2. LOCATION rand Haven, Holland, Micnig~n ( 3 wi\.ness) 3. ~;Otlr.Ct Ci vilic;.r, . 1. NlHJ,E .(P. OF :J3J~CTS 10. CONCLUSION UNIDENTIFIED Astro (VENUS) LENGTH OF 03SERVATION 11. BRIEF SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS l hou~ ll ~inutes l l .. T'r'P E OF OB3~RVATION SEE CASE FILE f ?. PHYSICAL EV:)~NCE FTD SCP63 0-329 (TDE) Pr.vloueedlt.lona ~fthleformma)'beu .. d , 0 . 0'75 of the fie ld. width, or three degree G. As a reference, an ob ject sub :~ndirig three: de~rccs at a distance of ten l'lilcr, 'H>uld. have a. cttame tc r I f the comparison "'i th t he moon ci vcn by the '.ri tnesses is an object subtcndine 1/~ the dia.met,cr of the moon, o~ 1/12 the same distn.ncc , would have a diameLer of 75 feet. uas c losest (his second sighting) and his descriptior, o::" ::-1~ appearance is so:ne\-that more detailed thC!n the o tbers. He vas 3 . . , m::.'2.::s from the clcGe~t. p0~sible position ot the ob.je:ct, o1Jtaine d fro~n ir~2-sect ing his las: vic:f ~rith s:. :.:= '\-las 1/6 the diame-:~:~ of the noo~. (which he cave as 1/h i nch at a nn' s l er.;th, correctly), t:!er,=forc, t}:}e oest size e ctiu1atc comes out to be 30 Ho-..rever, t nese ..:.-:.. .!t:! estirna tes a:re h ighly u n r(:liahle : ~c: ~zample, said a~ ~,ime that t:;e object would be as big as a lJasebaJl .:.:. -:.-.2 distance of a -;,:-::~ 500 feet away, which is at tne limi~ of angular r.; 3 ::.~tion of t~e r:;.::-.=:.t~ eye: a point -source '\-Tould look t hat big, and a b ::-:::. _:.-.:, point-sou ~c-::: ,.( :):.:.ld look c onG iderabl y bigger ) indicated that the ~ai a blue-s~e patch o f light on its lrn1er left quadrant, ar1d id t hes e appeared to ani ~2:~ease j_n brightness. J:he objects seen ut 9 :00 PN "' only a green and his r ider also thes') lights , a s did the object seer~ through bi no":ulnr:J a. t 9 : 30 . S ul'rl:n3. r v In this one -day invL:sLicatioL many witnesses ktluvrn to hav e reported an o:J.!ect on the n i ght ir qqes t ion were-not interviwwcd; thf. intervi e"'s 'vie-:--:: .:onfined. to the three parties men:ioned. rherei'orc all conclusion s t=-:::.-: ~an be dra\.;n ore tentat i v e . I t appear.::; c~r:.~in t :1::tt the initial siGhl:il!.C by located !:hr~e !::ilcs ~'1o:rth o.f Hollancl a nd oe:~':f:~cl its nl,~itu~e, if tl1e elcvntior1 esttrn~t~s arc b-::l~e1:ed, would have bee : : l!:'ss than 1000 fee~. The an~les of view are 6 5 .:-...: :;rer.:s apart, probe.-::1:.-too \vide an ang l e ~o be covered b y ur: airplane Since these :::.!. : !.!: :.:-.gs occurred at, the same tiT'le tha c~j2-::-:. :lue "Vrest. frc~ i::.::i"..:; his h ouse, could not have been see .i.ng p ossi.ble that he was lo~ti11g at Venus, ~vhich -\,., l -in the sky time of his sighting Ghan he later believed 1.: :.;.~ 'C object was Venus, i t set either bela'.; the of clouds i n the ues~, prlor t o sightinc; of disappeared f rom the westerly p osition and to the northHest, appears to erveJ t o come ra:pidl.J fro:~1 tne stop abrt..tptly o ver t h0 road.: these l:i.ne s of sicht conv~rce t e n mlles .i.':r-:..:: ~he lake:...; bore and n orth oi' Grand. Haven . lte s u rldcn J very fast ' left.-Lo-~icilt movement uc'-~n 'by , fol1 O\ICU. by u sLop of extr e me a.b ~ptness, mar well be t~l~cn as That 1eported as a sudde n appear- an of the obJect to hls right. 