; Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal

Saturday, March 15, 2025

CHANGELINGS, FAIRIES & HAT MAN: An Irish Listener's Strange Personal Tales

"Everything was nice and quiet, till she got home. Her baby was different looking, old looking, the same size, but it looked like an old man."

I received the following account:

"I come from a small village in Ireland. When I was growing up the population was somewhere around the 900 mark, and it's over 1600 now, been growing at a steady increase over the last few years. In the early 90's when I was a kid, pretty much every adult had some sort of 'ghost story.' I'm not even kidding, the amount of stuff I was told was ridiculous, sometimes laughable but quite often terrifying. Personally, I've had several experiences. I know it sounds convenient but they had a profound effect on my life and still shake me now when I think about them, they're for another time though. The main reason for writing to you now is to talk about two topics you brought up on previous shows. The Hat-Man and Changelings.

Just outside my village, there is an old road called the Stump Lane, on the stump lane there are the ruins of an old house. It's beaten down to about two layers of the stone walls now and beside it is a tree known to the people of that area as the fairy tree. Further down the lane lives a woman who when she was a child, used to live in that old house by the fairy tree. It's said that her family was forced out of the house by the fairies. You see, the fairy folk were supposed to be pissed at her father Mr Bolger, for building a house by their tree. Apparently, (not saying I believe this part but a Hell of a lot of people do) there were several attempts made to chop the tree down but people were quickly put off by the red blood-like substance that would stream from the cuts made by saws or axes (more than likely sap though, right?).

Down along the middle of the lane, there is a row of about 10 houses that are spaced out over about a kilometer, and 2 fields back behind these is a place simply known as the Fairy Fort. Further down the lane then, there is a separate lane that ventures off to an old farm that is owned by the Dunbar family I believe. A story I heard about them that dates back to the 30s is an odd one. I cannot give you names but one of the children, a young teenager at the time, was out picking blackberries one day for his mother but didn't return home. It got late and the mother got very worried. They were a country family in rural Ireland in the 30's, the children were never out late. She sent her husband and other sons out looking for him, but there was no sign of him. 3 weeks went by and they feared the worst, but he did eventually come home, though he was not the same. He came home nursing a sore arm, in fact, one of his hands was deformed, it had been changed into a baby's hand. He said he was taken by the fairies, and this was not questioned, it was believed as absolute truth. The mother and father apparently tried several different things to please the fairies in the hope that they would make their son whole again, but the son died sometime in the 80's if I remember what I was told correctly, and with one of his hands small and deformed. I just threw in those few because I know you guys love stories about the little people and I wanted to give you a feel for the area I grew up. So, the Changeling.

I'm not sure of the date on this one but it is said to have happened around the outskirts of the village. The woman who told me about the story of the Dunbars shared this one with me too. She told me a lot of things and really enjoyed sharing stories about the fairies and was a complete believer in them.

This is the story of a young woman who was widowed not long after she had given birth. Now fending for herself and a baby, she took on a job picking cabbages. Whilst working one day, her baby was sleeping in a basket during one of the drills. Everything was nice and quiet, till she got home. Her baby was different looking, old looking, the same size, but it looked like an old man. She couldn't leave its side, it would scream and shout for her, and not only that, it would curse and say foul things, laughing as it did. Her family came to visit and were disturbed by the baby. It threw bread at them, and spat at them, sniggering and jeering them as it did.

When they were leaving, the young lady's father brought her outside, and the baby screamed like a banshee. The father told her that the thing inside was not her child and that he was going to send the priest out to her. Sure enough, the priest called out to her and he received the same abuse. He told her to leave the thing outside for three days and no matter how hard to tried to get in, she was to leave it out there, ignore it, for it was not her child anymore, it was one of the fairies.

She didn't want to go through with it, but after suffering for weeks, she left the thing outside. It cried like a baby, sobbing and screaming and pleading...' mammy, please let me in mammy, don't leave me out here. I'm scared. For three days and nights, she listened to it bang on the windows, scream for her, and weep in ways no person wants to her. But it all stopped, after the third night, there was silence. She opened the door to find her baby boy had been returned unharmed, safe, and grinning.

So, onto the Hat-Man. I was really surprised that you guys have talked about the Hat-Man, mainly because I thought this guy was only based in my county, Wexford. I never imagined that it was such a common occurrence across the world.

