Date:
March 15, 1981
Location: Bethesda, Maryland, United States
Martin
Buxbaum was driving with his wife and noticed an unusual
object silhouetted against the dark blue evening sky.
The object had the wingspan of a 717 but was flying low,
he says. It was accented by a row of square windows in
the front and two "cherry red" exhaust lights
to the rear. But most mysterious of all, the object made
no sound at all.
Drawing of the object by witness Martin Buxbaum. (source:
Montgomery Journal)
Source:
Mike M. Ahlers, Montgomery Journal (Chevy Chase, MD),
March 25, 1981
It
was just a week ago, Sunday, when Bethesda's Martin Buxbaum
— best known for his 25-years of editing Hot Shoppe's
restaurant's 'Table Talk' — was driving on
Wilson Lane with his wife and noticed the unusual object
silhouetted against the dark blue evening sky.
The
object had the wingspan of a 717 but was flying low, he
says. It was accented by a row of square windows in the
from and two "cherry red" exhaust lights
to the rear.
But
most mysterious of all, the object made no sound at all
as it continued a straight north-to-south flight, cutting
diagonally across the path of the car, finally becoming
obscured by some trees, Buxbaum said. Nor did it have
port or starboard lights as required by planes flying
at night.
Buxbaum,
author of nine poetry books and a freelance writer whose
stories have appeared in numerous publications including
the National Enquirer, had time to pull the car over by
Pyle Jr. High School and both he and his wife got a good
look at the object, which he estimates was flying at an
altitude of 1,000 feet and speed of 100 mph.
He
is certain that it was a UFO in that it was unidentified,
it was flying and it was an object. But beyond that, he
isn't certain what it was.
"I
think it's man made," Buxbaum said. "I
think it's an experimental aircraft and they're trying
it out at night. For some reason, they don't want it seen."
Who
"they" are is not exactly clear, but
Buxbaum suggests it may have come from nearby military
bases or even a private airpark. Nor is it clear why "they"
don't want it seen.
But
Buxbaum said he saw it and is hoping others will come
forward with an explanation. That "would make
me feel better — that I hadn't blown my cork,"
he said.
"Neither
my wife nor I drink and our eyesight is good."
Upon
returning home, Bubaum drew a sketch of the object and
began listening to the news to see if others had seen
the mysterious flying object.
If
anyone did see it, they haven't reported it to the police,
county police said yesterday. Ironically, one of the last
UFO sightings in the county was reported by three Germantown
district policemen who saw an object about 60 to 75 feet
across and with no clear definition, making quick 90-degree
turns in the skies above Gaithersburg.
Nor
has anyone reported the latest sighting to the Center
for UFO Studies
in Evanstown, III., a clearinghouse for UFO information.
The most recent sighting in the Washington area was a
March 8 sighting by an Adelphi woman. Researchers at the
UFO center believe she saw a lighted advertising plane.
They had no quick explanation for the Buxbaum sighting
but said they would look into it.
Dr.
J. Allen Hynek, director of the center, said the center
usually receives between two and four reported sightings
a night "but most of them can be explained,"
he said.
"Only
about one out of 10 are really puzzling," he
said. "Every thing that glitters is not a UFO."
Source:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case949.htm
