Date: January 8, 2006
Location: Zdany, Poland

A series of photographs was taken during an encounter with a metallic object by multiple witnesses near Zdany, Poland, in January 2006. Two men were returning from a wedding party when they spotted an object flying across the road. A moment later, their car engine stopped, as well as the engine of another car behind them. One of the witnesses took a series of photographs. The encounter lasted at least 8 minutes, after which the car engines started with no problems.

Photo #1 in the series of photographs taken in Zdany, Poland. (Photos have been slightly
cropped from the originals.)

Photo #2. The hood of the stopped car appears in the bottom foreground.

Photo #4 in the series.

Photo #5 in the series.

Photo #3 in the series, showing a cropped version of the original.

Close-ups of the object as it appears in the series of photographs.

Source: Nautilus Foundation, Poland

Below is an English translation of a witness interview, as well as a short description of this photographic case from Poland. The series of photographs and the following information has been provided by Mr. Wojciech Bobilewicz of the Nautilus Foundation in Warsaw, Poland, the research group which is investigating this case.

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The object immobilized two cars, and was moving extremely swiftly and without noise. What is most important – it has been observed with a naked eye!

It is Sunday, January 8, 2006. Two men are returning from a wedding party. Both asked for their anonymity to be preserved, so we shall only use their first names – Maciej (Matthew), 65, is driving, and Zbyszek, 60, sits in the passenger seat. The atmosphere in the car is merry; the passenger is actually still very tipsy. And – an important factor in the whole story – he has a still camera, quite good at that: an Olympus. He was using the camera to photograph dancing couples but on this day, it will turn out that having it enabled him to take one of the best UFO photographs in the world. They drive towards a town called Terespol, or – to be more precise – towards a smaller town called Miedzyrzec Podlaski. It is approx. 12:30 when their navy-blue Polonez car approaches the so-called "black spot", so called because for many years, there have been many tragic road accidents happening in this exact place (this detail may turn out to be of great importance). The "spot" is situated at the international European route E30, 10 kilometres behind the city of Siedlce as one drives towards Terespol, approximately where the villages of Zdany and Zbuczyn Poduchowny are located. Seeing the "black spot", they slow down, but suddenly, less than a hundred yards away, they see… something big, metallic and shiny flying across the road! Matthew, who is driving the car, is convinced that some kids are making fun of drivers by… throwing a huge bowl. A moment later, the car’s engine stops. There is, however, another detail that must not escape our attention. Another car is running behind with Russian registration plates, a passenger minibus. And its engine stops at exactly the same moment! Both drivers step out of their cars, open the hood and try to start their engines. Zbyszek, the passenger, also steps out of the car. He is holding a camera – it’s a perfect opportunity! In the cloudless sky, a condensation trail of a jet plane is clearly visible. Without much thinking, he starts taking pictures, but he suddenly notices something strange slowly moving over the fields. The object is big, about two metres in diameter, and it reminds two bowls welded together at the edges! It is metallic – sunlight is reflected from its surface. No engine can be heard, there is no fumes or smoke, but… a very strong wind starts blowing in gusts! It is also of importance, as there was no wind so strong on that day. Zbyszek starts making pictures of the unidentified object. At one point, the UFO starts a swift ascent and instantly flies away. All in all, the "two bowls" were moving around the two cars for almost 8 minutes! When the object disappears, the engines of both cars start with no problems.

This article should only be treated as a prelude to the whole affair. There is still a lot of work for us to do; we are completing the materials but even now we can say the most important thing: this story happened for real!

Here is an excerpt from a conversation that we had on February 19, 2006 with Maciej (Matthew), the car’s driver.

