Jan. thru Dec., 2001 UFO Investigation Reports
01 April, 2001, Close Sighting of Large Triangular Object and Other Distant Lights Date of Sighting: 01 April, 2001 Investigator: Dean DeHarpporte, MN MUFON Field Investigator. Time of Sighting: Final stages of dusk, nearly dark (~7:05 PM, 25 minutes after sunset) Weather conditions: Clear, light wind, temp. near 40 F. Sighting Duration: Witness 1, ~1 minute, Witness 2, ~1 minute Sighting Location: 1-2 miles north of Stillwater, Minnesota on highway 96, intersection with Highway 5. Type of Report: Witness 1, Close sighting of triangular object. Simultaneously, witness 2 saw several distant lights. Local Evaluation: Witness 1 UFO, CE1 Unexplained. Witness 2 possible CE1, probably airplane lights. Sighting background: The witnesses, a married couple, called the UFO reporting center on the night of the sighting and witness data was relayed to this investigator in October, 2001. The investigator interviewed the witnesses on 14 November, 2001 for one hour, He did not visit the site of the sighting due to lack of enthusiasm to do so by the witnesses. Each of the 2 witnesses observed different UFOs. It is possible, but not likely, that they were related, since they were several miles apart and their appearance differed radically. Witness Description: Witness 1. Male, age middle 30s. Occupation: works at assembly plant. He was strongly impressed by the sighting and talked about "nothing else" that night with witness 2, his wife. However, he was not traumatized. He has not spoken about the sighting except to a few people close to him until the interview with the investigator. No previous or subsequent UFO sightings. The witness did not have any particular interest in UFOs and had not read any books on the subject before his sighting. Witness 2. Female, age early-middle 30s, wife of Witness 1. Works in local area. Witness is apparently in good physical condition. Witness was excited about the sighting (even 6 months later) but did not describe any symptoms of trauma. No previous or subsequent UFO sightings. The witness did not have any particular interest in UFOs and had not read any books on the subject before her sighting. She has done some reading after the sighting. Sighting Account. The witnesses were driving east on Rt. 96 near the intersection with highway 5 in a rural area 1-2 miles north of Stillwater, MN ( ~23 miles east of St. Paul.) The landscape is gently rolling comprised of crop fields and scattered wooded areas. It was nearly dark, but some light remained in the sky, which was clear. Witness 1, Object description.. Sitting on the passenger side of the car the witnesses were traveling in, witness 1 noticed a lighted, triangular object to his right. The object appeared to be about 250 ft on a side. The witness reported the triangle was equalateral, though his (inexact) drawing shows it as isosceles. It was not possible to discern a texture to the surface of the object. A bright white light was at each apex of the triangle underneath the craft. The lights were not bright enough to illuminate the ground beneath the craft. There was also a red light in the center of the bottom of the triangle, less bright than the white lights, which blinked about once per second. There were no other lights on the object and no windows, orifices or other surface features were visible. The color of the object was black, but not the same color as the stealth aircraft. The object produced no sound, although the witness did not get out of the car. No other witnesses are known to have observed the object. Position, movement and duration. The nearest surface of the object was approximately at a 60 degree angle from the ground when the craft was at its lowest altitude. When first seen the object was about 400 ft above ground but moved down "quite rapidly" to about 150 ft and hovered for several seconds, then rose up to about 400 ft. There was no apparent lateral motion of the object. The car was moving about 45 mph but slowed to 10-15 mph immediately upon sighting of the object. The object was last seen to the rear of the car and disappeared when the car got too far away for the witness to see it. The duration of the sighting was about 1 minute. Witness 2, the driver, did not see the object because she was concentrating on driving. Drawing of object. When he came home the witness made a drawing of the object which looked substantially the same as the drawing he made during the investigation. The original drawing was lost. After the sighting, he read some UFO literature, including accounts of the triangular objects seen in Belgium in the early 90's. Object viewed from below at its lowest altitude. Sighting evaluation: CE1. The object described is similar to the description of many triangular objects seen worldwide for the past 20 years. There is no conventional explanation apart from the possibility that the craft was an advanced military aircraft. However, current known technology is not consistent with a craft capable of hovering and moving rapidly vertically upward and downward without engine noise. Witness 2 Object description. Witness 2 observed two white lights, separated by the width of her thumb at arms length directly in front of her (toward the east). The lights were estimated to be 15 miles away (though she emphasized the uncertainty of this estimate), and were seen at the