'l' he lines of sight urc 2) degreea apart , probably \Tithin the ranGe over vrh:lch landing lights couJ d appear bright t,o v':l:~ observers. If that is true, then i::-;olve<l Venus , for ' s later views t:!ou.l d r.ot have testi mony tends to shovr that Venus 1:as no l ber visible (or , s temporaril y obscured) rio~ to the sudden appearance o~ tne object he sa~, in the north,.;est. On the other he.ncl, it i s possible views e~cept the first two {one correlating with , one with ) were i n fact views of v~nus, since he co1tld ::~ loncer see eithe~ the north-~rest or the southwest . It should be ~e~tioned tna says he dicl see Venus at s2..--~ time n.s he s2..; ~:,e .:'irst object: Venus, he says, :las higher ir: the s~::: ani slightly of where he saw the fi.rst object. The o ~hers also does 11ot l ook like what they savT. However, the sJ.".: t oi' Venus h:.:-: been brought up prior to this invectigation, and so it .,-0uld be well to i~7:termine the exact s~tt i.ng time of Venus. According sc ephemeris-based calculations, Venus should have set the horizo!l, and about three degrees south of nearl:r '..r~.ere flrst sa"Yl an object. UnlPss there ~rer~ the western horizon, Venus should have bee;1 visibl e throuehout to an observer CFlpable of see ine; Hithin 1. 5 degrees of the A timetable o f event3, vlit h conside rable uucert2vinty, would g o as follO\.J'S: lle d by dispatcher : sees objeet to SW. k hearG call and overhears call: sees obje~t t o uest. s"!;arts north, sees ob ,j':.-c t to NH. a t object in vrest, returns oes outside to lool'~ indoors and calls office. urns (10\Ht Riley St:teet; Heerspink drive s up Ce~E:lr St reet . t s coat, not \-latc :ling. oes outside again: su1:.2nl / a pp ears. mo-:~ to posi t :ton over road. o":Jj:=ct in \vest. first object ~one, secon d s:.:cs obtjec c suddenly Hassin.k still driving to.var d oses object behir J. dvnes: f:.:-=.1 position, sees object i n \rest ; still watching oses ob,jec t -faded or movel do~ . .rn behi::Jd t rees. 8:37 ees objec t disappear su~l..denly vith i ns tantaneous r;:c~icn to SOllth. see n obje ,:!ts to south. a report UFO in middle of county: ~.n binoculn:cs . ::::1e p:Linci;<.: o~.je~tions to some possible expla~ations (a) the b:-:::.:..-.~s:;, (b) 't.l12 s fiap e ani size, and (c) the rar)i u mcJl:ions of che ob._iects. Ti12z .::::..:. oe dealt w-i:.t to some degree of confidence . 3rightne~s. UF O reports vr.::r e receive:j. at OtLo . .ra County Sher i7'L's Depa:-:T.! t by the i nver.>Ligator, wh:i.c h involved an extrc~::,~ly 1)-:l ghL obje c t l)osj.t,;_:::ly :l d e ntified as Vcntw. This took plar~e "Li1e even:Lnc o:r the .i.nvt.=s Li - gntic~) 1:~:~::-ch 3. a s s urprised t o see v~nus l c .. r i n Lhc sky at t1: 20 Pt:l ... :1it_;i.1t -l1e said his ob.~ect was muc! b~:ie;htcr, o u L Venus \.ras Gecn l~hroue;h tl'~es and appeared 2 -3 mn.;:;nltud.es di r tha n norn~al. A 250 candl0power landing lignt focnssea to n 10-rlcgri;e be~n \T i 11 appe;.'t-:-to be of mac;ni tude - G at u distance of Gen miles -O\'CY' "t-en tlr.t,..!S However, i n one case the 1Jeam \{ic1 Lh \vould have had to i:) ~ :. ) tlegrees, reducin:::; the brightness to ma.g:1i tude -2, d-tmme.r tha! Venus. Any bright light against u 1>] ack backgrou: d apJ1ear3 :::-c .~:::1 and of ~O:'tS ide rable The witnesses e;a.vc cr::atly varying cstiinates c.:: ~izc, fro!n 1/12 (l~t:;ree to thr:::e degrees, fo.~ .. the ~ar.1~ object. es.:.: the size as tha,_, o~ a 1)o.se1>all n.< .. 500 feet., idr~:-:~1 is abo~J.L ore ~ni.lli.- :; =_ian o:r three m;_pJ;tes of arc -actually a brie;ht point source \.(.'~.2.d look bie;r;er th::.r-. tr!aL, owintj to spreading of li ll.