INTCAT: INTCAT 1978. AUG

August 1978. (or following month and year) 2100hrs.

FORT WORTH (TEXAS : USA)

A couple and then son were driving home when they saw ahead of them, a light hovering over the power lines. When they got closer and stopped they saw that it was a sphere 3-4.5m diameter, which seemed to be sucking up electricity from the lines. Over 3-4m minutes the thing grew steadily brighter and then dropped a little, rose up and then shot off.

Swords 2005 p30 citing John Timmerman

August 1978.

DARLEY (NORTH YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Three young girls saw a cream hemispherical object, at one end of which was a brilliant white light projecting towards the ground. The object was 6m diameter, 2m thick and at 20m altitude. After about 5 minutes the thing faded away.

Hanson and Holloway 2013a p105 citing investigation by Graham Townsend and Graham Birdsall

August 1978.

OWENSBORO (KENTUCKY : USA)

Larry Nelson his brother and two friends encountered a hairy biped in Fairview Drive and pursued into some woods. They corned and fired on the creature, but it appeared to be unaffected and left leaving an odour like a decomposing body and footprints 35-40cm long, 15-18cm wide.

Newton 2010 p66

August 1978.

BENTON (ARKANSAS : USA)

Mildred Wilson encountered a 1.5m tall ape like creature which annoyed her dogs a rattled a chain link fence on her property.

Guttilla 2003 p266 citing Benton Courier n.d.

August 1978. Afternoon.

BARBON (CUMBRIA : ENGLAND)

Carl Dixon was walking to friend’s when, as the road entered a wood, he saw an object hovering at various heights above the ground. As Carl watched, the thing came towards him, stopping less than 2m away. There it remained motionless for several minutes before a sort of mechanical arm came from the underside and stretched out towards him. Carl fled as fast as he could but later returned to the wood with his friend. Both saw the object, which was about 1.8m long, 1.2m high. It was a bright luminous blue in colour and from above and below it appeared to be triangular, but from the side it appeared to be a shallow inverted saucer with a small dome underneath. The object moved off into the woods The two youths then returned to Barbon.

BUFORA Journal 8,4 p16 citing investigation by R Hall
Evaluation: The investigator suspected that the story was a hoax

August 1978. Afternoon .

ORGAN MEADOWS (IDAHO : USA)

Chris Landon was driving home from laying pipes, during which time he had felt he had been watched, when he saw a hairy humanoid in the brush. The thing made huge strides 2.5-3m high and was black with brown and yellow eyes. Chris saw a similar creature in 1997.

Cook 2015 p75

August 1978. Afternoon.

BROAD HAVEN (DYFED : WALES)

Alison Richards was out walking with her 12 year old daughter, while on holiday. The walk seemed to go on for ever until they reached an area where there were strange black boulders, small caves in the cliff face, something like a large plate on the sea. Then, alerted by her daughter, she saw, overhead, a large, dull metallic disc with a central protrusion. The mother and daughter ran away in terror, meeting up with her husband Stanley, by the car. Then all three saw a young man, dressed like a hippy, on the beach. They tried to approach him, but no matter how fast they walked, he seemed always to be the same distance ahead. They returned to the car, where they again encountered the “hippy”, who had odd veined eyes, and just smiled at them. When they returned to the site years later they found that the walk only lasted 30 minutes and there were no black boulders or caves.

Hanson and Holloway 2013a p100 citing their own investigation
Evaluation: Given that in 1978 the path was eroded, it is most likely that the later walk was considerably curtailed owing to erosion and that they never reached the original site

August 1978. 1530hrs.

SUDBURY (ONTARIO : CANADA)

A man was driving his two children along a rural road when his daughter saw a hemispherical object, on which there was a burn mark, above the trees about 30m away. They drove on but the man later returned and found that the top of a tree at the site had been burnt.

Swords 2005 p86 citing John Timmerman
Evaluation: The description could well be that of the moon and its markings, with the burn a pure coincidence.

August 1978. Dusk.

WALLASEY (MERSEYSIDE : ENGLAND)

Miss Daisy Jenkins (78) was closing her bedroom curtains when she noticed a strange figure standing at the bottom of her garden. As she stared at the figure she saw it appeared to be dressed in a dull metallic suit, had three lights attached to its body, one on the head, one on each hand. The figure came closer to the house, apparently hovering above the ground. She saw the three light shining though the curtains. This was part of a whole series of close encounters with a figure that appeared sometimes to hover above the treetops. One on occasion plaster casts of two footprints were obtained, but these fell apart. The witness had a long background of psychic experiences.

Alan Bell in Mersey News 11 p7 citing own investigation
Jenny Randles in Magonia 3 p8 citing investigation by herself and Paul Whetnall

August 1978. Night.

CURRUMBIN CREEK (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

Les and Glenda Rowe were out camping when they heard a splashing in the creek 20m away. They then saw a huge dark shape moving off into the bush, leaving a foul odour behind.

Gilroy 1995 p224

August 1978. Night.

OAKENHOLT (CLWYD : WALES)

A 16 year old girl encountered a strange object in a field by Coed-on road. The witness was too terrified to go into details and the story was second hand.

Jenny Randles and Paul Whetnall in FSR 25,4 p21

August 1978. 2215 hrs.

SOUTH SULPHUR RIVER (TEXAS : USA)

Harvey Garrison, a high school senior was driving along a rural road when he was forced to brake to avoid hitting a 2m tall humanoid stood by the side to the road. The thing looked at Harvey and then strode across the road and disappeared into the night.

Blackburn 2017 p26 citing Mark Jones and Teresa Ann Smith in Fate July 1979 p30

August 1978. 2355hrs.

SOUTH SULPHUR (TEXAS : USA)

Wayne Matlock and two other boys were walking along the same rural road as above when they heard noises in the trees and a 2m tall ape like creature jumped up and ran off.

Ibid

Early August 1978. 1430hrs.

NERANG (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

A 13 year old boy out cycling encountered a hairy humanoid stripping bark from a tree. The thing was about 2,5m tall and covered in thick fur.Strange tracks were found at the site.

Healy and Cropper 1994 p137+ Smith 1996 p159 + Healy and Cropper 2006 p83, 246 case 125 all citing Des Houghton in Gold Coast Bulletin 25 August 1978. p7

August 1 1978.

LEWISTOWN (CALIFORNIA : USA)

Near here the 12 year old son of a local doctor was deeply shocked by an encounter with a strange humanoid.

Vallee 1991 p189

August 3 1978. 2330hrs.

CIVITANOVA (MARCHE : ITALY)

Giovanni Salvucci was sitting on the beach when he heard a strange hiss and saw a large beam like that from a searchlight. He then experienced a gap in his memory and found himself sitting 50m away from his previous position. His bag was where he had sat before.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

August 4 1978. (Approximate date) Early Hours.

AUBURN (WASHINGTON : USA)

Sherry Sparkman was visiting her aunt and grandmother in their suburban home. She felt uneasy the previous evening. She got up to get some water and, looking out of the window she saw a sort of fog in which there was some kind of entity more than 2m tall. After a further 10-15 minutes she heard the catch go and the sound of someone trying the door. Going to check she glimpsed some white hairy thing in the dining room but dismissed it as imagination but soon after she got back inti her room the door opened and a hairy biped with light eyes, a large tongue and long slender hands terminating in claws. The thing shifted from side to side less than 1m away and then bent down. Suddenly Sherry’s fear disappeared and she fell asleep.

Letter from the witness in Strange 11 p17

August 5 1978. 2130hrs.

ATHENS (ALABAMA : USA)

Three young men, Ronnie Loonie, Stanley Eastep and David Conley, were fishing in a river near Athens when they encountered a 2.5-3m tall humanoid covered in coarse dark hair and which had pink eyes. The thing came within 2.5m of Stanley but seemed frightened when he turned the car headlights on it. The thing then growled and ran back into the woods.

Cox 2004 p43 citing his own investigation + press sources

August 9 1978. 2235hrs

WANDEARAH WEST (SOUTH AUSTRALIA : AUSTRALIA)

A woman was driving home with her daughter when they saw a brilliant red object with three black spots on its underside approaching them. The car power reduced to almost nothing twice, but when the woman drove onto a side road away from the light car recovered. The light moved off to the north-west.

Basterfield and Jackson 1982 p18 citing UFO Research South Australia files

August 11 1978. 2230hrs.

ROOSEVELT (UTAH : USA)

Dale W (13) was alerted by a purring sound and looking up saw a silvery domed object, surrounded by a green glow, with lights, including a brilliant central one, on its underside. The thing began to circle around so Dale ran to his grandmother’s house to see his brother. Her air conditioners and TV failed and the dogs were disturbed. His mother Larain came out to see the thing circle twice and then take off to the north east. They called the Tribal Police in Fort Duchesne and Officer David Murray also saw the object, as it did two other people.

Hall 2001 p192 citing Deseret News September 4 1978.

August 12 1978. 2045hrs.

BARNEHURST (BEXLEY, LONDON : ENGLAND)

Three young girls, Clare and Lynn M and next door neighbour Laura X were talking in their back gardens when Clare saw a small illuminated object pass low over a line of bushes at the back of first their and then Laura’s garden next door. It then passed over Laura’s head before disappearing between the two houses at the height of the guttering. The two M children then ran indoors, shouting for their father. Though they all rushed to the front the object had gone. The investigator estimated it was only 5-5.5m above the ground and was 90cm long and 45cm deep. The thing was a sort of tadpole shape, surrounded by two white halos.

Earthlink 2,4 p17 citing investigation by Margaret Fry
Fry 2009 p65

August 12 1978. 2300hrs.

LAKE VIDRARU (ARGES : ROMANIA)

History student Sorin Neacsu and his girlfriend were sat on the slope overlooking the river and dam when from the water, 500m away, emerged a 30-40m diameter dark object shaped like an inverted bowl, on the dome of which were portholes emitting a green light. The thing rose vertically and then shot off to the north a steep angle, soon disappearing from view.

Farcas 2016 p60 citing investigation by Gabriel Tudor

August 14 1978. 2255hrs.

HUDSON RIVER (NEW YORK : USA)

Barry Ryan (23) from Los Angeles, who was visiting friends in Rockland County, was fishing in the Hudson when his line got caught in something, Something emitting a light came up and broke the water. On getting closer Barry saw that it was a circular bright silvery metallic object. On it, something like a turret swivelled round and opened. From it emerged a small being, 1.2m tall, covered in scales, which moved as it breathed. This being went back inside, signalling to others to emerge. When Barry was lit up by a passing car, the beings moved towards him. Barry fled the 50m back to the road and hailed a passing car. They met with state troopers who went back to the scene with him, but nothing could be seen.

UFO Update Fall 1979 p.21

August 15 1978.

NATURAL BRIDGE STATE PARK (KENTUCKY : USA)

A 10 year old boy out hiking detected a foul odour and saw huge footprints. Looking up he saw a bipedal creature covered in shiny greasy hair in the woods. The creature fled as the boy ran to get his stepfather and uncle.

Newton 2010 p66

August 17 1978. 2030hrs.

EAST AYTON (NORTH YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Mrs Kathleen Elliott (29) went out to call her children in when her attention was caught by a brilliant white object descending horizontally down towards the distant moors. She stood watching with her own and her neighbour’s children. As the object, which was shaped like an inverted saucer, went down behind treeline they heard a droning noise. The episode lasted 10-15 minutes. The sun had just set and the sky was red.

BUFORA Journal 9,1 p13 citing investigation by Trevor Whitaker

August 18 1978. 0530hrs.

FORDENONE (FRIULI : ITALY)

Francesco De Bernadro heard a deafening sound and then a cigar shaped object passed very low, rotating on its own axis.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

August 18 1978. 2030hrs.

SAN VALENTINO TORIO (CAMPANIA : ITALY)

Dozens of peasant s observed a very bright object, 8m in diameter, with a long trail, which emitted an indescribable piercing sound. The witnesses fled home in fear.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

August 18 1978. 2320hrs.

PORT CRANE (NEW YORK : USA)

A relative of UFO researcher Douglas Dains was alone in the Dains house, Douglas being out, when the TV began to malfunction and Danis’s magnetic ufo detector went off. The witness went outside and observed a domed object approach from the south-west at an elevation of 25 degrees. It hovered 14m above the ground, 15m behind a tree and about 35m west of the house. The witness went indoors and watched, through a screen door, as the object hovered for 30 seconds. It had an antenna surmounted by a red light and an arrow like projection from its south side. The object moved away to the south-west, the arrow only a couple of metres away from it. They disappeared behind the nearby mountains.

International UFO Reporter 3,12 p13 citing investigation by Douglas Dean

August 19 1978. (Approximate. date) 1700hrs.

MIDDLE SULPHUR RIVER (TEXAS : USA)

Wayne Matlock (qv) was walking along a rural road when a hairy humanoid came out of the woods and ran across the road and fields towards the river scattering the cattle in the fields as it did so. Wayne fled but later returned to the site with a friend, where they found two 30cm long footprints.

