The Government Needs To Be More Forthcoming About The Ongoing UFO Mystery: UFO Sightings Reported Yearly in Pennsylvania by Stan Gordon

by Stan Gordon, UFO Anomalies Zone

While the media is currently giving more than usual attention to the UFO Phenomena, it is not showing the extent of the sightings reported throughout the world. The crux of the matter is that numerous credible detailed UFO sightings have been reported for years by not only military pilots from various branches of the service, but also from civilians throughout the US and the world as well. I want to make this clear to my readers so they are aware of the extent of the sightings, as most of the recent media focus has been limited to the observations by experienced Navy pilots and to the objects observed and tracked by personnel on Navy vessels- which is from only one branch of the military.

Over the years, I interviewed commercial, private, and corporate pilots, all of whom had observed objects in the sky that they could not identify. The public that is reading some of the news stories might get the impression that UFO sightings are a relatively new or insignificant phenomena. That is definitely not the case. There are Pennsylvania newspaper accounts of unusual objects seen in the sky dating back to the late 1800’s and into the early 1900’s. Through the 1940’s and 1950’s, observations of mysterious objects in the sky continued to be reported and the sighting reports have never stopped.

This year will mark sixty two years of my research into the ongoing UFO Phenomena. I have been out in the field conducting on site investigations of UFO sightings and other phenomena reported by the public since 1965. Those of you who are reading this may find it surprising that I have never personally seen a UFO. In 1969 I began to take phone calls from the public to report UFO sightings. My phone still rings at all hours of the day and night with calls about strange observations in the sky.

In 1970, I organized the first of three volunteer research groups that investigated UFO incidents in the Pittsburgh area and around the state of Pennsylvania for many years. Since late 1993, I have continued my investigations as an independent researcher. Most of the people who were involved with my research teams had some type of specialized background or training that was helpful with the research we were conducting. Among the team members were scientists, engineers, technicians, police officers and other first responders, former military personnel, and educators. My investigations have focused on my home state of Pennsylvania, although I do maintain contact with researchers throughout the country.

It became very apparent to me when I started my investigations that many UFO sightings, while being reported by credible eyewitnesses, were indeed explainable. Over the years, many sightings were determined to be misidentifications of natural or man-made objects.

Some UFOs were determined to be, for example, bright planets and stars, lights on aircraft, navigational lights on radio towers, bright meteors, re-entry of space debris, automated searchlight displays, weather phenomena, lights reflecting off the bodies of birds and insects, transformer explosions, various types of balloons, sky lanterns, kites, blimps and in recent years, many sightings of the Starlink Satellites as they passed across the sky.

Now that we have that out of the way, there have been countless UFO incidents that have occurred for years from across the Keystone state that are not so easily explained away. The 1960’s was an interesting time period. I investigated a number of very detailed close range UFO sightings of what appeared to be large solid metallic objects that were seen at very close range. In one instance, the object was so close that a witness could see what appeared to be an instrument panel through portholes that were positioned around the side of the object.

The 1970’s were very active with numerous detailed UFO observations, especially during 1973 when Pennsylvania experienced multitudes of UFO incidents throughout the year. Many local and statewide newspapers covered some of those sightings and my groups investigations. Sightings of cigar or elongated oval shaped objects similar to what the Navy has been referring to as Tic-tac shaped objects have been reported over Pennsylvania since at least the early 1970’s. Those sightings have  continued to be reported during the last few years and even in recent months. There have also been ongoing sightings of large spheres, triangular and rectangular shaped objects reported across the commonwealth.

While the subject of UFOs is becoming quite popular and is beginning to be discussed more seriously in the news media, there still remains a cloud of ridicule that lurks over the head of witnesses who report encounters with those mysterious flying objects. I have interviewed thousands of UFO witnesses over the years and many of those people asked that they not be identified when relating their experiences. Many of them, because of their educational or professional backgrounds, were concerned that publicly discussing their strange experiences could affect their job positions or personal life. That is one reason why these ongoing UFO encounters rarely make it into the news.

Encounters with Mini-UFOs

It was during the 1960’s when I began to receive reports of odd maneuvering flying objects that were small in size, low to the ground, and approached surprisingly close to the human observers. I have been calling these objects, “mini-UFOs” for years. This is an aspect of the UFO phenomena that has been rarely discussed, even though similar incidents have been reported from around the country.

The smallest of these objects range in size from about one to two inches in diameter and resemble oversized fireflies. The more common observations are of an object about one to two feet in diameter. They are generally described as being spherical in shape, however, some other configurations have been reported. Some observations describe an object that looks solid and metallic, yet in other reports they are transparent or just luminous spheres of various colors. I have interviewed people who were close enough to reach out and touch these objects if they had wanted to. These objects have been seen in daylight and at night and during all types of weather.

Even more interesting are reports of these small objects pacing and at times entering moving vehicles through open windows. There are also reports of these objects entering homes through open windows. Residents have reported for years seeing these small objects hover in front of the windows of their homes and near their properties. Some of these observations seem to have some similarities to what Navy personnel have been referring to as drones which have reportedly been observed around Navy vessels in recent years.

What are we dealing with?

The UFO subject is very complex and there are many different components to it. Many people have brought forth their theories over the years as to what the UFO phenomena could be. Some of the most popular theories have been spacecraft from an extraterrestrial source, time travelers, interdimensional visitors, unknown atmospheric life forms and demons.

I have been of the opinion for years that there may well be more than one origin to unexplained category of the UFO phenomena.  I would not exclude the possibility that some of these observations  could be of extraterrestrial origin. I have, however, investigated many cases where some of these objects seem to have both a physical and non-physical component to their appearances. We could be dealing with a phenomena that is beyond out present scientific understanding and, for lack of a better term, might be interdimensional.

Until there is definitive evidence, I keep an open mind as to what these unknown objects might be. I don’t have the answers and I don’t think our government has all of the answers either to this ongoing mystery in our skies.

Some of the cases I have investigated suggests that, at times, these objects just suddenly appear in the sky. Some UFOs have been reported to physically transform into another shape. Large solid looking objects have reportedly faded away and vanished. These objects seem to have the ability to suddenly appear and disappear. On occasion in daylight, large solid objects have been observed entering clouds but never exiting or being seen again.

The following is a brief synopsis of some of the many UFO cases that have come to my attention over the years. Most of the cases mentioned were incidents that I investigated. These close range UFO cases provided detailed observations and information and are not easily explainable.

* Spring of 1966-Latrobe– At about 4 AM, a woman was awakened by her dog that was making an odd whining sound and spinning in a circle. Thinking the dog was sick, she took the dog outside. She looked up and noticed a large solid metallic object shaped like a child’s top hovering and spinning about eighty feet over the roof of her home. The object was surrounded in a red glow and was completely silent. The witness became quite upset from what she was seeing but watched as the object suddenly rose into the sky and quickly moved out of sight.

* August 22, 1966-Adamsburg– That evening two women driving on Route 30 eastbound when they noticed a strange object hovering over the high tension power lines up on the hill to their right. The object looked as though it was nearly touching the wires.

As they approached closer, the object dropped below the wires and began to move in their direction. That is when a dark oblong shaped object described as long as an MG sports car passed so low over the car that the two women ducked their heads thinking that it was going to hit them. The object, whatever it was, made no sound. When the ladies arrived at their home, they made a call to the state police.

* February 1968-Rural Westmoreland County- It was early evening when a man happened to look out his window to check on the snow that had been falling. That witness (now deceased) had just retired from the Navy and had a high security clearance. He was very familiar with the latest aircraft that the military had in their inventory. He was a devout UFO skeptic until that day.

What first caught his attention was a gray metallic rod that was positioned about twenty feet from his window. When he took a better look, he realized that this long rod was one of three that were connected to a metallic gray object that was oval shaped with a dome on top. He estimated that the object was fifty to sixty feet in diameter. The bottom of the object appeared to be hollow. The object was positioned about fifty feet away from him and was hovering only about fifty feet above a fishing pond.

The man told me he saw what appeared to be windows or portholes in the dome and lower section of the object. He said he could see what looked like instrument panels and at times flashes of different colored lights through the portholes. The hollowed out bottom of the object looked to be about twenty feet in diameter and there were numerous lights spinning within it. The witness called to his wife who upon seeing the object exclaimed, “Oh my God! What is it?”

The man called his brother and wife who lived several miles away in Greensburg. His brother was a UFO believer so he wanted him to come out to see the object as well. When his brother and wife arrived, the object was still there but had moved slightly higher into the sky. They all got into the car and watched the object as it moved to about fifty feet directly above them. Suddenly, the object accelerated higher into the sky until it looked like a bright star, then it turned red as it quickly was lost from sight. They later called the Latrobe Airport and were told that other people were calling in similar reports. The initial witness told me, “If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I could not have been convinced.”

* April 15, 1973-Between Penn and Manor, Westmoreland county- Over twelve witnesses reported seeing large solid objects low to the ground within a one mile radius around this rural area. At about 9:15 PM, two cars full of people pulled off the Penn-Wegley Road to watch a strange object that was just drifting very slowly only a short distance away. The silent elongated object was estimated to be about sixty five feet in length. There were two bright round lights in the front vertical area separated about ten to fifteen feet apart. There was a gray haze surrounding the object making it difficult to see the exact shape of the object. The object was in the vicinity of a power transmission line and of the Manor Power Substation.

Later that same evening, another man driving in the vicinity of the Manor Power Substation observed a large glowing object stationary about ten feet over the trees. The glow from the object was illuminating the surrounding area. The man pulled off the road and lowered the window as he watched the object. The witness told me that the object looked like a glowing spinning top over thirty five feet in diameter. The object continued to spin while hovering and lit up the area with “a burning white glow”.

The man noticed two or three rows of square windows that emitted various colors of light that were positioned around the center of the object. The witness had kept his engine running and headlights on during the observation. However, while looking at the object, his vehicle suddenly shut off and his headlights became very dim. When the object took off at high speed, he noticed that his headlights became very bright again. The man traveled down the road and stopped at a phone booth to report the experience to the state police who then referred him to my UFO hotline.

* October 25, 1973-Near Uniontown, Fayette County– The UFO Hotline was busy ringing with many UFO reports this day. At 10:30 PM that evening, a report came in from a state trooper from the Uniontown barracks. He had just investigated a multiple witness UFO landing at a farm outside of the city. (There were some other unusual elements to the case in addition to the UFO sighting.) At about 9 PM, fifteen people observed a barn sized red spherical object about one hundred feet in the air. The object soon began to descend toward a pasture on the property.

When three fellows went to the area to investigate, they noticed about two hundred fifty feet away that either the object had landed on the ground or was hovering just above it. At that time, they observed a huge white domed shaped object about one hundred feet in diameter that was illuminating the surrounding area and was emitting a loud whirling sound. During the incident, the object suddenly just vanished from sight and the sound also stopped. The state police were soon called concerning the unusual incident.

The investigating officer told me that when he arrived on the scene to investigate, the area where the object had been on the ground was glowing. The luminous area was estimated to be over a hundred feet in diameter and extended up from about a foot off the ground. The farm animals would not go near it. The officer also stated that if he had a newspaper with him, he could have read it from the glow. My team was on the scene within hours after being notified of the incident.

* August 30, 1983-Derry- A businessman was traveling along Route 217 toward Derry just before midnight. As the man drove down a hill, he suddenly became aware of a series of amber lights that appeared about forty to sixty feet above his vehicle. The man soon realized that he was underneath a huge solid round object that was pacing him down the road. The driver became alarmed both from the tremendous size of the object that he estimated was about two to three hundred feet in diameter, and from the odd strong bass sound that the object was emitting that was vibrating through his body. At times, the witness said he felt claustrophobic when he was under the object. He said the experience was similar to driving into a large underground lighted parking lot.