When I was around 8 years old, I had a pal who was over at my house when he told me something that his father had told him and the rest of the family when they were eating dinner the night before. His father was working as a farmhand, and on this day was sheering sheep. He said he got a feeling someone was watching him. He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary and continued working. He would again feel a presence around him though and this time when he turned he saw a huge man, a man wearing a top hat and what looked like a cloak. He could not make out any features though, he just said that the man was black, he was just all black. My mother was there when my friend was retelling his father's story and she would follow it with a story of her own. Well, it was her mother's (my grandmother).

She told us that her mother had often spoken about seeing and being followed by a man in a top hat and cloak. My grandmother was not from the village where I lived, she was from a town some 9 miles away. It's a decent-sized town I guess and it has plenty of its own stories too I'm sure. Her house was in a little cul-de-sac that was at the back of an old supermarket. There was a shortcut to her house, a small narrow alley that stretched the length of the store all the way past her house. There were no lights on the actual alley itself and the walls on either side were pretty high, for the most part. So when it was night and dark, it was really damn dark on that alley. The only light you could see was the light back down at the end that shun from the road where the store was.

My grandmother was playing bingo one night, and sure enough like any other night, she walked up that alley to get home quicker. Halfway up it she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped and did something she always advised her kids against doing, she turned around to see what was there. There was nothing there, the long narrow laneway was empty. She began to walk again and once again she heard something behind her. She turned, and this time, the hat man walked out of the shadows and stood tall and menacing, a dark silhouette that almost blocked all the light at the end of the alley. She told my mother that she asked him 'what he wanted' and something else. He didn't answer though and she just turned back and walked home. I'm not sure if she ever saw him again. She was old school though, hard as nails, but on the inside, she was a cushion.

The next time I heard something about him, I was around 20. I was having a few pints with a few mates, and there was a lock-in, which there normally was (and is) in the pubs in my village. When we sat down at a table where some old stories were being told. A guy got talking. Now this man is as straight as they get, no BS kind of guy. A country chap who worked his ass off during the week and enjoyed a pint on the weekends. He said he was walking home one night, it was black and dark. Man, once you walk out of Ferns (my village), well back then at least, there were no lights till the next town or village. So, he was walking home when just like my grandmother he heard someone walking behind him. He stopped and looked back, and this happened several times, to the point where it sounded like the footsteps were right behind him. He stopped and looked back, but nothing was there, he turned back to face the way he was going, when there standing in front of him was a tall man with a top hat. He said the man was jet black, so black that he was even more dark and black than the black night that surrounded him. He was frozen, terrified, the Hat-Man walked past him and said nothing, disappearing into the night. The guy who told us this was visibly shaken by what happened and had nothing to gain by making something like that up. We even walked him home that night. I heard two other stories about him, but they are different, he is far more aggressive in them and I'm not so sure whether or not I can believe the sources. All the best, peace." SD

Thieves in the Night: A Brief History of Supernatural Child Abductions

Over Nine Waves: A Book of Irish Legends

Irish Folk and Fairy Tales

Weird Ireland: A History of Ancient Mysteries, Fantastic Folklore, and Urban Legends Across the Emerald Isle

*****

*****


PHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO is LIVE
FRIDAY at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT on

PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARY



Have you had a sighting or encounter?
Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974
Thanks. Lon



-----

If you have information about the Chicago Mothman or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! Lon

CHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube Playlist

Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of CHICAGO MOTHMAN RECORDED

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The Serpent's Key • 28 Carlisle St. HANOVER, PA 17331

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YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS


-----


Have you had a sighting or encounter?
Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974
Thanks. Lon

 
Noted UFOlogist Dr. Raymond Keller believes the idea of extraterrestrials and even ultra-dimensional beings from many different planets and alternate realms living and working among us clandestinely is more than just another conspiracy theory.
Available on Amazon.com
San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention
New York Book Festival Honorable Mention





OUR PRIVACY POLICY

This blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.

Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler

© 2005-2025 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved

ORANG MINYAK: Is The Legendary 'Oily Man' Supernatural or Real?

The supernatural phenomenon has purportedly terrorized Malaysian residents for centuries, becoming a large part of the traditional lore of the people.