(NAUTILUS Foundation) So you were driving back from a wedding party?
(Maciej T): I was driving my acquaintance back home. And God knows. Something flew over me. I thought that maybe some squirts threw something over the car. You know? The car stalled; there was some Russian guy driving behind me – he also stopped with this bus. I have no idea. I got out and there is nothing around! I look to the other side – there was something. I don't know, I was just looking at a plane… and I won't tell you what it was. I am a mechanic, I look around and check and everything is fine with the car. What the heck, there is no power, no lights, no nothing… He had some camera, I don't have a clue. And he says, come on, I'm going to take some pictures of you. Take them, why not! And I was running around the car with a screwdriver. And I got scared, too, because there is this black spot over there where many people died in accidents…
(FN): What did the object look like?
(MT): God knows what it was! How shall I know? Got no clue… What I know is that the car stalled and the Russian bus behind me also got stopped. The Russian guy got out of the bus and was running around…
(FN): So his car went out of power too?
(MT): Yep, it stalled too. We were both standing. Maybe half an hour, we were walking around. I had a look at the engine. There was no power at all. After all, I am a mechanic so I know if an engine can stop abruptly or not. Some half an hour, I don’t know, maybe it was half an hour, I turned the ignition key and the car started. I got goose bumps, I say 'I'm getting out of here, there are so many crosses here and lights, I don't know what's going on in here.'… People drive scared in this place. I have no clue, that's all.
(FN): And your friend, did he…
(MZ): The other guy says he absolutely doesn't agree to any stuff. And I says: 'well, I can tell you what the thing I saw was, but I am not knowledgeable about these things…'
(FN): We are so nice and friendly that if he could spare five minutes for us…
(MZ): I see your point but he doesn't want, simply doesn't want. As for me… I don't care. I was driving and I know, I saw this thing. What it was – I have no clue.
(FN): OK, but what did you think about this object when you saw it?
(MZ): When I was looking I thought that some punks must have thrown some bowl at me from a ditch, over the car, it flew sort of in front of the car. I says 'damn it, they don't have better things to do…' I jumped out and I says 'I'm gonna kick your asses' but there is no one around… And the Russian stopped behind me… Other cars didn't stop. So I look what is wrong with the car but everything is fine. And the car started by itself. I have no idea what it was…
(FN): Did you have a close look at the object?
(MZ): I only saw it once up in the sky and it was against the sun and I cannot see very well against the sun cos my eyes are damaged from welding. How shall I say, it's as if it was nickeled, twisted sheet metal…
(FN): But what did you feel then, can you describe that moment?
(MZ): I got scared! Cos there are crosses and lights every five meters there. 'Dammit', I says, 'people get killed here, so I need to fix this scrap and drive away from this place.' I was scared…
(FN): Did you really think somebody was throwing a bowl?
(MZ) When I saw it, I says 'did they throw something at me or what.' Is there anybody really disturbing drivers? Some guy will not be careful and will hit another… but there was nobody there. No living soul. Only the gusts of wind blowing. It didn't blow initially. At least I couldn't feel it in the car. I got out of the car. And the other guy is still tipsy after the wedding so he keeps laughing at me...
(FN): So how many of you were in the car?
(MZ): Two!
(FN): Have you ever seen anything like that object?
(MZ): Me, I saw something like that for the first time in my life. I’m saying, I got scared myself cos there is this black spot there… 'God knows,' I says, 'what’s going on here.' Every bit of the road there is a cross with a light and here is my wheezing car refusing to go. What happened??? The Russian keeps running round his car and gets under it. I ask him what happened. ‘Nichevo,’ [= nothing] ‘I don’t know.’ So I didn’t know either…
(FN): Did the Russian driver see the object hovering around your cars?
(MZ): Well I don't know if he saw it or not, as I approached him later. He was throwing his cap in desperation, running around the car… So was I. How was I supposed to know what happened? The guy keeps shouting at me, saying he's cold, he wants to go home, but I says 'look what happened?' And there was a plane flying, there was a trail in the sky. It was sunny. And wind started. When I was driving the car it was not gusting. And I have been a driver for so many years… so I would feel the wind! Bare field… I got scared, so many people died here! God knows… they say all sort of rubbish about strange things happening here.
(FN): Coming back to your car: do you know what may have caused your engine to stop?
(MZ): Well about power I know for sure cos there was nothing working in this car, and it's unlikely that the battery can charge itself within 20 minutes or half an hour. I've been a mechanic for 30 years so I know these things!
(FN): Were you looking for some fault in the engine as you were standing in the road?
(MZ): I was going around, looking everywhere!
(FN): Didn't you think that the object was something exceptional?
(MZ): But I saw something like that first time in my life! This moron keeps laughing at me cos he was a bit tight, so I says 'take a photo!' 'Stop, I will take a photo of you!' 'So take it!' 'But do you see this thing?' 'Yes, I can see it!' 'Over there, against the sun…'
(FN): But didn’t you think that this whole affair with the object was something really rare?
(MZ) I’m telling you, I didn't pay much attention to it! It is only when I saw these crosses, I remembered what place I've found myself in…
(FN): Why only four pictures of this object? Why so few?
(MZ): Before he set up the camera I was at the car, tinkering with it, and he was shooting me there… And how this thing was flying there… He saw it later, cos I says: 'dammit, I don’t care. I will fix the car and let's get outa here so that nobody hits me.' And he was running around on the fields and taking pictures of this thing!

