NUFORC Sighting 08447

Occurred: 1978-08-15 22:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 1999-07-23 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Steubenville, OH, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Landed

My former neighbor and I were driving to a campsite in a rural area around Steubinville. As we turned onto the dirt road that led to the campground we observed a large saucer shaped craft hovering about 100 ft. from our car. It made absolutely no sound and sat motionless as we watched it. As we drove away I spotted it flying over a lake at an unbelieveable rate of speed and then it rose to about 100 ft. and vanished.

My neighbors had taken me camping in Steubinville and Mrs. **** and I had been shopping at a local department store. I recall the time because the store closed and we had to leave. We drove along a very rural road and as soon as we reached the dirt road that the campground was located on we spotted a large object in the field to our right. It was very close to the road. My neighbor stopped the car and we just sat there and watched it. It made no noise whatsoever and it appeared to be hovering approximately ten feet off of the ground. There were red, blue and white lights blinking around the middle in a sequence that, at that time, I had never seen before (I have since seen laser Christmas lights that resemble them). There was a very bright white light imminating from the center of the bottom that lit the ground beneath it. I think there may have also been a small light on top but I'm not certain. I also don't recall the color of the object. We watched it for several minutes and eventually decided to leave. We continued up the road and I happened to look toward the lake to our left and saw it again. It was literally ricocheting around the lake. This craft absolutely defied explanation. It darted toward the bank at an unimaginable speed and then changed direction and headed toward the other bank. This area was extremely hilly and, to this day, I know of nothing that could negotiate those kinds of turns at that rate of speed. It made a triangle shaped pass across the lake and then rose at an angle to a height of about 50 yards and then just shot off. I never told very many people about this incident but I've always wondered exactly what it was that we saw.

Posted 1999-08-10

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