Warrenton Virginia — June 1956

PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 0 Was Balloon 0 Probably Balloon 0 Possibly Balloon Warrenton, Virginia 3. DATETIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION 0 Was Aircraft 0 Probobl y A ircraft 0 Possibly A ircraft Ground Vi suol 0 Ground-Radar 0 A i ,. Vi su al 0 A i rlnterc:ept Radar 0 Was Astronomi col 0 Yea 0 Probably Astronomical Xt2No Civilian ( then military) c PossiblyAstronomlcal -,-.-L-E_N_O_T_H_O_P O_B_SE_A_Y~A-T-10-N~--------~8.--N-U_M_B_E_A_O_P O_BJ_E_C_T_S~-9-.-C-O_U_R_S_E -- therllnreliable Rapt C Insufficient Doto for Evaluation 10. BRIEF SUMMA~Y OF SIGHTING Latter Wl'ltton in 1958 regardin~ a 5ightl11g in 1956 of l i ghts that r.tove d n r )tll'd First impress .ion ;, n s that UH~Y w)r U fP 'Ot!nd l ights. Soft ;b ,v i n ::t b o u t 2 f t i n J i a PIe t e r AT%C FORM 329 (REV 26 S E P 52) 0 Unlcnown station2.ry 11. COMMENTS Other (unreliable 1pt : too old) ORIGIN OF BASIC UFO Report and l\1anuscr1pt Sierra 1-Tadre. California rnJtlel rN col~" to denote review prior ctlon. ( ,r: for ectlon:., for eoordlntlott,) to ec:t ion. ASS I GHEO BY ovT colun to denot~ OFFICE !'pft~T~I-N IF_F_I_C_E~-O~U_T~ ', L l~July .1lajor Tacker to-..... ..-/ COMMENT NcJ. 1. Subject corres!Xlndence il-eceived "'rom Ge~'fal Schweizer's oi'fice is submitted for necessar y action, wit~ tne f !lowing ~on wtl~ch to base a reply: a. Source cannot give e~ ct date or u~me. only that incident took place sometime in June or July, 1956 b. To properly solve any u.t J case, immediate reporting of the incident is necessary for on-the-spot investigati<ns. A matter of a few days delay can render the investigation worthless. c. Cannot comment on t he "1-Iir. lJlin" light s a nd "Ghost" fire reported seen in an Australian marsh, although the ph~nomena is typically characteristic of ball- shaped gaseous glow, an elect ical dise~arge,often referred to as St. Elmls Fire, 1 and associated with s wamps and articu arly if methane gas (cH is in the area. 1 2. Copies ar the report have been made for our files Ltr and i>lanuscript H. i\. . l.d LBERT Colonel, USAF .AFCI H-4E DP.~.r Sirs: 1 ...... r.1 VP.r"J ash~.t"lt;a t11::~.t l haven ' t v.rritten ;,rot~ bnl'orc be a s c~mplete R R I ca.n ~onsidering tl1e laus~ 0f ti~e, thf':! details r1ill exnl::t.in sonething o f the dA1.o.y . hovl~VP.r, rt.n.~ nP-rh!:.n~ .i c annot f i x thP. a.et da~.~ -nerhau s I coul d nin i t do,m "y r'"'S~-"~rch - 1 didn't make a n ote of i't-~because I :f"el t sure I would rt=rrrtRmber. It was on a saturday night -tha.t is sunday morning of the month o f' ei~}J.er. mi d-june. or early July. I was based at Vin~ liill ~arms Station -ne~r ~r~enton, Virginj -a Specialist 3rd class at the time -Army. l had been, d~ting-a girl in Rockville,' Jiiaryland; and would hitch-hike or take a bus .:the;re every chance I had -which was fairly often as our free ti~e a t the nost was p r etty mu~h our own. . One o"f my favorite pastimes has al\vays been to tak e long walks, s o this -particular night -having arrived with no money whatsoever in my pockets - my camera case on my ba.ck -(loaded with color film a nd aa.mera equiTJment - my hobbie) a little too late to visit the girl -but with hones of s~P.ing her the next day-I had hitched a ride with a. buddy who lived in Rockville - -1 did many things on a shoestring while I was in the army -1~1ost o f that night I just wandered up and down the various roads in and around Rockville - ending u~ on the road leading out to the girl's house. The exact spot