same time as witness 1 observed the triangular object to his right. Witness 1 also observed the two lights, but not closely, since he was occupied with observing the triangular object to his right. Witness 2 estimated the size of the lights to be about 1/8th the diameter of the moon and the brightness as brighter than a streetlight. Based on the inverse square law, this would mean the lights were more than 225 times the intrinsic brightness of a streetlight. As far as she could tell the object was not illuminating the ground. No other witnesses are known to have observed the lights. Position, movement, and duration. Witness 2 estimated that the object was about 20 degrees above the ground. This would make the altitude of the lights about 6 miles (~31,000 ft). The lights appeared motionless for about 1 minute, then moved downward rapidly until they disappeared below the tree-lined horizon about 3 seconds after they began their descent. The calculated speed of movement was 7200 mph. The lights disappeared at about the same time as witness 1 lost sight of the triangular object. The witnesses observed airplanes in the vicinity but witness 2 was adamant that the lights she saw were not conventional aircraft. The nearest airport is 9 miles to the southwest, 135 degrees to the right of and behind the direction where the objects were sighted. There are no airports within at least 40 miles to the east of the sighting location. Additional lights. During the time the 2 lights were hovering, they emitted 2 smaller lights which circled downward and back up and joined with the primary light a few seconds after they appeared. The witness had no estimate of the speed of these lights and said they were not quite as bright as the primary lights. Sighting Evaluation: Probably conventional aircraft. If the object size was 1/8th the apparent diameter of the moon and 15 miles away, it would have been a very large object, indeed. At 225 times the brightness of a streetlight, it would also have been exceedingly bright. The downward speed of 7200 mph is also extraordinary. The lack of other witnesses or press coverage of such a remarkable object as well as the inexperience of the witness and the well known difficulty in judging distances of lights in the sky causes the investigator to believe that the lights were probably much closer than estimated and thus much smaller and less bright. Despite the lack of an airport in the direction of the sighting, the presence of a major airport, MSP, 30 miles west of the sighting causes the investigator to believe that the lights could very possibly have been attached to aircraft. However, there is not enough information to make an unambiguous judgment.
Sighting Report - Mounds View, MN - Luminous object ejecting secondary objects. Date of UFO Sighting: May 18, 2001, 9:32 PM CST Location of Sighting: Mounds View, MN Date of Sighting Report: Dec 21, 2001 Field Investigator: Casey Holt - MN MUFON Type of Report: Luminous object ejecting secondary luminous objects Sighting Background: The witness brought the sighting to my attention on May 20th, 2001 through the Minnesota MUFON reporting hotline. After getting some of the sighting details over the phone we arranged to meet at the sighting location for a detailed interview and to see the video tape which was recorded during the sighting and showed the objects in question. This took place on May 23rd at which time information was taken from the 3 witnesses and a recreation of the sighting events was done to reveal the approximate position and direction of travel of the objects seen on May 18th. MUFON Forms 1 and 2 were filled out to document the sighting account. The video of the objects was looked at several times and a copy was made for further analysis. A follow up visit took place on Dec. 16th, 2001 to perform more accurate measurements of the elevation and compass direction where the main object was last seen on the video as it descended below the tree line. This visit also verified that the 2 primary witnesses' recall of sighting events was consistent with that described on May 23rd. Witness Description: The 3 witnesses are Joseph R. his sister Melody M. and his roommate Thomas H. Joseph was trained in the military in 1986 to 1988 to identify aircraft and other flying objects. He works as a truck driver and completed one year of college and has good vision and hearing. Melody who saw the object first is a senior in high school and also has good vision and hearing. Thomas who saw the object part of the time before going back inside has good vision but difficulty in hearing. He was not part of detailed questioning but verified that he also saw the object on May 18th when Joseph and Melody were watching it. Sighting Account: (Copied from witness e-mail from 5/20/01) "My sister Melody M. and I had just finished watching the Blues/Avalanche NHL playoff game on cable TV, which had just ended in OT and I then proceeded to get ready to drive her home. She went outside ahead of me, while I grabbed a quick glass of water for the road. It was 9:35 pm, 5/18/01. A few seconds later she yelled for me to hurry and take a look at something which was moving slowly overhead. I was about to step out of the door and I looked up. What we saw was as follows: A large object moving almost directly overhead, slightly to the east of our location, which was at a point