CONCERNS FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY SQUASHED
Those few residents of Centerville, Ohio who were up and about around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, March 6, 2004 were going about their normal routines, waiting for daylight to break. Activity at police dispatch headquarters, meanwhile, was anything but routine.
Phone lines began to light up with citizen complaints of bizarre ‘flashing in the sky’ and electrical disruptions that seized a large area from Lakeview Drive to Bethel Road, Stone Lake and Linden. One after another the calls came in.
“Centerville Police?” said the flustered police dispatcher to yet another caller.
“Has the whole street called?” came the voice on the other line.
“Oh my God…” the caller could be heard exclaiming. “I saw it, it was right over my house and it hovered down… I can’t believe I’m saying this! It looked like an ALIEN SHIP…!”
Needless to say, this morning would not be so routine at police dispatch headquarters.
The resident on Lakeview Drive, later contacted for this report, contends that a solid physical object was present in the skies near Stingley Elementary School in Centerville. This object was hovering at near treetop level and would interact with nearby power lines, causing an arcing ‘flash’ that would send a powerful explosive report across the sleepy and confused neighborhood. 1
This detail is consistent with callers heard on the 9-1-1 police tapes of the incident, obtained through the diligence of UFO investigator Bruce M. Forrester, Jr., of Bellbrook, Ohio, in which area residents inform of the sky lighting up and electrical disruptions. One caller said the source of the bright flashing was from somewhere ‘near Stingley school.’ 2
The Lakeview Drive resident who lives across from the school, and who also observed the object with his wife, said: “This house-sized object was a saucer-shaped metallic structure, polished aluminum surface with alternating sets of rotating, flare-like lights. The two sets of lights clearly rotated in opposite directions and were very bright, consisting of several colors ranging from yellow, amber, white and blue. There was no smoke or exhaust that I could see.”
This UFO was somehow interacting with power lines near Stingley Elementary School, according to the primary claimant. After each blinding explosion the air pressure in the neighborhood would “change” with a loud concussion, and at that point all the power would go out across the neighborhood. Following this disruption, the UFO would vanish from its place at treetop level near the school. The same – or a separate, identical object – would ‘reappear’ over an adjacent field as the power in the region would slowly restore. This object would then assume a slow path and amble back toward the school to its previous position where it would again explode with a flash after making some kind of ‘arcing’ contact with the power lines. This procedure, as said by the Lakeview Drive resident, would repeat several times.
Trees in the area were burnt during this drama, branches and limbs were said by the Lakeview Drive witness to flame and ‘glitter’ for several hours after the incident. The sparkling glitter was likened to flashing 4th of July fireworks. 3
“I wish that there was a good explanation for this,” said the Lakeview Drive witness, a 25-year old father of a newly born baby and working in ‘financial services.’ “It moved over the school and came down in the field. I saw it raise and lower. I know it was controlled and I wish I had somebody to come to my door and lay it on the line, just give me a good answer for all this.”
According to police logs obtained from the Centerville Police Department, the station was swamped with the calls coming in at around 5:37 a.m. and police officers were dispatched to the scene shortly thereafter. 4
Fire logs obtained from the Washington Township fire department indicate that a fire truck was dispatched to the location at 5:48a.m. and another unit sent at 5:58 a.m. 5
Making this situation a tad more interesting are reports that emergency responders in the fire department ladder truck also saw the UFO, and the gauges on their emergency vehicle ‘went funny.’
“The firemen were repeatedly asking me for descriptions of what I saw, and I told them and they said ‘that’s the same thing we saw.'” According to Lakeview Drive resident, citing firemen and police officers that loudly communicated with each other at the scene of the bedlam. 6
One area resident, standing in the midst of the hustle and bustle, jokingly said: “It must be Osama Bin Laden.”
“I told the two fire officers what I saw and asked them if I sounded like a complete lunatic,” said the Lakeview Drive resident. “He told me that I was not a lunatic and that they saw it too, and it made the gauges in their truck go nuts.”
Following this tantalizing lead, an inquiry was made to find out if emergency responders were also witness to this UFO.
