SUBJECT: 3/88 LAKE ERIE UFO REPORT - MUFON FILE: UFO1396
N.E. OHIO FLAP by Richard P. Dell'Aquila
Richard P. Dell'Aquila and Dale B. Wedge, MUFON State Section
Directors for Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula Counties (Ohio) have
been investigating a series of sightings, beginning about March 4, 1988
and seemingly centered around the Perry Nuclear Plant, and the CEI coal
burning plant at Eastlake, both on the shore of Lake Erie, east of
Cleveland, Ohio. March 4th was a clear, crisp nigh t and the stars were
clearly visible, especially to the north over the lake where there are no
city.
lights. Venus and Jupiter were bright and in close proximity to each
other in the western sky. At about 6:30 P.M., S.B. (name and address
provided to MUFON) and her children were driving home to Eastlake along the
lake shore when they observed a large blimp-like object with bright white
lights at each end, hovering over the lake and rocking end to end l ike a
"teeter-totter." One light was brighter t han the other and was strobing.
On arriving home, she asked her husband to accompany her to the beach about
200 yards north for a closer view of the object which they later described
as "larger than a football held at arm's length." She and her husband
walked onto the beach. The noiseless object was gun metal gray and seemed
to cause the ice on the lake to rumble and crack loudly in an unusual way
which frightened her. The witnesses had to shout to be heard by ea ch
other, and were surpr ised that no dogs were out barking as would have been
expected.
After observing the object for a while, the couple became concerned for
the safety of their children in the car when the object revolved slowly
about 90 degrees, coming almost overhead (about 1/4 mile high) and pointing
its "front" end down toward them. They drove the children home and
continued watching the object from their living room window which fac es
the lake. A neighbor was phoned and she and her son went to the beach,
reporting the same thing. They took photographs which did not turn out.
The object began to descend and the witnesses returned to the beach, where
it was now observed to have red and blue blinking lights along its bottom
edge. It emitted 5 or 6 noiseless, intensly bright yellow triangular
lights from its side. They intermittently hovered around the larger
object, darted and zig-zagged into the night sky at velocities far in
excess of known aircraft. Mr. B stated the triangular objects we re smaller
than a one-seat Cessna and "crossed 50 mile stretches low over the ice in
the snap of a finger." They were said to be able to approach the shore,
turn abrupt right angles due east toward the Perry Nuclear Plant about 12
miles away, climbing rapidly and returning again, all within several
seconds. By this time, a Coast Guard patrol vehicle had arrived on the
beach in response to S.B.'s several phone calls. The triangular objects
came closer t o the shore, causing the witnesses to become concerned that
the lights on the Coast Guard vehicle would attract the objects and the
lights were turned off. The triangles continued to fly off at high speed
northward over the lake and eastward toward the Perry Nuclear Plant. About
an hour later, they returned one at a time into the large ship, which then
landed on the ice. Several multi-colored lights now came on for about 5
minutes
(Page 1 of 3) on the bottom of the object "in a wave like a mo vie theater
sign" and the brighter white light on the end began strobing red and white.
When these went off, the ice stopped making noise and everything became
"dead silent." The object could no longer be seen within about a half hour
and it was assumed to have gone below the surface. The next day, unusually
huge pieces of broken ice were observed in the area of the landing.
