Newspaper report on UFOs 5
The following a is a transcript of an interviewof the photographer of a bright triangularobject on March 4, 1988 near the eEaslLake ErieUFO sighting area. On March 19, 1988, a separate witness from W1 and W2 was interviewed by Richard P. Dell'Aquila (RD) and Dale B. Wedge (DW) concerning a UFO sighting he had on the night of March 4, 1988 (contemporaneously with the Coast Guard sighting that night at Eastlake, Ohio) a few miles south of the Perry nuclear plant, during which the witness attempted to take a series of photographs of an unknown brightly lit triangular object. The witness will be designated herein as "W3". The immediate area of the sighting is a circular clearing, which forms the witness's yard in a heavily wooded area of southern Lake County, Ohio. The witness's home is at the western edge of the clearing and he observed the unknown object from the center of the clearing. The witness has an above average understanding of astronomy, describing various stars, constellations, citing information on up-coming meteor showers, and noting that Venus and Jupiter (which were in apparent close proximity in the sky that night) were observed through the tall trees on the western edge of his property. This is a partial transcript of his testimony: DW Please give us a description as to what occurred on the night in question. W3 Okay, my friend and I were at my house and he had never seen any stars or moon or anything through the telescope, so we took it out and we saw a neat looking planet with the telescope and we decided we were going to take a picture of it. I went in and got my camera and when we were getting [the telescope] focused, I looked up and saw this bright red, reddish-orange light in the Southeast. I grabbed my friend's arm and pointed it out to him. He looked and we were both just stunned. We didn't know what to do. Finally, I came to my senses and took two pictures of it and got a glance of it through the telescope, but no better than the picture is. I was going to take another picture, when it sped up too fast for me to take the picture. It was going slow, and then all of a sudden, it just sped up and I couldn't get a focus on it to get a picture. Then it disappered behind trees. The dog ran up to me and started grabbing my arm and pull me in the house, like it wanted me to hide or something or to get away. It started acting real weird-running around and jumping around and trying to get my friend inside. It just kept pulling us, like it wanted us to go inside away from it.DW About what time was this in the evening?W3 About 10:30.RD Do you remember the night, what night it was?W3 March 4th. DW Did this object, or whatever, make any sound? What alerted you to the fact it was there?W3 Well, I just lifted my head and it was so bright that it caught my attention out of my peripheral vision.DW How long did it last? How long did the entire sighting last?W3 About two minutes.DW What was it doing? Can you give us a description?W3 When I first saw it, it was going real slow...DW From which direction to which direction?W3 East to West. It started in the East and it was going slow and then it sped up and disappeared behind the trees...[when it sped up it went] faster than a jet. When it first started it was slower than a jet, then it went faster than a jet. It sped up and I couldn't even get a picture of it because it was going too fast.DW It went down behind some trees?W3 It was just going in a straight line and there were trees in the way so I couldn't see it any more. Then we drove into Thompson up onto the big hill and into a clearing and we couldn't see it anymore.DW Did it make any noise?W3 No, not that we know. We didn't hear anything. (At this point, the witness was asked to make a drawing of the object)W3 (Drawing) It was in this shape and the back part of it here was glowing it would get real bright and would be orange, but then it would get dim again and then all you would see would be the rear and it would get real bright again. It was almost like a flashing light whenever it went out.RD When the brightness changed, was there any change in the motion of the object? Did it speed up, slow down, move up or down or flutter like a leaf in the wind, anything like that?W3 No, it just was moving across the sky and kept glowing and geting dim, glowing and getting dim.RD So, you didn't notice any apparent connection between the alternating frequency of the brightness of it and the motion of it? W3 No.(The MUFON Investigators' Manual was used at this point and the witness selected certain drawings as representative of the apparent size and shape of the object)W3 It was like a triangle shape, but had little tails, like, coming out of the ends.RD You mentioned the object had a glow, which you diagrammed here on the left-hand side of it. Could you draw an arrow on the page to show which direction it was moving?W3 It was moving in this direction [away from the observed glow]RD What brand name camera did you use?(Information on the camera and film used by the witness was taken, an Argus 20, Kodak 110 color film, no special developing process used)RD Examining the photograph, is this right side up? Is the point, the apex of the triangle upward or downward?W3 Upward. RD Give us an estimate of how far away it was. I know you mentioned it went behind some trees at one point. Do you know how far those trees were from you?W3 Those are in my yard. It went to where I couldn't see it anymore somewhere over Thompson. Maybe not even a mile away.(The interview continued)RD (Referring to a streak of light across the triangular object on the photograph) Did you see this blue streak with the naked eye or was this something that surprised you...W3 It was something that surprised me when I saw the picture. In the picture you can see part of the little fin I was talking about that it has on it...where it comes down and like curves out.