Group /Category 4 Animal Effect Cases

Animal Reaction Feature:
A hunting party composed of three men had made camp, and two of the men had gone inside the tent to turn in.  The third man remained by the campfire and saw a silent brilliant blue-white light flying to the north on a downward angle and then abruptly turning east.  After the turn east, the light lit up the entire canyon so details could be seen as clearly as in daytime.  The blue-white light was estimated at no more than 4 miles away when first seen and ½ mile away when it turned east.

The witness watched for a few more minutes and seeing nothing further, he entered the tent.  He told one of his friends what had happened, and then lay there thinking about what he had seen.  At this point, a pack of coyotes started “yipping and yelping” and making typical coyote noises.  The noises were coming from the east (the direction the blue light had been traveling when it disappeared).  The coyote vocalizations became so loud that all 3 men got up. The animals, still vocalizing, ran by the camp going west.  The witnesses did not know if the coyote behavior was associated with the blue-white light he had observed, but he noted that he had never know coyotes to come into a camp with a fire still smoldering and that in general they avoided human contact.  He thought they were acting as if they had been spooked.

Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Specialist:
This incident took place about 30 miles ESE of Prineville, south of route 380, which parallels the Crooked River.  When the bluish-white light was initially seen, it was going north and was traveling downward at an angle of 25-30 degrees.  During at least part of this time, the light was between a mountain range to the east and the witness, making it no more than 4 miles away.  It was traveling so fast it seemed to be leaving a trail of light behind it, but the witness felt this was an optical illusion caused by its speed.  When it got to the highway area (380), it made a hard right turn without slowing and flew east lighting up the canyon (at this point the distance was estimated as ½ mile from the witness).  The bluish hue of the light reminded the witness of an arc welder.  The time from first sight to arrival at the highway was estimated as 4 seconds, and then the light was in sight for an additional 2-3 seconds as it traveled east.

No sound, no EM effects, and no physiological effects were reported.

[There is a question if the coyote behavior was related to the blue-white light.  Wild animals moving away from an unknown have been reported—jw]

Source:
National UFO Reporting Center, 10/15/90, 20:00 (date, time assigned by NUFORC), Prineville OR, Reported 2/19/2001, 21:22, Posted 2/5/2003 (posting date on Index is 2/24/01).   www.ufocenter.com