Form 97-AR
Date: Saturday, 18 March 2006
From: Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Specialist
Subject: Challis ID, September 27, 2000
Cat: 4
To: NICAP

Animal Reaction Feature:

A huge triangle was discovered hovering low and silently in the dark over a remote hunting camp. The presence of the mules in the camp was indicated when the men inside the camper thought a bear might be after the mules when they heard their companion yelling outdoors.  No more was said about the mules, implying that they were not vocalizing, trying to escape, or otherwise making themselves noticeable.

The case was reported to NUFORC.   Peter Davenport, appearing on the Jeff Rense show with the witnesses, confirmed that the mules were not reacting.  He said that the mules in the camp remained “docile” and commented that it was strange that the mules did not react.  [I agree that it is very strange.­jw]

The Sighting:

At 9:45 PM, one of four hunters went to his pickup truck to get food.  This witness (43) had the feeling of something overhead.  Using a small mag flashlight, he looked up and saw a huge triangle floating silently overhead at an estimated altitude of 200 feet.  The flashlight beam showed a surface like gold-gray suede.

After the flashlight beam hit the object, it began to “throttled up” with a deep sound of intense power.  At this time three 10-foot-diameter lights came on, one at each point of the triangle and these were compared to dim dome lights.  A larger, deep red light protruding 8 feet from the bottom came on in the center and pulsed once per second.  None of the lights illuminated anything.  The object moved straight upwards to about 300-400 feet and then moved forward slowly (gliding), moving away up a narrow canyon in the side of a nearby mountain.  The sound stopped as the object began to move forward.

The object was triangular with a slight light halo around it.  Its size was estimated as 250 feet on each side and 30 feet thick.  As the object started moving, there was no air disturbance and no odor.  The duration of the sighting was 45-60 seconds.

Hearing the initial witness yell, two other witnesses came out of a camper just as the object started moving forward.  They ran and grabbed binoculars from the truck and watched as the object glided away.

Witnesses were considered reliable by Davenport.  They had hunted annually in the area for more than 20 years.  Two were building contractors and one a stone mason contractor.  All had good eyesight.  None were drinking.    They described the night as clear, lots of stars, and no wind.  [This was confirmed using wunderground.com:  Temperature, 52°F, 27% humidity, wind from the SW at 3-4 mph, clear skies.   The sun had set at 7:24 PM and a new moon had set at 7:51 PM (USNO).­jw]

A video tape was being watched inside the trailer as these events began, and no interference was noted.  Whether it was being run from power lines, battery, or generator is not stated.

Trainer (UFO Roundup, v. 5, no. 45) stated that a newspaper article in the Idaho Messenger (Nov. 4, 2000) reported that NIDS was doing an investigation of this event, but I could find nothing on the NIDS site.  Further, in an article entitled “NIDS Investigations of the Flying Triangle Enigma,” published in August 2004, this sighting is not shown on the map containing NIDS triangle sightings but is shown on the map based on sightings from Larry Hatch’s database (where NUFORC is the source for this sighting).  It seems that NIDS did not, in fact, do an investigation.

Sources:

NUFORC:

Trainer, UFO roundup, Vol. 5, No. 45, November 9, 2000
Davenport, comment regarding mules and EM effects not detected:
NIDS Investigations of the Flying Triangle Enigma, August 2004