NUFORC Sighting 36304

Occurred: 1994-03-08 22:15 Local
Reported: 2004-04-13 01:24 Pacific
Duration: unsure
No of observers: 40

Location: Holland, MI, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object

UFOs observed by multiple witnesses including a police officer and confirmed on radar at the NWS

I did not directly observe this event, but lived in the area at the time and thought it would be significant to note on your website.

911 operators received numerous calls starting at shortly after 10 pm from residents in the southern area of Ottawa county reporting strange lights in the sky that looked like "a string of Christmas lights". 911 dispatched police who also witnessed the event.

The 911 dispatch center called the National Weather Service to check if they had anything on radar in that vicinity, and they confirmed that they had unexplained "blips" on radar between 5,000 and 12,000 feet moving southwest near the Lake Michigan shoreline towards Chicago.

The radar showed the "blips" intercepting and moving apart into multiple returns on the screen, and of a size on the screen larger than that of normal aircraft. In total, UFOs were reportedly witnessed by over 300 people in 42 counties in Michigan between March 8-11.

Below are links to articles explaining the event in further detail, including a transcript of 911 calls from witnesses and the call to the NWS, and also an audio file of the actual calls.

http://www.michiganufos.com/1994.html

http://www.michiganufos.com/ottawa_911_transcript.html http://www.michiganufos.com/Sound%20Files/ottowa911_1994.wav

I was surprised to see that no one reported it on your website, and believed it was significant. These sightings have never been explained.

((

NUFORC Note:

We are grateful for the report, and we are well aware of the case. In fact, Robert Gribble, founder and director of the National UFO Reporting Center at the time of the incident, was instrumental in the capture of the radar data of the objects over Lake Michigan. He called the National Weather Service, and recommended that they use their radar in order to detect the objects, which was successful. It was NWS radar operator who spoke with a Michigan Highway Patrolman, and both of them were looking at the objects, the patrolman visually, and the operator using radar.

Interestingly, there was a dramatic sighting of a presumed UFO over the University District of Seattle on the night of the event over Lake Michigan. Friends approached me that night in a coffee house, and proceeded to describe an intensely bright light, which they had seen for a few seconds, as it streaked overhead, and executed several sudden turns, then returning in the direction whence it had first come.

PD))

Posted 2004-04-27