just west of I-35W and south of US Highway 10 in Mounds View, MN. This object was at a projected altitude of 8,000 to 10,000 feet in altitude. The object first appeared as a pulsating deep orange and oddly shaped object, with brighter orange highlights in the front end just prior to passing overhead - which hid those features after passing. It also appeared as though it had a halo, or jellyfish type bubble on the top end of the orange part of the object. It was moving very slowly, and had no sound, and no flashing lights were visible - though its general shape seemed to ebb, and its orange appearance was unstable as it seemed to pulsate slowly. I saw that this was something I have never seen before, and I immediately went to grab my video camera. I was fortunate to tape nearly two minutes of this object. At approximately 1 minute into the taping of this incident, the object began to shoot out small ball shaped objects that glowed orange and fell downward towards earth, with no apparent change in the object's structure, though it dimmed initially after releasing these objects. These are clearly visible on the tape as these separate from the main object. About 30 seconds later, the main object then split into two major sections and these zipped off in different trajectories away from each other, though in a downward motion. The objects were then lost behind trees as they sunk out of sight. It is estimated by the location of the camera angle on the horizon that this object may have broke apart in the vicinity of Coon Rapids, Anoka, or Champlin, MN, or in that general region, to the northwest of Mounds View. There were at least three witnesses from our location - myself, my sister, and my roommate Thomas Hansen. I yelled for a nearby neighbor who was getting into his car about a half block away to look, but they didn't seem to know what was going on and most likely did not see the incident. I have been trained in the military, and was a MOS 16Tango, and was specifically trained in identifying aircraft and other flying objects (missiles, drones, military flares, meteorological phenomena, etc.) and I have no experience with something as this was this evening. One final note: I also noticed that at the same time a high-flying commercial passenger jet was passing overhead from west to east at an estimated altitude of 36,000 feet, and was visible from its contrail. The mysterious object, which we witnessed, was well below that altitude, and appeared to have the size of at least a 747, maybe even as large as a C-5A military transport. I wanted to tell this story because I feel it was significant, and although I don't believe in UFO's as alien life forms visiting here, this certainly has me thinking. The entire incident lasted about 5 minutes. Thank you for allowing me to tell what transpired here in Mounds View tonight. Sincerely, Joseph R. Man Made and Natural Object Check: The video tape shows a larger primary orange and white object and 6 separate smaller white illuminated objects moving nearby it or separating from the primary object. Some of these smaller objects appear to fall downward after separating from the main object and some others move off rapidly in a horizontal direction. The separation of objects from the main part would eliminate planets and stars as a possible explanation. The witnesses' description of a large slow moving object is not consistent with any kind of meteor or space debris entering the atmosphere. It acted more like a powered craft at least for part of the sighting duration. No wings or tail was observed that would indicate a conventional airplane or helicopter. The Anoka airport is about a mile northwest of the sighting so after the sighting the witness went to the airport to inquire if at the that time any aircraft were scheduled to take off or land and their had not been any flights then. One suggestion was perhaps a kind of hot air balloon illuminated by a flame source and dropping burning debris as is passed by. The object appeared drift over too fast for it to be carried by the wind as it moved an estimated 1 to 3 miles in less than 3 minutes or at least 60 mph. According to the state climatologic office the wind was 5 mph from the east at 9 PM and 5 mph from the southeast at 10 PM. The wind direction is consistent with the direction of motion of the primary object but would be too slow to account for the estimated distance it traveled within the 3 minutes it was observed. An object would only travel 1/3 mile at 5 mph in 3 minutes. The horizontal movement of some of the secondary objects would also not agree with burning materials being dropped but more like they were under controlled flight. The apparent reported size of being as large as a 747 aircraft would also seem too large for a typical balloon. Flight Path Analysis: The primary was first seen to the east at an elevation of about 60 degrees, then passed almost overhead but slightly to the north and kept moving to the west or hovered as the smaller objects were ejected. It then seemed to drift or fall downward after splitting into two parts of which one moved to the left and one fell downward out of sight below the background trees. The overall direction of travel was moving from east to west. The compass angle to where the object was last seen, as it descended, was 298 degrees as determined by matching the video tape with the