is in front of an old house -now deserted -formerly utilized as an old-folks home -until (as I understand} 1 t we..s c ondRmned - this is on the crest of a small hil~ -and mar~{S a decided dip in the roa.d - I ~'la.s standing on this s-pot when I looked do~m the hi 11 to where I 'cnev1 a house to be; I noticed a single light. glowing -too l a r g e to be from a. s ir.rple bulb -~ f.Jiy first impression. of the light "rielS that it was e.n a-op roac! in~ ~utornobile -but it was on such an angle that I \7ond~red a.t t his, becausf i t d i d not correspond '?i th the location of the r oads -their being a n inter- section of three roads -\one main road curving a n d e. newer side road) - the light was cent'3red about where the crossing_wa.s-and a hill ~1as just b~hind the light -as 1 Tiatched it, it se ~med t o g rou a little lar,;-;;er-1.rhict me.de me wonder i'f it might be a flare -l v;atched for a. dripping at the b~.se -thin.<ing it n i gh t i;P a n airforce maneuve r o:f s ome sort -but I s~'t7 none - ~hen the light rose a little with a slight S't'laying motion -and wa.s soon ~allowed by sever~l ot;1~r li;;ht s the same s i z e a n d descripti on -:not quite scsxzx:fbl:XX:XG%t:i:dne a s ori~ht as a fla.re .voula be and c;lor1ing ,.,i th a steady white glow. rtemernbering my training in spotting obj~cts a t night -I triP.d lookin!S to either side in hones of seeing a.nything t i1a.t nir;:ht be e.tta.ch .gd to the lights r.ta,(ing some sort of sillhouette. There -;Ja5 no indication . '?his doesn t mean r.1uch, ho.w~ver, since the night v1e.s cleA.r~ but moonless -and exceut for the glow of occasional strP.et lights, quite blac~. It occurr~d to me to try for a urtture -but I :felt that wiJ;h the movement of the l ights themseJ:tes -and tne low exposure of the color :film -tha t it :rould be tine bettP.r s:oent observin~ the objects tha n in get ting out my :!_:)a r a:.ohenalia A.nd a t tempting to sAt it up in the darkness -In all,' afi I r emember there ~;;ere six or ~even of' the lig hts -they appeared to be ri:;ing i mmediately next to a treP. in. tpe yard o f the aforementioned hous e (two story -nBar the inter- section) - I wondered whet:her they were some sort of s i gna.l syste m conn ected to the tree -but they (assuming they were at this distance) swayed sene rat0.1.:y as they rose -as much a s three to f our feed from side to side -see~in~ to bob around slowly -they rose in a kind or orde r one a.bo'r~ the o t h e r -until th~ hi~hfast light reached a noint a little above the hei{ht of th~ t hee _ connected th~ t ree, heco.use the 1i ~hts seemed to sho\'1 infront o-r ~:rhat I could see of the tree -it being lit slightly -to see a ~ ~rni-nillouhette oT the u~per branches. ~onsequently 1 placed the lights in the yard of the hous e itself- I was a distance of auuroximately 200 yards 'fron the objects- this ,oint I r emembered reading a n a rticle some time or e .. ..riously in ~ m~gazinP. I n ic,<:ed up in a latrine somei?here -c oncnrning ~inile.r light~ tha t had be~n sP.~n in Austra~ia -unexplained but ~een o n various occasions - (I am enclosing the article-a s I have since relocated it). These arP. described very similarly to what I sat7. / -, , . 