The witness was able to provide to me a detailed description of the object. The round object was battleship gray in color and had a bluish tinge to it. The bottom section was flat, but in the center was a square or slightly rectangular area outlined in black. It gave the witness the impression that it might have been something like a doorway. The entire bottom section of the object was covered in amber lights that emitted a soft yet bright glow. The lights were each about nine to thirteen inches in diameter and did not flash.

The man became frightened as the object followed overhead and he accelerated in speed to try to get away from it. Moments later, the object that had followed him down the road hovered over him a second time and then a third time. The object finally moved off into the sky and was not seen again. Soon after his frightening experience, he contacted the Latrobe police department who referred him to my UFO hotline. I found the witness to be very credible.

* June 21, 1985-Indianhead- A fellow on his way home from work at about 12:30 AM noticed an odd series of six lights in the sky. As he approached closer, he realized that the lights were attached to an object that looked like a solid elongated blimp. The object, however, had no gondola like that of a blimp. The witness soon realized that he was seeing something that was quite unusual.

The object had a silver metallic look to its surface and looked to be about one hundred feet long. The witness pulled off the road and exited his vehicle to get a better look at it. The object made no sound as it hovered, but as it began to move, he heard a whoosh sound as though something enormous was moving through the air. The object was moving about thirty feet above the trees.

The witness could see that the bottom of the object was hollow from the bright blue lights that were being emitted from that section of the object. Six bright lights at the top of the object were described as flashes of high intensity blue. Those lights spun in a counterclockwise pattern and illuminated the trees and the ground. The object then moved and hovered very low over a field. The fellow ran to the field and stood underneath the object looking for any identification markings such as Goodyear or USA, but there were none. He yelled out loudly but there was no response.

He ran back to his car and soon sped down the road to get his parents to bring back to that location. When they arrived at that location the object was gone. The fellow called the state police, and I was contacted about the sighting soon after. That same evening within hours, several other witnesses from different areas of the state had also reported seeing a similar shaped object.

* August 12, 1986-Monroeville- At about 8:30 AM, witnesses reported seeing a large solid cigar shaped object, “fat and rounded out,” that was hovering over some trees behind the Monroeville Mall complex. It then moved toward the mall and hovered about two hundred feet over the roof of a store. The size of the object was described as the length of three school buses and was completely silent. Later that afternoon, a similar sighting was reported about twenty miles away in Westmoreland County.

*September 3, 1987-Greensburg- It was about 8 PM when witnesses, including law enforcement, observed a huge metallic cigar shaped object approaching from the west. The object moved over a series of high tension power lines near what was then the Greengate Mall on Route 30 near Greensburg. The object moved across the highway over a power substation. The object that was moving in a smooth  horizontal path suddenly stunned the observers as the football field sized object turned vertically in the sky, and moments later, the power went out in the mall and surrounding area for a short time.

The silent elongated object was described as being about three hundred feet in length and moving only about three hundred feet above the ground. The object appeared to have a silver or dull gray surface and was covered with multiple white flashing lights. There were bright red flashing lights at each end of the object. The object moved out of the area in the distance.

* February 10, 1988-Cambria and Somerset counties- Between 7:45 and 8:30 PM, several reports were received from various witnesses over about a ten mile area bordering on Cambria and Somerset Counties. The first report was from the area near Blough where people observed an object as big as a house hovering over a body of water. The object was described as a solid in appearance, about sixty feet long, with two rows of colored lights that did not blink. The object hovered about fifty feet over the water and within a hundred feet of several witnesses. At one point, bright spotlights from the object were directed toward a wooded area.

That same evening in the vicinity of the McNally bridge, other cars stopped after a large object rose up from beneath the bridge and rose to the height of the bridge. One witness I interviewed was only about one hundred fifty feet from the object. He described the object as looking like a metallic football that was about fifty to sixty feet long and about twenty five feet wide. There were various lights on the object including five or six laser like lights emitting from the front. The witness was amazed that that the object had no wings or propellers and hovered with no sound.

Another witness that same evening near Davidsville reported seeing what he described as, “a small cruise ship in the sky.” The object passed directly in front of him only about twenty feet away. He described the solid object as looking like a football with tapered ends.

* May 17, 1989-Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill)- Two witnesses had stopped at a restaurant around 3 AM in a densely populated suburb of Pittsburgh. They left the establishment and as they drove down the block approaching Whitman Street, they noticed a large luminous object hovering above the intersection of Beacon and Wightman. The driver was so shocked that she stopped the car and got out to look directly at it.

Their first thought was that the object was a blimp, but as they watched they realized that the object was a lot more elongated, and that it was brightly illuminated in a white glow. Toward the bottom of the object were three large red lights that appeared to be connected. The silent object that had been hovering for several minutes did not move off but seemed to suddenly just vanish. The witnesses were so upset that the filed a police report on the incident.

* September 2, 1989-Ebensburg- A man was sitting by his pond on this beautiful afternoon. Suddenly a strange object began to approach from the north and then hovered about thirty feet above the ground only about fifty feet from the witness. The solid silver object was round and about fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. The bottom section however was colored orange-red. The center of the object was divided by a glass-like amber-colored window with one green flashing light. The silent object hovered and then ascended into the sky, then returned to the same spot where it originally hovered. Prior to the object departing the area, it emitted a mist from the bottom right side of its surface downward toward the ground.

* February 5, 1992-Williamsport and surrounding areas- A UFO incident involving numerous witnesses took place around Williamsburg and other surrounding areas. This incident was well covered in the local newspapers at the time. The series of UFO sightings had taken place late afternoon concerning the observation on one or more large boomerang or triangular shaped objects.

Some of the reports were over populated areas. Some reports indicated that one object seen was estimated to have a wingspan that was hundreds of feet in length. The object, at times, was moving so slowly that people who were  nearby moving in a fast walking pace could keep up with it. The object was making a rumbling sound that attracted many people to look outside or up in the sky. The object also displayed various colored lights. Whatever that object was has never been determined. Many witnesses were interviewed, and  detailed investigations was conducted.

I quickly began to make contact with sources that might have information. A dispatcher at the Montoursville State Police Barracks told me that they had received numerous reports of a large low level object in the sky. I also spoke with an air traffic controller at the Williamport-Lycomming County airport who told me he had handled about twenty calls from the public reporting the sighting. He told me that he had contacted Harrisburg Approach Control to see if they were working any military air traffic or were aware of any such aircraft in the area at the time of the sighting. They were not. I was also told that nothing unusual showed up on local radar. Whatever this object was still remains a mystery.

* July 24, 2002-North Huntingdon- Three people were standing in a parking lot of a shopping complex talking that evening when one of them noticed something approaching from behind the other couple. That is when they all saw a small sphere that was round and shiny and about the diameter of a tennis ball. One witness stated that although it looked solid you could see thickness in the wall of the object. The object moved slowly past them less than ten feet away. A man told me that if he moved forward a few feet he could have reached out and touched it. The silent object continued to move away on a straight course and was only about six feet above the ground. As it moved off in the distance, it began to move in a zigzag pattern. The wind in that area was very calm at that time.

* January 3, 2007-Youngwood- It was 8:58 PM that three people were traveling on a rural road outside of Youngwood. It was a clear and starlit night when there attention was drawn to a luminous object that was low in the sky and was either moving very slow or hovering. One witness told me the object was “oval shaped with a hump at the top and bottom”. The entire object was surrounded in a glowing effect. The object that was silent was moving slowly and very low in the sky.

At times, the observers lost sight of it as it was blocked by trees and homes in the area. At one point they had an unobstructed view of it. One passenger had a new cell phone with a camera function that had a night mode setting and snapped one picture. They all looked at the phone and were excited that they had captured a picture of the strange object. Seconds later they looked back, and the object was gone. One witness commented to me, “It was there, then it wasn’t there.”

* June 1, 2013-North Huntingdon- It was just after 10 PM when a mother and her three year old child just left a convenience store and were heading on Route 30 eastbound when ahead of her she saw a large object hovering over the highway. There were no other cars in the area, and surprised at what she saw, the woman stopped her car about one hundred fifty feet from the object. The object that was completely silent was hovering about sixty feet above the highway and took up all four lanes. Her young child yelled out, “Look Mommy, a flying I-pad in the sky!”

The woman told me that the object that looked basically rectangular, “looked like the gondola of a blimp without the blimp.” She estimated that the object was about fifty five feet long and thirty five to forty feet high. There were two tiers of odd looking lights on the object. The family had to pass under the object to get home, and the car experienced various electronic malfunctions at that time. The woman also attempted to take a picture of the object with her cell phone, but the camera function would not operate. See the following account for more details.

See also: Huge Rectangular Object Hovers Low over Pennsylvania Highway-June 1, 2013 – Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone

* July 30, 2012-Bloomsburg- It was a beautiful afternoon when a motorist traveling east on Interstate 80 near Bloomsburg had a very strange experience. The man was tuning in his radio when he looked at the passenger window and observed a white, round translucent sphere about the diameter of a soft ball following along with the movement of the vehicle. The sphere floated through the open window and entered into the cab of the truck. The object moved around the floorboard, then slowly moved along the floor toward the driver. The sphere continued to move around close to the man. The object then departed through the bed of the truck. You can read more details at this link.

See also: Small Sphere Enters Moving Vehicle – Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone

*October 2017-Fayette City- Early that morning, a man went outside to warm up his wife’s car. As he walked down the steps, he looked toward her car and saw something only about ten to twelve feet away by the right bumper. The outside lights were on and the area around the car was well illuminated. The witness said he saw an object that was about two feet tall and shaped like a haystack. The object was translucent, and shiny, and a milky-white color. There were vertical ribs that seemed to be the superstructure that looked like chrome straws that could be seen through the translucent structure. The object which was silent was gliding one to two inches off the ground, was motionless when he first saw it.

Whatever the object was, after several seconds it must have realized that the witness had approached until he stood about six feet from it. It suddenly zoomed extremely fast across the driveway to the left side of the car, then made a perfect right angle turn along the driver’s side of the car into the dark and was not seen again. The entire incident lasted only seconds. The witness wished he had his cell phone with him so he could have taken a picture. The witness has no idea what he saw but feels that it may have been some type of a probe.

*June 4, 2019-Youngstown- Low Level UFO Encounter with Strange Electronic and Animal Affects Reported near the Chestnut Ridge in Pennsylvania

On the evening of June 4, 2019, two people were traveling near the Youngstown side of the Chestnut Ridge not far from Latrobe in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The sky was clear with good visibility. The passenger in the car suddenly yelled out, “What are those lights?” The driver was watching the road and didn’t notice them until they were pointed out. The passenger was confused about what she was seeing since it looked so unusual. She saw what appeared to be a glass tube cylinder among bright lights that seemed to be covered with a smoke or haze. The cylinder appeared to be attached to a large V-shaped object with several rows of different colored lights.

The driver pulled the car over and stopped the vehicle so he could view what the other person was watching. The man said he was amazed when he looked up and noticed the odd sight in the sky approximately eighty to one hundred yards away from the vehicle. Hovering about sixty feet over the trees was a very strange looking object in the shape of a V. The V-shape was made up of numerous small rectangular shaped white lights. These lights were glowing but would brighten and dim at times. The driver estimated that there could have been fifty or more lights.

The object was estimated to be about forty to fifty feet long. Above the smaller lights were four larger round lights that were strobing and were orange, blue, red, and green in color. The brightness of these colors appeared pale compared to the smaller rectangular white lights. These lights seem to strobe from left to right. There was a larger light that produced a beam that was scanning the sky above the object.