background at the sight. The video tape itself was recorded for two minutes and it was estimated that it took about 45 seconds to 1 minute to get the video camera ready and start recording after the object was first seen towards the west. Of the 6 ejected objects seen in the video, 2 of them moved horizontally off to the north, 2 fell downward and 2 moved horizontally to the south. The distance at which the object was last seen descending can be estimated if it is assumed that it came down in close to a free fall manner. The approximate distance away from the witnesses where the object descended can be calculated by using that the initial angle of elevation was 20 degrees and after falling for 10 seconds the elevation angle was 15 degrees as measured at the sight. This gives the distance of fall at 1600 feet and a distance of 3.16 miles from the observers. The calculations are shown in the attached diagram. If the object descended slower than free fall it would be closer than estimated and if it descended faster than free fall it would be farther than estimated with this method. The flight path is drawn on the map included. Further analysis might reveal the approximate speed and position of the ejected objects and if the main object accelerated downward as in freefall or perhaps it slowed after reaching a maximum velocity. Sighting Evaluation: The behavior and description of the objects as observed by the three witnesses and seen on the two minutes of video tape does not match the behavior or appearance any known man-made or natural objects including aircraft, balloons, planets, stars, or flares. Therefore the primary object and the several objects emitted should be classified as unknown objects having an unknown origin. As of this date no other witnesses or evidence was found to add more information to this sighting, which occurred on May 18th, 2001. The witnesses immediately had the impression of something unusual when the primary object was first observed passing almost overhead and the observed behavior when the several smaller objects were ejected added to the anomalous nature of this event. A careful review of the video shows what appears to be a rounded whitish dome above the main object as the witnesses described. More in depth analysis of the video evidence might reveal more interesting details. Diagram with distance calculations Map showing flight path
INVESTIGATOR_NAME: William I. McNeff DATE: 05/18/2001 TIME: 19:50 CST NEAR_TOWN_OR_CITY: Hastings, MN USA COUNTY: Washington ABSTRACT: Thru telescope saw a round blue white object. bubble. DURATION: 6-10_minutes SITE: suburb SKY: clear MUFON_REPORTEES: 1 NUMBER_OBSERVED: 1 ELEVATION: 0-10_degrees FLIGHT: hovering DIRECT_LAST_OBSVED SHAPE: sphere SURFACE: reflective APPARENT_SIZE: star-like SURFACE_COLOR: blue_white Sighting Details: On May 18, 2001, I was on the back deck with a friend at 7:50PM. The contrast of the green leaves against the blue sky was quite beautiful. I noticed an unusually bright star that was visible even though the sun was still up. The light wasn't moving and I was able to point it out to my friend. Observing with the binoculars the light was too large to be a star. I got my telescope and looked at the light almost directly overhead and saw a round blue white object. It was whiter around the edge and darker in the middle, giving the impression of a translucent soap bubble. I observed it for about 10 seconds in the scope after focusing. It did not appear to move, but suddenly it flew very quickly out of the scope’s field of view (may have bumped scope). It was not a satellite because they move too fast, nor a plane because those move and they're not round. It wasn't a star or a balloon because it was stationary for too long and later moved too fast. Invetigation Report: An on-site investigation was carried out. At the time of the sighting, the witness was reclining in a chaise lounge on the north deck of his home, virtually lying flat on his back with his feet to the north. His view of the sky above was restricted by the side of the house and a fireplace chimney behind him, and the tall trees in his back yard. His field of view was an area varying from perhaps 15 to 30 degrees wide. As he gazed at the sky above he saw what he initially thought to be an unusually bright star. But the sun was still well up and would not set until about 9:00 PM. Viewing it through binoculars showed that it was a round object rather than a star. The object was a fairly small angular distance from the fireplace chimney, which made it easier to judge its position, and he came to the conclusion that the object was not moving. This conclusion was confirmed when he was able to view it through his telescope for ten seconds after focusing on it. The object then was suddenly lost to view while looking through the telescope. He thought he might possibly have bumped the telescope, causing him to lose sight of the object, but he was not subsequently able to pick up the object with the naked eye again, which supports the idea that the object left at high speed. The only conventional object that at all fits the observation would be a balloon. A helium balloon could suddenly disappear by bursting. But winds aloft would most probably have moved a balloon enough that it would not appear to have remained motionless for 10 minutes. This object remains unidentified.
