doubts whatsoever. To this day, I mean, we didn't think we seen something...I chased the son of a bitch up the road all that distance. Now, what the hell it was, it wasn't from around here anyway. There is no way...there's no way in hell could it be human occupants in that thing. 'Cause when it took the swoop down across the river, it's...nobody, nobody could withstand the G force. I mean, what the hell's the record...eight, nine Gs or something like that before blackout? But this was just, you know, it was instant!"

"I only regret now that they didn't have camcorders back then. Because it would have been so easy, hey...you had the window down...it would have been so easy just to track that thing all the way up, you know. Because it couldn't have been...oh I guess, it'd be...I'd say maybe a hundred and fifty feet...or maybe less...off to the side of the road. And it could've been more than a hundred and fifty, two hundred feet high. Because before you go up that long hill, hey, this side of Wannapitae, the hills behind are pretty high. And we could see the top of the hills above the top of that (the object), hey. So, you know, not too high. I have a pretty good idea of judgment of distance because I hunted for years, you know, when I was a kid and everything...I know the difference between a hundred feet and a hundred yards. And the speed, I remember that...it just maintained a steady eighty miles an hour. I'd like to see one like that again."

(NOTE: I asked Ed about the size and color of the object and he replied: "forty to fifty feet, anyway. And just as bright...just a bright yellow, just like a moon...just like looking at the moon. But it sure as hell wasn't the moon, to chase up the goddamn highway! No, there was no lights on it. It was all the one colour."

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, this incident is only one of several such cases concerning UFO intrusions over or near military installations. It would be interesting to find out if anyone else has ever reported seeing UFOs near military bases long after they've been abandoned. In any case, I think these incidents are not exclusive to the past. Who knows what the future will bring?