The driver lowered the windows as they continued to watch the object. The two observers were amazed that the hovering object was completely silent. As the witnesses continued to watch the object, some odd effects took place. The driver stated that it was as though “the electronic system of the car was having a seizure.” The radio was off at the time but they suddenly began to hear an odd clicking sound inside the vehicle but they were unable to locate the source. At the same time, it was noticed that the dash lights were dimming on and off with the beat of the clicking sound. The driver also stated that soon after he was having a problem with his cell phone dropping the signal several times.

The observers watched the object for about three minutes but became very disturbed by the encounter and decided to leave the area and continue down the road. The passenger stated,  “We were beside ourselves in awe.” They didn’t even think of trying to take a picture.

The object was still hovering as they began to drive down the road going about thirty miles per hour. That is when something else strange occurred. About thirty seconds after they left the location of the observation, a deer ran out from the woods in front of their car. The driver of the car is an experienced outdoorsman and said the deer looked dazed and confused. It was moments later that another deer did the same thing. Then just a short distance down the road a bird hit the car windshield and continued on. The driver commented, “All of these animals seemed confused and frightened. They were all crossing the road as to evade something that had scared them. I was in a state of amazement at what we encountered. I’ll never forget that strange night”.

*November 8, 2019-Masontown- This report was investigated by researcher Jim Brown. His website can be found at: www.jimsdestinations.com.  During the afternoon of Nov 8, 2019, a man traveling on a rural road outside of Masontown observed a silver gray sphere about two feet in diameter on the ground and blocking the road ahead of him. The man couldn’t figure out what it was but decided to approach the object and move it so he could continue his journey. He was about fifty feet away from the object when he opened the car door and noticed that the object was starting to fade away. It slowly continued to fade away and completely disappeared.

*October 14, 2020-Latrobe- A witness contacted me during March, of 2021, and shared with me his experience of observing a strange object in the sky. The man lives in the Latrobe, PA area. He was outside taking a walk on the evening of October 14, 2020, when he looked up into the sky and noticed a bright light moving slowly. The light, however, began to change positions and moved in different directions as he continued to observe it.

The object appeared to become larger in size and gave the impression that it was shaped somewhat like a boomerang with three separated lights. The object appeared to be hovering and not moving, and lower in altitude than the small aircraft that land at the local Arnold Palmer airport. The lights on the object were amber in color. The witness was able to obtain one picture before the object moved off. That picture reminded me of another photo taken of a UFO in Cambria county two years before this sighting.

See also: Two very Similar UFO Photos from Pennsylvania Taken Two Years Apart – Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone

*February-March 2021-A wave of UFO activity occurred in the Pittsburgh area and across the state- Residents from around the greater Pittsburgh area and other locations were reporting numerous sightings of strange objects in the sky and in some cases low to the ground. Sightings were reported from populated suburbs of Pittsburgh and from rural areas as well. There were also some interesting daylight observations. You can read more about some of these cases at this link.

See also: Numerous UFO Sightings Are Being Reported in the Pittsburgh Area and From Across Pennsylvania. March 29, 2021. – Stan Gordon’s UFO Anomalies Zone

UFO sightings have continued to be reported in recent weeks as well.

During my many years of investigating UFO sightings in Pennsylvania, the following are some of my findings that have continued to surface over the years.

*UFO sightings are very common and are reported every year all year round across Pennsylvania and around the world.

*UFOs seem to be attracted to energy sources. Many low level close range UFO sightings commonly take place in the vicinity of high tension power lines, power plants, communications and broadcast towers, gas wells and gas lines, railroad tracks, etc.

*UFOs have been observed hovering low over bodies of water and have reportedly been seen entering and exiting rivers and lakes across Pennsylvania. Similar accounts of been reported from around the world showing an association of UFOs with bodies of water.

*Low Level UFO sighting are reported not only in rural areas but also in more populated areas as well.

*Many UFO sightings are reported in daylight. Sightings take place at any time of the day or night and during all types of weather conditions.

*Animals commonly react oddly when they are in close vicinity of a UFO.

*Some UFOs seemingly have shown characteristics of being both physical and a non-physical at times.

As you can see from the previously mentioned reports, the UFO phenomena has been a mystery for a long time and regardless of the source of the phenomena, it deserves a serious study by the scientific community. I am hopeful that the forthcoming government report will shed substantial light on the UFO subject- even if they don’t have all of the answers. The public deserves to know.

Contact information:

To report a UFO sighting you can contact me at 724-838-7768. I can also be contacted via email at: paufo@comcast.net. Keep checking my website for incoming information at: www.stangordon.info.

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The post UFO Sightings Reported Yearly in Pennsylvania by Stan Gordon first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Sightings Reported Yearly in Pennsylvania by Stan Gordon appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations. There was no formal investigation to the case, and is offered here for informational purposes.

Witness Testimony

The following was submitted to The Black Vault on May 26, 2020.

“On August 11, 2019 at 4:20 am, I observed unusual lights in a triangle formation from my front yard. I woke up my roommate and retrieved telephone to have a witness and to video observance. I videotaped for 12 minutes while also watching for other ufo’s. thus the reason for shaky video. If you view video frame by frame the object can be seen making maneuvers that are impossible for any type of aircraft known to mankind. I submitted the video to MUFON but, did not get a satisfactory report from them. The investigator suggested it was probably a stealth bomber test. There is no way it was any type of known aeronautical technology. See for yourself.

I am going to try to upload the video file but, if it is too big can I get instructions on an alternate way to transmit video to you along with some screenshot captures. Thank you for any information you can give me on what I saw.”

Note: The video is still in the process of being received.

The Evidence

The Analysis

Information Case Only; No Formal Investigation

Conclusion

Information Case Only; No Formal Investigation

The post UFO over Florahome, Florida – August 11, 2019 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Florahome, Florida – August 11, 2019 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations. The reporting witness, who wished to remain anonymous, submitted videos on behalf of a family member. In addition, a corroborating video was also submitted.

TBV Investigations’ researcher Jim Kerr and The Black Vault’s John Greenewald, Jr. worked together on the below investigation.

Witness Testimony

The original testimony submitted to The Black Vault was the following:
Hello,

I am reaching out to you because I do not know who else to turn to regarding a recent UFO sighting in San Diego, CA. I know you are all leading experts in the fields of astrophysics and UFO tracking, so I’m hopeful you can finally provide some answers, other than that they are flares.

At around 8:30 PM in the UTC area of San Diego, CA, my brother and his girlfriend observed 7 strange orbs floating in a horizontal line roughly three hundred feet above the ground. You can see the videos for yourself below. (See “The Evidence” below)

After my brother showed me the videos, I immediately knew they were the same orbs we had seen earlier in 2004, except that time they had moved very quickly, stopped on a dime, and were constantly changing formation. 

That night, I posted the fourth video to Twitter and tagged the accounts of nearby Miramar Air Station, San Diego County, San Diego Police Department, our local FOX / NBC news stations, and several UFO tracking accounts, hoping for a response, but nothing. I also emailed the videos to local news stations, but have received no response to date.

My burning question is this: Are these orbs advanced military technology or actual UFOs? 

Since posting my brother’s video to Twitter, several accounts have posted their own videos from that night. What’s odd is that all they appear to all be the same orbs, but the locations are in some cases many miles apart. One video was from Bonita, CA while another was from Rosarito, Mexico. Some other users reported sightings in Laguna Beach and Ocean Beach as well. 

Here is the video from Bonita, CA, which has the same number of orbs:

Also interesting to note, at around 10 PM, roughly 1.5 hours after my brother and his girlfriend spotted these orbs, they and many others on Twitter noted that jets were being scrambled from Miramar Air Station, which is very unusual for that time of night. 

My brother later found this footage from the same night in Laguna, CA, which also shows seven orbs:

 (Source)

Here is another article describing the phenomenon, with footage from :

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/multiple-witnesses-report-strange-row-21798719.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Honestly, what are these? I would really appreciate your insight!

The Evidence

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Video #4

Tom DeLonge’s UFO Sighting Video

After The Black Vault was contacted regarding the above videos, it was learned that Tom DeLonge, rock star and CEO of To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science (TTSA), posted a UFO video and story on Instagram from the same evening and general vicinity.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

So last night I get a text from somebody that there was a UAP right off of the beach where I live. I ran to my balcony and saw it split into two pieces and raise vertically. I grabbed Marie, jumped in my truck and went straight down to the beach. We were the only ones on the beach last night as this light disappeared, reappeared, broke into three pieces and stacked vertically with one little red dot flying around the top and then disappeared for the rest of the evening. This video doesn’t show much, but we were up quite late watching the light dance about a half a mile to a mile off of the beach. It was huge, and it was fiery orange. Of course I called up Lue Elizondo as I was there, and he was telling me all of these things I was supposed to do with location, geographic details, weather, altitude and distance etc. Of course, I was completely worthless when it came to those details. But yes, big deal last night in Encinitas, CA. Lue checked immediately, there were no flights in the area except one that I had my eyes on the entire time. No military, no boats, and a bunch of hovering lights that were stacking on top of each other… wild. Who knows…

A post shared by Official Tom DeLonge (@tomdelonge) on Apr 1, 2020 at 7:54am PDT

Being the same night as the other submission, it was noted during our investigation, and worthy of mention here. However, it appears to solve Tom DeLonge’s UFO video, a different explanation may be needed than solving the other ‘multiple orb’ videos.

The Analysis & Investigation

The following video was put together by Jim Kerr to analyze the evidence within this case file.

“Multiple Orb Videos”

First, we tackled the aspect of this which had the best, and most, visual evidence. This involved the numerous videos outlined above, and the mainstream media reporting.

2018 Identical Case – Aircraft Flares

In August of 2018, another nearly identical incident occurred in the exact same area. The event, which resulted in multiple videos of the objects, was quickly explained by the military as aircraft flares. Here is a screenshot from one of those videos, clearly showing the many similarities between the 2018 aircraft flares, and the 2020 “UFOs.”

Air Traffic Control for the night of March 31, 2020, puts the nail in the coffin regarding the explanation of aircraft flares. Special thanks to Twitter user, and private pilot Darkstar IE, for finding recordings that prove beyond any shadow of a doubt aircraft flares were being dropped.

ATC traffic from KSAN, (San Diego) at 8:00-8:30 PM on March 31, 2020, captured the following audio clip:

The evidence is clear.

“Raider 28” Calls “So-Cal” operating in the area while doing a “Battlefield Illumination Drop” wherein they stated that, “heavy flares out here, so if you get called about it, its us.”

With the evidence above, we believe these videos and this case, can be determined as “solved” with the culprit being aircraft flares.

That leads us to Tom DeLonge’s UFO video as that is not explained as easily with the same explanation.

Tom DeLonge’s UFO Video

Juxtaposing Tom DeLonge’s UFO video posted to Instagram, to those submitted to The Black Vault above, it only contained one orb/object. Although his written post/comment contained other details not depicted in the video; we had to go by what we could prove — not what was said in the post.

We began by exporting some of the frames from the video.

Still Frame Captures

Contrary to what some observers may think about DeLonge’s UFO video, the object is not pulsating nor is it changing shapes/sizes. The effect you see is a result of the cell phone camera’s auto-focus feature, which in the extreme dark setting that DeLonge was in, the camera is having trouble finding an object to focus on due to the low light. So, it goes in and out of focus, in order to try and get something into focus.

There were very few frames that came into focus, however, this one, nearly did:

It is this frame that likely will help the most in determining the identity of DeLonge’s UFO.

We know by his testimony, that DeLonge went to the beach and looked outwards, which would be West given his position in Encinitas / Southern California. In the sky above him, at the approximate time frame of DeLonge’s UFO video, would be Venus. Below, you will find the night sky, with a closeup of what Venus would look like, courtesy of Stellarium.

Although this may sound like a classic Project Blue Book debunking explanation, it may actually be the most likely explanation for DeLonge’s video.