Blackburn 2017 p26 citing Mark Jones and Teresa Ann Smith in Fate July 1979 p30

August 20 1978. (Approximate date) 0120hrs.

CAPACAVANA VELHA (SAO PAULO : BRAZIL)

At the Sao Pedro fazenda 5km from town, tractor driver Benedito Cristovao da Silva (33), a married man with two children, was coupling up his tractor when he saw someone was sat on the trailer. He seemed to be an otherwise normal man, wearing a dark opaque helmet and loose shiny overall. In his right hand the stranger was carrying something like a lamp in his right hand, and when this was directed at him, Benedito felt compelled to drive the tractor at his direction 2km to the place where is load of feed was to be put out. He carried on with his work there, the stranger watching, for the next 90 minutes.

After this the stranger gestured to Benedito again with the lantern, and he lost consciousness, coming to by the estate entrance. Beside him was an object 12m long, 3m high hovering about 50cm above the ground, its nose pointing downwards. There were rows of circular lights on both upper and lower sections (10cm diameter, 50cm, apart) changing colour, red, green, orange. Three other, similar beings were in a field bordered by barbed wire, their lanterns directed to the ground as if searching for something, while speaking tom each other in a chirping language. These beings walked right through the barbed wire fence, as if there was nothing there. After about 15-20m the original being instructed Benedito to walk around the object several times, while its companions entered it through via ladder. When the being told Benedito to stop, the three exited again through a shute. The being then told Benedito to enter the machine, directed the lantern into Benedito's face, at which he lost consciousness again. When he recovered the being was stood by him again and dawn was breaking. The object was now about 2km away. The being directed its torch to the object and then took off, rising to a height of 20m and then flew towards the object in the distance. This object then took off, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Benedito then carried on with his work.

Walter Buhler in FSR 28,2 p.12 citing his own investigation

August 21 1978. 2230hrs.

MINERVA (OHIO : USA)

Mrs Evelyn Caton and a group of her friends and family heard noises around an old chicken coop to then right of their house. One of the witnesses, Scott Peterson illuminated the scene with his vehicle headlights, revealing two cat like creatures, and a hairy biped that moved towards the car. The family ran back into the house and called the sheriff’s department. Meanwhile the biped came up to their kitchen window for about 10 minutes. The bipedal thing was seen around the Caton residence on 22nd, 23rd August and 8th and 9^th September

Coleman 2001 p.201 citing investigation by Ron Schaffner

August 23 1978. 2355hrs.

COOMERA VALLEY (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

Several people including Leonard Rye (a retired customs officer) and his wife, driving along Upper Coomera Road, saw something 3-4m tall on the edge of the road. It was an ape like thing covered in dark brown hair and stepped over a 1.2m fence and walked into a field.

Healy and Cropper 2006 p243 case 126 citing Gold Coast Bulletin 18 October 1978. Investigation by Paul Cropper

August 24 1978. (Approximate date)

TUNJA (BOYACA : COLUMBIA)

Bank manager Serano Silva was driving between Tunja and Bogota when his car was buzzed by an unidentified flying object. The car’s engine and headlights died and Silva and his passenger were temporarily paralysed.

W Ritchie Benedict in Fate November 1979 p57 citing press sources

August 24 1978. 2200hrs.

OTTUMA (IOWA : USA)

A 54 year old cook was driving to her brother’s house, about 15km south east of Ottuma, driving north on Clifton Road by the Des Moines River in a wooded rural area under a clear sky. Suddenly a huge red-orange light, the apparent diameter of the full, shot silently from east to west. Though it took only a few seconds, it seemed an eternity to the witness. As the thing flew in front of her car the windshield fogged up and the car stalled to a halt. After a few seconds the car restarted without her turning the key and the window defogged as rapidly as it fogged up.

International UFO Reporter 3,12 p14

August 24 1978. 2340hrs.

GINGHAMSBURG (OHIO : USA)

Two 19 year old women driving west near here observed two spherical lights, twice the apparent size of aircraft landing lights, of a peculiar orange colour, sharp in the centre, fading at the edges. They heard a humming sound from both the lights and their car radio. The driver was unable to get her 1973 Vega to go beyond 30kph. The lights were coming from the west, one directly over the other. The two women looked away momentarily and when they looked back the objects had gone. They looked again and the lights came over the car from the south-west to the north, where they hovered over a field. One of the objects shone a beam of light at the women. The driver tried to flash her car lights at it, but without success. They looked away briefly again and the lights had gone. The radio station could not be picked up during the event. The car continued to malfunction afterwards and the driver was so shaken she had to take a tranquilliser.

International UFO Reporter 3,12 p14

End of August 1978. 2300hrs.

FONTENET (CHARENTE MARITIME : FRANCE)

The three Cornet brothers had gone to watch the night hunt when their attention was caught by a small sphere passing over them in the sky in the direction of Fontenet. They took little notice of this until 200m further along, in front of the grocery store they saw about 40-50m away and at 25m altitude a white globule resembling a sombrero on the surface of which were green, yellow and red lights. After a short while the thing took off towards Varaize in the north east. It was also seen by Mr Bruneteau and a builder who did not want his name used.

LDLN 201 p22

August 26 1978. 0030hrs.

TELOCHE (SARTHE : FRANCE)

Mr Bernier heard a strange noise and got up to see about 20m form his house an orange triangular object above a pond. Its sides were 15m long the thing seemed to be vibrating. It then seemed to rise in steps until it went from view. Bernier returned to bed but fell a tingling in the whole left hand side of his body like a kind of paralysis and then for several moments violent pains in his abdomen followed by a sensation of stifling heat. After this incident the local frogs abandoned the pond.

LDLN 179 p34 citing Le Maine Libre 9 September 1978.

August 26 1978. Night.

TORRE DELLO STELLE (SARDEGNA : ITALY)

Four youngsters filmed an object changing from red to yellow as it hovered just above the sea. It then took off very fast.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

August 26 1978. 2200hrs.

BARSTABLE (MASSACHUSETTS : USA)

A college couple were driving along Route 6 from Hyanis to Barnstable when they saw a large object pass so low in front of their car that they feared it would crash into the woods. The thing then rose and passed back across the road. The object was a metallic looking thing with curved edges and vertical rectangular windows, emitting a light, behind which they could see shadowy movements. Around the object was a sort of luminous blue railing.

Fowler 1981 p77 citing his own investigation

August 27 1978. 0430hrs.

LIPHOOK (HAMPSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A young female cabaret artist was being driven back to Portsmouth from London by a friend. The driver noticed an object like a figure “8” brightly illuminated, which he first thought was a warning light. He awoke the woman who noticed the object, but it was soon lost to view. About 3km further on, the driver observed a massive object hovering over the trees on the opposite side of the road. He stopped the car. The object spanned many trees and gave the impression of being 150-200m long, with a figure “8” shaped light low down on one side. The driver wound the window down and as he was about to get outside the object wavered and vanished. The woman however saw what appeared to be row after row of panels, which seemed to deeply fascinate her. The object then developed a definite shape and moved away slowly northwards, suddenly vanishing at a certain point. At this point she suddenly became terrified.

Lawrence Dale in BUFORA Journal 8,1 p15 citing his own investigation

August 30 1978. 1630hrs.

GOBERNADOR DUPUY (SAN LUIS : ARGENTINA)

Wood cutter Miguel Frietas (23) was taking a break from work when he saw an unusual object approach to within 2m. A humanoid figure bathed in bluish light emerged and approached him, hands forward. Miguel could not see any face or lower limbs on the figure, and when he turned to flee it pushed a button on its chest and Miguel became paralysed. He was forcibly taken on board the object, where a greyish substance was smeared on his mouth and needles were stuck in his arm. He was question (about what was not revealed). Near dusk he was released in a remote spot about 35-40km from where he worked. He was given several objects, one of which was box from which the beings voices came, and which he abandoned at once. The others he handed to the provincial police. A handkerchief that he had used to wipe his mouth was found to contain a dye resembling a powerful bactericide. Psychological tests showed he had a low IQ but was otherwise normal.

Jane Thomas in MUFON UFO Journal 130 p15 citing Cronica (BA) 27 September 1978, citing investigation by the Mendoza UFO Group

August 30 1978. 2030hrs

NEWTOWN (CONNECTICUT : USA)

A man returning home from work was crossing the 20m long Newtown Road Bridge on this clear night when his radio became filled with static and the car engine failed, though the lights were unaffected. . The driver got out to inspect the engine and became aware of a flickering red, yellow and green light above the bridge. The light then began to descend, and as the man got back into his car, filled the area with its brilliance. It was a rapidly rotating sphere, which shot out flares all around before splitting into three parts. These lights were amber and basketball in size; one going under the bridge, the other circling over it and the third circling his car. The three spheres then merged again which then just disappeared.

Imbrogono 2010 p31

August 30 1978. 2300hrs.

NISULA (MISSISSIPPI : USA)

A 38 year old disabled man was driving his 1976 pickup in Hw 38, 800m west of Nisula when a conical object, with two steady red lights at the ends and one steady white light in the middle, approached from the east. As it flew silently, very low, over the truck, it had a larger angular diameter than the full moon. The truck then stalled out for a second and he had to turn the key to start it again. The cone carried on, moving up and down and in all directions. When he arrived home, 2.5km further west, he was joined by his wife and daughter. The family observed the red lights through binoculars, moving up and down and back and forth slowly from the east to the south. The truck had no previous history of stalling. The man was extremely frightened.

International UFO Reporter 3,12 p15

August 30 1978. 2345hrs.

UNION COUNTY (INDIANA : USA)

A woman driving along SR44 in a rural area, when she orange egg shaped object, and four smaller orange-red square shaped things cross the road ahead very low. Her car was flooded with light and she had a gap in memory until she was 8km down the road.

Ridge 1994 p65 citing Don Worley

August/September 1978. (or following year) 0300hrs. COONABARABRAN (NEW SOUTH WALES : AUSTRALIA)

Two men driving on the Newell Highway north of here saw something they first thought was a pig in the road, illuminated by their headlights. The thing seemed to be eating a kangaroo carcass. When they got within 60m the thing stood on its hind legs, showing it was about 2.3m tall, covered in red-brown hair and had broad shoulders, no visible neck and a small head. As the men drove slowly past the thing at 30kph they were assailed by a foul smell. As they passed the thing grabbed the carcass and ran off. One of the men wanted to follow it but his companion refused.

Healy and Cropper 2006 p244 case 131 citing investigation by Paul Cropper

Fall 1978. 0200hrs.

SPRINGFIELD (ILLINOIS : USA)

A single witness saw for several seconds a large oval object with windows at about 20m altitude.

Swords 2005 p59 citing John Timmerman

Fall 1978.

SAXMAN (ALASKA : USA)

Carl S, aged about 12, was at a creek fishing for salmon when, from a bank saw a dark, furry creature cupping its hands in the creek water, as if drinking, some metres below him. The boy ran home to his mother and grandmother who told him not to speak of the incident.

Alley 2003 p.45
Evaluation: Only known second hand

Fall 1978. Early afternoon.

INKOM (IDAHO : USA)

Wade Johnson was out hunting and had split away from his brother and a friend, when he encountered a hairy humanoid about 2m tall, apparently scratching its back on a juniper tree. He moved to get a better look but by the time he had the tree in view again the creature had gone.

Cook 2015 p45

Fall 1978. (or following year) Dusk.

OSHAWA (ONTARIO : CANADA)

East of here four people saw, for several minutes, a domed disc 9-12m diameter at about three telephone poles high. Beams seemed to come from its underside.

Swords 2005 p58 citing John Timmerman

September 1978. (Approximate year)

JINDABYNE (NEW SOUTH WALES : AUSTRALIA)

Near here two young men saw a brilliant spherical light which appeared to nearby. They experienced a time loss. In 1983 one of the men began recalling what happened during a time lapse. As they neared the object, they were oth surrounded by a blue light. They were floated through a hatch into a grey coloured rectangular room inside some sort of craft. Here they were put onto benches, where they were examined by several tall beings. They were hairless, grey, had just grey bulges where the eyes should have been, slit like mouths, flat noses and had no ears. The beings attached wires to them men. The recaller said he felt used, as though he was a specimen. They were then returned to their original location.

Basterfield 1997 p.108,229 citing investigations by Mark Moravec and Bill Chalker+ Moravec in UFORAN 5,5 p6
Evaluation: Various dates have been attached to this story

September 1978. (Approximate date) 2230hrs.

WATERFORD (OHIO : USA)

Three people driving home in a car saw two lights on the north-western horizon, too low and slow to be an ordinary aircraft. When they got home, one of the party, Gary, walked towards the lights, and came within 100m of them. They were two oval objects 15-30m diameter, with domes on which there were windows. The one on the left dimmed out, that on the right grew brighter and shot to the northern horizon, followed by the other. During the observation Garry could no longer hear the ambient sounds and these did not return until 5 minutes after the objects had left.