~ in t!1e eye. G;. ....... and left of' the mai n ,.,hi 1:e of course, 1To,J.ld fit t':le red :~een runn~n; of an airpl3.ne. T~-~ ~ost strikinz motions were thos~ r e ported h- ( s't1ot out not describe t.he -::ct::::-: -it ~ras ''~00 :ast to i'ollo-;4'". He said at o~:e poi n L t.ha t it hL.:t I .~:u.2.(;_ tell uhi~:l way it \-ient" -1:1ear.ing that all motion Ile (lld r1or Under the c:!. rclUlnt.n.nces, i t is en t.!. relj to suppose that there was an involuntary imp::cc ss iou of m0t :i.oll, out :-10 a~tual moti.on. The 1 ight s iioply 1-1en t If the sudde n ~ppe~.~ancc seen by t i C tdcd \d. t h obe~rva tion of fast, n!ot i.on from the left, t.llerC' i .s <:!One -i_(~cnahle s 'J._r.por L for the idea that the lic;ht simply turned S>n. suddenly. ln any case the i'ac t that Heerspink had been watching an object to his left a.nd then uudd enly saw an objec-t s traicsht ahead would be enoul3h to explain t h e impression of swift motion :'~om lef t to right. T~is _is a "\-Tell-kno\Tn phenomenon of perception. r:=:::.e jtunps from left to rie;ht and up-and-down all subtended eight dee;reen or less. Involuntary motions of the ey~...: could account for these jumps entirely. It i s s:!.~nificant that Grysen did not see the westerly object move exc.ep~. u !! he was o_: :.doors and had lost. the HinclovT as a sta.bili~ing reference. was sure ~hat vhe n he vras vie\ving an object wit h well-brace<l binoculars i t j umped. -.-ertically out of t'te J~ield of view -but that is exactly how 1.t uoul d w~ti the binoculars resting on the curved surface of a patrol car roof. Le..ct:.i:-.c; Qbserving experier.-:e with rr.ac;nifying optics, a "rTi tnesn could uell fail to reali:~ that what loo}(S like a laree motion could b e caused by a motion of bir;c~L:.lars too small -:.c feel. I:: shor t , there is nothing about the observed. motions that cannot be accoun":.e.::. :'or b y well-k:co,i:! properties of perception . Conclusions appearance of t:;ose object s which are not identifiable uith Venus is sir.:ila::-to that ex--pec:.~:i f' rom aircraft landing lights. Hovever, since no spec i:'i,; ::2..::..;-~:.s could be iientified this conclusion does not prove that the cause: 1.-.-::..:3 :.:. :"'e..~t airplar:= la.:--lding lights. The e .xistence of t h e similarity, however, !:19.}-:es it impossible to conclude that a defi nitely unconventional object was present. The objects remain unidentified , meaning neither kno\,Tn to be unco:1ventional or knuwn to be convcnt:lonal. Posi tlon o f Ve nus from Grand Haven J,onGi t~de of Grand Haven (Lo.keshore) Side~e~l Time at Ol20UT Ascension of meridian, Grand Haven .. scens~on of' w. horizon, Grand Haven Ascension, Venus, 0120 UT, to reach geo&nctric horizon uncorredted for deelination ec a 1on o enus = Correction due to declination Tir.-=, Venus to reach g~o~etrlc horizon llh 5?m 13s Tiffie of Venus-set, c;eo:=-.ctric horizon = 8:43:31 Plll EST, February 28, 1967 c :20 Pl-1 EST = 4. 27 above geometric horizon Ele.~s..: ior. of Venus = 1.34 above ceometric horizon Az.i:::t:.i;~ of Venus, 8:2:6 ?H EST Sightine:c at Grand Jinven and Hollar:a.l. Michl( .nn February 2-', l9Y 7 \~illi.am T. Powers In response to ne\-TS reports and telephoned repor~s to the Dearborn Obse:rvatory, an invest.i gation \-Tas conducted into reports of an ob,ject sie;ht.cd .~o..o .JVV rr There were ~eportc of other si0ltincs as well, which were not A meeting Has set up for Narch 3 in the Ottoua County Sheriff' s !)c~ ::1::--tment offices, vi L~1e above-mcntior;ed officers present. After "the th:--ee men had c;iven t heir stories, visits were made to each point from ,,;[:.:. :::: a sighting \vas ::a:ie, and later photographs \-Tere taken from identifi- able positions for t~c p .rr:pose of obtaininG anGle measurements. Personnel a-.:. : . '?