Not only do we know Venus would be in that direction that DeLonge was looking; the video’s single frame that was nearly ‘in focus,’ captures an image that has striking similarities to a photo that we do know is Venus, taken by TBV Investigations researcher, and amateur astronomer, Jim Kerr, on May 21, 2017 at 11:33 pm:

There are a few things to note. First off, the oblong shaping of the object in DeLonge’s UFO video and the photograph of Venus. As indicated above with the Stellarium screen shots, Venus has “phasing” just like the moon, wherein you don’t always see the full, round shape, of the planet. Both DeLonge’s UFO and the photograph of Venus indicate that is the case here: phasing. This would cause the oblong shaping of the objects in both images above.

Second, the coloring. Both DeLonge’s UFO photograph and Kerr’s Venus photograph have a similar orange tint. Kerr’s photo was taken with a much higher resolution camera, a D300, which you can clearly see a resolution difference when comparing the two images. However, the color tint is similar. This color tint is caused by “Chromatic Aberration.” As explained by Nikon, chromatic aberration is:
“Chromatic aberration is a phenomenon in which light rays passing through a lens focus at different points, depending on their wavelength. There are two types of chromatic aberration: axial chromatic aberration and lateral chromatic aberration.

Axial chromatic aberration is a variation in the length of each wavelength of light and lateral chromatic aberration is a variation in the magnification of the different colors of light; becoming more visible at the image periphery. Axial chromatic aberration results in blurred colors in front of and behind the focus position due to the differences in each color’s focal point. It can be noticeable at the peripheries of extremely bright portions of an image. Lateral Chromatic Aberration is the cause of color fringing. It is only seen at the edges of an image.

Lateral chromatic aberration is reduced to some degree by combining different lens elements with different refractive indexes, but optically speaking, it cannot be completely eliminated. In addition to red and its complimentary color cyan, and blue and its complimentary color yellow, some lenses may exhibit complex color fringing that combines these two primary types. It is greatly reduced by low-dispersion ED glass.”

When taking all of that into account, putting together side-by-side DeLonge’s UFO video, and a known photograph of Venus, the similarities are striking. Despite the clear resolution difference (ie: pixelation), the color: matches. The phasing: matches.

It is believed that although at some point, based on DeLonge’s description, that he may have witnessed what is believed to be the aircraft flares (see above), upon deeper investigation, the video itself is believed to be Venus.

An attempt was made to contact DeLonge for follow ups, but the attempts went unanswered.

Conclusion

Due to the overwhelming evidence, many of the videos (including those submitted directly to The Black Vault) can be explained as aircraft flares being dropped on the night of March 31, 2020.

The secondary piece of evidence analyzed, the video by Tom DeLonge along with his sighting report, is likely connected to the flares being dropped. It is plausible that based on DeLonge’s description, he witnessed the flares as well. However, the video posted to his Instagram account is likely the Planet Venus. The evidence is very convincing when comparing a still frame from his video, which was the closest moment his camera’s auto-focus feature came into focus, and putting it next to a confirmed photograph of Venus in the night sky. The color and phasing of the planet in the image are nearly identical.

For this reason, all of the events explored that occurred on the night of March 31, 2020, can be adequately explained.

Update April 14, 2020

After this original case was posted, some have pointed to a post by Sean Cahill / @mintyhyperspace on Twitter to disassociate Tom DeLonge’s UFO video with the flares being dropped. It insinuated DeLonge was too far away to see the flares, therefore he feels it did not play a role. This post said the following:

This tweet operates off the assumption that the flares were dropped off the coast of Tijuana, and only one time. More likely than that, they were dropped off the coast of San Diego, further North, as indicated by the SAN DIEGO ATC recordings that can be listened to above.

“VMGR-352’s aircraft is the Lockheed Martin C-130J that has a cruising altitude of 27,000 feet. Flares are deployed at cruising altitude, then ignited after they fall 1000 feet. If the above data is applicable on March 31st, ( I believe it was), this means the flares were ignited at approx 26,000 feet.

This would make the flares visible from Tijuana, Mexico to Laguna Beach, California. At a distance of 108 miles, the earths curvature at 100 miles away would drop 6668.41 feet, meaning the flares would be visible the full 108 miles along the coast.”

About The Investigators On This Case

Jim Kerr
Jim.Kerr@theblackvault.com

The post Tom DeLonge UFO Video: California – Tijuana, Mexico 3/31/20 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Tom DeLonge UFO Video: California – Tijuana, Mexico 3/31/20 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The witness submitted the following case to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on 06/08/2019. The case was assigned to TBV Investigator Jim Kerr for investigation and analysis. Date, Time, and Location of Sighting: 12/29/2017 AT 8:00 PM. Cooroy, Queensland, Australia.

Witness Testimony

I’ve attached four photos (in sequential order) taken at a friend’s place one night.

The object was about three feet in front of me, moving slowly upward and away, and I’ve attached these particular photos because they were relatively clear. I literally have over a thousand photos of anomalies which neither Mary Rodwell nor Nancy Talbott can offer an answer for. I’d be happy to send you some if you’d like to see them. I personally would love an explanation! It drives me a bit mad knowing I clearly have evidence of something yet have absolutely no idea what it/they/them might be.

The Evidence

The witness submitted 4-photos. They are numbered 1-4.

Weather: Historical source from wunderground.com

Note: this historical weather information for 12/29/2017 at 8:00 pm was from Sunshine Beach Queensland Australia, which is located approx 15 miles from the town of Cooroy.

Temperature 77 deg, Dew Point 69 deg, Humidity 77%, Wind 9 mph from the north, Pressure 29.93 in, Precipitation 0.0 in, Condition partly cloudy.

Astronomical Historical Data from Stellarium

Searching the archives of Stellarium (a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at night and day time sky), I was able to view precisely what celestial objects were visible to the witness from their location.

On 12/29/2017, at 8:00 pm, the moon was the brightest object in the sky. The moon was 10.6 days old and was 81.2% illuminated. This lunar information will be important for the analysis and conclusions of this investigation.

Analysis

I have over 40 years of experience as an amateur astronomer, photographer, astrophotographer, and videographer. I have experience in taking nighttime photography when the moon is bright, causing issues with lens flares.

In all four photos the witness submitted, the 81.2% illuminated moon can clearly be seen. Around the area of the moon, cloud cover can be seen that corroborates the weather information. All four photos show lens flares caused by the brightness of the moon.

My intent here is not to debunk or criticize the witness’ belief that she captured an anomaly. My intention is to help with nighttime photography. There are techniques, lenses, lens hoods that can eliminate lens flares due to bright objects in the night sky. Below are some helpful links.

Conclusion

Case File Status: Solved, lens flares caused by a bright moon.

References/Helpful Information

https://www.the-photography-blogger.com/lens-flare-night-long-exposure-photography/

https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/89104/how-to-avoid-light-flares-in-long-exposure-night-shots

https://photographylife.com/what-is-ghosting-and-flare

The post UFO Seen in Cooroy, Queensland, Australia, December 29, 2017 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Seen in Cooroy, Queensland, Australia, December 29, 2017 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations. There was no formal investigation to the case, and is offered here for informational purposes.

Witness Testimony

My daughter and I were heading westbound on Mass pike around 2:30 AM when we saw this bright orange glowing object that was completely stationary. We took a couple of pics although I wish we had gotten a video. The picture looks completely different than how it actually appeared to us. From our perspective, it looked like a stationary ball of fire in the sky.

The Evidence

The post UFO over Westbound Mass Turnpike, November 9, 2019 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Westbound Mass Turnpike, November 9, 2019 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was first submitted through the UFO Reporting hotline for The Black Vault / TBV Investigations. It was assigned to Jim Kerr for investigation and analysis.

Witness Testimony

By Jim Kerr, TBV Investigations

The witness stated in essence; this incident took place in April 2015 between 7:00 and 8:00 pm, but he can not remember the date in April. The witness and a friend were sitting inside a parked car engaged in conversation at the corner of Metzler Road and Lamoille Highway in the city of Elko NV. The sky was clear, with no rain or wind, and the temperature was cool.

While seated inside the car, he observed an orange light approx 85-90 degrees overhead slightly moving in different short directions but remained in the same location in the sky. Using his Windows 10 cell phone camera he began videoing the sighting. After several seconds the orange light turned white then opened up like a cube-shaped portal slightly larger than his fist held at arm’s length. The light inside the portal changed to orange and blue and was swirling around like food coloring mixed with water going down a sink drain, but the two colors did not mix. Suddenly the object began to take on the shape of an orange cube. It transformed into this cube similar to someone printing a cube with a 3D printer. The size was slightly larger than his closed fist held at arm’s length. Within this cube, at least two side profiles of human-like faces appeared. The faces appeared to morph changing slightly in shape and size. After approx one minute the portal closed vanishing into the night sky. The witness stated he was convinced he and his friend had witnessed a paranormal event of unknown origin.

Telephone Interview

On 02/27/2017 at 9:17 am. I conducted a recorded telephone interview with the witness.

The Evidence

On 02/20/2019, the witnessed emailed me two links to his YouTube channel of the video he filmed of the portal. Both videos are of the same object. The first video is the unedited footage. The second video the witness enlarged to see the object more clearly. Note; to protect the witness anonymity, I am not posting direct links to his YouTube channel in this investigation.

Unedited Video Footage Submitted by the Witness

Edited Video Footage Submitted by the Witness

The Analysis

By Jim Kerr, TBV Investigations

Weather and Astronomical Data

Due to the fact, the witness could not remember the exact date of this event; I am unable to research and report weather and astronomical data for this sighting.

Summary and Analysis of Witness’ Statement and Video Evidence

The witness couldn’t remember the day, but in April 2015, between 7-8:00 pm, he and a friend observed a portal open in the night sky that, in the witness’ words, painted or 3D printed swirling colors within a cube-shaped portal. Moments later, profile images of human-like faces then appeared. The entire sighting and video of the event lasted less than one minute. The witness believed he had witnessed a paranormal event of a portal opening in the night sky.

I spoke to the witness twice along with a recorded telephone interview and exchanged several emails. The witness’ story never varied in detail, and he seemed sincere in relating his sighting. When I first viewed both his original video and edited video, the video was dark due to being videoed at night. In the edited, cropped, and enlarged video, I could see what he described as the profile of human-like faces but suspected the objects might fall into the category of pareidolia.

Conclusion

The witness’ own video footage revealed that his sighting and claims are without any doubt a hoax. During the hours of darkness, he videoed a house with two windows, with a tree in front of the right portion of the house, and a vehicle parked in front of the house. Most likely, after viewing his video, he decided to hoax a paranormal event in the sky telling tall tails of portals, swirling colors, cubes, and the faces of human-like entities.

My conclusion: Solved; Hoax. Filming a house at night claiming it was a paranormal portal in the sky.

The post Paranormal Portal Opens Over Elko, Nevada – April 2015 (Hoax) first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Paranormal Portal Opens Over Elko, Nevada – April 2015 (Hoax) appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

This case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on 07/25/2018 5:07 am . It was assigned to investigator Paul Wright for analysis and investigation.

Witness Testimony

The witness submitted the following report:

“I have been seeing these things for a month now. But the one I’m seeing today is different first time seeing this one. Please listen to me I’m not making it up. they r out there right now. It’s my human obligation to tell & show what I see.”

The Evidence

The witness provided a brief written report, along with the below photo (click to englarge):

The Analysis

By Paul Wright, TBV Investigations

At this moment in time the witness has not responded to further contact by email after the initial submission. Therefore the lack of specific details makes it difficult to assess the case.

Using just the short written report and a dark photograph its difficult to form a conclusion.

