NUFORC Sighting 44320

Occurred: 2005-04-22 22:40 Local
Reported: 2005-06-08 21:01 Pacific
Duration: 5 Seconds
No of observers: 3

Location: Orange County (location unspecified), FL, USA

Shape: Other
Characteristics: Lights on object

Joint Investigation-Central Florida UFO Group/Georgia UFO Group--Glowing Light and Dark Object

Glowing Orange-Red Round Light--Possibly Attached to Dark Unknown Shaped Object--Joint Investigation, Central Florida UFO Group assisted by the Georgia UFO Group ----------------------------------------------

ABSTRACT Three young but serious Florida anglers encountered a swiftly moving glowing orangish-red round light/object while night fishing at their inland freshwater "fishing-hole". Said event occurred at extremely close range. This prompted the witnesses to locate and call a UFO investigator directly from the scene once the event terminated.

LOCATION The precise location of this event is being described in a slightly vague manner. Certain factors dictate that we keep secure the exact location in order to protect the privacy of certain community facilities and nearby persons. The below described events occurred in RURAL ORANGE COUNTY, just north of ORLANDO FLORIDA The body of water described below is a typical small Florida freshwater lake with the attendant subtropical "bushland" growth in the area. This terrain DOES contain a number of alligators and snakes.

BACKGROUND The Georgia UFO Group (GUFOG) sponsors a "UFO Hotline" for all of Georgia. On 22April05 at about 10:55PM, the GUFOG line received a phone call from rural ORANGE COUNTY FLORIDA. Tom Sheets of GUFOG answered the call and spoke with the complainant who identified himself completely and without hesitation, also providing his cell phone number. The caller was found to be the Primary Witness (PW), a 19YOA Orange County area resident. He sounded excited (but maintaining control) and related that he and two of his friends were currently at a local lake where they'd been fishing since earlier in the evening. PW stated that about 15 minutes prior, he and his two associates had encountered at close range, a glowing round light that was so astounding the three of them concluded that a report MUST be made to someone and ASAP. The PW asked the 411 operator for contact information on UFO investigators......."ANY UFO INVESTIGATORS", thus the GUFOG Hotline was contacted. Thereafter, Tom Sheets referred the case on to Roberta Puhalski in Lakeland. Puhalski is the founder of the Central Florida UFO Group, and herself a colleague of numerous investigators in Georgia as well as other states.

The facts in this case were gathered by both investigators; Sheets conducting administrative chores at long range, with the field work and interviews falling to Puhalski and the Florida group. Sheets took the original phone call, plus conducted subsequent verifying phone conversations with the PW, and provided other consultation in this matter. Then Puhalski continued with additional phone conversations, leading up to her 24April05 meeting with all three witnesses at the scene of the occurrence.

EVENT DETAILS As previously indicated, this party of anglers had been out since earlier in the evening, at this, their personal favorite fishing spot used for several years. (As far as the witnesses know, nothing unusual had ever been observed in this immediate area prior to 22April05). The PW stated that they were carrying Mag-Lites for illumination (heavy duty law enforcement-style flashlights), and were wary of the numerous alligators known to infest this sub-tropical area. At this point, witnesses observed what was first thought to be an animal's eye shining with reflected light i.e. an alligator's eye off in the bushes and undergrowth about 20 yards away. Suddenly it became apparent that this WAS NOT the case, as a ROUND, ORANGISH-RED, DIMLY GLOWING ORB-LIKE LIGHT, ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BASKETBALL (+) suddenly rose up into PLAIN VIEW ABOUT 20 YARDS AWAY. This round light continued UPWARDS AT A FAST RATE OF SPEED, described by witnesses as being perhaps 200MPH or almost FASTER THAN THE EYE COULD FOLLOW (at that close range). It was SILENT, and appeared to be SUBSTANTIAL in it's emission of light. Upon reaching about 150 feet in altitude, it hovered, then moved SIDEWAYS perhaps about 100 feet, then back DOWNWARDS, and then SIDEWAYS again, TRACING something like a TRIANGLE in it's flight path.

This glowing light was ALSO described as possibly being ATTACHED to some sort of SOLID OBJECT OF UNKNOWN SHAPE that was DIFFICULT TO SEE as it was not emitting any LIGHT or GLOW i.e. the impression that this SOLID SHADOWY MASS was BEHIND the glowing light and as stated, moving extremely fast. This object/light eventually flew off behind the adjacent trees and vanished. ALL witnesses were impressed by the AMAZING SPEED demonstrated by this object at such CLOSE RANGE. The witnesses made unsuccessful attempts to relocate it, then called 411, and then the GUFOG Hotline.

INVESTIGATOR'S COMMENTS Tom Sheets indicates that the PW seemed very sincere during the initial phone conversation, with no reservations about providing continued cooperation. This party of young fishermen (senior teens) was obviously STILL searching the event area when the first conversation with GUFOG took place via cell phone. Additionally, after subsequent conversations, the 19 YOA PW seemed to impress Sheets as being more "on the ball" than the average older teenager, conversing on a mature level.

Roberta Puhalski went to great lengths in setting up the 24April05 witness interviews and the physical inspection of the event site. Puhalski received full cooperation from the three witnesses, each providing additional information in separate writings, along with their signatures. The event site being in rural ORANGE COUNTY, a sort of brief "bush trek" (!) was necessary for Puhalski and the witnesses to arrive at the lake shore.

She conducted a thorough witness debriefing, which included a physical "walk-through" of the occurrence, along with supporting photographs.

Puhalski maintains that these young men are credible witnesses, citing their body language and tendency to look her directly in the eyes when giving their account. Furthermore, witnesses were VERY forthright in their statements, using open handed gestures, as the details of what occurred during the event NEVER varied.