Here are the parameters of the pictures:

- width: 2048 pixels
- height: 1536 pixels
- horizontal resolution: 72 dpi
- vertical resolution: 72 dpi
- depth in bits: 24
- number of frames: 1
- camera make: OLYMPUS Corporation
- Model: X100, D540Z, C310Z
- graphic software: v775u-78
- color matrix/pattern: sRGB
- flash mode: -
- focal length: 6 mm
- F number: F/4.1
- shutter speed: 1/1250 s
- ISO speed: 50
- metering mode: pattern
- light source: unknown
- exposure program: unknown
- EV compensation: 0 step
- date: 2006-01-08 12.34

"It simply defies description!"

INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT BERNATOWICZ (RB)
Interviewer: ?ukasz Bartecki (?B)

?B: In percentage, what are your bets that the photos are real?
RB: 100%. Having heard a conversation with the witness, I got rid of any illusions. A man such as Maciej (Matthew) is not capable of lying, such "acting" is out of the question. He saw something which stopped two cars, was hovering around the place and had a shape of two bowls connected at the edges. It sounds like an X-Files-type of movie scenario, but it really happened.
?B: What is so mind boggling about these pictures?
RB: Everything. We received phone calls saying that "if they are real, the world has not yet seen anything like that!" I think there is a lot of truth to that statement…
?B: What is most shocking?
RB: I will tell you what shocked me the most. Firstly, I need to mention credibility of the witness, his good nature when he was telling me about – let me quote – "this thing hovering around the car." But from among the four pictures there is one exceptionally phenomenal, the one showing how the whole horizon is reflected from the object’s surface… And everything fits in place, down to the minute detail! One can see a tree, a standing car, even the fact that it’s hood is opened… I have never seen anything like that! I keep receiving a lot of material from the world, from the US, but I have not seen anything like that. It simply defies description!
?B: What is the greatest difficulty in the research of this case?
RB: Yes, there is a problem. The problem are the participants of this event. The driver, Maciej (Matthew), has finally agreed to meet us after many weeks' convincing. Of course he was begging us not to disclose his surname because… he was afraid of the reaction of his environment, people around him. The author of the photos is a certain kind of personality; by the way I met him on numerous occasions as I was doing my journalist work. He is simply utterly disinterested in the whole thing and there is absolutely no way he will meet to discuss it. The fact that he has made some of the best UFO pictures in the world has zero value to him. That's the kind of a person he is.
?B: Don't you think that it only gives credence to the whole story?
RB: It's obvious. If we encounter a pushy person who has made some strange photos and with no sensitivity, with full boorishness he shows these pics to anyone at hand – we must treat such a man with, say, some distance. Unfortunately we do have a record of such cases, sometimes they border with some mental disease. Here, the situation is entirely opposite – the author of the photographs wants to be left alone.
?B: How do you evaluate those events?
RB: Using boxing terminology, I would say that it was a "full contact fight!" First we have this object flying over a road, then engines stop in two cars, and then an unidentified object is doing a show in the sky. I don't know if anything like that… it's really a unique story.
?B: Do you think that the "black spot" is of any significance?
RB: Certainly. We have only begun collecting data and facts concerning this issue. But even now we know that some very mysterious things have been happening here. And I do not only mean road accidents and the number of people killed. An example? Last year in the summer a woman was driving out of a side road exactly in that spot. And suddenly, she lost her field of vision! The road signs all became blurred. She could see nothing! She found herself on the road, the main one, and she claims she lost a number of minutes from her life. She was only very lucky that there was no car approaching!
?B: Those lost minutes… can it have any connection to UFOs? It sounds sort of familiar…