Ridge 1994 p66 citing MORA files)

September 1978.

VENADO TUERTO (SANTA FE : ARGENTINA)

A carpenter saw seven mysterious objects, along with two beings, on the ground.

Vallee 1991 p.153

September 1978. 2000hrs.

GUISLEY (WEST YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

At sunset two middle aged women saw, produced by the rays of the setting sun, a figure on a neighbour’s wall, near a Laburnum tree. This figure was that of a smallish young woman dressed, from neck to feet, in a brilliant white gown, tied at the waste by a “silken knotted rope”. Her hair was covered by a pale blue veil, and her brunette hair was in the style of the late 1970s. On her head was a headpiece made of brilliant multi coloured “jewels”, made of unearthly colours that only approximated to earthly ones. One of the women claimed later visits.

David Barclay in The UFO Debate 1,4 p14

September 1978. 2300hrs.

COLARES ISLAND (PARA : BRAZIL)

Claudiomira Rodrigues was sleeping in a hammock in a friend’s house when she was struck by a beam of hot light, changing green to red, apparently projected by a being with small eyes, wearing what looked like a diving suit. Only the head and shoulders of the entity could be seen. Rodrigues suffered burns as a result of the beam and felt it had extracted blood.

Pratt 1996 p187

September 1 1978. 2000hrs.

LLANERCHYMEDD (ANGLESEY : WALES)

A number of adults and children observed a strange bright circular light. Among them were three boys, David H (11), William S (11) and Paul J, playing football on the Maes Athen Estate. They saw an object that they first thought was a helicopter, then saw was a bullet shaped white light, descend behind some trees to the south. It appeared to be slightly larger in angular diameter than the full moon; across the centre was a band of small red lights. William saw the object explode into a sphere as they stood talking about the incident. It now appeared as an inner red circle surrounded by an outer white one, at treetop height to the south. No sound was heard but the cattle seemed upset and the trees waved as it descended. William and Paul ran off leaving David alone in the field.

At 2020hrs. he decided to go home, at which he observed, about 120m away, two figures walking one behind the other, about 3-4.5m apart. They were about 1.8m tall, but only there torso’s could be seen in the increasing gloom. They appeared to be wearing grey one piece suits. One had a vertical black and horizontal red band, the second a silver band. The first figure had its arms in the air, the second was walking stiffly, its arms by its side. By either 2025hrs. or 2035hrs. the figures had gone. David ran off to phone the police and noticed unusual interference on the line as he did so. The other two boys had gone off to various people about what had happened. One of these was Mrs Patricia Owen (21) who went up to her bedroom to get a good view of what she assumed was probably a helicopter. She saw no object but did see three figures about 1.8m tall walking behind a hawthorn hedge about 95m away. They were slim and dressed in one piece grey suits, were moving slowly up a slight incline towards a spring. She called on some children outside to call the police, and then went off to the relatives that her husband was visiting.

She was anxious and sleepless for about a week after the incident. When William and Paul ran back into the village they encountered Mrs Patricia Parry (27), who also saw a silver white light hovering over the field and descending. The descent of the light had also been observed by John Roberts, from a farm south of the village. The light had been shortly before its descent by Mrs Betty Owen. There were other reports of a strange light in the sky and one of the witnesses to this, Miss Vivienne Roberts claimed to heard metallic voices outside her house at 0100hrs. the next morning. Later barley in a field was found flattened. Some of the investigators considered that this was an unacknowledged military exercise.

Martin Keatman and Derek James in FSR 25,5 p16 citing their own investigation
Mark Tyrell et al in BUFORA Journal 8,5 p5.
Randles 1981 p247.
Hanson and Holloway 2013a p.114.

First week September 1978. 0200hrs.

PALERMO (SICILIA : ITALY)

University student Alberto Acierno saw an intense blue and red light, which emitted a beam that illuminated a large circle on the ground. The beam was slowly retracted and disappeared.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 2 1978. 0810hrs.

SAN MICHELE (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Schoolboy Roberto p.(14) opened his upper floor window, heard a sound like ducks mixed with a hissing sound and, looking in the direction of a cornfield in front of the house, saw a metallic cigar shaped object rising from the corn. The sound stopped and the object started to swing laterally. It then shot up into the sky until it was just a dot, which stopped and then turned south. From the side of the object, there projected a conical or cylindrical protuberance, which moved up and down. The lower part of the object was dark; the upper part reflected the sun. The object was 9-10m long. The observation lasted about 5 seconds. Accompanied by his mother and 8 year old sister, he ran into the field, where they found an area 6.5 x 2.9m where the corn had bent flat without being broken, some 25m from the road and 40m from the railway. In the centre of the site there was a sort of hole.

Paolo Toselli and Eduardo Russo in FSR 24,5 p6 citing their own investigation
International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p.14 citing above + an undated issue of Stampa Sera
CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 3 1978. 2210hrs.

SAN MICHELE (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Railway level crossing keeper Edilia Cresto Gallo was talking to Virginia Cenevese (62) and her daughter Teresa (33), whole from the upper floor of the Cenevese house, Mrs Tersilia Ruffinengo (68) was looking on. Suddenly the four women saw, in the direction of the Pozzi house, some 50m away, a strip of intense white light descending between the maize field and the road. When close to the road the strip turned into an extremely bright fireball, about 1.5m in diameter, which seemed to rotate around a vertical axis and which disappeared into the darkness. This was repeated twice more a few seconds apart. The third sphere was larger than the first two, about 2m in diameter, and was coming towards the women in the road. Teresa experienced a strange burning in her eyes. Their husbands arrived on the scene and noticed an odour like burning electrical wires.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 4 1978. 0015hrs.

GORDON (WISCONSIN : USA)

A 43 year old university professor was driving north-west along US 53 when he observed a vaguely outlined pale yellow ball of light 1/10th angular diameter cross the road on front at a low angle at an estimated speed of 255kph. It was flying east to west only 15m away. It then made a sharp turn northward, parallel to the road, descending to less than 5m. It was now travelling at the same speed as his car (95kph), 45m west of the road. The object slowed when the driver did. This awoke his daughter, who lowered the right side window, but no sound could be heard. The car had now slowed to 30kph, the light to 50kph and it got 75m ahead and then went out. The witness was also a US army reserve instructor in the investigation and collection of evidence.

International UFO Reporter 4,1 p11

September 6 1978. 0645hrs.
VENADO TUERTO (SANTA FE : ARGENTINA)

12 year old Oscar was riding his horse in the morning mist, gathering in the horses, when he saw objects arrive, one each from the south, west and east. The horse nearly bolted, and despite the boys concern he was sent out again. Here he found a hemispherical domed object about 10m diameter, 5m high, with small windows, on the ground. The animals all scattered as an opening appeared and a ladder led down to the ground. In the opening stood a being over 2m tall, wearing a cylindrical helmet and long gloves, that appeared to be connected to some sort of breathing apparatus attached to the object. The being invited Oscar on board, and from the entrance, he was able to see the interior, in which there were buttons, tables and a small “robot” busy cutting up animal bones. Oscar jumped down from the object and the being joined him. At Oscar’s request the being gave him one of its gloves, revealing a green, clawed hand in which the middle finger was the shortest. The being pricked the boy with one of its claws. Though Oscar rode off with the large heavy glove, two other objects caught up with him and sent out a slab and a sphere which retrieved the glove like magnets. Oscar’s horse took ill and died after the incident and the boy developed spots. A horse was found butchered on the estate.

Vallee 1991 p.156 citing his own investigation and that of Mr and Mrs Fabio Zerpa

September 6 1978. Late evening.

LA CARTA DI SASSELLO (LIGURIA : ITALY)

A worker, described as sensible, boarding at the San Michele boarding house was going to bed when he heard strange sounds coming from the road. Opening his bedroom curtains, he saw two odd spherical objects, close enough together to form a figure “8”. From them came indistinct whisperings like someone talking on a radio in a strange monosyllabic fashion. After 6 minutes the spheres took off into the sky, with a strong blast of air. The next day two clear round tracks were found in the asphalt in the road.

International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p15 citing Secolo XIX
CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 7 1978. 2040hrs.

LA CARTA DI SASSELLO (LIGURIA : ITALY)

Between 2040 and 2200hrs. dozens of people in the Sassello area saw a bright white, almost the angular diameter of the full moon, at first hovering motionless for an hour over la Carta hamlet before moving south hovering over Albarola for a few minutes before finally moving out of sight behind some hills near the shore. As it hovered over La Carta the lights in the San Michele boarding house behaved in a strange manner, some switching themselves off, others the ref fluorescent light dimmed to a red filament, other changed colour while two of them behaved normally. The owner, Piera Viacava, switched on the TV, but the picture and sound were distorted and the image of a large red eye appeared on the black and white screen. When the light had moved over to Albarola, two youths, Ubaldo Boreani and Marco Baglini, tried to approach it on their motorcycles, but when they reached the ski tracks their headlights started to turn an abnormally bright, intense light. This so frightened them that they turned back, their lights returning to normal as they did so.

They informed Franco Viacava of this experience, and he drove to the scene in his Fiat 500 with two friends. Suddenly the engine started to lose power and the car slowed to 25kph, the radio switched itself off and the tape recorder refused to function. When 800m further on, the light had disappeared behind a hill, all returned to normal. A French woman driving in the area found her car suddenly stopped as the thing hovered right over her. Her dog began to sniff nervously and when she let it out, it began barking. When the object left the dog stopped barking and the car functioned normally. Meanwhile Franco had returned home and the tried to listen to the radio but he suddenly heard a hissing sound and strange echoing voices, while the radio broadcast went off and the dog started barking. His radio functioned normally next day. Roberto Boeri and some friends saw the light land on a motocross track behind a hill. There they found two circular tracks in a figure “8”, the circles being about 2m in diameter.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p15
Evaluation: The light in the sky is probably astronomical, interference due to unusual atmospheric conditions

September 8 1978. Evening.

CABANNONI DI FRUGAROLO (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Some people at a feast saw a red ball taking off from a stubble field. They ran to the site and found a circle 4m in diameter where there was no visible stubble left, the stones were hot and there were three black stains of an oily powder.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 9 1978. Night.

HOMERVILLE (OHIO : USA)

New Jersey truck driver Antonio Agostini was driving east on Rt 224, about 800m from Homerville, when he saw four pinky-red diamond shaped objects about 30m above the trees. When he stopped the truck, the lights formed a horizontal pattern and headed southwest.

UFO Examiner 2, 4 p14 citing Medina Gazette 9 October 1978.

September 10 1978. 1640 hrs.

LAS SALINAS (TUCUMAN : ARGENTINA)

Miguel Angel Carbajal was sat at home with his friend Miguel Ledsema (23) when they found that the electricity supply became greatly reduced and inference filled their transistor radio. They then heard sounds from MAC’s parents’ shop next door, and fearing burglars, got a disabled relative out of the house and went to the shop, where there was various evidence of a break in. Instead of the thieves however they encountered two beings about 1m tall, dressed in bright blue one-piece suits, with dark blue helmets. Through the latter the two Miguel’s could that the strangers’ faces were brown and freckled. The dwarfs also had bright blue boots and dark gauntlets. One of the beings was pointing an implement like a hair dryer at them, and a voice seemed to warn the friends not to shoot at the strangers or they would be taken to their saucer. One of the beings then raised its index finger to its nose and both promptly vanished, only to reappear moments later. This happened again, each time with a sort of ringing sound. The dwarfs threw a crate of cigarettes at the friends but they missed. The two Miguel’s then made their escape. The dwarfs were gone by the time the police arrived and nothing was missing from the till.

Jorge Eduardo Catoja in FSR 28,4 p14 from LDLN 198 citing his own investigation.

September 10 1978.

FOND DU LAC (WISCONSIN : USA)

While driving along Timber Trails Road, Harland Olsen and his wife saw a strange object at close range. No further details.

Rath 1997 p68

September 10 1978. 2030 hrs.

PORT MACQUARRIE (NEW SOUTH WALES : AUSTRALIA)

Two men saw a hat shaped object that descended behind trees and disappeared. The thing made no noise.

Basterfield 1981 p107 citing K Blackman

September 12 1978. 2010 hrs.

LEICESTER (LEICESTERSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A total of 17 people saw strange lights in the sky for over two hours. At 2235 Paul Clayton, a UFO investigator, saw a red object with erratically flashing lights move in jerks and drop to earth. Paul went to the gravel pit where the he thought the thing had landed. There he encountered, at ground level, a red-orange oval, 6m wide, 5m high. Paul felt in a daze and “as though I were floating on air”. After 10 seconds the thing suddenly vanished. At 2330hrs., three other people observed an object descending in falling leaf motion.

NUFON News 64 p6 citing investigation by William Hayes

September 13 1978. 2130hrs.

