New Yorker John Smith (not real name, witness chooses to remain anonymous) had a Close Encounter with the paranormal that he will never forget, and his new 4-door sedan can prove it. Fortunately, he contacted investigators at the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) who were able to get to the scene quickly to discover and document the shocking evidence.
On his short drive home from work in the Port Jervis area in Orange County, just after midnight on November 25th 2009, Smith was singing along with Christmas carols on the radio as he negotiated the winding wooded roads. Smith turned the corner and suddenly noticed some strange lights in the sky. He described to the investigators a cigar shaped object with five lights across it. The lights were blue, white, red, white and then blue again. The object was moving slowly and turning clockwise. Smith slowed down and stopped to get a better look.
Smith described the object as being rather large. He estimated that it was 200 feet in length. When asked the relative size to an aspirin at arm’s length, he described that it would have been the size of a baseball. The lights were very intense, but he didn’t notice them reflecting on the ground. The color of the craft appeared to be gun metal grey. As he watched, it continued to slowly move towards him at the speed of a hot air balloon. He told investigators that it made a sound similar to a purring cat.
Realizing that it was not an airplane or anything else he could think of, he got a little startled. However, as the object passed directly over him, his car died. Smith tried to open the electric windows to look at the object, but they would not work either. Getting very worried now, Smith attempted to use his cell phone, which was also not working.
Not knowing whether to run or stay put, Smith opened his car door, still buckled in. He looked up at the object, saw the lights on the object turn off, and his car was suddenly running again. He was not sure if the object flew away, or if the lights on the object just turned off. Terrified at this point, Smith didn’t stay to investigate. Instead he took off wanting to get home as quickly as possible. Running stop signs and almost crashing into a fence, Smith thought to himself, “no way I’m going to take that road again.”
Not knowing what to do when he got home, his wife suggested that he call the police. Smith didn’t feel that the police would be interested in his experience, so he searched the internet for a UFO reporting center and came across MUFON. The MUFON dispatcher, who took the call from Smith, noted that he sounded terrified. Smith explained the event as being “the most unnerving thing to happen to me.”
MUFON dispatched members of their rapid response (STAR) team, Chuck Modlin, the Chief Technical Advisor, accompanied by Vicki LeBlanc. Modlin has a lifetime of professional experience working with, among many other things, cutting edge radar, lasers, missiles, and telemetry systems. These skills came in useful on this trip. Richard Lang, who runs the STAR team, made a secondary visit with Modlin a few days later.
Investigators were able to make it to the site on November, 27th, just two days after the event. Upon meeting the witness, they noted that Smith still seemed shaken by the events. They found him to be credible, and that his story remained consistent.
The most interesting evidence supporting the witness’s claims came from electro-static and electro-magnetic testing. Using a tri-field meter near the vehicle, a 2009 4-door sedan, the meter maxed out, indicating a very strong magnetic field.
In order to test a control vehicle, the STAR team investigators where able to find a similar vehicle, the same make and model, at a car dealership. Since it was a late model car, the dealer had another one that was verified to have been made on the same day as Smith’s vehicle. The test vehicle did not register any significant electro-static or electro-magnetic fields.
To further test Smith’s vehicle, the investigator’s grounded the vehicle. However, there was no measured reduction in the intensity of the fields. In a follow-up investigation 20 days later, the fields were still present, but had dissipated by approximately 60%.
Investigators also used a compass to measure the magnetic fields with interesting results. The fields did affect the compass and was stronger towards the front of the vehicle. During the second visit, the compass was able to show that as the fields dissipated, they remained strongest at the front of the vehicle.
During the investigation, Modlin did have two camera batteries fail. The batteries were charged. Modlin is at a loss to explain the malfunction.
Smith noted that he had a toothache for some days after the event, although he is unsure if it is related. He also believes his car drives faster after the event. However, investigators note that this may be a result of the engine getting broken in. Otherwise, there have been no other noted effects.
Investigators asked Smith if he experienced any missing time, Smith said he had not. In some close encounters, such as this one, missing time is reported. This is when a sighting such as this occurs, and the witness arrives at their destination noticing that it took them much longer than it should have, sometimes even hours longer. They often are at a loss as to where this time went.
Cars losing power during a UFO sighting where the objects come into close proximity of the witness and their vehicle have been reported before, although not often and even less in recent times. This phenomenon was featured in the movie Close Encounters when Richard Dreyfuss’ character experienced his first sighting at the beginning of the movie. Spielberg’s consultant for the movie was Dr. J. Allen Hynek who investigated UFOs for the US Air Force.
These strange effects to Smith’s car would have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for the quick work of MUFON’s STAR team. That is why it is important that experiences such as this are reported. This sort of evidence will help in the ultimate goal to find out more about this enigmatic phenomenon we call UFOs.
For more information about the Mutual UFO Network visit www.MUFON.com.
