POLICE OFFICERS CLOSE ENCOUNTER IN ELMWOD WISCONSIN

APRIL 22, 1976. . . . . . . . . ELMWOD WISCONSIN

At around 11 pm on the evening of 22nd April 1976, George Wheeler would spot what he believed to be an orange glow from a fire near Tuttle Hill in the small town of Elmwood. Around 60 miles from the Mississippi River and with a population (at the time) of just over 700 people, Elmwood was typical of its era of small-town America.

Wheeler himself had over three decades experience in policing, having served with state departments in New York and Wisconsin, as well as acting as a “one-man police force” in Elmwood before “retiring” to a reserve officer (essentially, filling in the current one-man police force was away). It is perhaps also important to mention that Wheeler was an experienced Second World War pilot who had seen combat on several occasion. In short, it would appear the relief police officer was a reliable and credible witness.

On this evening, however, thinking a fire was about to rip through the small town, he jumped in his vehicle and made his way to the location. Upon arriving, though, he wouldn’t find any flames of an uncontrollable blaze. Instead, he witnessed “a strange glowing object”. What’s more, this object was approximately 100 feet above the ground.

Wheeler would estimate he was around 500 feet from the hovering craft. He could see “six bluish-white lights” as well as several “windows or portholes” along the side. Even more intriguing and concerning at the same time, were the moving shadows suggesting that someone was inside this mammoth, silver-colored aerial vehicle.

A Brilliant Orange-White That Was “Like Looking Into The Sun!”

He continued to watch the scene develop. He noticed an open side-panel which allowed him to glimpse inside. Wheeler could see something “revolving slowly” which reminded him of a turbine. As his focus shifted to the bottom of the craft, he noticed several “legs” protruded from the underside. However, more prominent was the “black, hose-like appendage” which connected to the bottom of the main part of the craft.

He would radio his report to the sheriff’s department in nearby Ellsworth. As he was doing so, however, the craft suddenly rose with alarming speed. In sympathy with the sudden movement, a “bluish flash” hit the area, perhaps even the patrol car itself, causing the radio to cut out instantly. The car’s lights and engine also went out without warning.

When the radio came back to life a short while later with a voice asking Wheeler if he needed assistance, he would reply:

My God, it’s another of these UFOs or spacecraft!

Wheeler would take a few seconds to clear his thoughts. He would estimate seeing the object for no more than a minute, most likely around 45 seconds. He would also recall a “whooshing” noise as it zoomed upward into the night sky.

Wheeler would further recall that the main exterior of the craft was indeed a metallic silver color, the top was a brilliant glow of orangey-white. In fact, he would claim staring at this top part was “like looking into the sun” such was the brightness. Furthermore, it was huge. At least around the size of a two-story house.

An Attempt At Extraction Of Natural Resources

Perhaps of most interest was the black hose-like appendage. Wheeler claimed it projected downward into the trees below. Whether it went all the way to the ground is unknown. There are, however, several close-contact UFO sightings featuring similar “black tubes”. Most often, these devices are seemingly used to extract water from a supply on the ground, either a water tower or even a lake or river, for example.

If we accept, just for a moment, that the black tube that Wheeler witnessed was similar to these other sightings around the globe (with many of them, incidentally, seemingly taking place between the mid-1960s to the early-1980s), what was it attempting to extract?

There was a farmhouse nearby owned by the O’Bryan family. This means there will likely be a water supply tower too. However, it would appear that no direct activity was reported by the family. Mr. O’Bryan would claim that a little after 11 pm, the television reception went dead but quickly returned. This would likely match when the object took off into the sky knocking out the police radio and car engine.

It is also worth mentioning the testimony from a witness from another farm in the area, a 9-year-old boy would claim his sister returned to the family home that evening from “some doings in town”. Of more interest, however, was the reaction of the family dogs as she did so. Instead of running to her as they would do normally, they would purposely keep their distance and bark repeatedly.

Perhaps, then, we should turn our attention to the limestone quarry which resides in the immediate vicinity of the sighting. Might this have been the target of the apparently cosmic craft? Several contactees have claimed Earth’s natural resources are the target of such UFO activity.

“Hit” By A UFO!

Shortly after the incident, 36-year-old dairy farmer, David Moots, was returning home from dropping off the family babysitter when he saw Wheeler’s squad car parked across the road with the lights out. He pulled over his vehicle and walked over the Wheeler’s car to see if the long-time Elmwood police officer needed assistance.

Moots was aware of a past heart attack suffered by Wheeler. So when he saw him struggling to get out of his squad car he, at first, believed he might be having another similar episode. The closer he got to the car, however, he could clearly see there was something wrong with Wheeler. He called out to the relief police officer, asking if he was OK. Wheeler replied that he had been hit.

Now growing concerned once more, he asked him if a car had hit him Wheeler’s reply, however, was perhaps the last thing the dairy farmer expected to hear:

No, one of those UFOs!

The use of the word “those” is interesting, suggesting that UFO sightings were common knowledge among the residents of the town. When Moots was interviewed later and asked about this, he would claim that “a lot of people” claimed to have witnessed UFOs and strange objects in the area. So much so, that he didn’t think twice Wheeler mentioning one too. What did surprise him, though, was the claim of being “hit” by one.

Moots would further recall how “dazed” Wheeler appeared. And how he was not at all like himself.

An Orange Half-Moon Over Tuttle Hill – Corroborating Witnesses

There were, of course, several other witnesses to the evening’s events. For example, housewife, Mrs. Wergland, was at home just outside of Elmwood when her cuckoo clock announced it was 11 pm. She would make her way to the kitchen in order to take her regular shot of medicine. As she did so, however, she would happen to catch a glance out of her kitchen window.

There, opposite her home, was a “bright, orange moon-shaped” object hovering over Tuttle Hill. She would watch the object for several minutes before simply going to bed and going to sleep. When asked why she did not report the sighting or even wake her husband she claimed she had seen lots of strange objects in the area. And furthermore, her husband usually claimed they were likely “just the moon”.

Another witness, however, Paul Fredrickson would report his sighting. Fredrickson, the administrator of the Heritage of Elmwood Nursing Home was at home when he received a phone call. It was the wife of the police chief who asked that he might go to the front of his house and look out of the window. When he did, he would see an “an orange glow, like a moon cut in half”. What’s more, the object appeared to be over Tuttle Hill.

Fredrickson would quickly dismiss the idea that the orange glow was a blaze of some kind as there was no flames nor smoke. By the time he returned to the phone, his wife was now awake and downstairs. By the time they returned to the front window, the glowing object was no longer there. NOTE: The above image is CGI.

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