Sighting: WUFOD i1-541-MN ABSTRACT: Retired railroad worker sees tightly maneuvering lights. Date: 06/22/2001 HOUR: 23:00 CST LATITUDE: 44.43.N LONGITUDE: 92.53.W COUNTY: Dakota NEAR_TOWN_OR_CITY: Hastings, MN USA SITE: city SKY: partly_cloudy MUFON_REPORTEES: 1 NUMBER_OBSERVED: 6-10 ELEVATION: 45-50_degrees LOWEST_ALTITUDE: 500_feet_or_less DISTANCE: 101-500_feet FLIGHT: path_with_direction_change, hovering DIRECT_FIRST_OBSVED: N DIRECT_LAST_OBSVED: N SHAPE: sphere SURFACE: glowing APPARENT_SIZE: aspirin ACTUAL_SIZE: 1-3_feet SURFACE_COLOR: white EXT_LIGHTS: steady EXT_LIGHTS_COLOR: white CHANGE_COLOR: no INVESTIGATOR1_NAME: Richard Moss The witness was referred to us by his son, who had met the investigator during a case several years ago. The witness is a retired employee of the Soo Line railroad. He had taken a part-time job as a night janitor at one of the clinics in Hastings, Minnesota. The witness was walking out of the clinic carrying bags to a dumpster when his attention was directed to eight spherical lights in the northern sky. Subjectively, he felt that each of the lights appeared to be the size of the full moon, that they were possibly 200 - 300 feet away from him at an altitude of 200 feet and at an angle of 45 degrees from horizontal to vertical. It was a little before 11:00 PM. He estimated that the actual size of each object was similar to that of a washtub. The interesting aspect of this encounter was the odd behavior of the objects. They would be briefly located in pairs at the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00 clock positions, then quickly move simultaneously in a clockwise circular path to new positions 180 degrees on the opposite side of the circle. The path was circular with respect to him as he looked up into the sky at a possible 45 degree angle. The witness watched them for a while and then walked back into the clinic to continue his work. As he did so, it was his impression that the group moved parallel with him while continuing their rapid intermittent circling around a common center. After working for a few minutes he decided to go out and see them again. They were still there and doing their maneuver. He went back into the clinic, but while he was working, would walk over to a window from time to time and look out to still see the objects in the sky. Once more he went outside to observe the formation, but they were no longer to be seen. The entire incident had lasted for something in excess of 20 minutes. From inside the building he called the sheriff to inquire if there were any reports of lights in the sky, but there had not been. Conclusion: These objects must be considered unidentified.
Sighting: WUFOD i1-530-MN ABSTRACT: Two pictures of possible disk taken on digital camera. CASE_TYPE: FB3 Date: 06/23/2001 HOUR: 19:00 CST DURATION: 1-5_minutes LATITUDE: 47.24.N LONGITUDE: 92.50.W COUNTY: St. Louis NEAR_TOWN_OR_CITY: Chisholm, MN USA SITE: rural MUFON_REPORTEES: 1 NUMBER_OBSERVED: 2 ELEVATION: 25-30_degrees LOWEST_ALTITUDE: 500_feet_or_less DISTANCE: 101-500_feet FLIGHT: straight_line_path, hovering DIRECT_FIRST_OBSVED: W DIRECT_LAST_OBSVED: W SHAPE: disc SURFACE: reflective STRUCTURE: dome APPARENT_SIZE: golfball ACTUAL_SIZE: 4-10_feet SURFACE_COLOR: grey_lead_silver CHANGE_COLOR: no PHOTOGRAPHIC: still_photo, digital_image, copy_submitted INVESTIGATOR1_NAME: Dr. Stephen Hero INVESTIGATOR2_NAME: Craig Lang The prime subjects of this investigation were anomalous images on two photographs. The 15 year-old son was trying out a new digital camera. He took pictures of some cloud formations. Neither he nor his father saw any anomalous objects. When the pictures were downloaded into the computer, an anomalous object appeared in two of them. The object is very small in one, but appears disc-shaped in the other. Because the object appears to be headed downward at a steep angle, the mother of the family came to believe the object had crashed into the swamp. She also had other reasons for believing something had crashed nearby. First of all, she heard noises for three of four nights afterwards. She described these noises as high-pitched squeaky sounds. She had no tape recorder, so was unable to record these noises. The prime investigator thinks these noises may have been birds or frogs, which start to make a lot of noise around four a.m. that time of year. Also, the mother observed what she called a UFO, which was visible in the eastern sky for several nights, at about the same spot every night. It appeared about 3:00 a.m. at about 35 degrees elevation every morning, and traveled from north to south. The prime investigator has determined that this was most likely Venus. I would concur, and consider this probably identified. A few days after the pictures were taken, the neighbor’s son witnessed some men pouring something into the swamp. According to the witness, they were dressed in unusual suits. One possible explanation could be that these men were from an environmental agency and were pouring dye into the water to measure the water flow. There is concern about ground