What really happened near Cherry Creek in Chautauqua County 50 years ago? Did several teenagers really see a UFO, or did their imaginations run wild? It’s a case that caught the attention of the New York State Police and the U.S. Air Force when the sightings allegedly happened on August 19, 1965. The first sighting occurred around 8:20 in the evening. 16 year old Harold Butcher was milking cows in the barn on Aldrich Hill Road where he claims to have seen a “shiny silver” saucer shaped object. “I think something unusual really did happen,” said Robert Galganski, a retired transportation safety researcher who’s examined the sightings extensively over the years. “I think the kids actually saw something.” According to various reports, including an investigation done by the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), Harold reported an unusual noise similar to screeching coming from a bull tethered to a metal pipe in the field. According to a NICAP report, Harold described it “like I have never heard come from an animal before.” Harold eventually rushes to the barn window and reports seeing a “football-shaped object hovering just above tree-level” around 500 feet from the barn. “He later described it as having a pair of vertical seams running up and down the side. He estimated the size to be about 50 feet long and maybe 20 feet thick,” Galganski said. “He can’t tell whether the object landed in the pasture or not because there’s an elevation rise between where he was at the barn and the area just before the tree line.” Harold told a NICAP investigator that the object emitted a beeping noise, and that it “it descended slowly emitting a red vapor downward from around the edges.” He also reported that a radio in the barn was making “a heck of a noise like a loud static.” At one point, Harold ran outside toward the object and watched it begin to rise in the field. He reported that the “red vapor” shot from the edges toward the ground. Harold stated to NICAP that it ascended behind the clouds “as fast as a snap of my fingers. The object rises up and disappears in the low lying clouds. And the clouds, according to Harold, turn green,” Galganski said.
POLICE OFFICER TAKES INCREDIBLE PHOTOS OF A UFO OVER OHIO
AUGUST 19, 1949 …….. NORWOOD OHIO
The Norwood Searchlight Incident of 1949, as it has been called, is an outstanding series of 10 visual sightings of a strange aerial object that took place in or near the Norwood, Ohio area from August 19th of 1949 to March 10th of 1950. The alleged observation of a massive object by searchlight operator Donald R. Berger, and meticulously detailed in his logs, remain one of the more curious events in UFO history. This case is exceptional not only because of the dramatic event reported, but also because of the caliber of witnesses involved. The series of incidents were said to have been witnessed by civilians, by clergy, by scientists, by police officers and military officials. Photos were taken on October 23, 1949 by Norwood Police Sgt.Leo Davidson, and 2 reels of 25-ft. motion picture film were kept in the possession of Reverend Gregory Miller, last seen at WCPO Channel 9 TV studios in 1952. Still frames from the movie film were given to investigator Leonard Stringfield and published in his book “SAUCER POST 3-0 BLUE.” That photo from his book was scanned and enhanced for this report. Using this same photo, an earlier analysis had been made by Dr. Richard Haines.
An additional photo was found in the possession of Ray Stanford, who states: “This is several generations down from the original16 mm movie film, but it seems to rather clearly show that while the beam was projecting several degrees away from the object, when it got within a certain event horizon of the object, it was simply bent or ‘pulled’ the beam directly into the object, seemingly bending it about 26.5 degrees, as measured in the photo plane! This frame has always amazed me since I first saw it in the mid-’50s. Several persons, back then, who had seen the actual movie said that at one time the object seems, indeed, to ‘suck’ the beam squarely into it! “I have included two versions with special filtration. The second (middle) image makes the dramatic bend of the light beam especially clear and easy to measure (on the top of the beam). The second (last) version seems to show what might be interpreted to be a focus effect of the light within the beam. Note the dark diamond shape (bright in the original) between the object and the place where the beam bends.”
