The Great UFO Wave:
October, 1973

Mansfield, Ohio Object
and 'missing time' concerns

050 Investigator Request: Yes

100 Date: 09/20/73

105 Approximate: Yes

110 Time: 1515

120 Duration: 20 minutes

130 Sighting City: Mansfield

140 Sighting State: OH

150 Sighting Zip: 44907

168 Number of Craft: 1

170 Witnesses: 1

172 Shape: Cigar

180 Summary: In the Fall of 1973 my sister and I came upon a large silver object hovering approximatley 20 feet above us on a clear, sunny afternoon in a heavily populated residential area. We walked around and underneath the craft for 15 or 20 minutes while it remained motionless and soundless above what should have been a busy, suburban street. Without apparent means the craft suddenly shot straight up into a small cloud and drifted away. We both completly forgot about this incident for 3 years. I think it is also relevant that both of us felt then and now that we are missing a 24 hour period of our lives.

190 Description: Please forgive me in advance if this narrative seems to ramble. Frankly I am a little trepeditious of relaying the events of that afternoon 25 years ago. I am still fearful of what I saw but I am more afraid of what I cannot remember. My hope is that by relaying this bit of truth I might be able to let go of some of the isolation I feel in a forum of like-minded individuals and perhaps make contact with someone who also saw what we saw.

As for autobiography I am a 41 year old Police Captain who has led a relatively normal life of ups and downs, good times and bad. I had an average childhood and an interesting adult life of travel. love affairs and advanced education. I suppose I'm just pretty damned average in every way except for this nagging experience which continues to haunt me.

In either September or October of 1973 at approximately 1515 hours, my sister (13yoa) and I (16yoa) had just been dropped off by our school bus in front of our house. We were living in a heavily populated suburban area of Mansfield Ohio in the XXXX block of Cook Road. Cook Road itself is a busy two lane street and, although our section was mostly residential, a school and a convenience store were both within half a block from where we stood. Our house was at the base of two gradually sloping hills amidst dozens of homes on both sides of the street. I had exited the bus before my sister and stood waiting for her on the sidewalk. As she stepped from the bus and it pulled away I was startled to see a large object hovering over the street where the school bus had been. I pointed it out to my sister and we both stood captivated by it's appearance and proximity. The craft was approximatly 40 feet long and 15 or 20 feet tall. It hovered silently 35 or 40 feet overhead and had lights encircling it's cigar-shaped structure. I believe there was a larger red light on one end and a green light on the other but the rest of the smaller lights were multicolored. It was of a metal which looked like brushed aluminium and had no visible means of levitation or propulsion, no wings or propellers. I walked into the street underneath the craft and accross the street to see it from the other side. There were no numbers or letters of any kind displayed and I could not see any seams for the release of landing apparatus. At one point I picked up ! a rock to hear what it would sound like bounced against the exterior but my sister disuaded me from throwing it. I remember we were becomming increasingly distressed when I was not able to identify this object and by the fact we were alone. It had been at least 15 minutes since we first saw the craft and during this time, remarkably, no one had passed by. No one came out onto their front porch, no other kids walked the sidewalks and no cars drove by. In retrospect this seems absurd given the time of day and usual traffic on Cook Road. When I returned to the side of the street on which my sister stood I now saw a small black oval slightly above the row of lights. We thought it might be a window and waved but there was no response. Several minutes later the craft silently shot up and into a small cumulus cloud which drifted away. I remember my sister asking me what it was to which I replied "I don't know. do you think it could be one of those UFO's the paper's been writing about! ?" We were both excited and scared as we walked into our ho! use whereupon we both completely forgot about it. Although we had no apparant memory of the event I recall that we were both very upset with our mother whom we accused of leaving us for a 24 hour period. Mom insisted she had never done such a thing but we were convinced we had experienced a full 24 hours without her. This missing time was particularly perplexing to both of us and, to this day, remains a disturbing reality. I know that I am missing a day, but I cannot explain it. Three years after our encounter I had a sudden recall of the events described above while talking about the cosmos with some college friends. I called my sister and asked her if she had ever seen a flying saucer. At first she said no but when I mentioned the school bus in Ohio she also had a sudden realization and literally gasped on the phone. Her memory of the event is almost exactly like my own including the little window and the strange missing time. There's a lot more to tell about subsequent related occurances and some strange stories of little men I used to tell to my mother when I was very young but this is the heart of the matter. Life goes on but I sure wish I could understand the "what's" and the "why"s" of this event.

