Form
97-AR
Date: Saturday, 18 March 2006
Animal Reaction Feature:
Two women (59 and 79) were in a farmhouse in a rural area. Just after 7 PM, their attention was drawn to the kitchen window by the barking of their dog [not clear if dog was indoors or outdoors.—jw]. Both women saw a long row of lights traveling silently and very slowly.
The Sighting:
The women estimated the lights to be 25-30 feet from the side of their house and 5 feet from the ground. The length of the row of lights was compared to 5 railroad cars, and their movement was compared to watching a train go by. The lights were square, and the first ones to pass were solid white and impermeable. The next lights appeared to shimmer as they passed.
There were other independent reports in the area, including one 4 miles north of the above sighting. In that case, a silent, slow-moving object, estimated 65 feet away and 10-15 feet above the trees, was seen with “a string of about twelve lights.” The lights were evenly spaced, bright. Some lights were stop-signal green and the rest were white. At one point, the object tipped up and they saw that it was round with lights on the side toward them as well as the side away from them.
No EM effects or sound was reported. Physiological effect of burning or hurting eyes was reported.
[There was a fireball seen by hundreds over a huge area just after 7 PM EST (6 PM CST). It was seen from Canada south to Kentucky and from Missouri east to Pennsylvania. Many reported it just off the ground throughout this area, as that was the erroneous impression it gave. Many people thought they saw a structured object, but many recognized it as a spectacular fireball (or reentering space junk). Meteor watchers, gearing up for the Leonids meteor shower, commented on the slow movement and the very long viewing time and the uncommonly spectacular nature of the fireball, which broke up into a meteor train at some point. Because of the time of day and direction of travel, it was not a Leonids fireball. Many felt it behaved more like reentering space junk, but no reentries matched the date and time. In any event, the fireball was simultaneous with and most likely the cause of the Antrim report above.
The barking of the dog in the Antrim case was probably coincidental and served to draw attention outdoors so the ladies saw the fireball. Of the 200 or so reports on NUFORC about this event, 9 people mentioned dogs present. None were reported to react to the fireball.—jw]
Source:
Kulka, Judy, 2001, Michigan sightings indicate animal, physiological effects, MUFON UFO Journal, no. 399, pages 8-13.
For more information on the fireball, see November 1999 at
http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/maillist-months.html and also the NUFORC data base for this date at www.NUFORC.org