Group /Category 4 Animal Effect Cases

Francis Ridge:
This report synopsis was drafted by AR Specialist Joan Woodward, but is also cross-referenced as a Category 3 (E-M Case) and a Category 6 (Trace Case). The incident was investigated by the Ohio group (OUFOIL), which included three investigators: Ron Schaffner, Bill Johns, and Charles J. Wilhelm.

Animal Reaction Feature:
The witness, C.H., had electrical interference in his house and then a total power failure, through which his dog, who was outdoors, barked continuously.  The power soon came back on.   C.H. went outdoors to see if he could calm his dog, thinking it had detected some animal and that was why it was continuing to bark.  He saw that the dog’s hair was standing up on its back and the dog was both growling and barking.   C.H. could not calm the dog, and looking in the direction in which the dog was barking, C.H. saw a flicker of light in a field some 300-400 yards away.  He watched the light pulsate for several minutes while trying to calm the dog.  As he started back indoors, the light grew very bright, rose slowly, and suddenly took off.  After the object departed, the dog calmed down and both C.H. and his dog went inside the house.   At some later time, the dog was checked by a veterinarian and was found in good health other than its eyes were “running” [tearing] more than normal.

Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Feature:
This is a complex case involving EM effects, physical traces, and independent witnesses as well as an uncommonly well described animal reaction.  The weather was off-and-on rain.  It had been raining for several days and rain was predicted to continue through the night of the sighting and through the next day.

At approximately 8:20 pm a motorist in Ross noticed a bright white light moving fast.  Her car lights flickered and the engine almost stalled.  Both returned to normal operation after the object passed her.

At approximately 8:30 pm a second motorist saw a large white light and his car behaved similarly to that above. 

The time of C.H.’s TV and light interference is not stated.  After going out to check on his dog, and watching the light in the field as it repeatedly changed from bright to dim, C.H. started back into the house to call the Sheriff.  As he started into the house, his porch light went out and the light in the field got very bright.  Turning, he saw something rising into the air very slowly.  It was so bright that it illuminated the entire field.  When it was several hundred feet above the ground the bright light dimmed and flickering lights could then be seen.  The object continued increasing in altitude and suddenly took off.   Ground marks indicated a 50-foot diameter circle with a burned area in the center. 

Once back into the house, C.H. found the lights and TV were functioning normally.

Interviews and on site investigation began at 11 pm the night of the sighting.  The landing area was grided and sampled, but nothing unusual was detected.  The burned area had less wetness in the soil than surrounding areas and was probably subjected to extreme heat.  No flammable elements were found in the soil.

No sound was reported.  No physiological effects were reported.

Source:
Hall, Richard H., editor, 2001, The UFO Evidence, Volume II, Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD, p. 65.
Wilhelm, Charles J., 1983, Ross, Ohio Landing Case, MUFON UFO Journal, no. 186, August 1983, p. 3-7.