NUFORC Sighting 50320

Occurred: 1977-06-01 23:45 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2006-04-28 08:34 Pacific
Duration: 60 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Shape: Cigar
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams

Close encounter with metallic craft near Gaithersburg, MD in 1977

The following was described to me a 45 year old man whom I believe to be very sincere and credible. I do not have contact information for the witness presently, but I can get it.

In 1977 the witness (age 17 at the time)and his cousin were returning home to obey their 12 a.m. curfew. As they were heading up a road towards the Heights in Montgomery Village, MD, near Gaithersburg, the witness saw a light through some trees at the top of the hill and asked his cousin "What's that?". His cousin replied "They're digging a lake up there; it must be some construction lights." They continued up the hill, came around a bend in the road, and saw a cigar-shaped object hovering over a telephone pole approximately 40 feet in the air and 50 feet in front of them.

The witness and his cousin stopped the car and got out to look at the object, which he described as shaped like a "one-manned submarine", being about the size of a school bus, and as having a metallic skin, 2 beams projecting from the "front," and a row of "portholes" and non-blinking red and green lights around the circumference. The object was completely silent and stationary for approximately 20 seconds, then made a soft, mechanical "verrrt" sound and began to move slowly away.

The witness emphasized 2 things: how "man-made" and "nuts and bolts" the object seemed ("like an airliner with no tail, wings, or jet engines") and the strange way that it appeared to move away slowly, yet diminished rapidly in size until it disappeared. He had a difficult time describing exactly how the object departed.

He said that the surface of the craft was visible from the glare of the projecting beams ("kind'a like laser beams, not spreading out like headlights"), and that it was metallic. There were also dark patches above the view ports where he thought there was some movement visible (as in something moving inside the object).

The witnesses' car exhibited no electromagnetic effects from the close proximity of the craft; the engine continued to idle and the headlights remained on, and neither witness suffered any physiological effects. He said that he and his cousin were open-mouthed in amazement, but never felt frightened during the encounter.

What also astonished the witness was that this sighting took place shortly before midnight in the middle of a suburban bedroom community with many houses in the area, but no one came out of their home to investigate the bright lights above their neighborhood. He looked in the newspapers, but failed to find any reports of UFO sightings in the next several days.

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the event is approximate. PD

Posted 2006-05-15