During subsequent discussions between Puhalski and Sheets, a mutual opinion was reached regarding the PW......a seemingly credible witness who was looking for answers........something aerial, something mysterious and unknown had invaded his long time, heretofore peaceful, fishing spot.

ADDITIONAL FINDINGS AND OBSERVATIONS BY INVESTIGATORS WEATHER CONDITIONS The weather at this rural event site was reportedly fair and mild on the evening of 22April05. Specific information was obtained from the NWS daily recap of conditions at the Orlando International Airport; 10:53PM-----Temperature 70 degrees; Visibility 10 miles; 5.8 WNW winds; Humidity 53%; Sea level pressure 29.91, General description being partly cloudy.

The moon on 22April05 was almost FULL, fullness being reached two days later on 24April.

The investigators feel that even with the almost full moon, the HIGH SPEED and SHORT DURATION of actual flight time made any physical MASS behind the GLOWING light DIFFICULT to clearly see i.e. that part WAS NOT emitting light. (Note: Sheets indicates several other investigations where the witnesses reported similar circumstances).

DURATION OF EVENT The investigation revealed that about 5 MINUTES elapsed FROM the initial observation of the glow off in the nearby brush, THEN it's aerial flight and departure, CONTINUING with the witness' effort to search and relocate, THEN calling 411. <<<<>>>>.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS REGARDING SHORELINE AND EVENT AREA As described above, the witnesses were fishing from the shore, and off to their right about 20 yards away was the denser brushy area where the light/object was first observed at ground level. This area has one portion that extends slightly out into the lake. Located by Puhalski very near this shoreline, and within the described brushy area, was an unusual looking grate structure in the ground, along with several short pipe like structures coming out of the soil. The witnesses called it a drain, but it looked out of place to Puhalski, being surrounded by small overgrowth, yet in a small cleared out area within the aforementioned brushy area. This grate is within just a few yards of where the light was first observed at ground level. Speculation regarding the short pipes and the grate currently tends to associate them with some sort of drainage or below-ground conduit, perhaps linking up with an underground spring or water source. The event site inspection revealed NO signs of trace evidence. (Photographs and diagram contained in the investigative file).

OTHER PHENOMENON Investigators Puhalski and Sheets have conducted numerous past inquiries where, perhaps not rare, but certainly uncommon and only slightly understood natural phenomenon might have been in play. These were explored in light of this reported incident. One sample of this speculation is described below, to wit; Research Source- "Remarkable Luminous Phenomena in Nature", compiled by William R. Corliss (Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies).

GLN1-----Low-Level Nocturnal Lights Outline and Brief Excerpts Description; ".......softly glowing globes..........other luminous apparitions.....hovering, drifting erratically.......range from candle-size to radiating masses several feet in diameter.......colors vary widely, white, blue, yellow being most common......bobbing, swooping, evasive antics seem to beckon observer, frequently vanish......appear nearby.....low-level nocturnal lights seem to prefer wet, swampy areas".

Background; ".......standard explanation........spontaneously ignited gases escaping from swampy ground........this apparently reasonable explanation.......shut off all scientific research..........examples (provided in text) demonstrate the marsh gas theory will simply not do in many.........a complex, challenging phenomenon".

Corliss continues on to describe that no explanation has been found as to how escaping gases can spontaneously ignite and that they are actually COLD as opposed to what would NORMALLY be expected from burning methane. Furthermore, Corliss is perplexed that no one has been able to determine how clouds of luminous gas can perform all sorts of aerial maneuvers for extended periods without losing shape and size. Corliss provides some possible explanations related to a cold flame being some sort of unindentified phosphorescence that is related to electromagnetic fields that might help in the production of light and maintaining size/shape.

Numerous examples of low-level nocturnal lights are given in Corliss' text, which is compiled from MANY first hand reports. Some are in ways similar to this Florida event, but those cited examples DO NOT SEEM TO INVOLVE SUCH HIGH SPEED, DIRECT MOVEMENT and SOLIDITY as described by the Florida witnesses.

As indicated above, Investigators Puhalski and Sheets have spent years looking into various types of UFO reports, which include a number of possible natural "spook lights" (we use this term generically) as described by Corliss.......BUT.......at this time, it is UNKNOWN what was observed in ORANGE COUNTY on 22April05. The BLAZING SPEED described by the witnesses, plus the DIRECT MOVEMENT and SUBSTANTIAL GLOW is consistant with many other "up close and personal" UFO encounters. ALSO CONSISTANT is the description of an UNKNOWN and HARD TO SEE MASS being behind the more easily observed glowing light. UFO encounters such as this are OBVIOUSLY NOT a natural atmospheric phenomenon, "spook light" or other such glowing apparition. If this is the case in the ORANGE COUNTY investigation, the Corliss information described above simply does not apply.

It should be noted that these fishermen have returned to their fishing spot since 22April05 with no similar events being noticed.

ORANGE COUNTY and ORLANDO area residents that may have witnessed a similar event on or about 22April05 (or any other time frame) are urged to contact Roberta Puhalski, founder of the Central Florida UFO Group at <<<<>>>> The IDENTITY of EACH witness is held strictly confidential by both the Florida and Georgia groups.

END Roberta Puhalski, Founder-Central Florida UFO Group, Lakeland Florida Tom Sheets, Georgia UFO Group, Fayetteville Georgia

NUFORC Note:

We express our sincere gratitude to Roberta Phualski and Tom Sheets for sharing this report with NUFORC. Contact information for them appears above. PD

Posted 2005-06-20