water contamination from nearby mines. The mother also claims that her children have seen glowing figures approximately four feet tall when camping overnight in the backyard. Conclusion (by Prime Investigator): Two pictures were taken of an object or objects which are of unknown origin. They may be metallic because they look like they are reflecting sunlight. Their shape is hard to determine even with magnification. There may be some unrelated paranormal activity, but I do not think there are any crashed objects in the area. A few coincidences and some wishful thinking by the mother convinced her that something crashed on their property. Conclusion (by State Director): While the exact shape of the object(s) can not be determined from the photographs, at my second viewing of the second print the disc shape jumped out at me. Sunlight appears to be reflecting from at least one area of the object and possible one or two other spots, consistent with a slightly-domed disc with a raised rim. A bright spot appears in the air above the disc, consistent with image- smearing of the large reflection due to downward motion of the disc. All of this is prima-facie evidence for the possibility that the camera caught a silent disc-shaped object in flight. This possible object must be considered to be unidentified. There is no evidence that an object crashed into the swamp. Even if, as often reported, the flight of the object was silent, a crash into the swamp would likely not have been silent. It is not possible at this point to determine whether the other activity reported has anything to do with UFOs; therefore it is not possible to eliminate this from future consideration.
ABSTRACT: 2001 Lake Elmo, Minnesota CE1 CASE_TYPE: CE1 SVP_RATING: 444 DATE: 10/11/01 HOUR: 20:45 cst MINUTE: 45 DURATION: 1-5_minutes LATITUDE: 44.57.N LONGITUDE: 92.55.W STATE_PROVINCE: MN NEAR_TOWN_OR_CITY: Lake Elmo (St. Paul) SITE: suburb, rural, woods, lake_or_river SKY: clear NUMBER_OBSERVED: 1 ELEVATION: 15-20_degrees LOWEST_ALTITUDE: treetop DISTANCE: 501_feet_to_1_mile FLIGHT: straight_line_path, path_with_direction_change, hovering DIRECT_FIRST_OBSVED: E DIRECT_LAST_OBSVED: S SHAPE: complex_many_shapes SURFACE: dark STRUCTURE: other APPARENT_SIZE: baseball ACTUAL_SIZE: 31-100_feet EXT_LIGHTS: steady, brightened EXT_LIGHTS_COLOR: white CHANGE_COLOR: no PSYCH_DURING_EVENT: fear PSYCH_AFTER_EVENT: fear OBSERVATION: aerial_path, hovering, descent INVESTIGATOR1_NAME: Craig R. Lang MS. CHt INVESTIGATOR1_PHONE: 763-560-1532 INVESTIGATOR1_EMAIL: craig@craigrlang.com Entered by Craig R. Lang - Principal Investigator on this case. Sighting Account: ================ The witness was driving east on 10th street, which passes along the south boundary of Lake Elmo park reserve. While on 10th St., just after having turned onto it from Hwy 19, well prior to reaching the intersection with Lake Elmo Ave N., she noticed a bright light directly ahead in the distance (low the eastern sky). She often sees aircraft in this direction and initially felt that the light might have been an approaching airplane. As she watched, she noted that the light was getting brighter, and at this point she felt that it no longer resembled an aircraft. At a point about ½ of the way between Hwy 19 and Lake Elmo Ave N. she noted that the light was accompanied by a second light. She theorized that this might be a helicopter. She rolled down the driver’s side window to listen for any sound, but did not hear anything unusual. She came to a stop at the stop sign at the intersection of 10th St. and Lake Elmo Ave N. At this point, she noticed that the light had brightened still further, and now appeared to be more of a chevron shape. She felt at this point, that the object was considerably larger than an aircraft. She also noted that it appeared to be descending, and moving to the right. As she accelerated east from the stop sign at the intersection with Lake Elmo Ave N. her view of the object was briefly obscured by some trees. A moment later, when she had moved past the trees, she observed a large chevron shaped row of lights (see object description, below) at the tree line, to the right of the road. The object appeared to be atop, or behind, the hill to the south of the road, and seemed to be hovering at treetop level. She slowed the car to a speed less than 20 MPH (typical speeds on this stretch of road are about 60MPH), and rolled down the right window. She observed that the object lit up the tree tops, and appeared to have a length of about “six tree-widths”. She describes feeling a sense that this was “not normal”, and seemed menacing. She arrived at the stop sign at the corner of 10th St. and Manning Ave. and turned left onto Manning Ave. She observed in her rear view mirror, that the trees were lit up, apparently from the object, but was unable to see the object at that point. She noted that there were several Qwest (Telephone Company) workers at the intersection, apparently working on a telephone utility box at the corner. She observed that they did not seem to notice the nearby