Photo analysis revealed an issue between Date of sighting and photo creation date which was taken after the date of the sighting:

Date, time of sighting 06/09/2018 at 21:00 PM
Photo creation date 24/07/2018 at 21:36 PM
Submission date 25/07/2018 at 05:07 AM

Image Analysis

Conclusion

Taking into account no further contact with witness (only email available) and no specific location in Theodore Alabama my conclusion is inconclusive due to lack of specific details and a photograph that is open to interpretation.

The post UFO over Theodore, Alabama – June 9, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Theodore, Alabama – June 9, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

This report prepared by Jim Kerr, TBV Investigtions

On 12/29/2018, I was reviewing MUFON case files on the Facebook group “MUFON Global.” When I saw MUFON case number 93741, I immediately recognized the craft in the photo as a still photo/video-frame from the video I shot back on July 24, 2013, at 9:00 pm. in the Antelope Valley, Ca. I downloaded the photo’s from the MUFON investigation, compared them to my photo, and they are a match.

The Evidence

MUFON investigated, and published the follow article:

The Analysis

On 12/29/2018 I was reviewing MUFON case files on the Facebook group “MUFON Global.” When I saw MUFON case number 93741, I immediately recognized the craft in the photo as a still photo/video-frame from the video I shot back on July 24, 2013, at 9:00 pm. in the Antelope Valley, Ca. I downloaded the photo’s from the MUFON investigation, compared them to my photo, and they are a match.

The photo submitted by MUFON’s witness was plagiarized from one of two possible websites.

#1, an article I published on The Truth Denied website on 03/19/2015.

http://www.thetruthdenied.com/news/2015/03/19/ufos-aurora-tr3bs-secrets-of-black-government-programs/

#2, a UFO investigation I conducted for The Black Vault / TBV Investigations, published on 09/28/2018.

https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/triangular-ufos-over-st-thomas-ontario-canada-witness-experiences-physical-markings/

It was obvious that the MUFON witness photoshopped his photo inserting my photo to his, rotating the craft in a slight counterclockwise direction. I could take this investigation one step further and send the photos to a professional photo analysis, but I don’t believe this is necessary. Any investigators trained eye can determine that the MUFON photo and mine are the same.

Photo Comparison

The photo on the left is the MUFON witness’ photo. The photo on the right is owned by Jim Kerr. The witness superimposed Jim Kerr’s image into his own photo rotating the craft in a slight counterclockwise direction. Compare the cropped and enlarged photos. The image of the craft are the same.

Additional Information

The craft described in the MUFON report was NOT a UFO. On July 24, 2013, at 9:00 pm, my wife and I observed this craft take off vertically from the USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, Ca. Although we consider it “unidentified” we are confident it is some type of classified military project. My wife and I watched this three times, three weeks apart, same day of the week at 9:00 pm.

Conclusion

I find it sad that in today’s world of Ufology that unethical individuals find it necessary to fake UFO sightings, photos, and video using CGI, Photoshop and other programs. As a UFO Investigator for TBV Investigations, we run across our share of fake reports, intentionally manipulated photos/video, and we expose these frauds to the public. Plagiarized material is also becoming popular and harder for investigators to discern. It has become necessary for UFO investigators to question every report, photo, and video submitted by the witnesses.

I hope that MUFON will review my investigation and expose their witness’ sighting and photo as a hoax. MUFON is welcome to contact me through TBV Investigations to discuss my findings. They are also welcome to meet with me to inspect the data on my computer. As UFO investigators we need to assist each other in exposing fake UFO reports.

My conclusion; Fraudulent report submitted to MUFON. Witness plagiarised a photo owned by Jim Kerr.

The post UFO Triangle over Kansas – July 29, 2018 – (Reference: MUFON Case Number 93741) first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Triangle over Kansas – July 29, 2018 – (Reference: MUFON Case Number 93741) appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

Witness Kevin Lane submitted the following case to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on 07/14/2018. It was assigned to TBV Investigator Jim Kerr for investigation and analysis.

Witness Testimony

Witness Lane submitted the following testimony which is unedited and appears as it was submitted.

“Large glowing object, it seems to change colors from inside out. It comes and goes and changes spots in the sky in a matter of seconds. It is bright orange but changes rapidly from orange to green to blue then back orange. I have tried looking through a telescope ( Walmart brand bought for my young son ) it does not zoom in close, but it looks like it is pulsating inside out. I have pics and video with my phone that I will try and upload.”

The Evidence

Witness Lane submitted one photograph.

The Analysis

By Jim Kerr, TBV Investigations

As an amateur astronomer, photographer and videographer I have spent many years observing celestial objects in the night sky. I have experience with astrophotography along with coupling DSLR camera and video cameras to telescopes using eyepiece projection to film celestial objects. I am familiar with camera focus issues in low light and have intentionally observed and filmed celestial objects that are not in focus. Based on my database of out of focus planets and stars I can recognize photos and video of these objects that are out of focus.

The witness stated he had additional photos and video of the object he witnessed. I requested he forward the additional data along with answers to questions I submitted to him. At the time of writing this report, the witness has not responded to my request. If the witness submits the additional requested information, I will add the information to this report; however, based on the single photograph submitted, I was able to resolve this case.

Weather 

Knoxville, TN., 07/14/2018 at 10:00 pm. Source: Wunderground Weather Website.

At the time of the witness’ sighting, it was 81 degrees, Dewpoint 73 degrees, Humidity 77%, Wind speed ten mph SSW, and was cloudy.

Astronomical Data

Searching the archives of Stellarium, (a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars), I was able to view exactly what celestial objects were visible to the witness in his night sky from his location in Knoxville, TN on 07/14/2018 at 10:00 pm.

Based on the witness’ description that the object was pulsating (twinkling) showing colors of orange, blue and green is consistent with stars. Two of the brightest stars were visible, Arcturus which is the 4^th brightest star and Vega which is the 5^th brightest star we see from earth.The visible planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus, can be ruled out as the object he observed because planets do no pulsate (twinkle) or change colors.

Refer to the article link below, Why do stars twinkle but planets don’t.

https://earthsky.org/space/why-dont-planets-twinkle-as-stars-do

Below: Excerpt from the above article. Credit, Deborah Byrd, EarthSky.com

Stars twinkle, while planets (usually) shine steadily. Why? 

“Stars twinkle because … they’re so far away from Earth that, even through large telescopes, they appear only as pinpoints. And it’s easy for Earth’s atmosphere to disturb the pinpoint light of a star. As a star’s light pierces our atmosphere, each single stream of starlight is refracted – caused to change direction, slightly – by the various temperature and density layers in Earth’s atmosphere. You might think of it as the light traveling a zig-zag path to our eyes, instead of the straight path the light would travel if Earth didn’t have an atmosphere.”

“Planets shine more steadily because … they’re closer to Earth and so appear not as pinpoints, but as tiny disks in our sky. You can see planets as disks if you looked through a telescope, while stars remain pinpoints. The light from these little disks is also refracted by Earth’s atmosphere, as it travels toward our eyes. But – while the light from one edge of a planet’s disk might be forced to “zig” one way – light from the opposite edge of the disk might be “zagging” in an opposite way. The zigs and zags of light from a planetary disk cancel each other out, and that’s why planets appear to shine steadily.” 

Conclusion

Upon analyzing and enlarging the witness’ photo, I immediately recognized the object as an out of focus or defocused star. I have conducted tests while filming celestial objects defocusing planets and stars and archiving those images and video footage. The witness claims to have used a cell phone to take the single photo he provided; however, the camera he used while defocused on the star captured the six aperture blades inside the camera’s lens depicting the object with a hexagon shape.

The vast majority of cell phone camera lenses do not use an adjustable aperture that opens and closes regulating the amount of light the camera sees, and the camera sensor controls the exposure. Cell phone camera lenses use a fixed aperture of f/1.8 in a higher priced smartphone or f/2.2 in less expensive phones. When taking a defocused photo of a star with a cell phone, we would not see any internal camera lens aperture bladed. We would see the defocused star as an Airy Disk. Due to the lack of answered questions from the witness along with his statement he would try and upload video and photos from his cell phone, I have formed the opinion the single photo he provided was taken with a conventional DSLR camera with a lens that contained an adjustable six-bladed aperture. Additionally, based on the photographic evidence alone and comparing my photo to the witness’ photo the only conclusion is the witness photographed a star. Basically, it doesn’t matter what camera was used by the witness as the evidence and conclusion is in the photographic comparison.

Additional Information

• Do Cell Phone Cameras Have an Aperture and Shutter?

The post UFO over Knoxville, Tennessee -July 14, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Knoxville, Tennessee -July 14, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations. It originally came into the hotline, and was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Richard Kidd for analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following was submitted by the witness:

“My neighbor Joe and I were enjoying several beers on my porch located in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Shortly after midnight, we observed approx 6-7 LARGE Bright Orange Lights hovering in various formations over the homes across the street. These extremely bright objects seemed to appear and then slowly dim and disappear at will, and at certain times I personally could still see the objects themselves moving across the sky despite the lights being shut off.”

The Evidence

The Analysis

After contacting the witness regarding his sighting, the witness was reluctant to provide additional information other than that he had the video and the still photographs. I requested a detailed accounting of what he witnessed but, his account hasn’t as of yet arrived. I have contacted the witness 3 times since our first discussion and, the witness has not been forthcoming with any other information nor did he submit the video. 

An attempt was made to enhance the photograph above, but no additional details that were helpful could be determined.

Conclusion

I am recommending that this case be closed due to lack of evidence other that the photos that the witness has provided. 

The post UFOs over Carbondale, Pennsylvania – July 7, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFOs over Carbondale, Pennsylvania – July 7, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

This case was acquired from media coverage from Charlotte Observer article by  The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on 06/09/2018. It was assigned to investigator Paul Wright for analysis.

Witness Testimony

Interview article sourced from Charlotte Observer Sept 03, 2018 09:33 AM. The following is an excerpt from the article:

BY MARK PRICE 

Another alleged UFO sighting near Charlotte has appeared on Facebook and in this case, it was posted by a husband and father who says he doesn’t necessarily believe in UFOs.

Javion Hill, 35, of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, says he took several photos of the object during a storm on the night of Aug. 18, as he drove on U.S. 74 southwest of Charlotte.

The images feature something square hovering above the treeline, with its edges fringed in lights. Hill told the Charlotte Observer the craft frightened him to the point that he didn’t sleep that night.

“I was on my way home with my wife on the speaker phone, and it looked like there was a tornado coming, so I was trying to take a picture of the clouds for my wife,” says Hill.

“But then I saw something that wasn’t normal and I was, like: ‘Oh my god, what is that?’ I started trying to take as many pictures of it as possible while I was driving.”

Hill says he pulled over at the next exit to try and get video, but the aircraft had vanished. A heavy rain followed instantly, he said.

Hill says what he saw is actually bigger than what is seen in the photo.

“ was worried for my safety,” he said. “I didn’t believe in UFOs until that moment.”

The Evidence

The following 2 photographs below were submitted to the media by the witness and used for analysis:

The Analysis

By Paul Wright, TBV Investigations

I will attempt to identify what the witnesses observed based on the following facts along with witness statements. (including photos x 2 sourced from the Charlotte Observer and Daily Mail)

The first original photograph has been enlarged. Next to that on the right hand side is a tweaked version of the original photograph. The levels and contrast have been tweaked.

The second original photograph has been enlarged. Next to that on the right hand side is a tweaked version of the original second photograph. The levels and contrast have been tweaked.

My first approach was to zoom / enlarge the 2 photographs and tweak the levels and contrast. It became obvious that the “UFO” was in fact a reflection.

The clouds and sky were visible through the reflections in both photographs.

The next challenge was to work out what the reflection was.

John Greenewald determined that the “light reflection” was possibly from a self illuminating phone case, which after researching the different types of illuminating cases very quickly became the most plausible assumption.