While most people would be in deep slumber at 2am, residents of Kampung Laksamana in Gombak were wide awake, roaming up and down Jalan Laksamana 1 in Gombak, Selangor.

Around 40 residents all divided into groups of about five to 10 people each and fully equipped with spotlights and wooden sticks were on patrol in the village located about 2km from Batu Caves that Thursday morning. Although they were joking with one another, you could feel the tension in the air.

An outsider might think that a gang rumble was on the cards. But what the residents of this village were worried about were not humans, instead they were keeping an eye out for not one, but two, supernatural beings. They are under attack from a couple of orang minyak (oily man), they claim. This village has been buzzing with sightings of the two paranormal creatures for the last 10 days.

Many residents claim to have seen and heard the orang minyak around the vicinity of the Pangsapuri Laksamana and Jalan Laksamana 1. And they all say the same thing the orang minyak are clad only in their underwear and drenched in black shiny oil. They can jump from one roof to another with ease, and vanish into thin air within seconds.

It's definitely no laughing matter, stresses Aslam Khan, 33, one of the villagers “lucky” enough to have seen them.

As he describes them, one is tall, stocky, and bald while the other is thin and curly-haired.

“It was black and shiny. When I shone my light on it, the thing stuck out its head to look back at me. Before I could do anything, it climbed up the roof and disappeared,” says Aslam.

He says they also found the possible spot where the orang minyak conducts its ritual of reciting jampi (mantra) and having an oil bath. The villagers stumbled across the spot after chasing the orang minyak into some bushes next to the flat.

“There was a large oil patch there,” he says, pointing to the ground.

Adds Aslam, the next night, they found a packet of fried rice and noodles at the very same spot. After returning about an hour later, the food was gone, believed to be eaten by the orang minyak.

Supernatural or real?

According to popular legend, the orang minyak is a person who has undertaken the study of black magic and as a rite of passage, has to rape a certain number of anak dara (virgins) to pass that course.

The villagers are worried because almost every house in the neighborhood houses a young girl.

As reported by a local Malay daily, the 17-year-old girl not only saw the orang minyak a few times but also felt “someone” caressing her and calling her to go out of the house.

It reportedly also locked the family members outside the house on Christmas Eve, forcing the girl's brother-in-law Kamal Bahari Satar, 36, to break down the door.

“We saw a black heap underneath the kitchen table. When other residents poked it with a bamboo stick, we could see blood stains,” he was quoted as saying. It then fled to a neighbor's house.

After being “disturbed” for five days, Kamal decided to move his family out of their house, and out of the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, all attempts by Sunday Star to contact him were unsuccessful.

Although some of these stories sound incredible and illogical, it is hard to find any Kampung Laksamana resident who doesn't believe in it, even those who haven't seen it.

The residents have been carrying out patrols from midnight to dawn. Every now and then, a team of youngsters can be seen riding their motorbikes in a convoy around the neighborhood.

During the Christmas weekend, some 200 people patrolled the street, waiting for the orang minyak to appear and many carried parangs (machetes) and axes, says Aslam.

“Until we manage to catch this thing, we are going to carry on with our patrols. I don't feel calm although I don't have a wife or younger sister,” he vows.

Muaz Amran, 21, another resident who has been patrolling the area every night says he did not believe in such a thing before this.

“I thought the thing existed only in the movies but it seems to be happening in real life,” says the fresh graduate, referring to the 1956 P. Ramlee hit movie Sumpah Orang Minyak. He says that although he hasn't seen the orang minyak for himself, he believes his neighbors.

Another resident who only wants to be known as Man says he did not believe his neighbors at first.

Then, on Christmas day, he was woken up at 3am by a commotion outside his house.

“Apparently, the orang minyak had run into the next-door neighbor's house but I just brushed aside the incident,” admits the bank officer.

The next night, his niece, who is a university student, saw the orang minyak sitting on the wall of his house.

“She woke up when she heard something. When she peeked out of the window, she saw a black figure sitting on the wall with its back facing her,” he says.

