July, August 1996 UFO Investigation Reports
July '96 Investigation Reports
August '96 Investigation Reports
July '96 Inv. Reports
Type of Report: Flyby of the 1st kind (FB1), Daylight Disk (DD)
Date of Report: 31 Aug, 1996
Date of Sighting: 05 July, 1996
Place of Sighting: Mounds View, MN
Local Evaluation: Possible Unexplained, Significance: Ordinary
From: Craig R. Lang, Field Investigator
Sighting Background
The witness is a member of MN MUFON, who I know from his interest in UFO field investigation. He sent this report in by electronic mail to the proprietor of the MN MUFON internet world-wide-web site. The report contained the description of the event detailed in this report. I filled out form 1 from his e-mail description, then interviewed him over the telephone to confirm and followup on remaining details.
Sighting Account
At approximate time of 15:10 CDT. The witness (age 32) was on a break from work. It was a nice day so she stepped outside to bird-watch for a few minutes. While doing so, she noticed an unusual object in the East-South-Eastern sky at an elevation of about 45 degrees. The object appeared distant, but to her it clearly appeared spherical. She first thought that the object was a balloon (due to the spherical shape). The object was travelling too fast for a balloon, so she then thought that it was probably an airplane. However as she watched, it retained its spherical shape.
She observed the object about 45 degrees above the horizon. It traveled in a north-westerly direction, passing to the North of her at an elevation of about 60 degrees. It passed to the northwest and was lost to view about 50 degrees above the NW horizon . (CL Note: It is not clear whether or not the object was travelling in a straight line path).
The witness described the object as being a silvery/metallic sphere, with no apparent features. She estimated the size of the object at about a nickel at arm's length. The object appeared to retain its spherical shape and to remain the same absolute size during the entire time. The entire time of travel was estimated to be about two minutes.
Witness Description:
The witness works on second shift as a manufacturing team member, 32. She has a high school and a partial college education. She is a member of Minnesota MUFON and is interested in becoming a field investigator. She has worked with me on past sighting cases and is an excellent observer. She he has
had two other sightings, one in the recent past (a NL/MA1) and an arial anomaly sighting at age 12. Neither of these sightings are yet reported. She describes her health as good, with no hearing impairments and farsighted (20/10) vision.
Additional Witnesses: None
Natural and Manmade Phenomena Check:
There is the possibility that this could have been either an airplane or a balloon. However the witness described the object as looking unlike either of these. The speed of travel would argue against a balloon, while the spherical shape argues against an airplane.
Sighting Evaluation:
NL/FB1 - Possible Unexplained.
A possible "IFO" explanation is given above. However, several potential arguments against this explanation are also as described above. Thus the sighting must be classified as "Possible Unexplained". This sighting is considered to be of ordinary significance.
August '96 Inv. Reports
Type of Report: Maneuver of the 1st kind (MA1), Nocturnal Light (NL)
Date of Report: 01 Sep, 1996
Date of Sighting: 08 Aug, 1996
Place of Sighting: Lino Lakes, MN
Local Evaluation: Possible Unexplained, Significance: Ordinary
From: Craig R. Lang, Field Investigator
Sighting Background:
The witness is a member of MN MUFON, who I know from his interest in UFO field investigation. He sent this report in by electronic mail to the proprietor of the MN MUFON internet world-wide-web site. The report contained the description of the event detailed in this report. I filled out Form-1 from his e-mail description, then interviewed him over the telephone to confirm and followup on the remaining details.
Sighting Account:
It was an absolutely clear August Night, at approximate time of 23:30 CDT. The witness (age 37) was star gazing at his home in Lino Lakes, MN. He noticed a group of moving starlike lights travelling in a right triangle formation approximately from North-West to South-East. The objects caught his attention due to their similarity to satellites, except that they were travelling in formation - something not expected of satellites. The witness estimated the brightness of each light at approximately second magnitude.
He indicated that these lights did not appear attached to a structure. Stars were clearly visible as the formation passed over them. Thus these were presumably three independent starlike objects.
The lights were first noticed in the constellation of Draco, in the North-West. They passed approximately through the zenith, remaining approximately constant in brightness and travelling in a straight path. The path continued into Capricorn in the SE, where they faded disappearing rapidly from view.
The witness estimated the entire time of travel to be about two minutes.
Witness Description:
The witness is a computer programmer, age 37. He has a bachelors degree in Physics. He has interests in astronomy and other scientific subjects - including UFOs. He is a member of Minnesota MUFON and is interested in becoming a field investigator. He has had no other sightings.
He describes his health as good, with no hearing impairments and vision correctable to 20/20 with eyeglasses.
Additional Witnesses: None
Natural and Manmade Phenomena Check:
The north-south nature of the objects' path suggests that they might have been military satellites. Their appearance in formation is either quite coincidental, or is indicative of objects other than satellites, however.
Other Possibilities:
Possible high altitude aircraft flying in formation. However, the lack of any blinking lights would argue against this explanation. Also, there was no noise associated with the objects - although this could have been due to possible high altitude of the objects, coupled with upper air winds unfavorable for conduction of sound to the location of the witness.
Sighting Evaluation:
NL/MA1 - Possible Unexplained.
A possible "IFO" explanation is given above. However, several potential arguments against this explanation are also as described above. Thus the sighting must be classified as "Possible Unexplained". This sighting is considered to be of ordinary significance.
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