Background

The following case was submitted to The Black Vault’s UFO reporting hotline. It was assigned to TBV Investigator Monica Salazar for investigation and analysis.

The Analysis

by Monica Salazar, TBV Investigations

When I spoke to the witness on the phone she seemed completely baffled by what she had witnessed that night. To this day she still cannot believe it. The witness states that she saw a formation of lights in the sky that seemed to connect one giant object. In her own words, she described it as, “bigger than a few football fields.”

All in a straight formation headed out into the beach. She states that the lights lit up one by one in a very symmetrical way with the perfect distance between each other traveling at a low speed. Once the 5^th light lit up in view they all zoomed out at a drastic speed.

The witness was unable to capture any video or photographic evidence however she does state that her sister in law was there with her and she saw the incident as well, however was not able to capture any sort of photo or video evidence either.

During this UFO sighting, the Myrtle Beach Event Roundup, held from, July 7-18, 2018, took place. However, looking at the calendar of events, there does not appear to be any connection, at least none listed on the events page.

A month prior to this case, the U.S Army Golden Knights Parachute team parachuted down Myrtle Beach with Flares. If someone didn’t know about this event they could have easily been mistaken as UFOs since the parachute team was performing with flares that looked like orbs floating in the sky zooming in and out of each other. A video is below, though there does not appear to be any connection to this by the date. 

Source: https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article212426054.html

The witness describes the orbs in a completely different way, though. Still as an investigator I wanted to add the Army light performance, to show how it could easily be mistaken.

Conclusion

I was able to communicate with the witness via phone and I can definitely tell she was so astonished by what she saw that she still can’t believe it. She did state that she is the “biggest skeptic in the world” and this incident has shed new light in her views on the subject of supernatural anomalies.

Of course it is difficult to have a good analysis without the proper evidence, and in this case without any sort of solid evidence it is challenging to decide whether or not this was an actual unidentified object or a case of mistaken identity with a plane or a natural “trick of the light.”

The one thing that for sure cannot be misread is the fact that the witness seemed completely thrown aback by the incident. In her own words she “had never seen something so massive.”

A witness testimony and, more often than not, emotion always play a part when trying to decide the fate of a case.

Since this case was lacking photographic and/or video evidence, and since the U.S. Army Knights Parachute Team was in the area just a month prior, I would classify as Unresolved/ Inconclusive due to lack of evidence.

The post UFOs over North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – July 9th, 2018 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFOs over North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – July 9th, 2018 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Background

by Christopher Connelly, TBV Investigations

The witness states that he was spending 3 days on the beaches of North Myrtle beach. He states that one the first night he began to see lights about a mile out at sea acting in ways that were unbecoming of any aircraft that he had witnessed in the past. The second night continued as such and on the third night, he states that the activity had increased significantly. This led to the witness grabbing his camera that had night vision capabilities and he filmed a 4 minute long video, capturing only a part of the encounter.

He describes the event as being totally quiet, except for the background noise of the local city and lasting approximately 15 minutes.

He describes the objects as “balls of light” and that they would burn bright for a while before dying down to a blinking like state. Witness was unable to visualize any shape or form to the objects. Witness states that he is of sound mind and body and that he has no experience in the aviation field.

The Evidence

• As the video begins, the light can be seen above the water and at 0:06 there are 2 lights visible, one being right below the other. About 3 seconds later, we see the light fade out into a blinking pattern and appears at about 0:22. Around this time, a second light can be seen in extreme proximity to the first light, as if attached. This light fades once again at 0:33 and returns to a blinking state.
• At 1:06, the witness pans around looking for the object only to find that it is now much close to the water than it was before the lights went out. At this time, multiple adjacent lights can be seen. It then dims back out.
• At about 1:51, it reappears and begins to make a vertical rise until about 2:00, when the witness pans to his left to see that there is another light over the ocean. Above this new light, you can see an obvious aircraft.
• The object is lost visually at about 2:48 and reappears at 4:10, at the same height above the ocean.

The Analysis

This video really grabbed my attention when it first hit my desk, as it was just an odd piece of evidence.

Unfortunately, being in night vision, it leaves a lot to be questioned in regards to the shape of these objects and that the video presented with no sound attached to it.