Telephone greetings to the Centerville Fire Department’s “Station 41” about this issue were not warmly received, and the simple phone call requesting some basic information on the March 6 dispatch was rejected.
Lieutenant Sarah Lee, handling the inquiry to her department, advised that (oh joy!) she could not be of any help. To the contrary, the wagons were circling, the mote was being filled and hatches were being battened down as it was announced that any incoming inquiry must be made via “written request.”
“Why don’t you call Wright Patterson Air Force Base?” she said after listening briefly to the weird 9-1-1 tape by telephone.
“Wright Pat can help you more than I can. Unfortunately, I cannot answer any of your questions,” then advised Lt. Lee of the Centerville Fire Department. “It is routine procedure and policy for us to not ‘give out’ information without proper authorization.” 7
Like sheesh, you’d think this was an inquiry to Ft. Knox about their security methods.
Suddenly the operations and practices of this basic public agency seemed to be operating like the Freedom of Information Office of the super-secret “Blue Room” of Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the very base the inquiry was referred to. 8
A friendly letter was then penned to Fire Chief Parks, basically begging to be put in contact with the emergency responders who were on the scene of the UFO incident on March 6.
“I am not sure who gave you your information but it appears they were aware of something we did not see or share in,” said Fire Chief Kenneth C. Parks in response to the plea. 9
Apparently, The Chief also did not take kindly to the request for contact info with the emergency responders who were dispatched to the scene on March 6: “Our people are required by policy to refrain from discussing fire department actions without proper authorization. By policy, their reports are their response to any questions, outside of court action.”
Chief Parks speaks and the specter of court action is now vocalized. Courtesy, begging and pleading did no good, it seems, as the firemen at the scene will continue to remain anonymous and, interestingly, a friendly chat with a UFO investigator has been averted. One for officialdom.
But before the curious reader might find refreshing the idea of friendly openness and neighborly cooperation from the City of Centerville and her hirelings, there is also the attitude of Centerville’s Assistant City Manager, Judy Gilleland.
Gilleland was unaware of the mass confusion of March 6 despite assuring that she ‘would be’ aware of any such report as was described to her. This assistant City Manager seemed to take little interest or concern in the report of an object hovering over Stingley Elementary School. 10
“I believe I would know about downed power lines and trees and again, have heard nothing of the sort.
“Good news for us,” she said before curiously adding: “perhaps bad news for you?”
Assistant City Manager Gilleland, Fire Chief Parks and Lietenant Lee were all advised that there should be some concern of radioactivity near the site of Stingley Elementary School. These public employees clearly expressed a lethargic lack of motivation for the nature of the event described by witness on March 6. Is this a dangerous complacency that reeks of ultimate disregard for public safety in an uncertain time? Could Homeland Security be any more proud? 11
There may or may not be a firm explanation for the object described over Stingley school, but even if it were to have been some classified military operation (Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton/Beavercreek is less than 19-miles northwest), there should be some valid concern regarding a military operation so low over a residential quarter and near a school. Further, the type of propulsion method used on such a classified project and the possibility of lingering radiation near the school could pose threatening conditions for families and children in the areas of the school, Lakeview Drive, Bethel Road and Linden Road. This is and should be a sober concern.
When notified of this concern and asked to undertake action to check for radiation readings, the public officials of Centerville, Ohio took no safety measures in response to the appeal for caution.
Instead, public hirelings in Centerville have dismissed this episode as a case of ‘wires arcing in high winds.’ 12
An inquiry made with the National Weather Service at Wilmington, Ohio revealed that although there was a high wind alert earlier on March 5th, high winds during the time of the reported incident were not an issue. Between 4 ? 5 a.m. on March 6, 2004, temperatures and conditions in Centerville, Ohio were in the mid 40s with winds out of the Northwest at only 12 miles per hour. Not quite the high winds previously reported. 13
Further complicating the ‘high wind’ dismissal would be comments from a telephone receptionist at DP & L (Dayton Power & Light) in which the cause of a power outages near Lakeview Drive on March 6 was due to a “circuit lockout” that took place from 5:34 until 10:45 a.m. resulting in service disruption, with no mention of high winds being made. 14
As for the Lakeview Drive resident, he isn’t very comfortable with the situation.