'fhi s nas in 195& : just :9rior to my seuera.tion. About two in t h e ~orn{ng:- From tha crest o'f' the aforementioned hill on which I stood 1 ,.1as f~.cing uovmhil" -and could see the distant sky lit by the lights of' ashington JJ.U. - I watched the lights ~or about five to seve n ninutes - 1 timed the~ -but have since forgotten the exact time ~ After this pe~tod or time the lights , ... lithout dimming began to bob sideways a litt l e more -still slowly -almost erraticly .t and began to settl e -still one above the other back -see~ingly into the ground -fhere was no sound that I could detect during this -or a.ny other sensation thaa the lights themselves -After a brie f noment,' l'lhen I sa" they \"7ere not going to reappear, I ran dowr1 the hill (I hadn't up until this t ime; becauae by so doing;' I would momentarily lose sight of the lights - and thou~ht too;. that they would be explained if I continued to watch t hem ~ i'lhen I reached the s}.')ot \7here I had thought them to be,' I looked about -there ~as seeMingly nothing out o~ the ordinary -I t ried to detect any unusual odor as o:f sonething having been burned -but nothing of this sort nresented itself. I ltne w from earlier o"lservation that the ueoule in th~ house h a d been there end long since gone to b ed. there a was no sign of life -and I couldn't see 71a.lcin~ them un to a.sl..<: i'f they had seen any lights in their front y ard -I can see tt:r ing to exnla.in thi2; to a des k- sP-r Rnant. I \7a:tked back into tovm-think- ing of calling ;vou neonle -Upon arriving there I found the only thing ope n \'lP.~ ~ little cof~ee-shop -and the nronrietAr seened thourou~hly C0nvinqed that I ~a~ R al ~o-good~i~ -so I couldn't see as~ing h i n for a dime for the ryllone- call -.Also, I thou~nt :;1at 1t was urob'"'.bly s0:tething that c01.1.l d be e.xnlainea a.rey -and I was g'3ttir;g excited ove r nf)thing-oo .L l e t it :;o -I discussr::d 71th "T~rious and s-;.:.r.drJ friends a.n d acquaiiUhta.ncee -and finally felt that it was ..,rob~.bly of litt l e or n o iMportance . As .L recal1, thP.re \~.s e..t th~.t tirP. quitt" a stir going on c0nc ornin~ si~htin";s from )Ur ~P.se a n d othPr outlyinr< army -:->osts o f stran~e !1ighW; flying' gr een tnd r~'"'d li~hts -t 1at ttT"~on i n,re!-;tiga- tion ;:!'oc~eded t0 dis=.-,pe~r-1 'nndnrr,l1 o.ftP.j .-d o f the time cnn:'!ect-: hut d is'ii ed it f:-y; ;,y nind. ihe l igntR 1 sa~ ~e ct t wo feet across -jt:d1in~ ~y the as~u1Ad fiRta :1.nC. ~lowed it:: ~ ;, 1 :t -R.l!!lo;; t di ffttsed 1 i 5ht -,,.,hit e in color -~nd r n 1 l'ld _ '7ith cl~fini t~ di::=-usio~ ar0und th~ ed::::;cs -not sharp li,ce t'l.n elect ric ,":lobe vould be -v~ry dP.finitley r rJund -e.lnost a~ t h0ur;l1X they ,.Jere rice-l)a~)cr disk~ illu~inst ed fr~m behind - You can chec,( !lny rP.fP.renc~s o n r.1e you choosn -I h~.ve a cor.rnl~te 'l"o"0S~cret cle~.rance fi l~d :~1 th the lrJ3I -a n d a r;ood army record -l am not r;i ,rP.n to sens..,tionalism, ")er -:;e -But t his has been on ny conciens e 'for s0~e time _ nd I felt th~t, at l~ast, I should tell y ou about it, on the chanc~ th~t you ~et another s ir.1ila.r re!Jort, you ca.n l end it a little nore cre d ence t han y ou 1'.>rol)ablJ1 o thP.r,:ri se w...,uld. lt'orgive me for the delay in notifying you -Ther e was at tha.t time so nuch crack-no t nublici ty and f.;enera1 :nooh-!)oohing o f the f'lying saucer" bu;.ines~ - th-':'.t I ff}lt that 1 ,.,ould b e ,just taki n g u p you t ine -.u i m not ::;o surP. - {Here is a co;oy of tlj-article J. mP-t;tioned i n r e J ..... +.io n t o thP. l irrhc s -a no t h e r reason :1!1y I didn1 t ~ ediate~y not~fy you -or ( .e t hP. li""']1t~ s er i ")u~lv _ I am not in the habit of rP.ad~ng t hmse maga?.i nes -but haY"'lenea to J'le.v~ '".:eut f'ron: FA'fE maga7.ine \ A.NU) August 1 9 53 ~ 'rrue s t orie s of the ; trang~ c.nd th~ unk n ');m l (don't l a u gh)} J ;.;ysT3RIOUS .LI Gn'l'S -of Australi~ ~ i'hose of you who h s:ve not visited Austra.lia nay n evP.r h a v e h ee.rd o:f i t s ;s:in~;;ln.Li~t, a "1henor.tenon faniliar to nearly all ~'itH~tr-:tlians. Visi b l e only at night, the "l;,in-,.4in :Uight" is a hugh p:l0be o f bri11i a n t li~ht ,,.,hich soars un fr"m the ,'Jf) ided h0rizon, t r-."