P. Mohan, 48, also claims to have seen the orang minyak at a house opposite his flat at about 12.30am.

“It was crawling up the stairs of the house, just like Spiderman. When it reached the top it suddenly jumped onto the roof. I don't think a human could do that. It then just disappeared,” he says, adding with a slight shudder, “The hair on my hands just stood up. We can laugh and joke about it, but this is serious. All the families here have young girls.”

K. Chandran, 49, has yet to see the orang minyak but he too is afraid that it will harm his 14 year-old daughter after hearing stories of how it appeared in an abandoned house next to his.

“I feel very scared now. All of us sleep in the hall with the lights on,” says the scrap metal dealer, whose lack of sleep is evident around his eyes.

Chandran shares that he has even installed two additional lights in his house, each costing RM500.

“Ever since these sightings, we have been feeling uneasy. I even dreamt about one of them recently,” he says.

Zaki Zainudin, 42, agrees that it has been difficult to get any peace of mind these past few days now they are startled by the slightest sound and get suspicious of every little happening.

“Last time a broken plate was just a broken plate. Now, we wonder why it has broken,” he says, before checking to see why a dog was howling nearby.

Zaki then takes out his phone to show photographs as proof of the existence of the orang minyak oil stains and footprint of the orang minyak in Kamal's house. He has also taken a picture of a banana tree leaf with an unusual tear. It has been said that the orang minyak is attracted to the banana bud (jantung pisang).

What is clear is that this stress has caused residents to lose sleep. Those on patrol only manage to catch a few hours of sleep before heading off to work in the morning. All the residents also sleep with all their lights on these days.

Almost at their wit's end, the residents have made a police report as well as gotten help from a few alternative healers, including a bomoh. They have also been holding prayers almost every night to ask for protection from the evil “spirits”.

Their frustration at the menace, and exhaustion, however, is growing by the day.

“I dare it to come and confront me now,” says office worker K. Paramasivam, his exasperation evident, echoing the feeling of every Kampung Laksamana resident.

He claims to have seen the bald orang minyak in an abandoned house before it climbed up to the roof.

His main concern is for everyone in the neighborhood, especially the young girls.

“I also have a younger sister in my house. We can't be sleeping two or three hours every day. We are not robots.”

But in a way this orang minyak episode has been a blessing in disguise for the residents of Kampung Laksamana.

Man observes that the slight “tension” between the supporters of the different political parties has disappeared in the past few days.

“Everybody is helping one another out. Everyone is together as one,” he says.

The residents also agree that they are friendlier with their neighbors now.

Paramasivam admits that he never really spoke to his neighbors and got to know them before.

“At the most, I would just acknowledge them. Now I actually talk and get to know them. The neighborly spirit has been enhanced by these happenings,” he says.


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Orang Minyak: Monster or Criminal?

A black-greased man, clad only in equally greasy, black underpants, creeping into a room through an open window that is the image many have of the Orang Minyak. Of course, for most, it is reinforced by the repeat watching of P. Ramlee's 1956 classic Sumpah Orang Minyak (The Curse of the Oily Man).

Legend as reprised by the Malay hit movie has it that the orang minyak is a regular person, but is pursuing the dark arts. To complete this course of “learning” and for his ilmu (knowledge) to be “effective”, the orang minyak is supposed to rape a certain number of virgins.

Different numbers of virgins needed have been bandied about, from one to 40 and 99. Some say that the number of virgins depended on the orang minyak's master, but luckily, the orang minyak can “recognize” real virgins.

According to another popular tale, the orang minyak became what it was because of a black magic ritual gone wrong, and it was only by raping the 40 virgins that he could break the dark spell binding him.

An Islamic faith healer from Kasturi Syifa says he has heard that if the orang minyak rapes the required number of virgins, he will get his wish granted some common wishes are to be good-looking and to have the ability to sweet-talk and charm people.

“They say, the person made a deal with the devil,” he adds.

He, however, insists that he does not believe in the orang minyak 100%, as he has not come across one yet.

He points out that all the orang minyak that have been captured turned out to be either thieves or mental health patients.

Ustaz Ismail Kamus, an Islamic faith healer from Darussalam, explains that the orang minyak douse their body in oil to evade capture.

They cannot use violence and can only use their magic to evade capture, he adds, “It also keeps on coming back to the same place to taunt the people and show off its abilities'.”

Although he has not met one personally, Ustaz Ismail believes that the orang minyak exists.