Image below of illuminating phone cases.

I researched the local area around  U.S. 74 southwest of Charlotte just to get an idea of location, see Google map below.

Stellerium image for celestial objects on 18/08/2018 approximate position based on “U.S. 74 southwest of Charlotte”

Weather Information

Source: WUNDERGOUND

Conclusion

Based on the witness report and the 2 photographs it is extremely likely that the UFO is in fact a reflection of a self illuminating cell phone case.

The case could have been on the dashboard or somewhere else inside the car to create the reflection.

The post “Square UFO” Photographs Go Viral – Kings Mountain, North Carolina – August 18, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post “Square UFO” Photographs Go Viral – Kings Mountain, North Carolina – August 18, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on May 3, 2018. It was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Monica Salazar for Analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following was submitted by the witness:

“I woke at 1:25 am, this was several months ago, maybe now a year or more. When I woke I first looked at the clock because I hate waking up in the middle of the night on a weeknight when I work. Then I caught through a crack in my blinds a very bright light of which I thought was the moon. So I peeked through the blinds and the moon was super bright! Though I was mostly asleep I was compelled to get up and get my phone out of my purse and open my blinds in the middle of the night, which I would usually never do because of the fear of someone there looking in. Where I live it is pitch black on my street with no street lights. But I still got the phone and opened the blinds to take a picture of the moon.

From the time I spotted the “moon” and then turned and walked about three steps and then back, I was surprised to see how much it had moved in the sky, and though I was still half asleep my mind did pick up on that it was moving out of the sky extremely quick. I was able to shoot two pictures before it disappeared behind trees and the horizon. I then went back to bed, though my dog was sitting at my side looking towards my bedroom door shaking. It was odd and noticed. The next day I went to check out the pictures I had taken. In the first, it was an expected picture of what I thought was the moon, blurry from taking it with my phone. The second picture, however, was something else, something I can’t explain. It is the same thing, what I thought was the moon, but clearly, it is not. Has anyone seen anything like this before? The shapes are very interesting. This is posted on my Onstellar page as a post with both pictures.”

The Evidence

Additional Photographs of the Scene

The Analysis

By Monica Salazar, TBV Investigations

I emailed the witness a few times, she was very responsive, and she was able to provide additional pictures as requested. However, after several unanswered subsequent emails, I did attempt to phone the witness with no further contact.

My analysis is as follows to the best of my ability with the information given.

As the witness stated, she was woken up in the middle of the night to glowing lights outside her window. The witness also stated that it was odd for her to wake up at such a strange hour of the night. When analyzing the images provided by the witness you can clearly see a glowing white object. The images are a big grainy so it is hard to tell. The witness did state that she was zoomed in all the way 10x as her phone allowed her to.

One observation, is a similarity between the “striations” on the second photograph submitted, which coincide with the slats of the drop down blinds, and the vertical ‘string’ in the design of the blinds.   Here is a comparison image illustrating what may account for the pattern:

Also when speaking to the witness she stated the object was traveling at a slow speed headed west from what she believes is the south side.

In the images, you can see the object almost split, perhaps not all the way but you can clearly see a divisional pattern. At first glance, I believed this to be the mosquito net that most homes come with in every window. However, I did ask the witness to provide me with some daytime photos of the same window from the outside and the inside. From the images on the outside, you can see that there is nothing that would obstruct the camera in such a way that would create what was in the original images. In addition, the image from the inside it seems that the window this witness took the image from does not have mosquito net. At least not that I can tell from the images.

Meta Data

The data for the images are as follows:

• Resolution Unit: Inches
• File Size: 326409 bytes
• File DateTime: 08-Jul-2018 10:45:54
• Flash Used: No Flash
• Make: Apple
• Model: iPhone 5s
• xResolution: 72.00 (72/1) Inches
• yResolution: 72.00 (72/1) Inches
• Software: 8.4.1
• File Modified Date: 2015:08:25 01:34:29
• YCbCr Positioning: 1
• Exposure Time: 0.067 s (1/15) (1/15)
• F Number: f/2.2
• Exposure: program (auto)
• Iso Equiv: 2000
• Exif Version: 0221
• DateTime: 2015:08:25 01:34:29
• DateTime Digitized: 2015:08:25 01:34:29
• Component Config: Does Not Exists
• Aperture: 2.2000000587378
• brightness: 12030714.58 (4294965104/357)
• Exposure Bias: 0.00 (0/1)
• Metering Mode: Spot
• Focal Length: 4.15 (83/20)
• Maker Note: NOT IMPLEMENTED
• subSectionTimeOriginal: 278
• subSectionTimeDigtized: 278
• Flashpix Version: 0100
• Color Space: sRGB
• Width: 3264
• Height: 2448
• sensing: One-chip color area sensor
• Scene Type:
• Exposure Mode: Auto Exposure
• White Balance: 0
• Zoom Ratio: 5.00 (1224/245)
• Flength 35mm: 145
• Screen Capture Type: Standard
• Compress Scheme: JPEG compression (thumbnails only)
• Thumbnail: Yes
• Thumbnail Size: 6180 bytes
• IsColor: 1
• Process: 192
• Resolution: 3264×2448
• orientation: rotate 90
• Color: Color
• Jpeg Process: Baseline

Conclusion

The witness, to the extent of my communication with her, was very credible and cooperative; she seemed to be genuinely interested in what she had captured. She even submitted the images to Onstellar in hopes of getting a clear answer as to what she had captures.

I will not deny the images are great and intriguing yet, they are very grainy and blurry it is truly hard to tell. I will not dismiss the idea of the object she captured to be from out of this world but without further tangible evidence, I would have to classify it as: Undetermined due to insufficient evidence. 

The post UFO over Lithia Springs, Georgia – August 25, 2015 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Lithia Springs, Georgia – August 25, 2015 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on May 3, 2018. It was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Michael Glenn for analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following was the exact submission by the witness:

“I saw the object standing on the east side of porridge lake. It was in north west part of sky. Distance was about 5 miles. No sound. Very bright. Took 3 pics normal distance closer and closest . Clear sky’s. No flashing lights”

The Evidence

The Analysis

A fisherman at Porridge Lake was fishing on March 16th 2018 at 7:30 PM local time, when he spotted “[an]object….in north west part of sky. Distance was about 5 miles. No sound. Very bright. Took 3 pics normal distance closer and closest . Clear sky’s . No flashing lights”

Report was followed up with a personal call with the witness. The witness is a trained observer, having served in the military as an artillery expert. The object was approximately 1500 feet from the ground, soundless, slow moving. The object was about 3 miles away, heading to the Northwest. The size of the object was huge according to the witness as he could make it out from far off. The images are not indicative of the shape, which was said to be triangular perhaps. According to the witness the vicinity of the lake is in an historically rich uranium mining town. He also states that as a constant fisherman in the area, nearly everyday, he had never seen any air traffic like this before, nor at this time of the evening. He also checked his stargazer app and noted the position of celestial bodies as being of no consequence.

The witness seems reliable and sincere in his testimony. The images do not contain any real substantive data, and ELA analysis shows no sign of manipulation.

Upon doing a search of the area, I found only one airport in the area, at Elliot Lake four miles away to the southeast. The operating hours are unknown. After some analysis via Google maps, it can be asserted that the object was most likely less than 2 miles from the witness. This distance is calculated based on the topography, and clarity of the photo. The object would have to have been in front of the Mount Dufour ski area, about one mile away. The first unzoomed image above does appear to have an ambiguous geometry to it, and a glow that seems to encompass the entire object.

As a side note, the witness is also a an experiencer who saw, with his father, the Kecksburg, PA incident in December 1965 as it came over them near Hamilton, ON.

Conclusion

The object remains unknown and unexplained at this time.

Technical Information

Meta Data of Photograph

The post UFO over Porridge Lake, Elliot Lake Ontario, Wyoming – March 18, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Porridge Lake, Elliot Lake Ontario, Wyoming – March 18, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on April 4, 2018. It was assigned to TBV Investigations’ researcher Michael Glenn for analysis.

Witness Testimony

The following is the original witness testimony submitted to The Black Vault by the witness (unedited):

“I was flying from Finland to Japan (Tokyo) and everybody was sleeping in airplane, lights was off. I took fast picture from airplane window, because of beautiful sunrise. Later I was checking out pictures which I have took and I saw these four blue dots and I don’t have any idea what those are. There wasn’t any lights like this inside of the airplane, so I don’t think those are any reflections from window. To me those “dots” UFO’S(?) looks they are far away, flying near atmosphere.

Maybe you guys can tell me what these are?”

The Evidence

The Analysis

by Michael Glenn, TBV Investigations

The image is taken from inside a lit aircraft, traveling at sunset. There are reflections in the window in the same general area as the objects of interest. After looking over aircraft window schematics, the likely reason for the lights in the sky is a double reflection from the dual pane windows. The lights are likely overhead lights from the airplane interior.

When zooming in the four dots are actually only two, repeated in the second pane of acrylic. The angle is consistent with lights that would be above the witness’ head. 

Conclusion

While other explanations are possible, the reflectivity of the windows is the most likely culprit in this situation.  It is noted that the witness believed no other lights were on in the cabin, but since they did not notice the lights when taking the photograph, they may have just as easily missed reading lights on from across the aisle. It should also be noted, depending on the direction of the camera, the lights in relation to the witness’ seat, etc., the lights could be on in a dark aircraft at a distance not noticeable to the witness, but were reflected in the window and captured on camera.

The following also illustrates where other likely reflection from inside the cabin reside.

The post UFO Seen From Airplane During Flight From Finland to Tokyo, Japan first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Seen From Airplane During Flight From Finland to Tokyo, Japan appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on January 11, 2018. It was assigned to TBV Investigations team member Rob Mercer for investigation.

Witness Testimony

The following was submitted by the witness in the original report submission:

“While viewing Orion I sighted and photographed 3 objects moving together.  8” Meade with Zwo cameras linke to Surface Pro laptop. Captured three objects. “

The Evidence

Video compilation of the photographs

Photograph Gallery

The Analysis

I spoke with the witness by telephone regarding his sighting report, he stated that while looking through the camera he noticed the three objects moving together and began taking photos. Between 5:49:06 and 5:49:48pm PST he captured 14 images, which he submitted.

By the time I contacted the witness, he had already done research on his own and discovered the Amazonas 3 satellite was passing in the same area at the time.

Though the three objects appear to move together as one, it is apparent that they are not one solid object. Stars can be seen between them as they move.

A search of the Stellarium database showed three satellites (Amazonas 3, Echostar 18, and Echostar 16) moving through the same area and direction of the sky at that time.

Corresponding Cases

No other reports of this event were found.

Conclusion

It is my belief that what the witness saw and captured in photos, were most likely the three mentioned satellites moving together.

Meta Data

Meta Data was submitted for each photo. The settings were the same, and are located below:

[ZWO ASI224MC]
Pan=0
Tilt=0
Output Format=AVI files (*.avi)
Binning=1
Capture Area=1304×976
Colour Space=RGB24
Temperature=20.2
Hardware Binning=Off
High Speed Mode=Off
Turbo USB=100(Auto)
Flip=None
Frame Rate Limit=Maximum
Gain=400
Exposure=1
Timestamp Frames=Off
White Bal (B)=95
White Bal (R)=52
Brightness=1
Gamma=50
Auto Exp Max Gain=400
Auto Exp Max Exp M S=30000
Auto Exp Target Brightness=100
Mono Bin=Off
Apply Flat=None
Subtract Dark=None
Display Brightness=1
Display Contrast=1
Display Gamma=1

The post UFO over Lindsay, California – January 11, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Lindsay, California – January 11, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

On December 6, 2017, the witness submitting the following information to The Black Vault:

Hello John

About myself:

I am sound mind and body. I am 63, and just retired. Moved to Las Vegas in February of 2016. Goal was to go to Area 51, photograph mountains, and UFOs. Yea right!