The maneuvers that were being demonstrated by these lights were almost helicopter like, for example the HH65 Dolphin, which is used by the US Coast Guard.

Vertical rises are common in helicopters and so are night operations at sea. The lights seemed to be going in and out, which was very unlike night time rescue operations, as it is extremely dangerous for both the aircrew and the pilots. However, pilots are trained to fly “blind” and learn to not depend on their computer systems or lights, which would explain the flickering that can still be seen, as the tail light would still be on.

As someone who has performed Search and Rescue (SAR), I know that swimming in darkness is not an uncommon thing and especially among the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers, who are the best of the best in their fields. These operations would be common. 

It is unusual to have multiple Dolphins operating in one sector, due to our sector only having one attached to it.

The Coast Guard does perform large training operations but not near extremely small sectors such as Georgetown, where the Dolphin would have been stationed.

It could have been another Dolphin that may been attached to a visiting cutter and training operations were underway. The thing about these helicopters though, is that they are loud and not designed to be stealthy.

According to witness’ testimony, the area was silent and no helicopters were heard.

Conclusion

I turned to the Navy performing training operations, however, the Navy has no ports in the area.  Cruisers and destroyers do make regular visits to the port of Charleston.

This is where I began to straddle the fence between these being helicopters or something that I may not recognize. I contacted the USCG sector that was in charge of the area via their Public Affairs officer, but due to OPSEC, no information could be released about any past operations.

I spent a few hours watching and rewatching the video, but my military experience is guiding me towards the possibility that this may have been a Coast Guard or Naval night operation.

Of course, this is an educated guess and is formed solely on my interpretation of the evidence and the statements of the witness, so it should not be considered an “answer.”  

The post UFO Over North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, January 14, 2014 – Caught on Video first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Over North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, January 14, 2014 – Caught on Video appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The event is briefly described in a request submitted by Nancy Talbott as follows.

“A 4-5 ft. diam. glowing, translucent ball of light was observed drifting horizontally 10 feet above power lines at dusk. Flames erupted, moving “like electricity” thru tree tops, as object (w/multiple 6-8 inch fiery red rods protruding from underside) hit tree line, and falling sparks ignited brush on ground.”

Mike Price prepared a very detailed, well-researched final report for MUFON on January 6, 2006.

The objective is to analyze soils, wood samples and a piece of plastic from the site to determine whether there are any unusual materials present. And, specifically ascertain whether any accelerants are present.

Following are some selected photographs pertaining to the site, taken by Mike Price.

Conclusions

1.) No hydrocarbon-type accelerant is detected in any of the soil samples thus eliminating fuels such as gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, etc. as possible accelerants.

2.) High concentrations of ammonium chloride, perhaps between 0.2-0.8 wt.%, were found in all the soil samples which include both burn area and control samples. Additionally, calcium nitrate was found in two control soils (C-1, C-2) and one burn area soil (S-3) at roughly the same concentrations. Hawley’s Chemical Dictionary relates the following concerning ammonium chloride (my underlining). Its uses include “dry batteries, mordant (dyeing and printing), soldering flux, manufacturing of various ammonia compounds, fertilizer, pickling agent in zinc coating and tinning, electroplating, washing powders, melt retarding snow treatment, production of urea-formaldehyde resins and adhesives, bakery products.” The following information is provided for calcium nitrate. Its uses include “pyrotechnics, explosives, matches, fertilizers, other nitrates, source of 14C by nuclear irradiation.” The dictionary also lists it as a hazard “strong oxidizer, dangerous fire risk in contact with organic materials, may explode if shocked or heated.” The detection of these unusual components bears further inquiry of the landowner by the investigators.

3.) No unusual materials are detected in the tree wood/bark samples from the burn area. Only natural products were observed. Some degradation due to the heat was noted.

4.) The plastic is composed of polyethylene. Some oxidation of the plastic was observed in a melt area, which is obviously due to heat exposure.

The Analysis

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The post Analysis of Samples from Burned Ground and Tree Trunks Related to a UFO Close Contact (Gaffney, South Carolina – February 22, 2004) first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Analysis of Samples from Burned Ground and Tree Trunks Related to a UFO Close Contact (Gaffney, South Carolina – February 22, 2004) appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.