“It’s clear to me that something blew up there where the burnt trees are,” he said. There is no transformer there to blow up. That concerns me, given the magnitude of the explosion.”
The incident early in the morning of March 6, 2004 is real. Multiple callers to police headquarters advised of an unusual situation and upon arrival, emergency responders did address the situation of arcing power lines along with downed tree limbs. But essentially the strangeness of this whole situation rests with the testimony of the Lakeview Drive resident and his wife, both claim a very sensational, physical and intelligently controlled object situated low in the sky near Stingley school. This is reflected on the emergency 9-1-1 police tapes as the caller considers his own words with disbelief at what he is claiming to observe in the sky near his home. While others in the neighborhood were indeed alarmed and also calling police headquarters, they were only reporting generic ‘flashing’ in the sky along with power disruptions. The Lakeview Drive resident further informs that officers with the fire department did tell him they saw this object too, and the instrumentation on their vehicle was oddly effected, Most unfortunately, and also quite curious, is that this cannot be independently verified as per Chief Parks’ unusually harsh reference to court action.
And disturbingly, the Lakeview Drive resident also reports being sick in the last week of March, feeling nausea with a headache, a sickness he would describe as ‘low blood sugar’ even though he has never been diagnosed with this sickness. He also reports concern that his infant has experienced hair loss, although this could be normal as babies sometimes do lose their hair.
Or then again, perhaps it’s just those high winds.
NOTES
1. Friday, March 26, 2004 telephone interview with Lakeview Drive resident, also involved in the conversations were investigator Nancy Talbott of BLT Research (Cambridge, Massachusettes). The claimant also followed up with several E-mail contacts, answering 17-specific questions in correspondence dated April 17, 2004
2. 9-1-1 audio tapes from the Centerville, Ohio police department, March 6, 2004 obtained by Bruce M. Forrester Jr., Zephyr Technology, P.O. Box 55, Bellbrook, OH 45305
3. Inspection of the material by infrared scans of both the charred and unburned areas by Phyllis Budinger of Frontier Analysis. Also solvent extractions (hexane, acetone/methanol mix and water) from these areas and spectra analysis with nothing unusual detected. E-mail message May 3, 2004
4. “Call For Service Record” from the Centerville, Ohio Police Department dated 3/06/04, Call #: 04-006497. Responders were Officers J.A. McDaniel and D.G. Gaudette. Obtained by Bruce M. Forrester, Jr., Zephyr Technology
5. Fire logs and other reports released by Fire Chief Kenneth C. Parks of the Washington Township Fire Department, April 1, 2004. Information requested ‘in writing’ by Kenny Young in letter dated March 30, 2004 as per instruction of fire dept. personnel
6. Comments from Lakeview Drive resident to Kenny Young in E-mail message dated April 1, 2004
7. Return call to Kenny Young from Lieutenant Sarah Lee, Centerville F.D. Station #41 at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 30, 2003 calling from 937-438-2771
8. Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater often spoke of the harsh, expletive filled reprimand by General Curtis LeMay after asking for access to the legendary BLUE ROOM of WPAFB
9. Fire Chief Kenneth C. Parks of the Washington Township Fire Department, in a letter dated April 1, 2004. Information requested ‘in writing’ by Kenny Young in letter dated March 30, 2004 as per instruction of fire dept. personnel
10. E-mail comments by Judy Gilleland, Assistant City Manager for Centerville, Ohio. dated March 29, 2004. Gilleland was contacted because City Manager Gregory B. Horn had taken vacation time and was unavailable for comment
11. Weeks after the event, the branches were analyzed with a radiation detection monitor by Phyllis Budinger, Frontier Analysis. No radiation above normal background was detected. E-mail advisement May 5, 2004
12. E-mail comments by Assistant City Manager Judy Gilleland (March 29) and letter by Fire Chief Kenneth C. Parks (April 1) advising that high winds throughout Washington Township caused wires to arc.
