Two Low Level UFO Incidents with reported Camera Function failures

From Researcher Stan Gordon

www.stangordon.info

On May 30, 2013, I talked with a witness who provided me with a detailed account of his encounter with an unidentified flying object that occurred on May 29, 2013, outside of Hiwassee, Virginia. The man sounded concerned over what had occurred so we had a number of discussions about his encounter. I generally focus on Pennsylvania cases, but this was a detailed incident that needed to be documented, and I referred this on to the Virginia MUFON chapter for additional research.

The man was driving a heavy duty pickup truck and was heading east at about 10 PM, when he observed three bright lights in a triangular pattern, about 300 feet above the ground. The witness, trying to figure out what he was seeing, stopped dead in the road as there was no other local traffic. He noticed that there was one light on the top and two other lights were on the bottom. Each light was bright white and described as “white like porcelain.” The lights were about each about 8-10 feet in diameter. The lights, while brilliant, did not cast any reflective light. No sound could be heard at that time. The lights appeared to be attached to a solid device.

The man, who didn’t believe in UFOs, realized that no one would believe his story so he grabbed his cell phone which was quite new and which worked very well to take some pictures of the strange lights. The man opened his window and leaned out as he pointed the camera at the object. When he pointed the camera towards the lights, the man stated that camera suddenly went to a black screen and would not allow him to operate any camera functions. As soon as he brought the camera back into the cab of his vehicle the camera operated normally. Two more times the witness attempted to take pictures, but the same malfunction would occur each time he aimed the camera at the object.

The man had been watching the object for about three minutes when suddenly the triangular configuration rose straight up into the sky like a rocket with a tremendous sound that was louder than any jet he was familiar with. The witness had in fact heard the sound from a Concord jet and said that this sound made the Concord sound quiet. The rumbling sound was so intense that it shook his large heavy duty truck and could be felt in the man’s stomach.

After regaining his composure, the witness moved his truck forward about 15-20 feet. It was then that the man saw the object now behind him in his rear view mirror. The object looked similar to the object that he had initially seen, but couldn’t be sure that it was indeed the same triangular object. The man parked his truck and exited the vehicle to obtain a better look at the mysterious device. The object was directly behind him and about three hundred fifty feet in the sky. Within about 30 seconds, the object departed toward the north and was lost from sight. The man moved quickly away from the area and continued on his trip. The witness stated to me that he was scared to death and did discuss what happened to him with some family members.

Just days later, another low level UFO incident occurred in Southwest Pennsylvania just east of Pittsburgh. I have previously written about that case and I have included that account as part of this report since there are significant similarities with both incidents.

Huge Rectangular Object Hovers Low over Pennsylvania Highway-June 1, 2013

(Electronic dashboard displays, cell phone service and camera failure reported in the vicinity of the object)

sketch of the object provided by the witness
Sketch used with permission of the witness

June 1, 2013-10:05 PM

(Irwin) North Huntingdon Township

Westmoreland County, PA

At approximately 10:05 PM, the witness and her three year old child had just pulled out of the Sheetz convenience store on Route 30 in North Huntingdon Township. At the red light, the driver made a left on U.S. Route 30 and proceeded East toward Greensburg. The woman had a window down and the car radio was playing at the time. As she moved along the highway just a short distance away her attention was drawn to a large object hovering over Route 30.

As she slowed down and approached closer, she recalled saying out loud, “what in the world is that?” Her young child who was in the backseat responded by saying, “Look mommy, a flying I-pad in the sky”. The woman looked around and noticed that there were no other cars at the time on that stretch of the road. She was quite concerned over what the object was, and initially stopped on the highway, about 150 feet away from the hovering object. She was trying to figure out in her mind a logical explanation for what she was seeing.

The object, which was completely silent, was hovering approximately 60 feet above that section of the roadway. The witness described the object as looking, “mostly rectangular,” and told me that it “looked like the gondola of a blimp without the blimp.” The length of the solid object appeared to extend over the east and westbound lanes of the highway. The object was estimated to be about 55 feet in length, and approximately 35-40 feet tall.

The witness described the object as being two tiered. The top section was made up of five sets of green lights. There were three individual rectangular lights in each set. The five sets of lights were all evenly spaced in a vertical position, and the lights were all steady with no blinking. The witness said the green color was brighter than the green of a traffic light. The bottom section, which was smaller in size, contained within it two long solid red lights that were placed side by side. The two lights were steady and never blinked. They gave the witness the impression of looking like brake lights, but they were huge.