SPINETTA MARENGO (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

A resident of the via del Ferraio, Angelo Ciompi, was in the courtyard of his house, when he observed a reddish disk moving east in the starry sky. It suddenly stopped and dropped vertically behind some houses. Immediately afterwards a red tube of solid light rose up 20m. This was also observed by some boys in the street. Angelo cycled to the site, where he found a peculiar compact fire burning in a precisely circular area, which fire did not appear to give out any heat, but gave off a dense red smoke, with a pungent odour, which caught his throat. A crowd had gathered around and the fire brigade had been called. S0me of the onlookers thought they saw a red object rise from the smoke and meet two star like lights, which were dancing in the sky. While the fire brigade were putting out the fire several bright objects swooped over the area and took off vertically. The fire had consumed a pile of brushwood but had left the grass and a pile of rubbish at the site untouched.

Paolo Toselli and Eduardo Russo in FSR 24,5 p8 citing their own investigation
CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Evaluation: Hoax by boys?

September 14 1978. Night.

BELDEN (NEBRASKA : USA)

A prominent businessman was driving along Is20 near Belden when he saw a luminous object descend onto the road ahead. He stopped his car 20m from the object, which reminded him of a military tank. As he was about to get out of his car an opening appeared in the thing and a normal looking man, dressed in a white shirt and trousers emerged. The stranger simply asked the witness, using his first name, “What do you think of this” and then returned to the object, which then took off emitting a column of light and a high pitched whine.

Bartholomew and Howard 1998 p374 case 187 citing APRO Bulletin December 1978. p1
Evaluation: Microdream/REM intrusion.

September 14 1978. 2315 hrs.

VIGNALE MONFERRATO (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Between 2315 and 0200hrs. on the 15th, about 10 people observed several objects manoeuvring low. These were first a red ball, from which emerged a blue cigar, which passed low over the roofs, lighting up the area like daylight. The a second red sphere arrived and the first went away with it. During this time house lights and TVs switched themselves on and off.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Evaluation: Meteors?

September 15 1978. 0030hrs.

PURDY (MISSOURI : USA)

Mrs Smith was in her the house on her own, while her husband was away. Going to bed, she glanced through the front living room window and noticed an object on the front lawn, illuminated by the nearby street lamp. The thing was about 1.2m in diameter, 60cm high and resembled a white plastic bag. She went to her bedroom for a better look, but decided not to go outside. Next day she found a circular area, 1m in diameter, where the grass had a faded blue green appearance, and the tips were brown and devoid of chlorophyll.

APRO Bulletin 28,1 p4 citing investigation by H I Heady
Evaluation: Plastic bag

September 15 1978. 0230 hrs.

DELANO (TENNESSEE : USA)

Sandra Hooper (31), living with her uncle on Route 1, was unable to sleep. She went to the kitchen to get a glass of water when something peculiar made her look outside. As she looked through the kitchen window she saw the bright moon and a long, pink vaguely outlined object somewhat less than the angular diameter of the moon. Her attention was then drawn to normal looking human forms in white and suits and with flashlights in the field behind her house. They came closer, but as she turned to wake her uncle, the men turned back, the red pink object landed at speed and the men just disappeared. The object then climbed away fast to the west.

UFO Examiner 2,4 p14 citing Post-Athenian 18 September 1978.
International UFO Reporter 4,1 p12)

September 15 1978. 0400hrs.

CARPENTERSVILLE (ILLINOIS : USA)

A 26 year old secretary was awakened by a whirring noise and went to look out of her west window, the noise stopping before she could look. When she did so, she saw the silhouetted form of a 1.8m tall man, dressed in a one piece silver suit, from the shoulders to the waist, in the bushes in front of the window. Looking several metres to the extreme left, she saw a small, silver, domed object sitting on the edge of grass. It was 90cm wide, 60cm high, sharply defined, smooth and opaque and emitting a soft whirr. She woke her husband in panic and their dog started barking. They tried to phone the police but the phone was briefly dead. They then got a message saying that the call could not be completed as dialled. The phone returned to normal when the dog stopped barking. A police officer arrived on the scene 15 minutes later, but found nothing except a sort of path in the grass that looked as though it had been made by a single bicycle wheel, and which curved up to the window, then doubled back.

Allan Hendry in International UFO Reporter 4,1 p12 citing own investigation.

September 15 1978.

SYDNEY (NEW SOUTH WALES : AUSTRALIA)

A couple out driving saw a rectangular object, with coloured lights and black panels at 30m altitude, its underside resembled that of a barge. It was moving at low speed, making a low frequency drone, and was as wide as the road.

UFORA Research Digest 19 p3 citing Bill Chalker

September 15 1978. 2030 hrs.

FIUMICINO (LAZIO : ITALY)

The crew of the ship Grifone and several people in the harbour observed for 30 minutes, a dark object manoeuvring on the water’s surface about 1km from shore. It gave off white and red flashes.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 16 1978. 2130hrs.

MERGELLINA DI NAPOLI (CAMPANIA : ITALY)

Antonio Attanasio and Franco Freziose were out fishing when they heard the sound of the sea boiling and saw 1m diameter air bubbles coming to the surface. There was a light under the water, moving with the bubbles.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 17 1978. 2015hrs.

TORRITA DI SIENA (TOSCANA : ITALY)

Mrs Ultimina Boscagli and her son Riccardo (12) heard an intense noise like artillery fire and, looking up, saw a yellow-orange fireball with a red trail that vanished in a blinding flash. The object was round, red on the underside and bright white on top. The noise and light were also perceived by Mrs Santina Faralli, who noticed that the electric lights went out for a moment, then came back on. Soon afterward her son Rivo (25), a barber, arrived for a short visit, leaving at 2100hrs. He had only driven a few metres from the house, when his car’s electricity cut out and it stalled and stopped. While he was wondering about this a bright object preceded by a red light beam landed on the road in front of him. The lower part of the object was discoid, while the top was an orange hemisphere. The object, which appeared to be standing on three iridescent beams of light, varying from yellow to green, red and blue, was so brilliant that it illuminated the surrounding area. The object was about 3m in diameter and covered the carriageway, touching a dry stone wall with one edge. Suddenly, something like a double door opened on the object and two beings descended in a fluctuating motion until they were about 10cm from the ground, their heads level with Rivo’s as he sat in the car. They were 1-1.1m tall, had green coveralls, large helmets, part of which were transparent. Through their visors their skin appeared to be green, their faces were lean with bony arched cheeks, regular noses and thin, lipless, mouths. Their eyes and ears were hidden by a shaded zone. On the front of their helmets were two protuberances like springs. Their garments were one piece and tight fitting.

They walked towards the car with an awkward gait and circled around it, appearing to have more interest in the car than in Rivo. When they were behind the car, Rivo could still see them in the driving mirror. Having circled the car, they returned to the object with the same fluctuating motion. The first entity then entered the illuminated dome, followed by the second, which before it entered looked back at Rivo, as if it wanted to say something, then turned away and entered the dome beside his companion. Once inside, Rivo could only see their heads and shoulders and could not make out if they were sitting or standing. After the second being entered, the doors closed, and as two very powerful beams came from the underside, the object rose up vertically for 10m, then shot away horizontally. As the object disappeared the car’s headlights came back automatically, and the car, which was still in gear, began to move forward. Rivo was frightened and experienced sore eyes for three days. In the next street, at about 2130hrs., TV receivers went off for about a minute then returned to normal. At the site a black circle 50cm in diameter, which appeared to have been made by a great heat, was found. Bushes and stone nearby also showed traces of fire. Nothing of interest was found in the analysis.

Roberto Pinotti in FSR 25,4 p3 citing own investigation
International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p15 citing Pinotti op cit + Gente 18 November 1978. + Eva Express 20 September 1978.
CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Buhler et al 1985 p169

September 18 1978. 0105hrs.

ROME (LAZIO : ITALY)

Attorney Vincenzo Del Monaco was driving along the motorway to Rome when he found himself enveloped in a strange mist and suddenly saw, high to his right, a strong bluish light coming from a dark moving object that was slowly approaching him. It was emitting bright blue flashes, which illuminated the area. The light became larger and brighter as it approached to within 100m. It now appeared transparent at its outer edge, with a dark central dome and was emitting bright beams. The observation lasted for 10 minutes.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 18 1978. 1530 hrs.

PORTO NOGARO (FRIULI : ITALY)

Giorgio Filiputti (47) was out fishing at a spot called Malaria on the river Corno when he heard a piercing whistle, which he first thought was local machinery, and then felt a breeze from behind which rippled the water and rustled the vegetation. This continued for about three minutes, so thinking this wind was going to ruin the fishing, packed it in and climbed up the embankment. There he was confronted, to his terror, by an egg shaped object 4-5m wide, surmounted by a cupola, and standing on three legs about 1.5m tall. The completely smooth, shiny metallic, object was about 3-4m thick including the cupola. The legs seemed to consist of two tubes, the upper thicker than the lower. Almost at one he saw, coming from the right of the cupola, a being about 1.3m tall wearing a tight fitting, silvery, scaly overall and dark boots. The stranger had a dark, bronzed face, almond shaped eyes, extending back to its ears, but with a normal nose and mouth. On its waist were two dark containers 15 x 8cm. Giorgio was shocked and scared by this appearance, as was, apparently the being, which, after some hesitation, continued on its task, which seemed to consist of adjusting a semi-circular gadget on the object, while keeping an eye on Giorgio. After the completion of this, the being walked back round the cupola and disappeared. A few seconds later there was a thunderous rumble followed by the piercing whistle as the object slowly took off vertically, the landing gear being retracted into the underside, which was a sort of grated hemisphere, as it did so. From it came to tongue of blue flame 60cm long. The thing then turned on its edge and shot away at terrific speed. He found three 50cm imprints at the site. He was reluctant to talk of the incident, and did so under pressure from his brother, who was concerned about his state of mind.

Antonio Chiumiento in FSR 28,5 p3 citing his own investigation + Il Gazzettino 4 February 1979.

September 19 1978. 2210hrs.

AWSWORTH (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Trevor Aram (20) was sat in his car with his girlfriend Caroline Brimington when they observed a light moving around a neighbouring field. Trevor first thought it was a motorist but then realised that the light was too bright and was beaming into the sky like a searchlight. Caroline became frightened so Trevor drove her home and then returned to the site in his firm’s van at 2230hrs. He drove down Babbington Lane and turned off down farm tracks and halted next to a hedge 2.5-3m high. Trevor got out and stood on either the sill or the seat and, looking over the hedge, observed the top of a glowing object, shaped like a light bulb, the visible portion of which was 3m high, 6m wide. It did not light up the field, but projected a beam up into the sky. After observing the thing for about a minute Trevor decided to get another witness, but when he returned to the site with his elder brother Brian, the object had gone. An anonymous, independent second witness, a man illegally dumping waste could not be traced.

UFO Research Review 4,1 p3 citing investigations by NUFOSIS (Steve Hunter, Syd Henley and Robert Morrell) and Contact UK
Evaluation: Alleged physical evidence, bent coins, was considered unimpressive and the investigators found contradictions in the story.

September 20 1978. (Approximate date) Evening.

STRETFORD (GREATER MANCHESTER : ENGLAND)

9 or 10 out of about 50 athletes training at Longford Park saw silver object swirling in the sky. The object then landed behind trees on the far side of the park and then took off again into the sky and disappeared without a sound.

Stretford and Urmston Journal 12 October 1978.

Late September 1978. 1500hrs.

CINERA DI OSTURI (PUGLIA : ITALY)

Maria Lo Coco and her husband Simeone Vitantonio heard a piercing sound like a jet and saw a luminous disk flying 25m above the ground. It maneuvered for 10 minutes around the houses and then moved higher and away, oscillating on both sides, like a butterfly. A few days later there were unexplained deaths among pet animals and chickens.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

September 21 1978. 1940hrs.

COSENZA (CALABRIA : ITALY)

A youth walking home through a large excavation was startled when the area was suddenly lit up like daylight, though nearby buildings could not be seen. On a hill, a coloured oval shaped object appeared, on top of which was a human figure with two antennae was standing. The frightened youth fled, but he stumbled and fell. He saw four beings approaching him in a jerking motion, and he fainted. When he came to he was surrounded by four entities, 1.5m tall, wearing white button jackets and blue pants, with what looked like rucksacks on their backs, helmets surmounted by antennae on their heads, and with pincer like hands. The youth tried to attack them, but could not touch them and fainted again. When he recovered his senses at 2030 nothing remained. A house lights failed about the same time.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
International UFO Reporter, 43-4 p17 citing CUN
Paolo Fiorino in UFO Times 13 p6)

September 23 1978. 0300hrs.