I am ex Navy 15 years, and ex Military Police for 3 years of those 15. I have been shooting photography my entire life. I used a Sony A350. It’s 14 years old or so, but in good working condition. I just bought a Nikon D750 2 days ago. Lord knows how that thing works.

This report was shot with the Sony A350 a first generation DSLR. 

I am a good photographer, who likes to take pictures of weather and jets. So as you can guess I am always looking in the air. But not every day, to much of one thing is never good.

I was shooting a electrical lightning storm. 

I didnt see the ship until I got home. I wear glasses and the ship appeared to be a triangle shape vessel. I saw it only in one frame, as the lightning lit it up.

It only appeared to be a ultra violet spot in the clouds. As I cleaned my file up, wow impossible, it was a ship, or the luckiest lens flare as some people are calling it.

I can see a lens flare in bright sunny day,, but how do you project that into a black night into the clouds. It might be the TR3B that people have speculated. Who knows..   

The case was assigned to TBV Investigations team member Christopher Connelly.

The Analysis

by Christopher Connelly, TBV Investigations

It is extremely easy to spot the visual disturbance as soon as you open the picture.

It appears to resemble light refraction or something of a triangular shape. The triangular body has a blue color to it but as it leads on into the nose of the object, we see a almost color scale. There is nothing else in the pictures that is out of the ordinary.

The witness stated that on the 6SEP17 around 2242, he was taking pictures of a thunderstorm out in the Cornerstone Park, located in Henderson, Nevada. Witness was facing south as the storm was approaching, as he began to take his pictures. It wasn’t until later that he discovered the object seen in the pictures. He states that he did not see it while he was out there and that the only reason he was able to capture it was due to the ultraviolet light that the lightning was giving off.

Conclusion

Whenever we have a massive amount of light such as a lightning storm, we should expect over-exposure, lens flares and other light caused issues with cameras.

I put this photograph through a few contrast relievers and did a few tweaks on the coloring to see if I could pull anything out of it, but to no avail.

The object does appear in an odd shape, but I do believe it to be of natural origins, due to the situation, weather, lighting and of course, being taken by a camera lens.

Photo Gallery

The post UFO During Lightning Storm, Cornerstone Park, Henderson, Nevada – September 8, 2017 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO During Lightning Storm, Cornerstone Park, Henderson, Nevada – September 8, 2017 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Case File Status: Likely Explainable

Background

Report by Christopher Connelly, TBV Investigations

On 12/1/17, I came across a post on Reddit that that caught my eye.  The author of the post (Machinegamer), wrote the following describing what we are looking at:

“Was having a drink with my boss in his office today. I’m a conspiracy theorist and he picks at me from time to time regarding some of the stuff I share with him. So he goes “did I ever tell you my ufo story?”

I was like hahahahaha ok thanks for making fun of me, his face got serious and he goes “listen to this story…”

So he said “20 or so years ago I was driving in northern Michigan near glen harbor (sic) at 2:30am in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden my entire car lit up”.

He described this insane light and shrieking noise that hurt his ears… and he’s going on and on and im waiting for him to laugh and be all like gotcha!!

He had been taking pictures of northern Michigan cuz photography is his hobby, so he had a camera on the passenger seat of his car.

He said he got out and this craft was hovering over him for what seemed like a very long time, he was afraid. Then he remembers he had his camera, so he took it out and said he took pictures.

Still I’m waiting for him to laugh. I gave him a “ya ok” look…then he rolled his chair over to his file cabinet and started rustling around folders…

See the photos attached to this post…the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and my arms. My jaw dropped.”

The original pictures appear to come from an older model camera and the film was developed to what you see here. The only images available for investigation, was a photograph of the photographs, which is not ideal for analysis.

The pictures appear to have been taken at night, and there appears to be snow on the ground, leaning towards a low temperature.

It’s almost impossible to tell if there is any cloud coverage or any other meteorological formations. The ground is heavily illuminated, creating an almost complete coverage of the area. Light formations resembling pillars are seen rising from the middle of the illuminated area. The light has an almost blue color to it. It appears there are no other vehicles, personnel or animals in the picture.

There appears to be a sign to the lower right hand side of the photo, on the opposite side of the road, which may mean that these is a side road leading to this area or near it. The light appears behind the treeline but I cannot judge its distance from the witness. 

When I encountered these photographs, they were posted by an anonymous user of the website Reddit. This user was the coworker of the actual witness, so all details are coming from him/her. The actual encounter took place 20 years ago, date unknown. 

Per the co-worker: Witness was located outside of Glen Arbor, which is located in Northern Michigan. This area is known to be rural and a well known area that is the victim of hydraulic fracturing. The approx. time was 0230 when the witness was traveling down a snow covered road when his surroundings and his car began to light up. The witness then got out of his car to see a craft overhead. The witness described the craft as making no movement but sounding like a “Banshee.” No further information has been given.

The Analysis

There is no craft visible in the picture, but I can tell that there is a valley where the lights are coming from and upon further inspection, the lights do appear to be hitting some sort of low lying fog or small cloud formation. I believe that this may be a city, construction site or a fracking site. The lights resemble the amount of light that a small town or site would have.

The pillars may be explained by ice crystals, or “light pillars” which are defined as the following:

“A light pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in the form of a vertical band of light which appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the reflection of light from numerous tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere or clouds. The light can come from the Sun (usually when it is near or even below the horizon) in which case the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. It can also come from the Moon or from terrestrial sources such as streetlights.”

Based on the assumed temperature, forming in the air and the light reflecting off of such, this could be a viable explanation. With the witness being near the lake, I’d say that the temperature could easily be in the 20’s.

This “light pillar” phenomena is quite common in colder climates, such as Canada and Michigan where these photographs were taken.  

I have attempted many times to contact the witness, but have received no response. 

Due to this fact, it is difficult to put the story together, as it lacks many details and due to it being 20 years ago, human memory tends to fill in a lot of the gaps.

The Photographs

The post Strange Light Phenomenon, Northern Michigan, Circa 1997 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Strange Light Phenomenon, Northern Michigan, Circa 1997 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The following was submitted to UFOs NorthWest, and is used here, with permission. It can not be reproduced or copied in any way.

Location of Sighting: Hollister, California
Date of Sighting: May 31, 2017
Time of Sighting: 9:10 PM PDT

Witness Testimony

It was a clear cloudless May 31st night with the wind blowing from the north at about 15 MPH. At about 9:09 PM I was watering my garden in the backyard and looked up and saw an amber light almost directly overhead. The altitude of this thing I would guess would be about a quarter of a mile above me. I observed this light slowly travel from the West to the Northeast for a few seconds and then ran into the garage to grab my Canon Power Shot sx710hs camera which took maybe 10 seconds. As I was running back to the backyard I shot a short video clip, but knowing that it probably would not show up I switched to still image, but forgot that the camera was in macro mode. I took a few shots trying to hold the camera as still as possible. If you have ever tried to take a picture of something in the dark without using the flash then you know that it is almost impossible to get a clear picture due to the slow shutter speed.

This object the turned a more reddish color and then went south until I could not see it anymore. I highly doubt this was a lantern due to the fact that it was traveling against the wind and also because of the intensity of the light. This is not the first time I have observed fire orange lights here in Hollister. I along with multiple neighbors have observed these reddish orange lights in the sky several times. These things are always in the same spot of the eastern sky at around 8:30 to 9:30 PM, but this one came from the exact opposite direction instead of the usual east. These things have a consistent repetitive flight pattern. Because of the regular occurrence of these things I have built a mobile wide angle camera system connected to a digital video recorder to try to capture these guys in action.

That system is set facing East, but since I set it up there has been nothing until this one coming from the west. I have stopped making reports of these things because of fear of people thinking that I am making this up. I am an experienced astronomer with an 8″ telescope with knowledge of aircraft and such. I take this subject seriously because I had a triangle fly above me a few years ago. I can assure you that these things are not aircraft, drones, Chinese lanterns or helicopters. I doubt anybody has messed with these things more than me.

I have hit them with green lasers, 36 million candlepower spotlight and marine flares. There is no way that these things have not noticed me. I sound like a nut right now, but I have a dozen neighbors to back me. This is the first time I have used this site usually I send this kind of thing to Peter Davenport. I will send the pictures I have along with this report.

I have a question, is there a way to run the photographs of these things through a spectrum analyzer/spectrometer because I know the F.B.I has a database of just about every light source? I am told that this software has the capability to identify the brand and even the model of a given light source. If this has not been pursued that would tell me that nobody is serious about the whole UFO, UAP or whatever acronym they use.

The post Amber Light Changes to Red, Changes Direction & Vanishes first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Amber Light Changes to Red, Changes Direction & Vanishes appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Location of Sighting

Description: I used my phone to zoom in to what I thought was the brightest star I have ever seen. I love zooming in to see what stars look like up close. Well when I zoomed in, this did not look like all the other stars that I have zoomed in on. This looked like a glowing orb with a small dark center and this orb also appeared to be pulsating.

I continued to hold my camera zoomed in on this “star” and as it was pulsating I saw it expand to where it looked like it had double ring of lights. I keep watching through my zoomed lens and now I see 4 distinct lights and it seemed as if it was either turning to face a different direction, or changing shape and as this was taking place it changed from a simple pulsating white orb with double ring of lights to an aircraft shaped object that is displaying blue lights which there now appeared to have 6 lights. I also begin to see smaller sets of lights flying away from this aircraft. At first it looked light one object flying away with 4 orange color lights, but then they separated into 2 separate objects with 1 set of orange lights.

Then it turned again to where it now looks like a white double ringed pulsating orb. To the naked it eye it looked noticing larger than what we call the north star and brighter. The news reported that it was Venus.

Had I not taken my own pictures I would have believed it was. You tell me.

UFOs NorthWest Note: The witness makes a good point that Venus is not a good explanation for he saw and photographed. Many reports this past month have been sightings of Venus. However, the photos suggest that the witness saw something else.

The post Bright Pulsating Orb Splits Into More Objects, Changes Colors, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Bright Pulsating Orb Splits Into More Objects, Changes Colors, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Description: It was one of the clearest skies we have had this winter. Looking north toward the beach all the stars and the planets were out shining bright. Directly north is Orion. That’s where we saw the two orange glowing lights brighter than anything in the sky. They felt close and moving around each other fading in and out until one disappeared followed by the other one. They looked like stars but with an orange glow and closer.

UFOs NorthWest Update – Jan 17, 2017: The witness responded to our questions and stated that the images were extracted from a video.

The post 2 Orange Glowing Lights Move Around Each Other, Long Island, New York first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post 2 Orange Glowing Lights Move Around Each Other, Long Island, New York appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Location of Sighting:

Description: I saw this in the sky on the Bypass around Martinsville last night around 7:30 PM.

The post Photo of Airborne Blue Light Taken From Bypass first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Photo of Airborne Blue Light Taken From Bypass appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Location of Sighting: About 7 Miles North of Mt. Rainier in Washington State
Date of Sighting: June 1, 2016
Time of Sighting: 2:34 AM PDT

Reviewing a photos from a night time lapse (within 24 hours of above observation) about 7 miles north of Rainier, looking south), something appears on one photo and am not sure what it is/was.

I guess this will send faster than I thought since my image-browser program (Photo Mechanic) automatically converted it to a JPG, so it’s only 1.9 MBs. No big deal. If you want the original RAW image, it’s more like 21 MBs or something (closer to the email-size limit for many programs, after which, a file transfer service maybe could be used).