13. Inquiry with The National Weather Service at Wilmington, Ohio by investigator Donnie Blessing, State Section Director for Ohio MUFON (Mutual UFO Network). Inquiries made in report filed March 9, 2004
14. Telephone inquiry with Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) in which they advised of a ‘CIRCUIT LOCKOUT’ effecting Lakeview Drive region on March 6 between 5:23 and 10:45 a.m., inquiry made by Kenny Young, Friday, March 26, 2004
The 9-11 Tapes
The following is a transcript of police tapes obtained by investigator Bruce Forrester, state section director with Ohio Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). The tapes are from the Centerville Police Department and accompany a ‘Call For Service Record’ that states:”Numerous calls on electricity going on and off. Many people saw an explosion type lights in the area of Stingley School. The sky had lit up and they saw something hovering in the sky.”
Dispatch at 5:37 a.m., call cleared at 5:10 a.m, March 6, 2004
DISPATCHER: Centerville Police?
CALLER 1: Yeah, this is a non-emergency call.
DISPATCHER: Okay.
CALLER 1: Um, I’m over on Bethel Road,and you’ve probably had a few people call you but I just wanted to make sure. Our electricity keeps flickering, and I see out the window the skylight up and something loud like a transformer humming… have you been made aware of that?
DISPATCHER: No, nobody’s called on that.Is it behind your residence that you are seeing this?
CALLER 1: Actually it lights up the entire sky, and it is not anywhere where I can see it…
DISPATCHER: I’m sorry, let me get this 9-1-1 call, just a moment. 9-1-1 police, fire and medical?
CALLER 2: Yes, my name is Dennis Wills (sp?) 174 Linden Drive, Centerville, we’re getting loud or large electrical flashes off the power supply system behind our house?
DISPATCHER: Okay, on the other line I just had someone from Bethel Road and he is seeing the same thing. Isyour electricity flickering?
CALLER 2: Yes, it comes on and off and we’re getting a huge flash. And it’s done this about four times.
DISPATCHER: A flash, where outside?
CALLER 2: Yes outside, and the lights just all came back on again.
DISPATCHER: Is it from your backyard,is it immediately in…
CALLER 2: We think it is immediately close. I was trying to call DP&L, but there’s just a huge, computerized’no person’ phone line.
DISPATCHER: Okay. All right.
CALLER 2: I haven’t actually been able to see it actually arc, we just see a huge flash.
DISPATCHER: Okay, we’ll send someone out. Okay sir?
CALLER 2: Okay, thank you very much.
DISPATCHER: (to first caller) My other call was about the same thing, he lives on Linden Drive. And he is seeingflashing, maybe by his treeline. I’m sorry, I have another 9-1-1 call,what is your address on Bethel?
CALLER 1: 105
DISPATCHER: 105, thank you sir. Bye.9-1-1, police, fire-medical?
CALLER 3: Ahhh… has the whole street called?
DISPATCHER: No sir, what is this about?
CALLER 3: (Laughs) The whole street,the electricity is going on and off. And there’s really…
DISPATCHER: What is your address, I’m getting more calls on this!
CALLER 3: 166 Lakeview… holy crap…are you…. there is something in the sky!
DISPATCHER: Okay, just one moment sir!
CALLER 4: This is just ungainly…
DISPATCHER: 9-1-1?
CALLER 4: Yes, my name is John McKeef (sp?) and I’m calling from Stone Lake Drive…
DISPATCHER: Okay, all right. About flashing?
CALLER 4: Yes. That’s correct.
DISPATCHER: Okay… all right, we’re going to check this out sir.
CALLER 4: Okay, we’re not the first to call then?
DISPATCHER: No, no sir. Thank you.
CALLER 4: Okay, bye bye.
DISPATCHER: 9-1-1/Centerville police
CALLER 5: Ah yes, do you happen to know what’s going on in our neighborhood.
DISPATCHER: No, we’re having an officer in the area, what is your address?
CALLER 5: 157 Bradstreet Road. I triedto call DP & L but it’s automated and…
DISPATCHER: Allright, I’m sorry, just one moment. Okay, we’ll be in the area.. do you see where it’s coming from?
CALLER 5: Well, if I look out my kitchen window, looking up towards the school…
DISPATCHER: Is that your back or front,ma’am? Your kitchen window…
CALLER 5: Um, my kitchen window is facing going up towards the school… so it would be…
DISPATCHER: I’m sorry… what school?