SALINA DE PIEDRA (BUENOS AIRES : ARGENTINA)

Two stragglers in the South America Rally, shoe shop owner Carlos Acevedo (38) and his mechanic Miguel Angel Moya (28), both from Chile, were driving near Salina de Piedra and Salitral del Algarrobo when Carlos, who was driving, noticed a very bright dense yellow light in the distance. At first it was only a point, and as it closed on them as they were doing 100kph, they thought it might have been a powerful rally car and drew to the right and slowed to let it pass. The light was now filling their entire rear view mirror and suddenly their Citroen was filled with a bright dense yellow light, tinged with violet. Their car appeared to be out of control and when they looked through the window, they saw that they were about 2m above the ground. They braced themselves for the bump back but instead the car continued its ascent. Carlos looked out of the window but could only see the yellow light. He yelled out to Miguel but got no reply and found that the almost liquid light prevented him seeing either Miguel or the dashboard. Miguel was able to Carlos and yelled out to him, as if across a great distance but could not hear him. Miguel felt paralysed and the temperature increased. The light then became so bright that they could not even see their own hands and time seemed to lose all meaning. Then there was a bump and they were on the road again, the yellow light gradually withdrawing from the car, so that they could see more and more of it. Carlos saw a truncated cone of light 4-5m at the base, 2-3m at the cusp and 6-7m high disappearing to the west, lighting up the area. This light folded up into a yellowish-white oval which disappeared into the west. Miguel felt a pressure on his chest. Though they had travelled over 150km from where they last read their distance meter, the meter actually read 52km and a journey which should have only taken 75 minutes had taken 140 and their reserve gas tank was empty though it had been filled with 40 litres of petrol. No traces were found.

MUFON UFO Journal 140 p8 citing SIU-UFO Press III,9 p32 citing investigation by Guillermo Concoroni
Press reports of various degrees of accuracy were in International UFO Reporter 4,2 p2
MUFON UFO Journal 130 p6 and 131 p11
Fate November 1979 p57.
Canadian UFO Report 5,1 p.2 + Awareness 8,1 p.18.

September 23 1978. 2355hrs.

CARTISOARA (SIBIU : ROMANIA)

Two technicians at the upper station of the cable car above Lake Balea by a large circular red light, shining through thick fog, only about 5-10m away and filling their whole field of view. They feared it was fire but the light then just went out. At the same Lance Corporal Ioan Dorr in charge of a number of military conscripts had got up to get some water when he saw the silhouette of a figure about 1.9-2m tall by the corner of the building, details hidden in the fog. Five minutes later the figure had moved closer to the wall but 10 minutes after that was gone. At 2145hrs. the next evening Sgt Ioan Radu drew the attention of Dorr and Private Volpe top a figure standing on a mound 15m away. The figure seemed to be 2.5m tall, with claw like hands, which seemed to be moving like an astronaut on the moon. Radu went at the thing with a club but when he got to within 1.5m of it; he was thrown back by a blast of air. Two colleagues, a little further back, seemed to be paralysed while the thing examined Radu. After this being left and Radu was carried to safety, a 50cm circle of lights was seen. Four were about the size of an egg, the other four smaller, and they danced in a circle, moving from side to side. Meanwhile the soldiers were terrified by something scratching at the window and scratch marks were found on the shutters. There was a military investigation.

Farcas 2016 p130 citing investigations by Gabriel Pal, George Butiu, Justin Capra and also by Calin Turcu.

September 24 1978.

SANTIAGO (SANTIAGO : CHILE)

Businessman Alejandro Hernandez Perez and his son Robinson were driving in the south west quarter of Santiago when a huge disc hovered over their car and swallowed it up. Inside five bulky beings pushed the youth into a sort of box, while the sixth interrogated Alejandro in Spanish, speaking in a firm and steady voice with a metallic sound to it, like someone speaking through a microphone. Alejandro refused to divulge details but said he expected further contact. Witnesses reported seeing the car, with the frightened father and son inside, descend to the road afterwards.

MUFON UFO Journal 131 p11 citing Ashland Daily Press 14 November 1978. and W. Ritchie Benedict in Fate November 1979 p.57 both citing Associated Press in Argentina.
MUFON UFO Journal 130 p15 citing La Razon 28 September 1978.
J. B. Delair in Awareness 8,1 p19 citing La Nacion + Ultimas Noticias both of 27 September 1978.

September 25 1978. 2200hrs.

INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA : USA)

Jim Altees and his brother Paul were walking out in an alley near their home when they heard a loud noise, which increased in volume until the ground began to shake. Looking up, they saw bright object approaching the ground 30m away. They were joined by their father George. They observed only the underside of the object, which was octagonal, shiny silver, and with 18 flashing lights, and which directed beams down on them from the outer edge, and had a green flashing light in the centre. The thing was visible for 4-5 minutes.

Charles E Tucker in MUFON UFO Journal 142 p3

September 26 1978. 0005hrs.

STRONGVILLE (OHIO : USA)

While driving south on Lunn Road, in a rural area, 19 year old female grocery store worker observed a flat disc, surmounted by a flattened dome. It was sharply defined and of much greater angular diameter than the full moon. Its surface was illuminated by a reflection from a dim steady light, shining through an opening all around the edges. She first saw it flying across the sky to her left, in the distance. She stopped and the object flew by closer, to the right and then came down between trees, hovering to her left less than one block away. When it was positioned right in front of her car, over the road, her FM radio was filled with static for 10-15 seconds, in the middle of which period the headlights on her 1970 Dodge went out for a second. The thing then rose slowly straight up and then flew off rapidly out of sight; the witness was shaken by the object and had the feeling of being observed, but that she would not get hurt.

International UFO Reporter 4,1 p12

September 27 1978. 0830 hrs.

PRZYROWNICA (LODZ : POLAND)

Eight schoolchildren playing in a grove near the school, some 2km from Magnusy encountered a dwarf with green skin, large oblique eyes and long webbed fingers, wearing a suit on which there was a circle with a red dot in the centre. They ran off in panic and went to tell their teacher, who followed them to the spot, but found nothing. However a little girl, who lost her way, encountered a strange being with a featureless mask like face, about 150m from the school.

Cielebias 2015 p43 citing investigations by Blarnia –Bolnar + Rzepecki
Buhler et al 1985 p138,172 citing Notiziario UFO II,12 p21 citing an unspecified issue of UFO Nachrichten citing Kurier Polski 4 October 1978.

September 27 1978. Morning.

GOLINA (GREATER POLAND : POLAND)

Chauffer Henryk Marciniak (31) was spending his day off mushroom picking. He saw a small wood and dismounted his motorcycle to go and explore. As he did so he noticed an ovoid cylinder surmounted by a sort of cupola sat on four legs in the clearing. An opening then appeared in the thing in which two humanoids appeared. One of these gestured to Henryk and then descended a ladder and came towards him. This individual was 1.4m tall, had green skin with webbed hands as long as his arms and was dressed in a dark one piece suit. The eyes were red, glassy and slanted obliquely. The other being descended and the duo seemed interested in the mushrooms and in Henryk’s motorcycle and he obliged by driving around a little. One of the beings had something like a camera and they spoke in a strange high pitched voice like a record played too fast. After Henryk had finished the cycle demonstration, a sound like an alarm bell came from the object and the beings rapidly re-entered it, the one with the camera like thing, expression annoyance at this. The thing retracted its legs, rose to tree top height, and then rose up vertically, disappearing in 15 seconds. When Henryk went to the landing site, he saw four marks on the ground.

Buhler et al 1985 p172 citing Kurier Polski 6 October 1978
Cielebias 2015 p45 citing investigation by Blania-Bolnar

September 27 1978. 2145hrs.

BAUMBER (LINCOLNSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A man driving at 110kph down a country road suddenly saw lights behind him. Thinking it was the police, he slowed, but the lights kept pace, even when he turned down a very minor side road and rounded several sharp bends, always keeping the same distance. It was a row of about 6 white lights with ah hazy dome above them and two intense rectangular headlights in front. Immediately he entered the village, he lost the thing in the glare of the street lights. He stopped at a phone box by nothing passed him and there was no way any vehicle could have turned off.

NUFON News 58 p5 citing Ted Horton

September 28 1978. (Approximate date)

SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMAN (TUCUMAN : ARGENTINA)

Investigating noises in a store in this sugar and citrus town an employee and his friends found two short humanoids with unpleasant, potmarked, faces, dressed in brilliant blue, tight fitting suits. They held an object like a hairdryer, which the witnesses thought was a weapon and wore a brilliant object at ear level. It appeared and disappeared from one spot to another inside the store and appeared to communicate with the witnesses by telepathy, inviting them on board their craft. The witnesses became frightened and fled.

MUFON UFO Journal 130 p15 citing Cronica 29 September 1978.

September 28 1978. 0200hrs.

OMAHA (NEBRASKA : USA)

A 20 year old woman, who worked with a steel company, was driving through a residential area north of Omaha, with a friend, when she saw a dark cone of much greater angular diameter than the full moon, noiselessly approach her car. On the thing’s underside were three very bright white lights, which appeared to be moving back and forth, but not flashing. It slowed down and dropped back to the east, flying low. The two women passed it in their car. During this encounter a tape playing on the car tape player became erased. No other tapes were affected and the tape player had no erase facility.

International UFO Reporter 4,1 p12

September 29 1978. 2030hrs.

SAINT GEORGE (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

Murray Beardmore (14) and his friends, Tony Wilson (18) and William Strofield (19) were spotlighting for either pigs or kangaroos on the Beardmore property near St George, when they observed a light approaching their car at treetop height. They turned round and the object followed them, oscillating up and down. When they stopped to open gates the light also stopped, then approached and shot up into the air. 100m from the homestead the car engine died. Through the site of Murray’s telescopic rifle, the thing appeared to be the size of a fridge, and was oval with orange flames coming from its underside. The boys fired at it, it moved to the west on one shot, reversed its motion and rose up on a second, but did not react immediately to a third. It did however then move away to the west. Murray’s father John (a farmer and former alderman) ran outside when the terrified youths arrived at the house, and saw an orange oval in the distance. He persuaded the lads to join him and they drove after it. They lost light of it, but picked it up again in the distance, finally losing sight of it at 2300hrs.

Chalker 1996 p167 citing his own investigation
Earthlink 2,4 p31 citing Sunday Sun 5 November 1978.

October 1978. (Approximate date) Night.

CHARTERS TOWERS (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

Michael Mangan, an apprentice baker, and his girlfriend were parked on Towers Hill, when they saw a black hairy face staring in through the passenger window. When they tried to drive away, the thing smashed the window. It was about 1m tall and covered in black hair.

AstroNet Review April 1992 p6 citing Melbourne Herald 12 march 1979
Smith 1996 p165 citing Brisbane Sunday Mail 11 March 1979
Freeman 2011 p168 dates this to March 1978.

October 2 1978. 1115hrs.

GROENDAL RESERVE (CAPE PROVINCE now EASTERN CAPE : SOUTH AFRICA)

Four schoolboys from Despatch; Peter S (16), Jannie B (15), Hugo F (12) and Joe F (13-no relation) were on holiday and gone into the nearby nature reserve, with its heavily wooded hills and valleys, for a hike on this overcast day. They were waiting by a stone monument for Mrs S to pick them up, tired after their hike, when they saw a silver gleam among the trees opposite, which they took to be a large stone shining in the sun. The Jannie saw, about 275m west of this shiny object two men dressed in brilliant silver suits that resembled aluminium foil, and drew others attention to them. As the figures were the size of ordinary adults the boys first took them to be poachers, but their strange suits and strange gliding walk “as if they were walking on trolleys” soon caused them to change their minds. They were unable to distinguish arms, legs for facial features. The beings came from the direction of the glistening object and when they were half way across the hill they were joined by a third figure that suddenly appeared. It carried what looked like a silvery suitcase, though not by the arms, and the lads were not able to make out how it was attached to its body. The figures moved up to a fence and climbed over it, the one in the back turning to look in the boys’ direction. They could now see that its silvery suit came down over its forehead and that its face was grey.

During this time Peter felt as though he was alone on the hill with no one else about, the other boys also said they had a peculiar feeling. The beings then moved along the fence in the same stiff fashion towards to the top of the hill, without bending (something quite impossible for a normal person in that terrain) and when they reached the top they disappeared on the spot. Hugo noticed that the round object had also disappeared. Thinking about the affair later, the boys recalled that the strangers had covered the terrain much faster than a normal human being could have done. At a spot 2km from where this happened, forestry workers Adrian Pople, Cedric Kaptein and William Five encountered strange oval prints 18cm long. At the site where the boys had seen the object police found a large area of depressed grass and trees in oval depression around which were eight symmetrically and regularly placed marks, each containing three deep impressions. In addition there were four marks inside the oval. Two geologists from the University of Port Elizabeth examined the site and noted the absence of burn marks or residual radioactivity.

Cynthia Hind in MUFON UFO Journal 131 p5 + MUFON Proceedings 1981 p80 + International UFO Report 5,1 p7 and Hind 1982 p138 citing her own investigation.

October 3 1978. 2130hrs.