Photo was taken from 46.959051, -121.680257 (about 7 miles NNE of Mount Rainier) looking SSW at the mountain. This high elevation meadow is at about 5,400 feet elevation or so. Again, the photo was taken at 2:34 AM on June 1st (early morning of Wed morning, June 1st). I used a 13-second exposure, 24 mm lens with the aperture at 1.6.

So the situation was that I hiked up here Tuesday for the sole purpose (mainly) to capture a Milky Way time lapse shot over Rainier. The plan was to be there Tues, Wed, Thur (3 days, 2 nights), but sour weather made me leave Wed night.

(I am using rough times and approximate events just to sketch out what happened without looking up every last minutia of detail to give you an idea, but precise details of earlier shots could be provided though probably not important.)

I started my first best-attempt at the time lapse sometime earlier in the night and drifted off to sleep. I awoke to see the camera still clicking away, showing blurred images in its LCD display (whatever you call it). Bummer. I was caused from dew. I brought the camera and tripod in the tent and wiped the down to remove the moisture from all the hardware. Now, sometime after 2 AM (after my failed-time-lapse-which-became-blurred attempt due to dew), I pondered restarting with, perhaps, the camera and tripod setting just inside the tent to thwart further dew. But I was tired and not committed. Then I remembered a couple of the mountain climbers I had seen and chatted with them at the Rainier permit office on Tue morning. They told me the route they would be taking up and I could see headlamps from climbers making the ascent so I thought should make another effort in case we hook up later (by some off chance, even though I had no name or contact info.) and see if I could make a time lapse of their headlamps crawling up the mountain. However, the camera, on “manual focus”, obviously got moved out of focus a bit as I had earlier dried off the dew. These late night focus attempts require (for me), my reading glasses plus, possibly, a magnifying glass all of which I had, but I was tired and not motivated. So I just risked that it was still in focus. From the image, you can see it is not super crisp as it should be. But it was not terrible. You can get the idea.

The image taken before the one being sent to you was taken about 21 minutes earlier and it was super fogged from dew. Mars and a few stars are visible. There was nothing interesting. It was a terrible shot. That was around 2:13 AM. Then I dried off the lens and started a new time lapse and the shot being sent is the first shot of the next pseudo time lapse effort taking about 57 shots. I kept interrupting and readjusting levelness of camera, etc. and gave up at about 2:56 AM and went to sleep. But it was only the first shot of those 57 shots that had anything.

So, to discuss the weirdness of the shot: You see Mars over Rainier. To the right of Mars, from the right edge of the photo, looks like a blip of light, followed by a short-line trail to a second blip of light, followed by a long straight trail going just past Mars and then doing a sharp 90-degree turn or something to Mars and ending in a blip of light at Mars. (I am just guessing it traveled from right to left, but have no way of knowing since I didn’t see it when it happened. I wasn’t paying attention.)

So that’s weird. Is it well behind the mountain? Maybe. Planes usually have red and white lights that blink at 1-second intervals (for a 13-second shot, would leave 13 red-white-dot patterns across the line). A military jet? Maybe. At 2:34 AM? Maybe. I didn’t hear or pay attention to any noise. Come to think of it, and this might be a very good explanation: The Joint Base Lewis McChord military airfield is around 47.142318, -122.485446 (about 40 miles west of me). And it might be reasonable for them to have something flying around there (without the normal red-white blinking lights at 1-sec. intervals).

Anyway, a curiosity. Sounds like the previous poster was looking straight up (and not due north towards Rainier, or south, or whatever). His/her description is obviously a bit different. There was no red or orange dot in my photos.

Note: The photo was taken with a 13 second exposure. This means that the streak noted in the photo occurred in 13 seconds. The photo was confusing to interpret until the contrast was adjusted. The streaking near the planet Mars gave the object a meteor or comet like appearance. Given the streaking and change in direction I don’t have an identification for this sighting. The witness presents a good argument that the light was not a standard aircraft flashing light. As stated you should see 13 dots if this was the case. The witness is comparing his sighting to a sighting of Reddish Orange dots on May 30, 2016 in Vancouver, Washington.

The post Time Lapse Photo Reveals Unknown Object Over Mt. Rainier. first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

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The following case is used with permission by UFOs NorthWest. It can not be reproduced in any way, without permission.

This is an example of a case that has physical trace evidence, and the investigation is ongoing.

If it is a hoax, it is one of those that you have to ask yourself, “Why?”  With no notoriety since they requested anonymity, there is no money since they never asked for payment and the work to create the hole etc., seems like a whole lot of work, for nothing.

It is archived here for reference. Have an idea of what it might be? Comment below.

Location of Sighting: Burlington, Vermont
Date of Sighting: May 17, 2016
Time of Sighting: 10:30 PM to 11:00 PM EDT

Background

An electrical engineer was outside having a cigarette. He at once noticed a bright white oblong object flying from west to east. The object flew right over his house and then towards Lake Champlain.

The object was estimated to be the size of a city bus and was estimated to be about 500 feet over the witness’s house. The witness was convinced that the object was not a plane, helicopter or drone.

The man felt his “hair standing on end” like there was electricity in the air. The witness had a red laser pointer light on his key chain.

He shined the laser on the object. The object was moving slowly, but stopped when the laser light was shown. The witness couldn’t see the laser light reflecting off of the object. The object at once stopped and shot a white-yellow beam of light close to the witness’s feet and the light burned a hole through a paving stone and into the ground below. (See above photo collage.) The witness scurried into the house right after the light burned the hole through the stone into the ground.

He called and reported his sighting and later retrieved the stone (at my request). He took the stone into his house and the stone was very hot. This was about one-half hour after the hole had been burned. (The temperature outside was about 45 degrees F.)

The witness then took photos of the ground below the stone. (See above photo collage.) He said that he saw the object for only about 45 seconds, but that it returned later and hovered over his house for several minutes.

The witness noticed strange individuals gathering outside his house and was terrified of them as they seemed to be watching him in his house. He also saw a police car across the street with flashing lights. The witness was afraid to go outside as the individuals looked suspect. (They were wearing hoodies and had backpacks on.)

I requested that the witness take samples of the burned area and area surrounding it. He said that he took the samples and then the next message stated that they “were taking my phone.”

He also saw a large black car parked by the Elks Club across the street. The witness texted the photos to my cellphone. A few minutes later he texted that they “were taking my phone.” He then stated that the FBI “collected his evidence.” I then received a text saying that the phone number was no longer in service. The witness saw a similar object about 4 months ago.

The Interview

Here is the 38 Minute Follow-Up Interview with the witness, conducted by William Puckett.

Listen below, or download the source .MP3.

No Signs of Soil “Vitrification”

Note from The Black Vault: There is something to note from the photographs below. There are no burn or scorch marks in the stone, or the dirt.

During Season 3 of the History Channel show UFO Hunters, I was a producer and writer on an episode entitled, “UFO Relics.”  In this episode, I had the UFO Hunters team meet with investigator Nancy Talbott, and she talked about a case in Poland where there was “vitrified soil.” When soil or sand is exposed to extremely high temperatures, it gets “vitrified” or turns to glass.

We even did an experiment in a warehouse, wherein we took dirt and put it under a high powered torch, and we vitrified it, meaning, it turned to glass. There is no evidence here of that, and no evidence of burning of any kind. Does this mean it didn’t happen? No. It may mean that the witness is incorrect assuming it was a laser. What is an alternative? Well, not sure, to be honest. But as an investigator, we can’t rule out that the witness did, in fact, experience what he did, but is incorrect in assuming it was a “laser” that was fired back at him.

Photo Gallery

The following are photographs of the area, where the beam allegedly hit.

Note from UFOs NorthWest

Either this was a well perpetuated hoax or a very compelling close encounter with a UFO. The witness was afraid to call the police because he has a responsible job. He is an electrical engineer and contracts with other companies. He has his own business. He is also married and has kids. He is 48 years old and has never seen anything like this. He said that he was in good physical and emotional health. The witness had not discussed the incident with his family.

Hoax? Update June 3, 2016 by UFOs NorthWest

It has been said in UFO circles that “what goes up, must come down.” This case appears to be an outright hoax or the witness may be delusional.

Here is what has transpired

The witness promised to send me the stone and samples of the soil. I texted him a few days later and he said that he mailed the package with the stone and the samples. He said that he insured the package, but when I asked him for the tracking number he refused to provide it. Then he said that he believed that the postal service lost his package.

He claims to have been harassed by 2 men in dark suits for several days. He also claims that his neighbors were also harassed by these “alleged” agents. He says that he was visited by others including people identifying themselves as ufologists. When I pressed him for getting in contact with his neighbors he said that they were all “tight lipped” also. There is absolutely nothing in the local media regarding the incident. I have received no comments from other witnesses.

The only perplexing detail of this case is that the witness took photos at my request and did not volunteer them. Given this scenario I felt that the photos may have been authentic. He claims that two men entered his house shortly after the incident and took 2 of his cell phones. They identified themselves as FBI agents, but did not show badges. One cell phone had the photos, but he said that he deleted them before the visitors arrived. The next day one cell phone was returned to him via his mailbox.

The evidence in this case is quite anecdotal quite like many UFO cases whether they be biologists who claim to have dissected aliens or whistle blowers who claim to have seen Presidents talking to aliens. These cases make good “talk show” and TV material, but they lack forensic evidence. Some in fact may be true, but these types of cases weigh heavily on the efficacy of the witness.

Perhaps the witness did get harassed by “unknown” agents and they took the package, but my belief is that the witness never mailed the package. The details of his report just don’t add up. He absolutely refuses to provide his address.

The post Man Shines Laser on White Oblong Object. Object Emits Beam of Light over Burlington, Vermont first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

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Background

The following was submitted directly to The Black Vault. It is used here, with permission, and the media can not be re-used without permission.  The only edits were for spelling issues, but other than that, the witness testimony is untouched.

Note from The Black Vault: There is no hiding from the fact that the photographs and video quality are going to make it very difficult to identify properly. But it is important that these cases are documented, and archived, because it may encourage additional witnesses to come forward.

Video Gallery

Photo Gallery

These photographs were taken by a cell phone.

The post UFO Sighting and Possible Communication – Eastern Kentucky first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

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Description: I came home from work and was walking toward my apartment after parking my car. I saw two lights in the sky moving from the east. I took some pictures and then the lights disappeared.

Update – February 3, 2016 – Response From Witness Regarding Submission of Additional Photos: So sorry for the late response. I have been very sick with the flu and was recently hospitalized for it.

So I looked on your site and you put the green kind of boxy looking UFO up, but not the purple one. I tried to find the original of the purple, but may have accidently erased it. (I was transferring pictures from one laptop to a newer laptop & I think I lost some pictures in the process.) However, with that being said, I do appreciate the comment on your site that said you didn’t think it was a fabricated photo.

Yes, I absolutely did crop the picture because I could barely see it. But I never do anything else and I would never send you any hoaxed picture. Your way too smart for that! You have been dealing with this subject for a long time now and I’m quite sure you could pick up the fakes fairly quickly! I was surprised I didn’t see the purple one on your site!

To me, the purple was far more interesting than the green one and you also said I sent you two pictures but only one had a picture on it. I didn’t remember sending a second picture.

Maybe I did, but I wouldn’t want to send you blank pictures. In searching for my original, I found other UFO pictures I took all in the same month. I have attached several pictures and if you find any you are interested in, I could send in an official report through your site. Many of the pictures are completely unedited, some not even cropped.

I am still looking for the original to the purple UFO, but I did find the original of the green one you posted on your site. It is attached along with the other pictures.

UFOs NorthWest Note: The photo sent by the witness has been cropped and enlarged. I don’t believe that the sighting has been “fabricated,” but I have requested the original “unedited” photo. The witness saw two lights. Only one light shows up in the photo.

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