The Coast Guard informed Mr. and Mrs. B the followi ng day that the Army
and NASA, whom S.B. had also phoned, instructed them no t to investigate
the matter further or go out on the lake in their cutter to examine the ice
in the area of the landing, since the matter was "out of their league and
out of their hands." They informed the couple that all information was
being forwarded to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and a facility in
Detroit, Michigan. In response to a Coast Guard inquiry, Wright-Patterson
refused to confirm or deny any interest in these activities. O n the next
night, the same witnesses observed sever al triangular objects over the
lake for about 45 minutes. By the time Coast Guard personnel arrived on
the scene, the objects were gone. On March 7, 1988, the Cleveland Plain
Dealer and Lake County News-Herald carried articles which attributed a
series of reports of large brightly lit objects over Lake Erie on the prior
weekend to several witnesses'misidentification of the planets Venus and
Jupiter. The newspaper accounts indicated that the Fairport Harbor Coast
Guard went to the area and saw a large bright object that seemed to
dispurse smaller, bright multi-colored objects. But when they called the
local air traffic controllers, they were "informed" that Jupiter and Venus
were in alignment and that the colors were the result of "spontaneous gas
emissions from the two planets." One article even attributed this amazing
explanation to a professor of astronomy at a local university. On reading
the articles, Dell'Aquila felt it was unlikely that U.S. Coast Guard
personnel, trained in navigation and identification of basic celestial
objects such as the planets, could have made such a gross
misidentification. Likewise, the statement attributed to the professor of
astronomy was equally unacceptable, in that no other similar "spontaneous
gas emission" from the planets cited, of the necessary magnitude, had ever
been noted, particulary on this weekend. In the course of the follow-up
investigation by Dell'Aquila and Wedge, a Coast Guard incident report was
found (p res ently in MUFON's possession) which states that Coast Guard
personnel responded to several calls reporting UFOs over Lake Erie on the
night of March 4, 1988. When the Coast Guard arrived, the report confirms
that a large object "dispersed 3-5 smaller flying objects that were zipping
around rather quickly. These objects had red, green white, and yellow
lights on them that strobed intermittently. They also had the ability to
stop and hover in mid-flight." The incident report confirms Mr. and Mrs. B
's reports, including the abnormal cracking of the ice as the object came
closer to it and apparently landed. "The smaller objects began hovering in
the area where the large object landed (about 1/4 mile east of the CEI
power plant) and after a few minutes they began flying around again." The
report states that, "One of the small objects turned on a spotlight where
the large object had been, but [the Coast Guard personnel] could not see
anything, and then the object seemed to disappear. Another ob ject
approached [these personnel] approximately 500 yards offshore about 20 feet
above the ice, and it began moving closer as [the Coast Guard] began
flashing its headlights, then it moved off to the west."
(Page 2 of 3)
A subsequent Coast Guard report (also in possession of MUFON) prepared
after the sightings of the following night attributes the sightings to
misidentifications of the planets Venus and Jupiter and says, "the fla
shing lights are gases in the at mosphere...Request incident closed this
unit." In response to a classified advertisement placed by the
investigators, other witnesses contacted Dell'Aquila and Wedge, and
have been interviewed as the investigation continues. On the same night
(March 4th) at about 10:00 P.M., and continuing until approximately 10:30
P.M., C.H. (name and address provided to MUFON) also reported a UFO near
her home, which is a few miles south of the lake shore and just east of
the Perr y Nuclear Plant. C.H. was walking a puppy when she noticed the
stationary triangular object in the southeasterly sky. It was much
brighter than the moon, and seemed to upset the puppy, which she took back
indoors. Returning outdoors, she reported that the object began
sequentially flashing multi-colored lights, suspended in rows below the
base of the triangle. The witness responded by flashing her cigarette
lighter and the UFO's light pattern beca me more erratic. At one point,
the triangle revolved clockwise, turning it s apex about 90 degrees to
a horizontal position, but still flashing the rows of light. After several
minutes, it turned back counter-clockwise as it simultaneously accelerated
away to the south at a high rate of speed, disappearing behind some trees.
No noise or odor was reported. At about 10:30 P.M. that night T.K. (name
and address provided to MUFON), took a photograph in his back yard, within
a few miles of the Perry Nuclear Plant, showing a portion of a brightly lit
triangular object travelling across the sky (Photograph in possession of
MUFON). This object was later confirmed by Mr. and Mrs. B and C.H. to be
identical to the triangular objects they were also observing about the same
time a few miles away, and is also similar to one reported to Phil
Imbrogno as having been near the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in New
York State on the same night. T.K. and his friend were outdoors on the
night of March 4th, observing the stars throu gh his telescope. Venus and
Jupiter were reported to be in the western sky behind a stand of trees.
While looking southward through the telescope, out of the corner of his
left eye, T.K. noticed a bright, moving object in the sky. He and his
friend were awe-struck by the triangular object, but he did have the
presence of mind to take 3 photographs with a small "snapshot" type camera
loaded with Kodak 110 color film, with which they had intended to
photograph stars through the telescope. Only one photograph turned out. It
is the l ast in the series, taken while panning ahead of the object, and
shows the front portion of the triangle. The object was described as about
3-4 inches tall at arm's length and glowing an intense yellow/orange to
white, with a bright orange/red glow behind it. It seemed to pulse
brighter and dimmer, moving in a roughly southwesterly direction until it
was obscured by trees. As it moved, it accelerated, slowed and accelerated
again. No sound or smell was noted, although his dog had a strong reaction
, running in circles and tugging on T.K.'s sleeve, apparently in an attempt
to urge him away from the object.
Total time of observation was a few minutes. Dell'Aquila and Wedge continue
to receive reports of additional UFOs over the same period, some supported
by photographs, as the sightings continue to the date of this writing.
Supplementary reports will be provided as the investigation of the flap
progresses.
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