SAYAMA CITY (SAITAMA : JAPAN)

Snack bar owner and radio ham Hideichi Amaco (29) had been using his mobile transmitter in his car on the top of a mountain for better reception. he had just finished and was about to go down when the interior of the car suddenly became brilliantly illuminated. When he looked out of the open window. he was surprised to see no source for the light, which was entirely located within the car, not seeping out through the car windows. He then noticed that his two year old daughter was lying on the front seat with foam in her mouth. He then saw a circular orange light illuminating his stomach, the source of which was a point in the night sky. He then felt a metallic object being pressed on his right temple and turning to the right in fear he saw a peculiar creature. It had a round face with no neck, on its forehead was a triangular depression, its ears were large, with sharply pointed upper edges. Its two, very small, motionless eyes emitted a blue-white glow, like lamps. From its mouth came a sort of pipe, which was pressed against Aamaco’s temple. from this came a high pitched jabber like a high speed tape playback. He could not see if it had a nose. Amaco tried to start the car but the headlights and engine would not function properly. This continued for 4-5 minutes and Amaco sensed that he was getting vaguer and unable to move. After this 4-5 minutes, the figure, light on his stomach and interior illumination all faded away; then the headlights, engine and car radio and stereo all began to function. His engine now working, he drove away in panic. During the journey his little girl woke up thirsty. When he arrived home Amaco had a bad headache. Under hypnotic regression he said the creature would return, investigators considered this to be an artefact of improper hypnotic procedures.

Jun-Ichi Takanashi in FSR 24,6 p16 + MUFON UFO Journal 132 p7 citing his own investigation.
Charles Bowen in The Unexplained 50 p1000

October 6 1978. (Approximate date)

(JUJUY : ARGENTINA)

Two young girls (6, 10) observed, through a window, a very tall humanoid being, with a scratchy face, ugly eyes, a red neck, white hair and a ray of light coming from its chest, advancing towards them.

MUFON UFO Journal 130 p15 citing Cronica 7 October 1978.

October 6 1978. 0520hrs.

NEWPORT (ISLE OF WIGHT : ENGLAND)

Shopkeeper John Gadd was awoken by his cat trying to get in and, through the window, saw a silvery metallic disc, 3-3.5m long surmounted by a dome and with a flange around the sides emerging from trees around the Victoria Recreation Ground, 30-75m away. The thing moved along at 12m altitude and when John switched the house lights on and off, the thing reversed its path, tilted on to its side and took off at speed at a 60 degree angle.

Hanson and Holloway 2013a p132 citing Isle of Wight UFO Society

October 7 1978. 2130hrs.

KETTERING (NORTHAMTONSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A group of 5 teenage boys returning home along Bath Road, from skateboarding, saw a large dark flattened oval object, longer than four house blocks, with multi-coloured lights along its edges, and four bright white rectangular lights in its centre, and smaller lights at each end. It was hovering about 6m above the house roofs over Walnut Crescent. After about `5 seconds, the silent object, tilted at 30 degrees to its left, shot off to the north and then stopped. The boys skated towards it, but it was lost to sight when they went through a dip in the road, and when they emerged it had gone. There were rumours that other people including boys playing football and a motorist had seen the thing at close quarters.

Hanson and Holloway 2013a p134 citing Kettering UFO Society

October 8 1978. 2330hrs.

LOWTON (GREATER MANCHESTER : ENGLAND)

Mr Tranter was driving along the A580 with his wife dozing by his side when, for a few seconds, he caught in his headlights a figure standing on the grass verge in the centre of the road. It was human in form, 1.8m tall, and wore a three quarter length reflective silvery garment with no zips or seams, and appeared to be surrounded by an orange aura. The glow was still visible through the rear view mirror as he drove on. Mrs Tranter claimed that three weeks before she had seen the ghost of a coal miner at this spot.

NUFON News 55 p8 citing investigation by Steve Balon and Peter Hough.

October 8 1978. 0700hrs.

JENKINS (MISSOURI : USA)

Mrs Dora Strugell (69) was showing her grandson, Bruce Morgan (16) a coyote through the dining room window. Between the coyote and a cow and calf in the pasture, 250m away was a white object. Dora first thought that it was a white calf, but when she mentioned it to her husband Martlett (71), he said that they didn’t have a white calf, and her daughter Frances Morgan (37) suggested it might have been paper. When Martlett looked for himself at 0900, he saw that it was a metallic object and speculated that it might have fallen off an aircraft. Shortly afterwards as Norman (24) and Martlett Strugell were working in the tractor, Raymond (37) and Bruce Morgan walked towards the object. At this point the thing rose to an altitude of 10-15m and moved through an opening in the walnut trees to the west. It ascended rapidly, slowed as it gained altitude, turned slightly to the right and then to the left and proceeded to the northwest. By now the 6 witnesses’ attention had been caught by a large wingless airplane, standing still in the sky, which came into view as a cloud drifted away from it. As the small oval object neared and then converged with it, the cylinder moved off without a sound.

The consensus among the witnesses was that the smaller object was sharply defined ovoid shape, reflecting the sunlight, about 1.2-1.5m long, 90cm-1.2m high. It appeared white on the ground, brilliant silver in flight. On the side closest to the witnesses was a long dark streak, which rotated around the thing’s circumference every 2 seconds or so. Investigations by the sheriffs’ department showed traces as though a tripod had been standing in a 1.2m diameter circle of scorched grass. The three circles were 15-20cm in diameter; the two closest were 60cm apart, 75-90cm from the third. Along the outer edge of each circle the grass had been removed, exposing bare soil, while in the inner part the burnt grass was twisted in a clockwise direction. The grass in the rest of the circle was intensely dried. Later in the month after the first frost had turned most of the former lush field brown, the oval was surrounded by a ring of fresh green grass.

Donald E Seneker and George M Koch in MUFON UFO Journal 135 p3 citing investigation by themselves and Ted Phillips
Alan Hendry and Ted Phillips in International UFO Reporter 3,12 p11 citing their own investigation
APRO Bulletin 28,1 p1 citing investigation by H L Heady (this latter gives incorrect date of 3rd. October.

October 9 1978. 2005hrs.

LA TOUR EN JAREZ (LOIRE : FRANCE)

At their home on the Saint-Etienne ridge in this village 5km north of St-Etienne Arnaud (9) and Nathalie (11) I and their uncle Pascal were alarmed by the screams of their dog. Arnaud went out to calm the animal and saw, down the slope from the house, among the old cherry trees a white light, about 3m from the ground or about the height of the lowest leaves of the tree. He went in to get the others. The two children reported seeing three lights come out of the tree towards and house and perhaps a fourth to the left. The uncle did not see this but shortly afterwards saw four or five lights in the trees.

Patrick Berlier in LDLN 194 p21 citing his own investigation

October 9 1978. 2100hrs.

LAUNCESTON (TASMANIA : AUSTRALIA)

A married couple were driving home from Launceston when they observed a bright yellow light in the sky. The object then descended to beside the road and paced the couple’s car for 40-45km.

Basterfield 1981 p107 citing TUFOIC

October 15 1978. (Approximate date) Evening.

BEANACRE (WILTSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Graham Hunt felt the air go very cold and saw something like a woman in a long skirt and bonnet cross the lane ahead. He had seen a similar thing two years earlier.

Wiltshire 1984 p57

October 15 1978. 0200hrs.

ORD (NEBRASKA : USA)

3km north of River Bridge, Deanne Kearns, a student in the 10th grade, observed an object shaped like two plates, one inverted over the other, surmounted by a sort of spire, and with a row of windows and red and green flashing lights. The object, which was the size of a three story house, touched ground about 90m from her, then rose up 60-90m, where it hovered for about 10 minutes, making a buzzing sound like a generator. The object emitted a beam of light, down which two beings 1.5-1.8m tall descended, took earth and plant samples, and then returned via the beam to the object, which took off straight up. Deanne could not make any distinct features on the beings. They were black or brown in colour, had tentacles on their sides and blob shaped heads.

UFO Examiner 2,4 p14 citing Grand Island Independent 18 October 1979 citing an undated issue to the Ord Quiz
UFO Update Fall 1979 p8

Mid October 1978. 0730hrs.

JARABA (ZARAGOZA : SPAIN)

A left wing politician in his mid 50’s, who absolutely insisted on anonymity, was out for a walk, hoping to photograph eagle's nests, when the crows suddenly became quiet. He set up his camera, but noticed unusual reflections in his view finder. On looking round he could see nothing, but he heard a faint buzzing sound that disappeared suddenly. He continued setting up his camera but after time his teeth began to feel on edge, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end and his camera and watch seemed warm. On turning round, he observed, about 20m away, an oval object about 5m in diameter, surrounded by antennae. By it were two blond individuals, more than 1.9m tall, dressed in blue-grey suits that appeared to be made of a plastic material. One of the beings was bent over a metallic looking tube that seemed to be poking into the ground. The other held a box, above which a sphere was floating. the buzzing reappeared and stopped again. The tube carrier then stood up and gestured to the witness, who stood up and approached, feeling a sensation of heat as he did so. He asked loudly if they needed help, but his voice seemed be thrown back at him distorted. Now somewhat afraid he asked what they were doing. The stranger made no reply but kept on making gestures, drew the tube out of the ground and folded it up like a telescope. The two beings then returned to the craft, the buzzing recommenced and the witness began to get the same unpleasant sensations in his mouth and neck as before, and noticed that the ground was vibrating. He went back to his camera as the object rose up about 2m. The sound increased but he could see no signs of rockets or other engines, though he made out three circular spots on the underside of the object from certain angles. He took two or three pictures before the object rose again and disappeared, the buzzing going away at the same time. He was left with a metallic taste in his mouth that lasted for two days. He noticed a small funnel shaped hole in the ground, 20cm in diameter. His pictures turned out to be completely fogged. He would not agree to a detailed investigation.

F Louange and J. L. Casero in FSR 26,2 p4 citing own investigation

Mid October 1978.

DANIEL JUNCTION (WYOMING : USA)

At a ranch 27km north west of Daniel Junction several people saw something like a white helicopter with a blue front fly over their house, so low that children threw things at it.

Adams 1991 p23 citing Larry Peters

October 18 1978. 2205hrs.

HARDY’S BAY (NEW SOUTH WALES : AUSTRALIA)

A man in a car on top of a slope saw a bright green light under the sea, illuminating the low mist. Then a large silvery cylindrical object, with bright green lights on its ends rose up the slope, filling the windscreen of the car. At about the same time a fisherman 20km out to sea off Maitland Wreck saw a green light in the ocean about 200m ahead, but lost it in the sea mist.

Feindt 2010 p432 citing Internet sources

October 20 1978. 0230hrs.

POOWONG (VICTORIA : AUSTRALIA)

Bill Guest was motorcycling from his home in Poowong to Wonthaggi when he saw, about 15m from the Loch Road, a luminous object about 20m long sitting in the grass, Bill stopped and turned his light on the thing and stood watching it for about 20 minutes. He was distracted by a passing car and when he looked back to the thing it had taken off and was approaching him. As it did so his motorbike headlights began to flicker. The thing began to spiral and become distorted, so Bill drove rapidly himself.

Pinkney 2003 p101

October 23 1978.

ATHERSTONE (WARWICKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A 27 year old housewife and her young son observed a white light son observe a white light appear by some trees and hover for a minute. It was in the east at 10 degrees elevation. It then started to move, following the line of the trees, just above treetop height. It passed close, but despite the lack of wind no sound could be heard. As it passed close it appeared to be a row of three lights on an indistinct round shape. It passed slowly, climbing slightly and was lost to view 5 minutes later at 15 degrees elevation in the North West. A neighbour, who was called, saw it, as did several other villagers.

NUFON News 58 p3 citing investigation by Tim Horton

October 24 1978. 0200hrs.

8km off CUPRA MARITTMA (MARCHE : ITALY)

Dino Vesperini of the boat “Nuova Lucia) saw a large red intense light approaching his boat and changed his direction to avoid a collision. The light had a greater angular diameter than the full moon and was hovering 30m above the water. A dart shape was moving with the light. There was no sound. After the light had passed his boat, Dino felt a strong wake, as if from a passing boat. Some kilometres away Giuseppe Ricci felt the same waves in the 13m deep water.

CUN Provisional catalogue 1978.

October 24 1978. 0715hrs.

FAIRMONT (WEST VIRGINIA : USA)

Student Joyce Dehner (20) was driving to class at Fairmont State College on this dark morning when she saw, to her left, some green, red and white lights coming over a nearby hill. She thought that it was a plane flying unusually low, but then the object t descended to within a few metres above the interstate bridge, which she was approaching. Joyce now saw that it was a dome topped by a red light, and stretching out in front of this was a torpedo shape, with a white light on the front tip. Green lights ran along its underside. A car ahead slowed down and then speeded away. Joyce, very frightened, also accelerated away. The object floated silently across the bridge and suddenly shot up to the right over a set of trees, where it hovered, as Joyce last caught sight of it. The object was the size of a private plane, but with no wings or propeller.