The woman quickly called her mother using the blue tooth cell phone hookup in her car.  She asked her mother if she knew of any explanation for the object that was hovering ahead of her over the road. As the car passed underneath the object, the woman noticed that the digital display on her car dashboard for the clock, temperature, air bag status, radio, and Bluetooth sync suddenly blacked out. The FM radio station she was listening to lost signal. She also lost her cell phone signal. The witness attempted to take a picture of the object with her iPhone, but the camera function wouldn’t load up.

She accelerated down the road to get away from the object. About a ½ mile away she looked back towards where the object had been and could no longer see it. The digital displays all returned to normal, her radio came back on and she was able to make cell phone contact again with her mother as she approached the Adamsburg exit. When she got home and discussed what happened with her family, they asked her to draw a sketch of the object while it was still clear in her memory.

I conducted both telephone and face to face interviews with the witness and her family and also went to the location of the incident. The witness works out of the area, but travels that road daily to go back and forth to work. A part of the investigation included examining the vehicle driven that day.  Due to the woman’s work schedule, it was several days after the incident before the car could be tested. No magnetic anomalies or abnormal radiation levels were found.

The witness said that she drove down that same section of road several days after the incident trying to make sense of what she saw. She was looking for a tower or even a balloon from a car dealership to explain what she saw, but could find nothing to explain the object. She also was upset that her young child continues to look skyward for the, “floating I-pad.”

The witness tells me that this was an experience she will never forget. She told me how she is the kind of person who must have an explanation for nearly everything in life and now there remains the question of, “what did I see?”

Historical Fact

One of the first UFO cases I investigated occurred in August of 1966, just down the road from where this encounter took place. That incident occurred at the Adamsburg exit and involved an object hovering over the 500-kilovolt high tension power line. As two people in a car on Route 30 approached the power line, the object dropped below the power line and came at the car so close that the occupants ducked their heads. The case is mentioned in my first book, “Really Mysterious Pennsylvania.”

Stretch of Route 30 where UFO incident took place.
photo copyright 2013 Stan Gordon

Stretch of Route 30 where UFO incident took place.
Photo copyright 2013 Stan Gordon

Many Recent UFO Sightings in Pennsylvania Explained-August 11, 2013

Stan Gordon

I have been receiving numerous UFO sighting reports that have originated from many locations across Pennsylvania since June, and still continuing at this time. Many of these reports concern observations of single or multiple either red, orange, or white luminous objects moving across the sky which suddenly vanish in a few minutes. Many of these incidents appear to be launches of devices known as Chinese lanterns or sky lanterns.  As recent as last night, there were numerous such reports that came to my attention from various sections of the state as well as around Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.

While these hot air type devices are generally launched to attract attention during special events or holidays, they can be launched at any time.  It is likely that there were numerous such launches last night to draw attention, since many people were expected to look skyward for the annual Perseid meteor shower.

Another recent UFO report concerned an early morning observation of a bright spherical object that moved steadily across the sky. That report was determined to be an observation of the (ISS) International Space Station passing over the area.

A report of a mysterious circular area on a lawn of a resident appears to be what is known as “fairy rings” caused by a fungus in the soil.  While many such cases are found to have an explanation, some UFO incidents already reported this year are not so easily dismissed.

Sky Lanterns Generating Many UFO Reports in Pennsylvania-Fourth of July Week and Weekend (2013)

Last week with the approach of the Fourth of July weekend, I had anticipated that there would be an increase in reports of bright glowing orange or reddish-orange objects in the night sky. The reports generally describe one or multiple such lights that are observed for several minutes. They sometimes move separately, and other times in groups or even in various formations. They make no sound, then after a few minutes seem to just disappear from sight. This occurs when the candle or fuel cell expires.

Many of these reports can be attributed to what are known as Sky lanterns or Chinese lanterns. These devices are commonly sold as a kit in stores, while some people make their own version to launch skyward. During the last few years, reports of these devices have increased around holidays, specially the Fourth of July. These silent objects move with the wind currents, and always cause a lot of attention.

During local dry conditions, there is the possibility that these objects could produce a fire hazard. I have been receiving many similar sighting reports from across the state during this time period. After talking with many witnesses, it appears that many of these observations can be attributed to these manmade devices. Some of the reports originated from around  Pittsburgh, and other locations such as Greensburg, Jeannette, Irwin, and Latrobe.

There have been other previous cases reported that while similar in appearance those objects may not fall under this explanation.