APD5

Our NICAP group had been discussing the UFO detection system for ten years and had actually built some prototypes. But now it was time to get serious. We desperately needed an "early warning system" and a way to get better data, instrumented if possible. With the help of a local scientist, Lewis G. Blevins who was one of our technical advisers, we completed construction on a magnet variometer to try and detect a disturbance in the local magnetic field and, possibly ...... a UFO.

August 30, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana

The first interesting case I investigated that year happened in late August, and it involved a man and his wife and their seven-year-old daughter. It occurred east of Vincennes, Indiana in a subdivision area. On August 30th, at 11:00 AM, the primary witness who we will refer to as "Mr. W" (a good friend and neighbor of my brother Steven), was in the process of packing for a trip. He was interrupted by his daughter who claimed she saw a strange object in the sky. Mr. "W" and his wife went outside and saw the object, as well. He re-entered the house to get his 7x50 binoculars, and when he emerged, the object was now much closer. He described it as a metallic, disc-shaped craft, and "like a garbage can lid with a piece of watermelon on top", hovering over Wheatland Road. The estimated size was 30' in diameter. The witnesses also stated emphatically that someone else MUST have seen it, also. "They had to, it was so low." At the end of the 90 second period of observation the object finally dived and arced out of sight behind a tree line. Estimated range: 1-4 miles. (Fran Ridge/NICAP)

Nine days after the daylight disc sighting (with only two dozen detections to its name in as many years of operation) the crude UFO detector picked up something on September 8th. This was a Mode Level 1 device, meaning a compass with no data recorders, etc. (Alarm only).

APD-01

September 8, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana - MADAR Event #1

Notably unusual was the event-time. It was 4:45 in the afternoon. But, there were no visual sightings reported for that particular day. In 1970 there was no UFO "grapevine", nor was there any rapport with the media and law enforcement as we later had. And there was no published UFO "hotline".

APD-02

September 22, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana - MADAR Event #2

12:30 PM. No reported local visual sightings.

APD-03

October 2, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana - MADAR Event #3

The third time the unit was triggered was October 2nd, at 9:55 PM. Again, there were no reports filed.

MADAR Graph: 1970
(See original outdated graph)

The FTB graph above was created from the dBase for the following 1970 regional sightings:

February 23, 1970; Springfield, Illinois

2:30 a.m. A man and his wife saw a glowing disc descend into a cornfield at the junction of Rt..29 and Rt..136 that Monday morning. It freaked the wife out and she would not allow him to go into the field to check it out. (MUFON Case 36923)

April 20, 1970; near Evansville, Indiana

4:10 p.m. While travelng north on Rt. 57, witness noticed dust being kicked up in a farmer's field. He looked up and noticed that at about 200 feet in the air a silvery disk-shaped object was traveling parallel to the ground at about the same speed as the driver and a friend. This object was approx 1/4 mile away and it was a sunny warm spring day. The object was very detailed and he could see what appeared to be windows on the top portion of the craft. He had never seen anything like this before and has never seen anything like it since, and was totally unmistakeable for anything other than a classic disk shaped ufo. 10 minutes. (NUFORC)

May 16, 1970; Linn Creek, Missouri

12:00 p.m. Triangle, light brown, glossy black stripe, silent, floating in mid air, 150 yards length, four to six stories thick, seven hours time and memory missing. 36977

June 22, 1970; Glasgow, Kentucky

12:00 a.m. Large round disc with lights flashing in a circular motion on the bottom. 10781

August. 30, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana (cited above)
11:30 a.m. Girl (7), saw a metallic disc in the ENE hovering over Wheatland Road and reported it to her parents. Her father went outside and saw the object, too. He re-entered the house to get his 7x50 binoculars, and when he emerged, the object was closer. It was described as about a quarter of a mile away, "a garbage can lid with a piece of watermelon on top" (more like a squared-off "coning tower") and about 30' in diameter. Witness said that somebody else should have seen it, it was so low. Observed for a minute and a half by the man and his wife and daughter. Object left in a swooping dive to the NNE.

September 8, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana - MADAR Event #1; 4:45 p.m.

September 21, 1970, Quincy, Illinois

6:30 p.m. Bright blue/white light and lost time. 9707

September 22, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana - MADAR Event #2; 12:30 PM.

October 1, 1970; Aurora, Missouri

12:00 a.m. Friend was driving saw light in field, It came over road and hovered over the couple for a distance then shot off. 44982

October 2, 1970; Vincennes, Indiana - MADAR Event #3; 9:55 PM.

What's interesting here is that the detection events and the documented daylight disc sighting in August were all daylight events, except for the October disturbance. Later experience with the system proved that this was normal for UFOs and E-M disturbances. But there was more to be learned.

This intelligence summary is subject to update.