Ted Sprinkler in MUFON UFO Journal 133 p9

October 24 1978. 0900hrs.

GROTTAMMARE (MARCHE : ITALY)

Faustio Ricci and Florindo Sancini in their boat “Repepe”, 6.5km off shore saw a large dark body, 20m long emerging from the water 200m from their boat. After 30 seconds it resubmerged into the 10-12m deep water.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

October 24 1978. 1945hrs.

SERGINES (YONNE : FRANCE)

Plumber Mr Douillard was driving home from Sergines to Compigny when 2km from the latter, when going up a steep slope he saw what he thought was an aircraft in difficulties. Fearful of a crash D reversed his car downhill. He then saw a luminous sphere 6m in front of his car. It was no more than 1.5m above the centre of the road and was hovering perfectly stationary. It was a brilliant white and orange luminosity that seemed to be turning in an anticlockwise manner and was surrounded by an “infra-red” halo that seemed detached from the main mass and was rotating clockwise. The thing seemed to be making a noise like that of a ventilator. The light made D avert his gaze. Looking back he saw the thing rise back up into the sky and disappear from view in a few moments.

Michel Cressien in LDLN 191 p22 citing his own investigation

October 24 1978. (Approximate date) Night.

LAS CRUCES (NEW MEXICO : USA)

Margaret Roberts was driving home from El Paso when a large bright metallic object, with two flashing green lights, one at the back, the other in front, descended on her car. The engine stalled and a portion of her front windscreen shattered. The object then rose straight up. The incident was reported to the Las Cruces police who found no further evidence. Joyce suffered from anxiety and problems in sleeping since the incident.

UFO Examiner 2,4 p.14 citing Las Cruces Sun-Times 31 October 1978.

October 25 1978. 0505hrs.

SAN DONATO DI TAGLIACOZZO (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Giuseppe di Giovanni, a farmer, was searching for a stray coq on the hill, called Castello, 6.5km from his home, when, coming into an empty field, he encountered a light brown cylindrical object about 3m in diameter, less than 1.5m high and surrounded by circular windows about 20cm in diameter. Approaching within 1m of the object, the witness looked inside and saw about 6-7 small humanoids inside. There were two blond doll like women, with beautiful skin, who smiled at him; along with about 4-5 dark, ugly elderly men dressed in green, with conical hats, like that of the Pope. Frightened, he went and hid behind a bush some distance away. he rubbed his eyes but the object was still there. He then closed his eyes for a few minutes and when he opened them, the object had gone. The observation had lasted for 15 minutes.

International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p17 citing an undated issue of Oggi + Il Resto del Carlino 27 November 1978. + CUN
CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Maurizio Verga in FSR 25,4 p6 citing Il Messaggero 15 November 1978.

October 25 1978. Night.

MENDOZA (MENDOZA : ARGENTINA)

Two workers on night shift encountered a dwarf 75cm tall, which hopped on one leg and suspended the witnesses above the ground using complicated machinery. The dwarf then performed complicated pirouettes then flew off into the sky.

Nigel Watson in Fortean Times 31 p22 citing UFO Newsclipping Service issues 114, 115 citing La Razon 26 October 1978. citing investigation by V Corradi.

October 26 1978. 2345hrs.

REMOULINS (GARD : FRANCE)

Bernard D a local government employee was driving to St Hilaire d’Ozilhan, when near Remoulins, at the crossroads to Bagnois his car stopped and his engine and lights failed. Thinking his battery had gone, he turned the ignition key back and forth. He got out and his body was struck by a tingling all over, like an electric shock. This didn’t prevent him from going round the car and discovering nothing to account for its failure. Suddenly right in front of him, looking towards Remoulins, in a field called La Vegere, he saw a huge incandescent orange light, with a white spot on its lower portion, which on closer inspection appeared to be three porthole like spots in a row. The thing was taller than wider and resembled a vertical sugar loaf, filling the landscape ahead. He felt paralysed, deafened but at peace. The thing was sat on the ground about 200-300m, just perhaps 400m away. He could not tell whether he looked at the thing for seconds or minutes. It just then disappeared in a moment. Bernard got back into his car and drove home. He arrived home so shaken and terrified he needed medical treatment.

A Martinez in LDLN 190 p9 citing his own investigation

October 26 1978. 2355hrs.

BADIA TELADA (TOSCANA : ITALY)

A youth out driving saw a round light moving northward and stopped to get out to take a better look. The light turned to his left and landed between two hills, giving off first silver and then a yellow beam. The witness remained there for an hour as a second object appeared and landed by the first.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

October 27 1978. 1300hrs.

GROTTOAMMARE (MARCHE : ITALY)

Mario Ricci and Nicola Paolini were fishing in the boat “Triglia”, 6.5km off shore when they saw a large dark shape, just under the sea, which caused a large wave.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

October 27 1978. 1845hrs.

FALCONE DI PIOMBINO (TOSCANA : ITALY)

Three fishermen saw a dome, giving off a yellowish light and metallic buzz, travel across the surface of the water in 5 seconds. When it came within 50m of the witnesses, it changed its direction, coming nearer and stopping. The frightened fishermen ran up the beach into their car and continued to watch from that vantage point, 15-20m above the water. They now noticed that there was a small cylinder on the dome, that the dome was revolving and that it had a darker area. Under the water they could see a large body. Getting increasingly frightened the trio drove away, but a few minutes later they heard the buzzing sound and saw a high flying flattened yellow sphere moving north west. They stopped and pointed a torch light at it, upon which the object changed direction and headed towards them. They fled in terror.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

October 29 1978. 2200hrs.

OAKENHOLT (CLWYD : WALES)

Marion Sunderland was walking the dog when she observed a bright object in the southwest by Halkyn Mountain. Through binoculars, she observed a large white circle of light, inside of which was an orange light. A red bar extended across a quarter of the width of this orange circle. It was broken in the centre. The object rotated slowly and steadily, anticlockwise, apparently over electricity pylons 800m away. She stood transfixed for about 5 minutes and then rushed in to get a camera. As she was lining it up in the view finder, the objected moved off at a 20 degree angle and then sped away, leaving a hazy glow.

Randles and Whetnall 1981 p23

October 30 1978. 1830hrs.

EAST LAMAR (TEXAS : USA)

Macky Parson and a friend saw a triangular object, the size of a house, hovering 30m above a field between Lamar and Lesley. It shot a blue light at them, which temporarily blinded them. Police investigated but no traces were found.

UFO Examiner 2,4 p15 citing Denison Herald 31 October 1978.

November 1978. (Approximate date) 2100hrs.

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA (ESSEX : ENGLAND)

Sometime between September 1978. and January 1979, 10 year old Graham Skarrat was walking home from a friend’s house, when at the rear of Temple Sutton School in Eastern Avenue, he met another friend, who drew his attention to two luminous green figures with red protrusions on their heads on the opposite side of the road. The figures walked towards them, one slightly behind the other. The boys fled. Next day Graham noticed drawings in a school book similar to the figures he had seen.

Skylink 4,p4 citing investigation by Mike Riley and John Cochrane
Evaluation: Only reported in 1992. An obvious explanation would be a couple of friends playing tricks in Halloween costumes.

November 1978.

YOKOSUKA (KANAGAWA, HONSHU : JAPAN)

Two construction workers fishing off shore encountered a 3m tall creature with a reptile like skin and a humanoid face with two large yellow eyes.

Clark 2000 p139 citing Fabio Picasso in Strange 8 p21

November 1978.

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (CALIFORNIA : USA)

Robert Richardson was solo camping at a spot above Freson Dam and 600m below Iron Lakes when a 2,5m tall creature came within `a metre or so of his campfire. It was a lean tall creature with a short neck, deep set eyes and wide nose and beard. The thing stared at Robert, who grabbed form his gun. When Robert turned round again the thing had gone.

Guttilla 2003 p267 citing Robert Grumley

November 1978. 2200hrs.

BEARSPAW (ALBERTA : CANADA)

A mother and son were alerted by the barking of their dog and one or other of them went outside where they were struck by a powerful sulphurous odour and saw about 200m away, a hairy humanoid with long arms walking down a trail. The observation lasted 2-5 minutes.

Steenburg 1993 p50 citing his own investigation
Evaluation: The stories narrated nine years after the alleged event contained some contradictions, probably due to the passage of time

November 1978. Late night.
PETER TAVY (DEVON : ENGLAND)

A man coming back into the local pub from using the outside toilet saw a 2m tall figure wearing a silvery suit and helmet walking down a path next to the pub. The landlord, Paul Sommerfield went to check but the figure had gone.

Freebury 2011 p35

November 1 1978. 1915hrs.

NESTLETON (ONTARIO : CANADA)

A teenage girl out jogging saw two lights, apparently on either end of an undefined dark object at a 30 degree elevation over a field just north of Highway 7A. There was a red light and a white, which after a moment was a replaced by a flashing red one. The object was the apparent size of a dime at arms’ length. She stopped to watch the thing, and it began to angle away to the east, passing over some trees. The witness then ran back into her house and closed the windows and doors, and watched, through a window, as the object went behind trees 400m away. After her parents had arrived home at 2005hrs., they saw the object appear from the north and pass over at moderate altitude making a dull whirring sound. They saw an elongated dark shape with a red light on each end, one of which was flashing on and off. The mother, driving towards Blackstock, independently observed it. A farmer and his daughter, north-east of the presumed landing site also saw the thing as they went to their barn. A search for traces was futile.

David A Haisell in UFO Examiner 2,4 p16 + Journal UFO 1,2 p22
Evaluation: Blimp?

Early November 1978. 0600hrs

WEST BANK (BRITISH COLUMBIA : CANADA)

Dawn Smith (9), awakened by her mother going off to work saw a bright light in the still dark sky. There was an oblong object, with green lights down one side, beside which was a small light moving up and down and swaying side to side. A door opened in the side of the oblong and the small light went inside. As it did so, Dawn saw two dark figures standing in the opening. The oblong, less than half the angular diameter of the full moon also had an outline of red lights, of which three on top were particularly noticeable. The oblong went behind a cloud, then it came out, opened the door again, and an object with red, yellow and orange lights, and a hook on top, came out. Dawn went to the window for a better look, but the objects had gone. She phoned a friend who confirmed that she seemed very frightened.

W. K. Allen in Canadian UFO Report 5,2 p1 citing his own investigation

November 2 1978. 1950hrs.

CASTLE EDEN (TYNE AND WEAR : ENGLAND)

A naval architect and his girlfriend, driving along the A19, observed a very low and bright star. Shortly afterward they got out of their car to watch a brilliant oval just above ground level in a field. It then took off vertically at high speed, revealing a circle of red and green lights on its underside, and moved off.

NUFON News 68 p.9 citing CHRYSIS

November 4 1978. Evening.

SHELBYVILLE (MICHIGAN : USA)

A man waiting for his girlfriend to come home with the shopping heard a whistle at the door, and thinking it was her, went to open it, but there was no one there. At about 2145hrs. the couple were watching TV when the woman thought she saw someone outside. She later saw green lights in the trees. Her partner also saw these a bit later on, and both watched these green lights, which reminded them of eyes. By 0500hrs they were seeing figures, some of which they chased off. One man crouched by a window, as if holding a gun. The couple retreated to the bathroom, from where they heard someone come in through the kitchen, walk about and try and bathroom door handle. A red light about 10cm x 6cm moved up and down the bathroom window. When police finally arrived there were no signs of any intruder.

Ron Westrum in Fortean Times 45 p56 citing his own investigation

November 6 1978. Evening.

PRATO NEVOSO (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

A man attached to the Mount Malanotte Meteorological Station saw a large luminous ball falling to the ground with a bright flash. A large fire developed in the area.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 6 1978.

GIULIANOVA (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Mario Mara of the boat Angelo Padre, 8km off shore between Giulianova and Tortoerto, was on watch when the vessel was struck by a sort of flame coming from a large circular red light. The frightened crew switched on the engine snd left, while the light suddenly switched out.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 6 1978. 1930hrs.

HUDSON RIVER (NEW YORK : USA)

John Lee Phillips (50) had been watching TV when he heard a noise and went on to his terrace, where neighbours told him that a plane was crashing in the river. He saw a large multi-coloured sphere, emitting a pulsating yellow light, come low. Attorney Stephen Graymer saw a strange spherical object over Indian Point nuclear plant, losing altitude and diving into the river. Other witnesses included a private pilot, John Elone, flying from Tereboro Airport to JFK, and a 14 year old boy. There were altogether 17 witnesses. No planes from this area were missing,

UFO Update Fall 1979 p19
Evaluation: Landing of a sea plane

November 7 1978. 1500hrs.