265 Occupation: Retired Police Captain

270 Collect Call OK: Yes

280 Permission: Yes

400 Lights On Object: Yes

• Subject: Telephone interview, Aug. 30, 1998
  The name of the witness has been deleted, replaced with "XXXXX"

This evening I spoke with Capt. XXXXX for about 30-minute regarding his UFO sighting from Ohio in 1973 that was reported to Peter Davenport of The National UFO Reporting Center.

Mr. XXXXX sounds very sober and coherent, and has expressed concern over his UFO sighting in 1973 and his feelings that a 'missing time' experience could be connected to the sighting.

He said that he was born in Ohio, but moved out at an early age. He returned to Ohio in July of 1973 for 6-months before again moving to another state.

During his 6-month stay in Ohio, he mentioned a teacher from school who was deeply interested in UFOs and constantly talked about them to his students during class. The teacher was so heavily interested in UFOs that some thought him 'a kook' and classmates were able to divert attention away from school work if the subject was raised by the students. XXXXX thought it very odd that he never mentioned his own sighting to this teacher.

He said that his sister also recalls the sighting, and agreed that both never discussed it until years afterward. XXXXX said that only recently did they compare notes on the object, drawing pictures that, when compared, were strikingly similar.

XXXXX sighted the UFO with his sister, who now seems disinterested in the subject matter. The sister does not recall any 'missing time' experience, even though XXXXX said that she did reference missing time about 10-years ago.

After the sighting, XXXXX recalls an unpleasant period of time where his mother was very angry with both him and his sister for being gone for about 24-hours. He doesn't recall this and was confused why his mother was behaving this way.

Regarding the sighting, he claims to not recall a specific date, only that it was in September or October of 1973. He volunteered that he was aware of the Coyne Case. He said that about 1-year ago he watched an episode of UNSOLVED MYSTERIES which referenced the Coyne Helicopter incident near Mansfield, Ohio. XXXXX said that this reminded him of his own sighting, and he knew this case happened in the same place and around the same time of his sighting. He said that about one week ago, the UNSOLVED MYSTERIES episode was repeated, and his sister also saw the program. They agreed that the object they encountered resembled the one described by Coyne and his crew.

XXXXX informed that he was familiar with the information that was publicly available regarding 'missing time' scenarios, and advised that he was aware of the UFO abduction stories which are available in certain literature. He explains that he is not conscious of any abduction-type happening in his life, but stresses that he is troubled by the missing time experience.

XXXXX asked if people who previously underwent regressive hypnosis were 'better off' after they had done so. He was curious to learn if they were happier after knowing. I explained to him my lack of experience in such matters, and suggested that I could refer such concerns to researcher Jerry Black of Blanchester, Ohio, who has conducted numerous, credible investigations of similar missing time claims.

It is my belief that Capt. XXXXX is a credible and coherent witness. He is a retired police officer and former counselor. He openly discussed his encounter and expressed a desire to explore this situation further.

XXXXX asked me if I could help him with these needs, and acknowledged his emotional hesitancy to explore regressive hypnosis. I stressed that exploration into the regressive hypnosis angle should be conducted by a trained professional with no ties to the UFO-community. I explained that Mr. Black may offer some additional information on locating a professional and objective person who could conduct such sessions without subjecting him to 'leading questions,' which XXXXX was somewhat knowledgeable of, being a retired police officer. He agreed that the need to approach his case objectively would be important.

Filed;
August 30, 1998
Kenny Young