He notes it would take a few months to learn the black magic, but once mastered, the orang minyak would be able to walk through walls and vanish into thin air. He adds, the orang minyak is also believed to be very agile and can get strength by sucking out the water from a banana bud (jantung pisang).


The Malaysian Book of The Undead

Malaysian Ghost Stories

Malaysian Cinema, Asian Film: Border Crossings and National Cultures

*****

*****


PHANTOMS & MONSTERS RADIO is LIVE
FRIDAY at 9 PM ET / 6 PM PT on

PHANTOMS & MONSTERS VIDEO LIBRARY



Have you had a sighting or encounter?
Contact me by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974
Thanks. Lon



-----

If you have information about the Chicago Mothman or any other cryptid or unexplained sighting or encounter, please contact me by email or at 410-241-5974. Thanks again! Lon

CHICAGO MOTHMAN / O'HARE BATMAN YouTube Playlist

Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO of CHICAGO MOTHMAN RECORDED

-----


-----

The Serpent's Key • 28 Carlisle St. HANOVER, PA 17331

-----


-----


-----

YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED! THANKS


-----


Have you had a sighting or encounter?
Contact us by email or call the hotline at 410-241-5974
Thanks. Lon

 
Noted UFOlogist Dr. Raymond Keller believes the idea of extraterrestrials and even ultra-dimensional beings from many different planets and alternate realms living and working among us clandestinely is more than just another conspiracy theory.
Available on Amazon.com
San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention
New York Book Festival Honorable Mention





OUR PRIVACY POLICY

This blog and newsletter are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Work 3.0 United States License.

Registered trademark PHANTOMS AND MONSTERS ® / PHANTOMS & MONSTERS ® - USPTO #90902480 - Lon D. Strickler

© 2005-2025 Phantoms & Monsters - All Rights Reserved

1966 OHIO - PENNSYLVANIA POLICE UFO CHASE: Inspired 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' Scene

One of the most dramatic encounters by police officers with an apparently structured, low-level UFO occurred in the early morning of April 17, 1966. Officers of the Portage County, Ohio, Sheriff's Department first saw the object rise up from near ground level, bathing them in light, near Ravenna, Ohio, about 5:00 A.M. Ordered by the sergeant to pursue the object, they chased it for eighty-five miles across the border into Pennsylvania, as it seemed to play a cat-and-mouse game with them. Along the route, police officers from other jurisdictions saw the object and joined in the chase.

Deputy Sheriff Dale Spaur and Mounted Deputy Wilbur 'Barney’ Neff had left their scout car to investigate an apparently abandoned automobile on Route 224. Spaur described the sighting in these words:

“I always look behind me so no one can come up behind me. And when I looked in this wooded area behind us, I saw this thing. At this time it was coming up . . . to about tree top level. I'd say about one hundred feet. it started moving toward us... As it came over the trees, I looked at Barney and he was still watching the car . . and he didn't say anything and the thing kept getting brighter and the area started to get light. .. . I told him to look over his shoulder, and he did.

"He just stood there with his mouth open for a minute, as bright as it was, and he looked down. And I started looking down and I looked at my hands and my clothes weren't burning or anything when it stopped right over on top of us. The only thing, the only sound in the whole area was a hum . . . like a transformer being loaded or an overloaded transformer when it changes. . . .

"I was petrified, and, uh, so I moved my right foot, and everything seemed to work all right. And evidently he made the same decision I did, to get something between me and it, or us and it, or whatever you would say. So we both went for the car, we got in the car and we sat there...."

As they watched, the UFO moved toward the east and then stopped again. Spaur picked up the microphone and reported to the dispatcher. At this time, the object was about 250 feet away, brilliantly lighting up the area ("It was very bright; it'd make your eyes water," Spaur said.) Sergeant Schoenfelt, off duty at the station, told them to follow it and keep it under observation while they tried to get a photo unit to the scene.

Spear and Neff turned south on Route 183, then back east on Route 224, which placed the object to their right, and out the left window. “At this time,” said Spaur. "it came straight south, just one motion, buddy, just a smooth glide . . ." and began moving east with them pacing it, just to their right at an estimated altitude of 300-500 feet, illuminating the ground beneath it. Once more the UFO darted to the north, now left of the car, and they sped up to over 100 mph to keep pace with it.