RB: It may be exactly as you're saying, I am not excluding such a possibility. There are strange things happening there, and it's a straight road! It is really hard to find an explanation as to why accidents abound exactly there. They are real tragedies… In July last year, three people got killed there – a married couple from Warsaw and a citizen of Belarus. In a straight road, in broad daylight, at noon. They crash, everybody dies. It is really unusual but the locals say that it is precisely there, at the "black spot", that people lose consciousness for a while.
?B: How about all that… can it be connected with this UFO object?
RB: There are two, or even three, possibilities. The first one: there is no connection at all. The second one: this place has some sort of energy which makes people lose their consciousness and therefore get killed in accidents. The third possibility is that object like that one deprive people of consciousness. But I would think the last one is the least credible.
?B: And which one do you think is the most credible?
RB: In this spot, or in its immediate vicinity, there is "something" that influences drivers' behaviour. It is probably this fact that interested our mysterious object which decided to immobilize both vehicles and have a closer look at them…
?B: Do you think they were observing events around the cars?
RB: I have no doubts about it. I'll tell you more: I have a feeling that on that particular day at 12:30 something happened which the participants in this "mysterious engine failure" do not remember. Quite a lot of time had passed, or rather this "something" had quite a lot of time…
?B: Don't you think it may be some military technology?
RB: I think that this whole talk about military technologies is rubbish… I am a journalist and recently I have had many occasions for having a closer look at military technology… it’s no use talking about it. This object, its capability for immobilizing vehicles, they way it moved – all this excludes our earthly technology. And there was this wind…
?B: Exactly! Don't you think that those gusts of wind are interesting?
RB: Yes, the wind was blowing very strongly exactly at the time the object was hovering in proximity of the cars! This wind is very suspicious… we shall have a closer look at it.
?B: And how about the fact that other cars were going with no problem… Isn't it astonishing?
RB: Of course. Note that there was no electric power at all in both vehicles. As the witness is saying, "no single light was switching on, zero!" This would mean that only the two vehicles were encompassed by a force filed that made them immobilized. There was regular traffic in the road all the time… I have certain hypotheses, but I wouldn't like to…
?B: What do you mean?
RB: Well, you know, it's only a hypothesis, but I suspect that there was something huge hanging over the cars… This tiny little thing that we called "Two Bowls" in our project was only a little probe, part of something bigger. But let me stress that it is only a suspicion…
?B: If this was the case, then… what happened on January 8 on the E30 road?!
RB: I can see that for some time, you have been asking increasingly interesting questions…

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Further comments by Mr. Wojciech Bobilewicz (Nautilus Foundation) from correspondence with UFO Evidence:

"I am taking the liberty of attaching an English translation of a witness interview as well as a short description of one such recent Polish case (the translation is rough at times due to the fact that the interviewee speaks a very specific kind of language) together with the pictures..."

"I hope you will find this case interesting and noteworthy."

"Regarding finding out about the case: the president of our Foundation, Mr Robert Bernatowicz, has read about the case in one of Polish tabloids. The newspaper was making a laughing stock out of it and Mr Bernatowicz went to the village to check the facts. Upon researching the case he found out that with almost absolute certainty it was a genuine close encounter case."

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About the Nautilus Foundation:

The Nautilus Foundation was established in 2001 by Mr. Robert Bernatowicz, a radio and TV journalist after the first crop circles were discovered in Wylatowo in northwestern part of Poland.

Source/Credit: Nautilus Foundation, Poland

 

Source: http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case926.htm