NICAP Reporter - Vol 4 No 08 - 06 1966 - No 45

Magazine Overview

This issue of the NICAP Reporter, Volume 4, Number 8, dated June 1966, features a cover headline quoting Adm. Delmer Fahrney, U.S.N. Ret., stating, "There are objects coming into our atmosphere at very high speeds. The way they change position in formations and override each other would indicate that their motion is directed." The magazine details numerous UFO sightings and potential landings reported across the United States and Canada during the spring of 1966.

Denver, Colorado Incident (April 7)

Six picnicking teenagers in Daniels Park, south of Denver, reported being chased for an hour by unexplained, apparently "hovering" red, blue, and white lights accompanied by pulsating buzzing sounds. Police Chief John C. MacIvor of Littleton described the witnesses as "sincere, cold sober and a little shaken." Alan Scrivner recounted that he and five friends drove to Daniels Park and heard sounds like a man walking on top of a shelter. They then observed "two red lights--about a foot each in diameter--about two feet off the ground and parallel to each other," with a white light in the center. These lights were about 20 feet apart and appeared in a field about 25 yards from their car. Later, they saw four objects that looked like "footballs with domes on them, sort of squashed spheres," with a pulsating sound all around them.

Michael Simington, Patricia Retherford, Kaye Hurley, and Mary Zolar were also present. Kaye Hurley reported seeing a "tall man, who might've been wearing a raincoat." Patricia Retherford and Kaye Hurley were scared by a "soft blue light" that appeared to be coming toward them. Michael Simington noted a light dipping in and out of the valley. The car they were in experienced unusual movement, rocking and dipping down a hill, though the emergency brake had not been touched.

In Denver the same night, Terry Datz and Dennis Sullivan sighted about seven UFOs described as "garbage can lid size" which disappeared into clouds after about 10 minutes. Sheriff John Hammond, however, dismissed the reports, stating, "It's all a dream. There's nothing to it."

Illinois Police Encounters (March 25)

Police officers in Addison, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Northlake, Berwyn, and Cicero, Illinois, reported being unnerved by a blazing white UFO with a blinking red light on its underside. Described as bright as a car headlight and big as a basketball, it was seen darting, dipping, and dancing from telephone pole to telephone pole, sometimes moving at tremendous speed and sometimes hovering. Deputy Bernard Gallimore of the DuPage County sheriff's department stated, "It didn't appear to be a star." His partner, Scotty MacKay, agreed, finding the experience unnerving. The UFO followed their squad car and then "definitely changed directions." A radio call confirmed that police stations throughout Michigan, Chicago, and Indiana also reported seeing the same object.

Ohio Sightings (April 7)

Deputy Sheriff Robert Ray and Special Deputy Richard Hoffman in Mansfield, Ohio, sighted a "bright white light" that alternately "hovered and then took off." They observed it moving east to north at a high rate of speed for about 15 seconds. Four more sightings followed, with the object eventually hovering in the northern sky and disappearing straight up. Sheriff Weikel was convinced Deputy Ray had made a genuine observation. A week earlier, a man reported sighting a round object with two lights that landed near the new Mansfield-OSU campus. He saw a "child-sized figure, very thin" and observed the object move toward his car before rising rapidly and disappearing.

Wichita, Kansas Landing (March 25)

Johnny Sparks, 11, witnessed the landing of two UFOs next to his home. He described them as larger than a car, spinning, with purple, red, orange, and green lights. He saw them land like airplanes with legs. The objects were described as "big fat doughnuts" with a spinning cap on top. Pieces of concrete, possibly from the house foundation, were found scattered in the driveway.

Michigan Landing (March 22)

Emile Grenier, 55, an aeronautical engineer, reported seeing a "brilliant light in the sky" in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that performed an "impossible maneuver." He estimated its speed at 150-200 miles per hour at 3,000 feet. The object stopped instantly, then shot up about 1,000 feet before descending rapidly and settling into a grove of trees near the Veterans Administration Hospital. Grenier estimated the lights covered a span about the size of a small two-place airplane. The sighting was confirmed by University physiologist Lawrence Espey. Grenier, a graduate of MIT, stated the object was not an aircraft and was a "solid soft red light of tremendous brilliance."

Ontario, Canada Landing (March 29)

Charles Cozens, 13, reported two strange "ships" landing in a field behind the police station in Mountain, Ontario, Canada. Constable Arnold Read verified a three-inch yellowish burn mark on Charles' hand, which the boy claimed came from touching the "antenna" of a "soft glowing 'flying ship.'" The objects were described as "eight feet long, four feet wide and three feet high" with "red, blue and green lights set into the rim and flickering." Charles reported the objects "lit up the grass around" and made a "buzzing sound." He received an electric shock and a three-foot flash of electricity when he touched the antenna.

Texas Collision (March 29)

Miss Donella Banning, 20, her mother, Mrs. Doyle Havard, 49, and Debbie Carrico, 10, reported their car was hit by a "dark ball" on the Interstate 10 overpass near Baytown, Texas. The car's roof sustained two dents, about five inches in diameter and 15 inches apart, with the paint scraped off. Deputy Sheriff R.A. Kinsey investigated. Armand Yramategui, director of the Burke Baker Planetarium, suggested it was a meteor, stating, "Nothing else could have caused that kind of damage."

North Carolina Trailer Incident (April 19)

Two children, Evelyn, 12, and Eddie Baker, reported a "round, black and shiny ball which had a white ring around it" striking a house trailer near Trinity, North Carolina. The object was described as sailing away and making a buzzing sound. Part of the metal stripping around the roof edge had been pulled loose, and there was a dent below the roof line.