As the sky became brighter with predawn light, Spaur and Neff saw the UFO in silhouette, with a vertical projection at its rear. The object began to take on a metallic appearance as the chase continued. Spaur kept up a running conversation with other police cars that were trying to catch up with them. Once when they made a wrong turn at an intersection, the object stopped, then turned and came back to their position.

Police Officer Wayne Huston of East Palestine, Ohio, situated near the Pennsylvania border, had been monitoring the radio broadcasts and was parked at an intersection he knew the Portage County officers would be passing soon. Shortly afterward, he saw the UFO pass by with the sheriff's cruiser in hot pursuit. He swung out and joined the chase. At Conway, Pennsylvania, Spaur spotted another parked police car and stopped to enlist his aid since their Cruiser was almost out of gas. The Pennsylvania officer called his dispatcher.

According to Spaur, as the four officers stood and watched the UFO, which had stopped and was hovering, there was traffic on the radio about jets being scrambled to chase the UFO, and ". . . we could see these planes coming in... When they started talking about fighter planes, it was just as if that thing head every word that was said; it went PSSSSSHHEW, straight up; and I mean when it went up, friend, it didn't play no games; it went straight up” (Transcript of taped interview with Dale Spaur).

The Air Force "identified" the UFO as a satellite, seen part of the time and confused with the planet Venus. Under pressure from Ohio officials, Major Hector Quintanilla, chief of PROJECT BLUE BOOK, had an acrimonious confrontation with witnesses and refused to change the identification, although it was pointed out to him that they had seen the UFO in addition to Venus and the moon after the observation. Major Quintanilla also denied that any jets had been scrambled.

William B. Weitzel conducted an exhaustive investigation on behalf of the NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE ON AERIAL PHENOMENA (NICAP), obtaining taped interviews, signed statements, sketches, and all pertinent data which was assembled into a massive report that was made available to congressional investigators. When the UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO UFO PROJECT was initiated in 1966, a copy of Weitzel’s report was hand-delivered to the director, Dr. Edward U. CONDON, for his consideration. The CONDON REPORT, published two years later, does not mention the case. Richard Hall - NICAP


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Spauer/Neff, Portage County UFO Chase

Francis Ridge:
If this incident seems familiar to you, just maybe you saw the motion picture, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Investigated by NICAP's William Weitzel, this report, also known as the Spauer/Neff Case, was the basis for the UFO "chase" in this film. This case involves police witnesses, confrontation, light beam, brilliant illumination, light engulfment, sound, cat and mouse chase, with rapid upward departure. Special thanks go out to Mark Rodeghier of CUFOS for providing the documentation and to Loy Pressley for converting them into text so I could make the web pages.

Dr. James E. McDonald:
Ravenna, Ohio (April 17, 1966) calls for reevaluation not only on the scientific grounds involved but also to avoid unfairly subjecting to local public ridicule the several officers who have testified. (Compare Bertrand & Hunt in the Exeter case) The available evidence (especially Wm. Weitzel's extensive report for NICAP) seems to me to make the astronomical explanation, that now stands as the official Air Force evaluation, quite unreasonable. - NICAP

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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE HEADQUARTERS 911TH TROOP CARRIER GROUP, MEDIUM (RESERVE) (CONAC) GREATER PITTSBURG AIRPORT, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 15231

REPLY TO
ATTN OF: CSS-I
17 MAY 1966

SUBJECT: UFO Statements

TO: Project Blue Book TDEW/UFO
Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio 45433

1. The attached statements are submitted as requested on 16 May 66.

2. Mr. William Aber does not wish his signature associated with his statement.

3. Patrolman Frank Panzanella will assist in any way he can. However, he has stated emphatically that he does not wish to be involved in the News Media.

4. Mr. Wayne Huston, formerly Patrolman Wayne Huston does not wish his name identified with his statement. He has been harassed by news media and private organizations as well as individuals. He has been misquoted by news media and is constantly bothered by telephone calls. Possibly the above-mentioned may have been a deciding factor Mr.Huston resigned his position with the police force and accepted employment in another area.

4. All three individuals contacted were very cooperative. However, Patrolman Pansanella and Mr. Huston are strongly opposed to the news media and their misinterpretation of the incident.

