91 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
91 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
WHIDBEY ISLAND UFO REPORT CLASSIFIED AS AN "UNKNOWN"
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After a thorough investigation of all pertinent facts, the
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UFO sighting reported by Dan MacIndoe of Oak Harbor on January
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21st, 1988 has been classified as a true "unknown". The Mutual
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UFO Network (MUFON)--a civilian organization of trained
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professionals that investigates UFO reports--has ruled out all
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possible conventional explanations for the object seen by Mr.
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MacIndoe, his wife, mother, mother-in-law and father-in-law, and
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three-year-old daughter.
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Dan MacIndoe, age 32, an ex-Navy lieutenant with seven
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years military service in the field of aviation
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supply--including work assignments with the Navy's prestigious
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Blue Angels squadron--was rated as an exceptionally credible
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witness by the MUFON organization.
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The UFO encounter began at 10:45 p.m. on the night of
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January 21st at the MacIndoe home not far from the Whidbey
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Island Naval Air Station. Flight operations at Whidbey NAS had
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by that time been over for 15 minutes, with the last plane
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reported "on the deck" at 10:30 p.m.
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The UFO was first observed by Cornelia MacIndoe, age 72,
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Dan MacIndoe's mother, who sighted a bright, orange-yellow
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stationary light in the southern sky when she went outside to
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smoke a cigarette. She called the entire family's attention to
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the object, and together they watched as the UFO shot straight
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up for approximately 3 degrees of arc from a position 25 degrees
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above the horizon in the direction of the Naval Air Station.
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The object then abruptly stopped, made a sharp right-angle turn
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in the horizontal direction and came straight towards them.
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According to MacIndoe's account, the object covered a
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distance of one and a half miles in approximately 3 seconds. As
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the UFO approached the house it seemed to slow, taking
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approximately 15 seconds to slowly drift directly over the heads
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of the five adult witnesses and child. It disappeared from view
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as it travelled in a straight path to the NNE, passing behind
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some tall fir trees behind the MacIndoe house.
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While the object was passing overhead Dan MacIndoe was able
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to observe the object through a 135 mm telephoto lens, and was
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also able to determine that there was no sound associated with
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its flight. Mr. MacIndoe described the shape of the underside
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of the object as that of "a perfect circle."
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"The lights were blueish-white in nature and I estimate 15
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lights spanned the circumference of the circle. All remained on
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forming a circle of 'running lights'. The lights would pulse
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brighter in sequence, I believe going in a clockwise direction,"
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Dan MacIndoe reported.
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He went on to say, "...during the event winds were calm,
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there were scattered clouds in the vicinity. We live in a rural
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area. There were no sounds. During the entire episode none of
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us heard the usual prop or jet noise associated with military
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aircraft using the airfield. At the time the object was
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directly overhead I asked my family for complete silence to
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listen for engine noise. There was absolute silence."
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According to Dr. Donald Johnson, Washington State Director
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for MUFON, a combination of factors were sufficient to rule out
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all mundane explanations for the sighting. "The fact that this
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overflight occurred in restricted military airspace, together
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with the testimony of multiple witnesses, the complete lack of
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sound, the observation of the unusual lighting pattern on the
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object seen through magnification, and the lack of wind combine
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to provide sufficient information to classify this case as an
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unknown."
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"In other words, there is little possibility that the
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object the MacIndoes and others reported seeing that night was a
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satellite, balloon, commercial or military airplane or
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helicopter, or astronomical body." The National Weather Service
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and Whidbey NAS were called to confirm that there were no
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weather balloons released at that time. Additionally, several
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of Mr. MacIndoe's Dugualla Bay neighbors and others from as far
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away as Lake Washington, Edmonds, and Bellingham called him to
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report that they had also witnessed unusual lights in the sky
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that evening.
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Dr. Johnson reports that the field investigation has been
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evaluated by the national headquarters as complete. The
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sighting was assigned a strangeness rating of four on a
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five-point scale--labelled as "strange, does not conform to
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known principles", and it also received a probability rating of
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four on a five point scale--"credible and sound".
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