CALLER 5: Stingley…and ah, it looks…the sky just lit up pink…
DISPATCHER: Towards Stingley?
CALLER 5: Yes,
DISPATCHER: All right, okay. Thank you.
CALLER 5: Thank you.
(Segment in which ‘Caller 3′ is on hold,beeping tone in background. Caller 3 states: “OH MY GOD!” and also states:This is freaking me OUT! It gets real bright and explodes, then it starts again.)
DISPATCHER: Hello?
CALLER 3: Yeah.
DISPATCHER: I’m sorry, I’ve had about 10 calls since then.
CALLER 3: What did they say?
DISPATCHER: Everybody is saying the same thing. I… the last person is on Brad Street and she is saying itis more towards Stingley…
CALLER 3: I saw it! We both, my wife and I both saw it and it was right outside our window!
DISPATCHER: Right, okay. And your address again sir?
CALLER 3: 166 Lakeview.
DISPATCHER: Okay, all right… that’s allright. I’ve gotten about ten calls here.
CALLER 3: Are they saying its the same thing that I’m saying it is?
DISPATCHER: Yes, yes.
CALLER 3: It looked like a freakin’ alien ship.
DISPATCHER: Right. Yes.
CALLER 3: And it blew up, and it was like a bomb going off.
DISPATCHER: Okay, was it pink?
CALLER 3: It was lights…
DISPATCHER: A lady said it was pink.
CALLER 3: No, it was going to the powerlines… but it was… it hovered in… it came… I…I sound likeI’m insane right now, I can’t believe I’m saying this! It hovered downover the school and it was spinning lights and flashing,
DISPATCHER: …okay…
CALLER 3: …it came down all the way like over the school and towards my house,
DISPATCHER: …okay…
CALLER 3: …and then it would just go ‘boom’ and the whole all the electricity would go off and this giant flame ball in the sky.
DISPATCHER: Okay, I need to get going and let the officers know, okay?
CALLER 3: Okay.
DISPATCHER: Okay, thank you, bye bye.
END
—
Transcript of police tape by Kenny Young, March 24 2004. The tape seems to have been laid in from multi tracks and the sequence for this transcript has been ‘re-arranged’ from the police tape to reflect “real time” events. On the police tape, Callers 4 and 5 came after Caller 3, when in real time, they were ‘during’ the time frame Caller 3 was ‘on hold.’
Scientific Analysis of the Tree Debris
The following analysis was done by Phyllis Budinger, and Frontier Analysis:
TECHNICAL SERVICE RESPONSE NO.: UT034
Subject: Analysis of Tree Branches which Purportedly Came into Contact with a UFO (Centerville, Ohio,March 6, 2004)
Date: July 11, 2004
Requested By: Bruce M. Forrester, Zephyr Technology
Reported By: P. A. Budinger,Analytical Scientist
Background/Objective: An unusual event happened in Centerville, Ohio at approximately 5:30 a.m.Saturday morning March 6, 2004. Residents saw a UFO apparently interacting with power lines. The extent of the interaction was explosive innature, and also involved the burning of tree tops. Flame and ‘glitter’from the trees were purported to continue for several hours after the event. A detailed account of the UFO’s movements and witness ís descriptions can be found on http://home.fuse.net/ufo The object of this analysis is to analyze the exposed tree branches for any unusual or foreign materials. Following are photographs of the branches.
Conclusions:
1.) No unusual or foreign materials were detected on the charred and unburned areas of the branches. The results show normal natural products from trees and normal burn byproducts. The natural products include primarily celluloidal material, some natural ester, a small amount of secondary amide, and trace amounts of possible natural carboxylic acid salts. Burning byproducts include carbon,calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, inorganic nitrate, and organic oxidation products, which are primarily carboxylic acid salts.
2.) It is worth noting that there are no radioactive or fluorescing materials. It is reassuring to know radioactivity is absent.
3.) The results do not confirm or rule out a UFO as a cause of the burning phenomenon. An interaction with such unknown craft could have resulted in normal burning byproducts, and may not have left any unusual residues or craft deposits.