lights. Object Description (as she observed it just over the tree line): ================== Horizontal/Chevron shaped array of six brilliant lights - the length of the light formation was equivalent to approximately four to six tree-widths. Although a structure associated with the lights is implied, she indicates that she was not able to discern any platform or structure, and that the lights were as bright as those of an athletic field. She describes the lights as being extremely bright, lighting up the tree tops. They were white, and did not vary in position, form or intensity. They appeared to be circular in shape, although the brightness made it difficult to discern actual shape. Witness Description: =================== The witness is a 51 year old (at the time of the sighting) female. She is employed as medical technical worker (details withheld for anonymity). She holds a college degree and additional professional training. She indicates that her vision is correctable to 20/20 with glasses, which she was wearing at the time of the sighting. She indicates that her health and hearing are good. She has had on other major sightings or anomalous experiences. Additional Note: Her mother also had a sighting two days earlier, which we are investigating. This will be described is a subsequent report. Additional Witnesses: ==================== None are known. At least one nearby residence had a clear view of the object’s apparent location behind the junior high school. A check with nearby residents indicated that they had not seen anything unusual at the time of the sighting. A check with the principal of the junior high school indicated that no unusual activity had been reported there, and that no activities were underway that night, such as sports events, etc. (see phenomena check, below for more on this possibility). In addition, there were several other potential witnesses which have not yet been located or contacted: • The primary witness indicated that there was a telephone company repair truck on the south-eastern corner of the Manning Ave. – 10th St. intersection. Workers were outside of the truck and may have noticed the lights, although there was no indication of this. • The primary witness also indicated that there was other traffic on the road. Thus, other drivers may have noticed something unusual. • A check with the sheriff’s department indicated no other police calls regarding UFO sightings, but there was one noise complaint regarding a recreational all-terrain vehicle on a trail behind the trailer park. It is possible that someone associated with this might have observed the event. Weather Conditions: ================== The witness describes the weather conditions as clear and calm. The weather conditions: (obtained from the Weather Underground website (www.wunderground.com) for the night of October 11, 2001 were as follows: Clear to Few (if any) clouds at 6500 feet Wind: calm Temperature: 48 deg F. Dew Pt: 40 deg F. Humidity: 85% Visibility: 10+ miles (unlimited) CL Note: This corresponds closely with the witness’ description. Natural and Artificial Phenomena Check: ====================================== The following are possible null hypotheses for this sighting: • Initial sighting of light in the eastern sky: Possible aircraft on approach. This possibility can not be eliminated based upon the witness’ description of the light as she first saw it. The description of the subsequent “chevron” shape, and her impression of the size of the object once it had brightened, argues against (but does not conclusively refute) this explanation. In addition, both the witness and her husband are knowledgeable regarding aircraft. She indicates that she often sees aircraft on approach to MSP airport from the location of the sighting. Thus the probability is somewhat reduced that she would have misidentified an aircraft on approach. • The close-up sighting of the lights at the tree line: Explanations considered were sports or emergency lighting. A check with the school indicated that there were no outdoor sporting events that evening. Furthermore, the school principal indicated that night sports activities were played at the Sr. High School, rather than at this location. A check with the sheriff’s office and the Lake Elmo fire department indicated that there were no reports of unusual activity, and no emergency exercises. There were no events which would have employed a large battery of lights. Other Possibilities: =================== The “non-null” hypothesis would be that the object was an anomalous craft, which had descended from the eastern sky, and had landed in the field behind the junior high school. (CL Note: nearby residences were contacted regarding any possible observations and/or close encounters. No unusual events were indicated. However, this possibility can not be eliminated.) Sighting Evaluation: =================== • Close up sighting: Unexplained. • Initial lights in eastern sky: If we assume that the approaching-aircraft explanation does not apply then this can be classed as a probable unexplained.