NUFORC Sighting 16772

Occurred: 1963-06-10 03:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2001-03-10 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Fort Collins, CO, USA

Shape: Cigar
Characteristics: Lights on object

A bright object followed the deputy sheriff's patrol boat for approximately seven miles.

I was a deputy sheriff and a boat warden at Horsetooth Reservoir. Horsetooth Reservoir is located approximately 5 miles west of Fort Collins, CO. It lies between two small hills, one to the east and one to the west. The laske itself is probably 3 quarters of a miles in width and seven miles long. The length of the lake is north and south. At approximately 3:00 A.M. I received a call at home from the sheriff's office notifying me that there was some sort of a light flashing in the water at the very north end of the lake. I notified ((name deleted)) who was in charge of the Lalrimer County Recreation District. He said he would meet me at the docks at the south-west side of Horsetooth where I was going to board the patrol boat. We got in the boat, headed out at Thompson's Cove and into the main body of the lake. It was an extremely dark night. I drove the patrol boat north at a reasonable but safe speed, considering the darkness. When we got to the north end of the lake, we discovered the flashing light in the water that was reported as a possible distress signal, was actually a bouy that had been placed in the water to mark temperature sensing equipment. A bouy with a flashing light on it had been placed in the water by the State Game and Fish Department. Realizing there was no real emergency, we were getting ready to head back south when, all of a sudden, a huge, bright object appeared just to our east and just above the hills on that side of the lake. I could not make out a structure. It was a very large, oblong-shaped, brilliant white light. We commented on it and couldn't imagine what it was. I started moving south in the patrol boat when ((name deleted)) said, "((name deleted)), this thing is moving with us." I stopped the patrol boat and the object continued just a little farther south along the ridge and then it stopped. We started south again in the patrol boat, the object continued to parallel us. When we got near the south end of the reservoir, the object was still with us and directly to our east. It loo! ked like it was a little lower above the top of the ridge. It made the top of the ridge appear as if it was almost daylight. We could see the entire makeup of the hillside, even shadows. At this point the object started giving ((name deleted)) and me a bad case of the "creeps". I stopped the patrol boat and we both sat and looked at the object. I told ((name deleted)), "This is getting too creepy." So I shut of the patrol boat and turned off the running lights. We sat in the boat quietly and just observed this extremely brilliant light. After maybe 30 or 40 seconds the object left the area of the lake and in a split second headed north and became a tiny object someplace over Wyoming. We watched the entire disappearance of the object. The acceleration of the object was absolutely phenomenal and there was no sound whatsoever from the object. I started up the patrol boat and turned on the running lights. ((name deleted)) and I just kind of sat there and looked at each other trying to understand what happened. When ((name deleted)) said, "Do you need the publicity." I said, "No". ((name deleted)) looked at me and said, "Let's go home." I turned the patrol boat into Thompson's Cove, tied it up to the dock and we went home. This entire situation really shook us up a lot and I honestly don't believe we ever talked about it to each other again. I think ((name deleted)) is now deceased and since I'm now 68 years old, I think it is a good time to get this incident recorded. At the time I did not want to talk to newspapers, radio stations, etc. and be in a position to answer any number of questions and opinions from all kinds of people. When you are in public service the last thing you want to happen is to be caught in the middle of some kind of a controversy. That possibility is bad enough when you are able to prove how, what, when, where, why, etc. It would be a nightmare when, in the case of this bright object, all your proof disappeared in a split second into the night and was somewhere over Wyoming or who knows where?

NUFORC Note:

Date is approximate. We are grateful to the gentleman who submitted the report. PD

Posted 2001-03-16