(The witness's drawing was labelled in reference to the photograph, biographical information concerning the witness was obtained and the MUFON investigative forms were filled)RD What was the sky like that night?W3 Perfectly clear. Not even a little layer of clouds. RD You mentioned you were out looking at some planets. What planets did you notice in the sky?W3 Well, Venus and Jupiter were set behind the trees. They were nowhere near where we were looking. We were just looking at different stars.RD Which direction were you looking in when you first observed the object?W3 East by Southeast.RD Describe its motion again. Other than speeding up and slowing down, did it change direction or muve up or down or exhibit any kind of fluttering or swaying motion?W3 From the angle that we saw it, we couldn't see anything other than it was speeding up and slowing down.RD You mentioned a situation with your dog. Could you fill that in for us?W3 We were by the telescope. We were both standing there. The dog kept running around and acting real weird before we even saw it. It was running around acting real playful, but a different kind of playful. She never acted like that before. When we did see it, she came over and she started tugging on my arm and trying to nudge us into the house...nudging us to get away from there or something. She just acted real weird. She kept running around like towards the door and...just can't explain everything she did...she just ran around and acted so funny.DW You said you were outside? Did you view it from inside at all or from a car, or...W3 No.DW You stated you saw it through your still camera. Did you see it through your telescope?W3 A little bit, yes. Only like a glance of it though, because I couldn't keep the telescope on it. I aimed the telescope ahead of where it was heading and then when it did get there it was in and out real fast, but I did get a glance of it. (The witness later demonstrated his location at the time and the positioning of the telescope and its tripod).DW Did you run in then and get the camera or did you have the camera with you?W3 I had the camera in my hand when I saw it. RD Did you have any special reason to have the camera with you?W3 Well yeah, we were going to try to take pictures of these planets, like through the telescope.DW Is there an airport near your home?W3 There's a small one.DW About how far away is that?W3 It's in North Madison, towards the lake.DW It's north of where you're at?W3 Yes.DW Is there any power lines near where you live...major power lines, like power stations?W3 Yes, but not real close.DW Any railroad tracks near-by?W3 Way north.DW Tell us again what the sky conditions were like?W3 Perfectly clear. There was no clouds; I didn't see any planes anywhere, nothing, nothing but stars.DW You said the object...where did you first see it...where was it?W3 In about the Southeast.DW When you last saw it where was it?W3 In the South. It was heading from...it was like south of us and coming from east to west. We saw it ovewr here and it kept moving across and went behind the trees and we couldn't see it anymore.DW Figuring tht's the horizon (gesturing) and that being a quarter and that being a half, and this three quarters, where would it be on the horizon?W3 About a half. It was just above the trees.RD If straight up was 90 degrees and straight ahead was 0 degrees, how many degrees would that have been?W3 About 40-45. DW When it was closest to you, how far away do you think it was?W3 Probably somewhere around a mile.DW How far off the ground do you think it was?W3 I wouldn't know because there are so many trees around my house, you can't tell.DW Did this pass in front of you, behind you?W3 It went in front of us. It started to my left and went in front of us.DW Were there any airplanes or anything in the area? W3 No.DW Anything before you saw the object?W3 There was an airplane about an hour and a half before.DW How about afterwards?W3 No.DW Was there any sound at all?W3 No. Just silent.DW Did you sense anything--smell--feel anything?W3 No. We felt like...just...weird. We didn't know what it was. We didn't know what was going to happen. We were stunned, excited. We weren't really afraid of it...DW You've seen the speed of a jet as it flies over?W3 Yes.DW Compared to the speed of a jet, what would you estimate the speed of this object?W3 Well, when we first saw it it was going a little bit slower than a jet and we weren't really sure what it was. Then when it sped up, it was going faster than a jet would go. We knew then for sure that it wasn't a jet oir plane or something, because it changed speed so fast.DW (Estimate the size) W3 It was so big you can't explain it. Just a real big light in the sky...as tall as our house and about as big around (two story house with a full attic).DW Was it as bright as a star?W3 Much, much, much brighter than Venus was, because I know how bright Venus was and it was a lot brighter than Venus.DW How about the moon?W3 Not quite that bright. It was real bright within itself. It didn't make a big bright space around it like the moon would. It was just...it was bright in that little area.RD Did you notice if it lit up anything on the ground? Did it cause any shadows to be cast?W3 No.RD Did it leave a trail?W3 No. Nothing that we could see. This was the only thing. (Pointing to the glow behind the object).RD Did it appear solid?W3 Yes.RD Did it have fuzzy edges or hard edges?W3 Probably kind of fuzzy. I don't really think it was solid like a plane would be. A plane when you see it would have hard edges, but this was like...you couldn't really see the edges.RD Did you dog bark or howl or whine?W3 She barked and whined.RD How did she appear...describe her actionsW3 She was kind of protective, like trying toi get us to hide someplace away from it.DW Had she ever done that before?W3 No.RD Did you give her any commands, like "be quite" or "move away," or... W3 Yes, and she wouldn't...like we'll be playing sometime and we'll tell her, "no, be nice," and she'll just lay there and wait, but she wouldn't listen to me she just kept trying to get me away.RD How did she move?W3 She kept running around and going up on her back legs like she was trying to get a hold of our coats or something.RD Did her hair stand on end?W3 Yes. Her fur on the back of her neck.RD How is she now?W3 She's fine.(At this point the witness was asked to draw a diagram of his yard, with a line representing the motion of the object relative to his position that night and the investigators went to the site where additional information was obtained and photographs were taken).
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