Maine Shooting Incident (March 24)

John King fired four shots at a UFO hovering close to the ground on the outskirts of Bangor, Maine. He described the object as "frosty orange color, about two car lengths long and about 15 feet high." When he fired, the object took off, and he saw lights on its underside reflecting in water.

Nebraska Car Incident (March 21)

Roy LaMark reported his car was hit by a UFO in Ralston, Nebraska, leaving a three-foot dent in the hood and fender regions. He described it as a "black-looking object with what looked like flames on the edges."

Washington Sightings (March 21)

A huge glowing object was seen descending from the sky near Little Rock, Washington. About 30 minutes later, another glowing object was sighted descending near Central Park, Washington. Later that night, hundreds of people saw a brilliantly bright UFO speeding through the sky over San Gabriel Valley, California, described as a "big ball of fire." At Canoga Park, a UFO was described as "the size of a baseball...bluish in color...with a white ring around it," lasting about 10 seconds. Officials at Lockheed confirmed a UFO sighting over the airport. Additional reports came from Pasadena, Temple City, Covina, and Burbank.

Illinois Sightings (March 21)

At 7:40 p.m., two men at Pittsfield, Illinois, sighted a high-flying glowing UFO described as cigar-shaped with an intense, steady white glow that appeared to flash as it moved away. In Normal, Illinois, nine residents observed a large oval-shaped object flying soundlessly at heights estimated at 200 to 300 feet, with four blinking lights. Astronomer William Powers investigated this sighting and concluded, "I don't know what it was, but it is interesting."

Indiana and Pennsylvania Sightings (March 21)

An egg-shaped UFO with a bluish light surrounded by orange lights was sighted over Indiana, Pennsylvania. Another object was seen by a motorist in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, flying very low with green and white lights, stopping in mid-air and remaining stationary.

California Sightings (March 21)

In Port Hueneme, six persons reported seeing two objects in the sky, one red and green, the other white. Through binoculars, two UFOs appeared white and goldish, possibly over the Seabee base, and were deemed unidentifiable by officers. Bill Strickland sighted a flying object in the area of Snow Camp, North Carolina, described as reddish or orange, traveling at tremendous speed.

North Carolina Sightings (March 21)

Another UFO was spotted over Caswell County, North Carolina, by commuters driving between Casville and Providence.

Nevada Sighting (March 22)

Residents in Portola, Nevada, reported a visitor over their city about 4:15 a.m. The object traveled northward, hovered low over the city for about 45 minutes, and its shape seemed to be constantly changing, appearing flat like a disc, then shifting to a thin, wafer-like shape.

Florida Sighting (March 22)

A celestial object of considerable size was spotted over Jensen Beach, Florida, described as clearly octagonal in shape, glowing softly, and trailing streamers or wires.

Illinois Sighting (March 22)

A woman living west of Paris, Illinois, reported a football-shaped object in the sky. Students at Muncie, Illinois Grade School also saw a flying object described as a "shiny thing" that looked like a football with three antenna-like things coming down from the bottom.

Oregon Sighting (March 22)

Several Medford, Oregon residents saw a "sort of roundish" white object in the sky traveling south.

Michigan Sightings (March 22)

Mrs. Jason Merrill, her daughter Susan, and Mrs. Jimmie Jones sighted three UFOs northeast of Hillsdale, Michigan, hovering in a horizontal-triangular formation. Two objects moved rapidly northeast and faded from sight, while the third remained, hovering and twirling with a yellow-like glow. Susan Merrill diagramed one object in the shape of a football, hovering at tree-top level.

North Carolina and Pennsylvania Sightings (March 22)

A strange glowing object was observed over the golf course at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. An eerie bluish UFO flying extremely low followed alongside a car near Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania.

Mississippi Sighting (March 22)

An oval-shaped object was sighted over Paspoint, Mississippi, moving at tremendous speed.

Michigan Sighting (March 21)

Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Peck of Alpena, Michigan, sighted a UFO at 9 p.m. described as looking like a star, but much brighter, darting and stopping quickly, and moving closer and higher in the sky.

New York Sighting (April 24)

John Orazio, 13, sighted a silver-gray disc-shaped object hovering close to the ground near Sinclairville, New York. Robert Howard described the object as between 12 and 14 feet in diameter, with lights around the edge that changed from white to red. The craft cast a bright, funnel-shaped beam across open fields. Howard admitted the sighting "made a believer out of me."

NICAP Mapping Project Notes

The first phase of NICAP's mapping project, pinpointing over 20,000 reported UFO sightings from 1955-1965 on maps, has been completed. Phase two, involving an estimated 5,000 additional reports, will begin in September. The project has involved approximately 2,000 man-hours of work.

Membership and Publication Information

The NICAP Reporter is published monthly by the National Investigation Commission on Aerial Phenomena. Annual membership is $3.50 in the U.S. and Canada, and $5.00 elsewhere. Members receive a one-month membership extension for each newspaper clipping sent to NICAP about UFOs, Fireballs, or Meteors, provided the name, date, city, and state of publication are attached.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are the prevalence and increasing frequency of UFO sightings and landings, particularly over populated areas. The editorial stance appears to be one of serious investigation and documentation of these phenomena, encouraging public participation and reporting through NICAP. The magazine aims to collect and disseminate eyewitness accounts to provide a comprehensive overview of UFO activity. There is an underlying implication that these events are not easily explained by conventional means, and the sheer volume and consistency of reports suggest a significant, unexplained phenomenon is occurring.