SUBJECT: MUFON REPORTS FILE: UFO2596
PART 6
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Date: Thu Apr 7 20:52:04 1988
From: RICHARD P. DELL'AQUILA (ab114)
Subj: EASTLAKE UFO REPORTED BY COAST GUARD
In a reply to a recent question from Dale Wedge, Page
Stevens has mentioned that an unusual UFO event occurring over
Lake Erie in early March was the result of a misidentification
of the planets Jupiter and Venus which appeared close to each
other in the night sky. Page mentioned that a Coast Guard
report on the incident "agrees fully" with the Venus/Jupiter
hypothesis. The report has been submitted to an astronomer for
his expert opinion as to whether the Venus/Jupiter hypothesis
adequately explains all the phenomena described in the report
by the Coast Guard personnel, also reported by at least a half
dozen other independent witnesses.
The sightings, which have continued unabated for the
past month, have been reported by several independent
witnesses, one of whom took photographs. The case is being
investigated by Rick Dell'Aquila (ab114) and Dale Wedge (ae511)
The document confirms that members of the Coast Guard
saw a group of strange objects cavorting on and near the icy
surface of Lake Erie. A local astronomer attempted to explain
the sightings as resulting from the apparent conjunction of
Jupiter and Venus in the night sky, coupled with "spontaneous
gas emissions" caused by viewing the conjunction through the
Earth's atmosphere.
The incident involves a large blimp-like object, "larger
than the Goodyear blimp," which released up to a half dozen
triangular-shaped lights and objects, in close proximity to the
Perry nuclear power plant and Eastlake coal burning plant, and
multiple independent witnesses, apparent animal reactions, as
well as government documents, and hence qualifies for high-
priority.
The case is officially classified as a Close Encounter
of the Second Kind.
The Coast Guard report reads as follows:
COG: INFO COPIES
CPC DCS DGP DPA B M O OLE OSR 9
FP D9AW
D9 AW DE FP
ISN-FP021
P 051405Z MAR 88
FM COGARD STA FAIRPORT OH//CO//
TO AW/COMCOGARDGRU DETROIT MI//OPS//
INFO D9/CCGDNINE CLEVELAND OH//OSR//
BT
UNCLAS //N16144//
SUBJ: INCIDENT REPORT: UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS
PLANT.
RPTNG A LARGE OBJECT HOVERING OVER THE LAKE AND APPARENTLY ON A
SLOW DESCENT. THE OBJECT HAD A WHITE LIGHT AND WAS APPROX. 1/4
MILE UP. [Blanked] WAS UNABLE TO DETERMINE HOW FAR OUT IT
WAS. THIS UNIT SENT 2 CREWMEMBERS TO INVESTIGATE. BEFORE THEY
ARRIVED O/S, WE RCVD 2 MORE CALLS RPTNG THAT THE OBJECT HAD
APPARENTLY 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.
WHEN MOBILE 02 GO O/S, THEY RPTD THE SAME ACTIVITY. THEY
WATCHED THE OBJECTS FOR APPROX. 1 HOUR BEFORE RPTNG THAT THE
LARGE OBJECT WAS ALMOST ON THE ICE. THEY RPTD THAT THE ICE WAS
CRACKING AND MOVING ABNORMAL AMOUNTS AS THE OBJECT CAME CLOSER
TO IT. THE ICE WAS RUMBLING AND THE OBJECT LIT MULTI-COLOR
LIGHTS AT EACH END AS IT APPARENTLY LANDED. THE ;LIGHTS ON IT
WENT OUT MOMENTARILY AND THEN CAME ON AGAIN. THEY WENT OUT
AGAIN AND THE RUMBLING STOPPED AND THE ICE STOPPED MOVING. THE
SMALLER OBJECTS BEGAN HOVERING IN THE AREA WHERE THE LARGE
OBJECT LANDED AND AFTER A FEW MINUTES THEY BEGAN FLYING AROUND
AGAIN. MOBILE 02 RPTD THAT THEY APPEARED TO BE SCOUTING THE
AREA. MOBILE 02 RPTD THAT 1 OBJECT WAS MOVING TOWARD THEM AT A
HIGH SPEED AND LOW TO THE ICE. MOBILE 02 BACKED DOWN THE HILL
THEY HAD BEEN ON AND WHEN THEY WENT BACK TO THE HILL, THE
OBJECT WAS GONE. THEY RPTD THAT THE OBJECTS COULD NOT BE SEEN
IF THEY TURNED OFF THERE LIGHTS. ONE OF THE SMALL OBJECTS
TURNED ON A SPOTLIGHT WHERE THE LARGE OBJECT HAD BEEN BUT
MOBILE 02 COULD NOT SEE ANYTHING, AND THEN THE OBJECT SEEMED TO
DISAPPEAR. ANOTHER OBJECT APPROACHED MOBILE 02 APPROX. 500 YDS.
OFFSHORE ABOUT 20 FT. ABOVE THE ICE, AND IT BEGAN MOVING CLOSER
AS MOBILE 02 BEGAN FLASHING ITS HEADLIGHTS, THEN IT MOVED OFF
TO THE WEST.
USING BINOCULARS AND AFTER CONTACTING LOCAL POLICE AND
AIRPORTS, THIS UNIT WAS UNABLE TO IDENTIFY THE OBJECTS, AND
RECALLED MOBILE 02.
BT
TOR-03:05:14:44
The Coast Guard report for the following evening
suggests that the Coast Guard had misidentified the planets
Jupiter and Venus.
I ask the astronomers on this board, skeptical or
otherwise, for their opinions as to the adequacy of the Venus/
Jupiter hypothesis in light of this report.
Page, I ask you whether the foregoing report "fully
agrees" with the Venus/Jupiter hypothesis, and also whether you
believe that these Coast Guard personnel, experts in their own
way and no doubt familiar with the night sky and celestial
navigation, could have so grossly misidentified the planets for
several hours.
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