Procedure:
Samples: Several charred tree branches from the event were sent.
Numerous infrared spectra were obtained from both burn and unburned areas of the tree branches “as received”. These were obtained on the Nicolet Avatar 360 spectrometer using the Harrick SplitPea ™ sampling accessory. Some of the selected sampling areas of a branch are shown in the photograph below.
In addition, infrared spectra were also obtained from solvent extractions from the charred and unburned sections of the branches, as well as a control branch. Progressively polar solvents were used, i.e. hexane, 1:1 acetone:methanol and water. The extracts were weighed for a quantitative estimate of their amounts.
The branches were also examined with a radiation monitor (SE International’s Radiation Alert ™ Monitor 4) and a UV light (Optical Engineering’s Model 22-UV).
Results:
The results of the individual tests done on the branches follow. These results are summarized in the conclusionssection of this report.
A spectrum of a white material also is typical of white ash from a fireplace. The major component is calciumcarbonate, and there is a smaller amount of calcium phosphate. (The carbon is completely gone because of complete oxidation.) Following is a spectrum of the branch white material and a reference of white ash from the Budinger fireplace for comparison.
Infrared Spectrum of White Ash on theBranch
Infrared Reference Spectrum of WhiteAsh from Budinger Fireplace
Infrared spectra from unburned areas of the branch show typical celluloidal material and natural ester. For the most part the spectra of the unburned area compare qualitatively to reference control spectra of aged and new wood. (It should be notedthe aged wood additionally contains some mineral silicate (dirt).) However, due to the differences in wood sources and ages of the controls before data acquisition, the quantitative amounts of the components vary. Following are two spectra from unburned branch areas and reference spectra of an aged piece of wood and live wood for comparison.
The “as received” charred and unburned areas of the branches were examined with a UV lamp for any unusual fluorescing material. None was detected. These areas were also scanned with a radiation monitor. There was nothing detected above backgroundradiation.
| Sample | Hexane (Wt.%) | 1:1 Acetone:Methanol (Wt%) | Water (Wt.%) |
| Charred Unburned Control Wood | 0.30 0.26 0.31 | 1.70 1.09 2.80 | 2.31 * 1.51 1.64 |
Expectedly, more material is extracted from the charred area than the unburned area because of the increase insoluble burn byproducts (oxidized organics). (See infrared analysisbelow.) Comparison of the control extract amount to the charred and unburned amounts vary and may be accounted for by the differences in wood types and wood age when the extraction was done. That is, extractions of the branches were done 20 days after the event, and the control was done the same day it was cut. However, as the infrared analysis shows below, the control compositionally compares closely to the unburned wood.
Hexane Extracts:
Infrared analysis shows the hexane extracts from the unburned area compare to that of the control. That is, thesame components are present. These consist of celluloidal materialand natural ester. However, the quantitative amounts vary.There is less soluble celluloidal material in the unburned branch area. Following are the spectra of these two extracts.
The hexane extract from the charred areais expectedly different. This is because of a chemical change as a result of the burning action. The infrared spectrum shows long chain natural ester and a trace amount of poly(dimethylsiloxane) contamination. This is a common contaminant and is probably from the aluminum pans usedin the experiment. There is no longer any celluloidal material. The spectrum follows.
1:1 Acetone:Methanol Extracts:
Infrared spectra of the acetone:methanolextract from the unburned area compare well to that of a control. The same components are detected with very subtle quantitative variations. The spectra show mostly soluble celluloidal material and smaller amounts of natural ester and possibly carboxylic acid salts. The spectra follow.
The spectrum of the acetone:methanol extract from the charred area is different and displays highly oxidized carboxylicacid salts. These are byproducts of the burning (oxidation). The spectrum follows.
Water Extracts:
Infrared analysis of the water extracts from the unburned area and the control show they contain similar components. The amounts appear to vary. Identified are celluloidal material,carboxylic acid salts, and secondary amide. A trace amount of poly(dimethylsiloxane)contamination is found uniquely in the unburned extract.
Infrared analysis of the extract from the charred area shows primarily carboxylic acid salts which are definitely a product of the burning. The spectrum follows.
This post was published on May 14, 2015