~."e 1 s ra.n i clly O'tfG r t h e t ,.ee t o ':I r: for r,'Jne distanCP. and then h-:lVers, s te.ti:)nary for SOlO t i":le, ;5iVin:~ the ohs ~rVI!r the e~rie im-pression t rtt it i s " atching h i n . iio one has P.Ve r ~ot ten clos e . to t h e I "i~1in-j.~in Lignt II, 0-S t h e c lo SP.r one a~proacb&s tbe fUrther it recP-des. A ~an who has s~ent nearly 18 years in western Australia states that nearly. e v ery one in th~.t section h a s ~een this str~ge aerial li~ht a t one t i :ne or e.nother and no one can ex:1lain it !=ia.ti s - :ractorily. Anparently the.re is no legend associated ,,vith the ''li.iin-~,dn Liqh t"; and vn.riou s qu~riP-s have f ailed to exolain ho11 it rP-ceiv~d its name o r ':7ha t the r~ords ' f.41n-!Viin" signify. One night a stockman, riding his horse,' snied the eerie luminosity and ch~.se1 it. In his excitement he r a.n his horse into a :renee, nas thr-:-nm vidlently to t!1P-r;r')und a.nd died of his in,juries. wr. ulenville Pi e, of ,~areeba, .L~orth ':ttteensl and, A.Ustr!'l.lia, ~ttes t h a t h e saw a si~ilar light, "Jne nighe, iin the marshy c:>untry ab0ttt 4-0 ~iles frJ~ t:>t. 1..a rrenCP., ')n thA cP-ntral c -:'"'~st of ~UeP.nslar:u.. x~i:l:~k IIe first th')l'.f:;h t it -;;-.r;=j.a SOI~Oi1e - .'.ring e. lHntP.~n. 1h~n he r;-., it s 0ar into thl") e.ir and dance:: a:vJtt't for so:1e "":nutes, ~-ir::;.11y h ovc::-ir!s i:"! t o :Jithi :: 2 0 ye~rds :Jf . .t'o !ii:~ i-: l ooked li"ce"so'!e huge !1l orJinp; "">F~.ll, ho-.-~r in~ SP.,T~ .. : o r ei ~ht fe-=~ a..:>~ve the --;:ound ... !:>'l.:ddenly it s oa red t o on.P. s ide:: e.nr. b eg;:o.n a ::-')7-r eating , dc.n c ing r10tion o"t 8 r t h e :)o;gy g round. Iie :round tha.t the light was leading hi~ int o <la.ngerdusly marshy grottnd and h e stopued. 'I'h e l ir;:,.t also sto"'J"1ed, uhesi t~ted" a.:hile c?.n d :~lided a. little nea r e r to h i m a.s thou-;h te~pting 11i~ to foll . ~r Pi-~e ~reviously had been told by a COi"JRni o n t t a deP;~ chasm lay ~us7. on the other sid e of the marsh and he t o oM no chanc e o) falling into it. As h e s t a.r t e d hack to his earn~ the lieht, as thou~h~ reali~- 1 ng it h a d lost, r-;;;en t over t hP. cha.~n a.nd :f ell from l1i s s i Ph t . hen he rP.turned to ca.~p his c omna.nion told hin that, a c c o r ding t o thP. l')ca.l 1 ef{end, a. nan had be~n murder Ad ma.ny years ~Jreviously by b eing nushP.d into that chasm and that his s ni:bi t ,.,ersi s tP.ntly tries to lure ne\7Con~rs to the ~ame unluc~ fate. Lir. Pi,( e sta.tf!!=; that a similar li ~ht is often observed n~a.r thA remains o:t' an old inn beside th~ nearly de~er'bed 1/inton-.tloul:!a r oad o n the tr~P.less u1~.ins of '.Vest ~u~ensland. It is s aid that this i nn \'Ja.s the r en de7.,r ous o f drunk"'rd~ :1 and thieves .o.nd !=;l").,,"~re.l nearby grav~s a t t est to thP. unfortunate 1)0tP.ncy of the horne- brewed liquor sold there. !::levera.l years a go a. y 0ung s t ockma.n obse:rv~d a strPn g A ~all of light one ni~ht a s h e rod8 his horse nast the ulace on h i s way h 0":1e. He rtine d u p and \1{:l,tched it for ~orne time. rie noticed tha.t the light adv!'