FOR THE COMMANDER EUGENE F. REHRER

3 Atch Information Officer

1. Statement, Mr. Huston
2. Statement, Mr. Aber
3. Statement, Panzanella

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Lee's Auto Sales
Rambler Sales and Service
Columbiana 482-3471 381 N. MAIN ST. Youngstown 549-2466
COLUMBIANA, OHIO

It was Sunday A.M. April 17, 1966, when over the Police Radios I heard the Summit County and Portage County radio operators advising their Patrol Cars of a report of a flying object reported by a woman. Later the Portage Patrol Cars reported to his office that he had seen the object and was following it. He was following it east and towards Columbiana County. As he came through Columbiana Ohio I went to Route #14 and waited. At 5:30 A.M. the object went over me at what I thought was around 800'. The object appeared to look like a large Ice Cream cone with a point down. The pointed part didn't look like a solid looked more like light beams. At that time I pulled out and caught up with the Portage County Car and followed behind him into Pennor. The object was traveling at speeds 85 to 105 ground speed. At the entrance to Brady Run Park, we lost sight of it. We went on into Bridgeport and then we saw it again. We followed it on into Conway, Penns where a Conway Police Officer had his office to call the Greater Pitt. Airport. At that time I returned back to East Palestine, Ohio.

//signed//

Wayne Huston

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May 17, 1966

To whom it may concern--

I was on duty as a Watch supervisor in the Greater Pittsburgh Tower during the period of 0000-0800 EDST on April 17, 1966.

I received a report from some local police agencies that an unidentified flying object had been sighted in Ohio and had been followed into our area of which I had radar surveillance. I observed nothing on the radar presentation that coincided with the reported object nor did I observe any other radar return.
//signed//
William L. Aker

P.S. Since this statement is being submitted to the military representative at my home on my regular scheduled day off duty and not through the channels of the Federal Aviation Agency, I would request that my name be withheld from public use.
//signed//
William L. Aker

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May 18, 1966

At 5:20 A.M. stopped at Conway Hotel and had a cup of coffee. I then left the hotel coming down Second Avenue to 11th Street and made a left turn on 11th Street preceded up the hill. Looked to my right and saw a shining object. I thought it was a reflection of a plane. I got to Mickey's Lounge on the top of the hill and I looked back and it wasn't moving so I turned the police car around and came back down 11th Street and went to Adamowski Service Station on 10th Street and Route 65. I then got out of the police car and looked at the object again. I rubbed my eyes 3 or 4 times but didn't say anything to anyone for the time being. I saw 2 other patrol cars pull up and the officers got out of the car and asked me if I saw it. I replied SAW WHAT! They pointed to the object and I told them I had been watching it for the last 10 minutes. The object was the shape of a half of football, was very bright, and was about 25 to 35 feet in diameter. The object then moved out towards Harmony Township approximately 1,000 feet high, then it stopped then went straight up real fast to about 3,500 feet. I then called the base station and told the radio operator to notify the Pittsburgh airport. He asked me if I was sick. I told him if I was sick so were the other 3 patrolmen. The operator got the airport on the line and told them what happened, he told them to hold the line and in the meantime, we kept watching the object and at that time a passenger plane passed to the left about 1,000 feet below the object. We relayed the message to the operator and he relayed it to the airport. The object continued to go upward until it got as small as a ballpoint pen. Then we received a message to make a phone call. We proceeded to the Rochester Police Department and made the phone call. Officer Parr talked to someone and then we returned to Conway Police Department where I gave Officer Parr my name and gas for his police car to return home.

The object was in my sight from 5:20 A. M. to 6:15 A. M.