-nd Haven AirpGr:. a~ d. FAA controllers a t t4uskcgen County Airport ( :..~ :::iles north of Gra:d. Haven) were interviewed to establish possible ai:-~:-c.f~ operations cr! -.:.:::e night in question. 1 he results obtai ned suggest vras not the planet Venus and not clearly ai:-::--8.: ... ~ ~-~i t.h its la::i::-_g lights on, but enough ambiguity remains that it to cor.c2: .::.e that 1vhat was seen ,.,as unconver-tional. The Report s and h:Ls 1vj fe we r e :i.n o. ne1-r bcac hi'ront cottae:e, w orkin[~ on re11~o:l2ling it, when a call vra:::; heard over a moniLor rndio i n the cottae:e: the dispatcher at Ot to\vC! County Hc11.dqu<Jrters \TLl.S asking then in a patrol car in Holle.nd , whether he co~tld see an object which an unidentified civilian ho.cl reported by telephone . suj_d no, but that he was h eaded north on High\-lay 31 and would soon be clear o e the city. At tha:. ~ime, , in his patrol car about 20 niles north of \la s.sink and about 14 miles from the lakefront overheard the call, and r a :..:ced that h e had a bright obj e c t in view to the south\-lest. Angle rr.e a sure- mer::.:; r.1ade with reference t o landmarks and the r oa d Ave-::.:.~, Grand Haven) sho~..red that dlrcction of view wa.s about 3 0 :":.2 gr ees south oi''wesL, or b earine 210 degrees. '.rhis sighting took place wi t r . .:.!! a fe\-1 seconds of the radio message , and s o ias j u G L a fter 8:19 p . m. T\-To to thre e c~ :::.: 2.and and abou: , now locate d at t h e north edee , reported s ic;ht1ng a brieht o~JE; -:: to the nor"Gh'l-res:.; -oy landrila.rks, the bearing t o the object was procee ded north About 1/2 mile fur-:.:.e:--, 'T..rhere Highwa~/ ~l crosses Lakewooj blvd., a comparison of brightness a cluster of light s on a pole ove r a railroad y :;.rd : -:f:e object was ::---~;.orteri t:tn being much brighter. The lights were night, and would be of s tellar magnitude - 8 t c - ].:: ..:-=-~ brighter :.-:::.!: Venus. At this point the angle oi vievT was about p roc2e .jed t o Riley Avenue , l-1/2 ~ilea far t h e r north, \vhich pc::..:-1:. the obje c t appeared to be n early over Riley Avenue, \Thich i s a n s ~ree t . He tul'ncd clovrn Riley, \.rest, and proc~ e jed four mlles until t h e object wa s lost t o sight over s ome dunes; he s p ent the next five to seven minutes f inding a road over the dunec, nud l)y the tirr.e he hac.l a. clear vie.; o~ t he lakcfront, the object was no longer visible On t h e basis of testi mony alone, the cbject $ighted ''oul<l r:a:e been about over the lakefront, or perhaps offshore a mile or t".-ro. A ca~l from an unidenJ.;ified v:-oman living just off Riley puts the object aver 3i.:..~y Avenue, two miles from the shore , as she reported. it over her cur a t e-.::::: .. -:; 8 :20. Yni.s is :1ot inconsistent vTith As near as ca~ be dcterffii~ed, :i.:1i ti.al v:tci/ of ~he object .:::)ineided with I'i l~s t observation, or follo'vTed it very shortly: watched for five minutes , which is enoueh time for r~=.::"led his first ~.c::..::x of ohservatio~1 at Chic1:tgo Drive a nd High'\vay 31 . Tne:se t '.ro l ines of sight cross about 4 miles of:fshore, o.ni nine mi 1 cs :.>ouc.h line of s ).chL from his pos i::.ioD at 31 and Rile~-also passes throueh this area. At about tr.~s time, ' s vrife called him to the west ~1c had not gone t o look after hearing the c a lls, just another UFO report, of which