?.nced and r ctrePted but al\'iays r nturnod t o a l)nrox i mat ely the sane lo- cation. .tdnally it came to\Jard him. Losing his n erve, t h e stoc'kman du~ his he.els into his hors e and ga l l o"'1e d fra n tically a.11. t h e .:m.y t o J)au l ic:J. ~-,herA he ren'>rted it to a RCP.11tica l no1ice-trooDer. .DUt not lonr; thr.re~.ftl")r VArn.l others llar1 th~ sa.n e curious l i ght. un~ wa.s c riv-in; ,) t i n his CC!.r, s::t.~, tho lir;ht ::).l0n~ thP. road e.nd save chas e , a t 40 -,, (page II o~ c0uy) <ent "just ahea.d of him a l l the tine a n d vanishP.d ,:h0n h e ct"'"'""T'"-:!.c h.::cl the old inr;.. xmt:kltsx uxitXL!k Another AUstralian "ghost light i s seen :fr"'1Uontly 0 n tlv-~ ;;tl"):rk"- r0t:ta, near Bourke, in n'Jrthwes t .1~ew ~outh Wales . rt i ;; ibc~r'red durin; t n e SU'llr.ter -: 1 :ths and drovers, alrP.ad y acquainted ::i th i t , -,i 1 1 n>t cc.'io ..,--" rni?;i1t in th~ ~rP.a as thn li!2:h-~ invariably stn-:-1~d t'-H"!ir :10 -r;r s ~. 1J c~.tt1r--.;_t.:1 -i--:- '1-strcnts r "s ults .r\marcntly t11~se Myst ery lights stril~e tf!rro r into thn hr::::.rts of A.ni i.ial s l Horses steadf.q.stly rP.fuse to ente r thP. ga'fie\vay over which a Rtr.!3.n~e li~ht dan~es n a farm in north-YJestern Q,ueensland. .the tenant is s o a c customed to ser-dng this light, bobbing and hovering over the slip rails of the horse naddock nearly 10 yRrtis fr1r.t his home , that he scarcP-ly t a.,{r.s n 1ticP. of it. rne lr:>nely region at the head of the r.turrumbidgee H.iv~r, :i.n 11 e w Sout h .. ales is noted for the reqar,-cable ~uin:'l's .Lip;ht, sr,P.n fo2~ y ears c:.t r,..gular tnt.rve.ls by a-:-Je-struc"c ,.,itnesses. This light is simgular in :r~rm, h~ing li~<e C!. ~1rillj_.::.!.1t ly glowing, imnense ea gle ,,,1 th ning s fully s pread. Sone doseribe the l i ght as "a r.tost 'T)OWert'Ul glow." It \m.s first obsei"Ved floating a:}0ut three fP.~t off. t h e gr?lL"ld a~ong the trunks of the lofty gun-trees on th~ <:;razi n g 'Orouerty o f a successful f armer named John ~uinn. ::>ome :persons have shot at it but ~1i t hout the least Affect. Others have tried to ap~roach it but, as though directP.d by an observing intelligence,~ it alrJays eludes them. One night a newcoMer to the district was amazed to see this glowing, bird-1.ike sha:rye hr:>verin~ over thP- ho.,est ead he had t1ust bought. He decJ.a.red to the local u o li c eman tha.t it hun g in fnid-air tor fUlly 10 Minutes, eliitting a light SO brilliant th~.t i t 1'1ade the nlace as bright as day". He -ras so frig.1tP.nediCt by this exnP.rience tha.1 he ''r<?.C':'Jned i t '\'78.S tiMe he ])ac:-:ed up.'' Police-trooper w.Gu,.oble urote an a ccount of the '' Caost :ui:re" oCC8.sir:>nally ob~or7P.d in this same districb. As he was riding h i s hors8 along t h e J.n n cly s t -J c~-:-rt:~ut miles a -::ray f:ro'n the nec.rest farm ,jus t an h ou r b eforR day-break he ?'!"Jti~ed e. g l o w in tne ;:<Jods alongside the road. ae urged his horse oYer o.nd g.,t cl-:>sr.. '3n'?ugh to s~t3 7.hat t h e light a ctually ua.s a fire ' ' e n itti n g a cincl of .. s u:,urous,_ inca.nd~._ce::t g lo,,v" ~nd tha t i t was shootin-; gl?.'Tles u-p aga.inst the " side o f' a i':=l.llen tree.:.: ~iis horse refusnd to a}"Jroe.ch the r1eira light ~.!1d rnB.re< and Dlun~ed in terror. ..:rinally th~ hors~ st'?od stocl:-still t rFJr:tbling not i ceably. The trooner circled t::~ area an s~.\v no sigh o f human life. rhen the li~ht vanished. !'40ble dis 1o1.:nted and felt the side of the 'fallen t ree. It \'P.R not charred nor in the l~=.st n~:-m. There v~as no s igh of ashes or hurn e d r1ood o:0. t~e g round. .~.:e said t h a t he had often heard r en