Patrolman Frank Panzanella
//signed//
Conway Bars. Police

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NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE ON AERIAL PHENOMENA
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20036


Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe
USMC (RET.) Director

By Deputy Sheriff Dale F. Spaur and Posse Member W. L. Neff

STATEMENT: On April 17, 1966, at about 5:00 AM, the undersigned, Dale F. Spaur and Barney (W. L) Neff, were patrolling the southeast portion of Portage County, Ohio. We had been hearing radio traffic about a UFO near Portage County. We found an abandoned car on the berm on Rt. 224 between Atwater and Randolph. We left our car to routinely investigate this vehicle. Spaur noticed a light over the trees on the hill next to the berm and called Neff's attention to it. As we watched, the light came closer and a large, self-illuminated object was seen as its source. The object came directly overhead and hovered above us. Its light lit up the ground where we were standing, and our cruiser, P-13. It was too bright to look at without hurting the eyes. We got into our car and radioed that we had spotted the UFO. During that time, it began moving away from us. We followed it down 224 onto Rt. 14, to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and into Pennsylvania on Rt. 51; then through Rochester, Pa., and on Rt. 65, up to Conway, where we stopped. As we passed East Palestine, Ohio, Patrolman Wayne Huston, of the East Palestine Police, joined in our pursuit. In Conway, Pa., Officer Frank Panzanella met us where we stopped, and we stood with him watching the object as it hovered and then rose, twice, in a rapid climb. The object seemed 30-45 feet across, and 18-24 feet high. The light it gave off lit up the ground over the road and over fields as we pursued it. At first it was about 150 feet up; then it rose to around 1000 feet. During the chase, it changed altitude and direction, maneuvered smoothly, had a sort of dome-shaped top, and at times showed a projection on the top part, near the trailing edge. Not all of it was self-illuminated; part of the top trailing portion looked metallic; not shiny, but satiny. At times we measured its speed over the ground at about 103 miles per hour. At one point, near Rochester, we lost it while getting through a bridge-underpass area, but when we emerged, it had come down lower and seemed to have waited for us; it went off fast ahead again then. We were, and are, sure we were not chasing an illusion, or seeing a reflection, star, planet, or similar still object. As far as our part in this sighting is concerned, at least, the article by Tom Schley in the Beaver County Times, April 18, 1966, about this, is accurate.

Signed:

Dale Spauer
William Neff

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DESCRIPTIONS OF NUMBERED DRAWINGS: SPAUR-NEFF, HUSTON


SPAUR-NEFF, UFO DETAIL

1. Projection, tilted from rear (trailing edge) 18' long, tapered to to tip

2. Dome-shaped top; partly metallic, partly self-illuminated

3. Glowing front (leading edge)

4. Cone-shaped light underneath

5. Glowing tip of trailing edge

6. Metallic surface

7. Sharp "drop-off" (Neff disagrees; remembers more rounded here)

8. Rounded "undercarriage"

9. Line separating metallic from self-illuminated portions


SPAUR-NEFF, SIGHTING TERMINUS

1. Bright spot to the right of the moon, a little above the axis of symmetry of the crescent

2. Crescent moon (bump in concave portion indicates "nose" of "Man in Moon")

3. TV antenna on a nearby house, through whose elements Spaur and Neff saw the
UFO hovering before 1st upward elevation

4. Position of UFO after 1st elevation, above the moon (now moving away, or disappearing)

(NOTE: Panzanella agreed with relative positions of levels of hovering; Spaur agreed with Panzanella's on-the-spot location of objects relative to nearby houses; Spaur examined a photograph made from the spot he claimed to have been standing.)


HUSTON, UFO DETAIL

1. Cone-shaped light underneath

2. Bright, self-illuminated solid appearing top

3. Dome shape

4. Cone tilted toward the rear, of the direction of motion, more so than shown here.

(NOTE: Huston testified to having seen, once, a project; only got one view of it.)

FURTHER NOTES: On Spaur-Neff joint signed testimony: Until over a week after the sighting, Neff was "in hiding," refusing to be interviewed by anyone. I typed a summary statement for Spaur to take to him, along with Spaur's drawings. Neff finally agreed to be interviewed on April 28. I mailed the statements and drawings to Spaur; there was some confusion as to who was to sign the extra space; Spaur did this, so Neff signed elsewhere on the sheets.

Read more at 1966 Portage County UFO Chase

Sources:
NICAP
ufoevidence.org
Aliens and UFOs: Case Closed Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt
Ravenna, Ohio - Record-Courier - April 18, 1966
CUFOS
It Came from Ohio: True Tales of the Weird, Wild, and Unexplained
Witness statement - William L. Aker
Witness statement - Wayne Huston
Witness statement - Patrolman Frank Panzanella
alien-ufos.com
U.F.O Case Study
aliensthetruth.com
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind


*****

*****


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