LOWELL (MICHIGAN : USA)

Two men living in a rural property outside Lowell saw figures dressed in combat fatigues around their house. These seemed to consist of both adults and teenagers. The men tried to challenge them, but the figures could never be caught up with. They became so concerned that they called the police, who found nothing. Two friends arrived with guns, and they all went to one of these men’s house but returned with him sometime later. By 0130hrs. the next morning g they saw and heard figures moving around outside and fired at them. One figure hung from the roof and was shot at point blank range, as was an intruder heard in the kitchen. The sheriff’s department were called, and this ended with the three men being arrested. No bodies or any other trace of intruders was found.

Ron Westrum in Fortean Times 45 p54 citing his own investigation

November 7 1978. 1900hrs.

PORTSDOWN (HAMPSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Kevin and Lynne Malling, with their 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son, were driving towards Doxford when, as they approached Nelson’s Monument on Portsdown Hill, they saw a bright light that they first thought was a star. This descended from the direction of the Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment. As the family drove on, they next saw two red lights, then a huge dome shape with luminous green lights, resembling windows, around the bottom. As they drove on, they found at this object was hovering above their car. They compared it with a building under construction, which they knew, estimating the thing’s diameter to be 60m. The object was only 6m above them. Kevin found that though the car was going downhill, with his foot on the accelerator. No speed could be gained. After hovering for a few seconds the object headed off towards Fareham at terrific speed. The thing appeared to be black, with a brilliant white searchlight on top, two red lights just below it, and numerous green lights on its underside, and was soundless. It was independently observed by Mrs Jessie Burley at South Porchester, about 3km away and Sidney Dyer some 5km away.

BUFORA Journal 8,2 p14 citing investigation by Ernest Sears
Hanson and Holloway 2013a p142 citing above + Nick Maloret, B Handley + Price 1990

November 8 1978.

PORTO D’ASCOLI (MARCHE : ITALY)

The crew of a fishing vessel saw a red and yellow globe of light come out of the sea and describe a parabola to return to the water. The water did not reflect its light. Another fishing boat detected something underwater on its sonar.

Feint 2010 p228 citing USOCAT

November 8 1978. 1815hrs.

MALTBY (SOUTH YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Damion Harte (24), a hairdresser and his wife were driving home from work when they observed a light rising from behind a church. They first thought that it was a firework rocket, but the object levelled off as a hazy mass of light, surrounded by a red glow and moved towards the village. They followed it for several minutes down country lanes as it seemed to slow down. It was then lost from sight temporarily behind a hill/ When it came into view again Damion saw it clearly as a row of two white and one red lights, with a surrounding hazy dome shape. He drove to within 60m of it, as it hovered just above the trees at 15m altitude. He switched his engine off and turned the window down but could hear no sound. His wife, who could not see it well, became frightened and urged him to drive away. As he did so she saw the thing spiral upwards and away, giving a clear view of its dome shape. It was three times the size of their Jaguar car.

NUFON News 71 p4 citing investigation by SUFORS

November 8 1978. 1830hrs.

SHEFFIELD (SOUTH YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Mr and Mrs Storer were driving on the Norton to Dronfield Woodhouse Road on this clear evening, when Mrs Storer, in the back seat with her baby, saw a large red light at about twice rooftop height. She first thought that it was on a pylon but realised that it was moving and was too low to be a plane. The thing paced them, then shot up into the sky and down again and crossed right over them onto the other side of the road. It paced them for another 400m before it was lost to sight behind buildings. When it was overhead Mrs Storer saw five or six dim yellow-white lights, and the outline of some dark bulky object on which the lights were placed. Later, when they had reached home she went into the garden and saw the red light again. When she waved at it, the thing disappeared.

Contact UK Yorkshire citing investigation by Nigel Watson
Evaluation: Probably astronomical and cloud.

November 8 1978. 2100hrs.

GREENFIELD (INDIANA : USA)

Mrs Cindy Bridges, going out to fetch some firewood, saw a big fiery light coming down towards a soya bean field. When she went to investigate, she started screaming for her sister, Mrs Cathy Wilfong, as she encountered a huge object, with one red and two white lights, and a sort of circle on the underside, which flew sideways behind the barn in slow motion. The object was about 36-42m long and made no sound. Cindy ran into the camper and Cathy ran to fetch her camera from the garage, but could not find it so ran back into the house, followed by Cindy. During this time their dog was barking. They phoned the sheriff and their mother, who lived 9.5km away. The latter observed the lights moving off as she got within 7km of the Wilfong residence. The sheriff’s department arrived 30 minutes later and said that the object was a helicopter.

Charles L Tucker in MUFON UFO Journal 142 p3

November 9 1978. Early hours.

WARMINSTER (WILTSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Four skywatchers, locals Chris and Pauline Trubridge and two men from Australia, Paul D Davies and Ian W Gale, on this foggy night heard a sound of a chain. In their torchlight they saw a man in winter clothing and with a straggly beard, holding on a chain, a large dog. The figures seemed to just go into a fog-bank and disappear.

Shuttlewood 1979b p67

November 9 1978. 0315hrs.

RISDON VALE (TASMANIA : AUSTRALIA)

A 24 year old taxi driver on night shift was returning from dropping off a fare when he observed a green shape, surrounded by a green glow, move into the centre of the road from the side and stop there. The shape was 1.5m tall, slightly tapering at the base and about 30cm off the ground. He was forced to brake violently. He heard a high pitched squeal, so loud that it made his ears ring, his radio had static and then the shape disappeared.

Keith Basterfield in APRO Bulletin 28,3 p8 + Basterfield 1997 p221 both citing TUFOIC files

November 9 1978. (or following day)

UMM ALAISH (KUWAIT)

Seven technicians, including an American, at this oil field 150kn from the capital observed a cylindrical object, the size of a jumbo jet, land in a field belong to the Kuwait Oil Company. Communications and the operation of an oil pumping station 250m from the site were disrupted while the object was on the ground. Although very frightened the men went to examine the object closer, but it took off after 7 minutes, without a sound. No traces were found. The equipment returned to order when the object had left. The men were too shaken to work properly that day.

International UFO Reporter 5,1 p.6 citing undated issues of Kuwait Times and Arab Times and an undated UPI Bulletin
FSR 25,2 p5 citing Rand Daily Mail 14 November 1978. citing UPI
Earthlink 2,4 p.4 citing Daily Mirror 14 November 1978.
Spencer and Evans 1988 p67

November 9 1978. 1900hrs.

WATFORD CITY (NORTH DAKOTA : USA)

Barb Johnsrud was on the phone to a friend, while her son Kent was doing chores outside. He came to call his mother out, and they saw a light resembling a divided star in the sky. Barb went to get her binoculars, and soon after she went out again the thing descended rapidly, producing a rush of air like a storm. The thing was about triangular in shape, 12m diameter and travelling at about 40kph at an altitude of 15-18m. It had numerous blue lights and a central, larger, red one. The object moved off over the house.

Richard Stevens in UFO Update Fall 1979 p33 citing Del Shipman in Watford Guide 10 November 1978.

November 9 1978. 2045hrs.

SILVI MARINA (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

The commander (Nelson di Valentino), electronics expert (Mr Bellomo) and two crewmen of the harbour patrol vessel CP2018, some 6.5km off shore from Silvi Marina, saw a pale red rocket like light rising from the sea, 800m-1km away at a 45 degree angle, disappearing from sight after 4 seconds. The radar was working but detected nothing. The water was 23m deep at this point. They were ordered to approach carefully so they circled the area for 2 hours without seeing anything, but when the vessel approached the site where the light had been seen, the radar went blank and VHF communications were disrupted.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Janet and Colin Bord in The Unexplained 85 p1687.

November 10 1978. 0050 hrs.

ST LUNAIRE (NEWFOUNDLAND : CANADA)

Two women were driving between St Lunaire and St Anthony, when a bright yellow, snowshoe shaped object, with red, green and white lights revolving around its centre, came up behind their car, illuminating its interior. The passenger felt the interior of the car become heated and her arm became numb. The object followed them at speeds of up to 130kph, and was in view for about 25 minutes, during which it followed them for about 11km before it took off into the sky.

David Haisell in Journal UFO 1,3 p31.

November 11 1978. 0530hrs.

SALO (LOMBARDIA : ITALY)

A hunter, Goivanni Imberti, observed a powerful light rising at high speed from a valley floor.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 11 1978. 2100hrs.

BRAGG CREEK (ALBERTA : CANADA)

While driving to a party, Kim Knudsen, his wife Sandy and their friends Henry Zywotkiewicz and Geralin Wright got stuck in snow. As they were moving the car around Sandy looked up and saw a light approaching. It was travelling slowly and reminded her of a giant hovercraft. She tried to draw her companions’ attention to it and by the time she succeeded it was less than 30m away. It was about 45m long, and “three floor length windows” high. Both Sandy and Kim saw people inside, through the windows, it looked as though they were drinking whine, the couple could have sworn they heard music. Geralin’s face seemed illuminated by the light from the object. sandy seemed to lose track of time until the object lifted up and she heard Henry calling them to get back to digging the car out. It was now 2120hrs. The group seemed to forget about the incident until returning from the party. Under hypnotic regression Sandy recalled “seeing” the people “not through sight” as the object passed over. There seemed to be crowds on board, someone was navigating, the party was “wild not happy”, there was a sound of scrambled music, like a big band, there were two darks at the back, the object just vanished.

W. K. Allen in FSR 26,4 p14 citing his own investigation.

November 12 1978. 0130hrs.

SALUZZO (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Roberto Comba was driving home when he observed a yellow shooting star, which descended and hovered over his car, illuminating the entire area. He now saw that it was a yellow red dome, with four bright legs and lights. Frightened, he sped home. He had his cassette recorder on at the time and raised the volume as he sped off. The next day the cassette recorder was no longer working, though the radio of his radio/cassette player was. The car was magnetised in a strange fashion. Three independent witnesses at Savigliano and Villastellone also saw the object descending over Saluzzo.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p18)

November 13 1978.

GIULIANOVA (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

The crew of the Trozza saw the water seeming to boil up and the vessel ,which was running at low speed, seemed to be dragged backwards, such that its stern was pointing towards the land. During this the ship’s radar stopped working. A sort of opaque, red, pear shaped thing then came out of the sea and exploded into sparks.

Feindt 2010 p111 citing USOCAT

November 15 1978. 1800hrs.

EAST ISLIP, LONG ISLAND (NEW YORK; USA)

An electronics worker 24 was out driving when he experienced a bright flash of blue-white light and his car stopped. He next found himself sat next to the road, at a spot some 19km away in some pain, the car nowhere to be seen. He was suffering from amnesia, his socks were off folded neatly in his back pocket, his shirt buttoned the wrong way, his shoes on the wrong way round and he had soiled himself. After searching for some minutes he found his car in a field, the lights till on, atop bushes in a field. When he got home he found a red scar under his naval and vomited blood. Doctors who examined him thought he may have been exposed to radiation. He later had flashbacks on five beings surrounding his car and pushed the window down while he cowered in terror. He was given a medical examination and had walks in a strange environment.

Budd Hopkins in MUFON Proceedings 1981 p45
Dennett 2008 154 citing Imbrogno et al 1987 p165 + Phillip J Imbrogno and Marianne Horrigan in Fate September 1995 p50

November 16 1978. 1815 hrs.

BAINEVILLE SUR MADON (MEURTHE ET MOSELLE : FRANCE)

On this cold, cloudy, hazy evening a 75 year old man who did not want his name used went to his doorway to relieve himself after the end of a TV programme. There his attention was caught by a light in the darkness in a park on the other side of the road (RD974). SAs the park was part of his property he went up to investigate, suspecting it was a tractor, the lights of which had been left on. Instead of a tractor he was confronted by something shaped like a shell or bomb about 5m wide, 2.5m high, topped by a smaller dome, from which came a steady orange light. This illuminated its brown lower section and the environs for about 30m around, though the things base remained hidden in the shadows. After a number of minutes the light changed intensity, as if, the witness thought, someone had walked in front of a lamp. The thing then took off slowly, silently and vertically, rising to the height of a hilltop and then turned 90 degrees and moved off to the east at high speed, till only the light from the dome was visible through the clouds, eventually being lost to sight behind the houses skirting the road. The observation lasted five minutes. The witness inspected the park the next day but found no trace of the thing.

Philippe Planard in LDLN 195 p17 citing invesitgation by himself and Groupe Prive Ufologique, Nanceen

November 19 1978. 0330hrs.

CAMPOTOSTO (ABZURRI : ITALY)

A number of CBers noticed that their radios stopped working while a bright red ball hovered over them for a few seconds. It then moved out of sight to the south west.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 20 1978. 1835 hrs.

WIARTON (ONTARIO : CANADA)

Brenda Nicol was driving into town when, after she had gone 800m, she observed an unusual bright light in the sky, travelling east to west and then turning to the north and descending. She observed it again about 1.2km further along, but thought it was a large aircraft and carried on to collect her 12 year old son from a hockey practice. On returning at 1905hrs. they saw the red light again, changing to white and then blue. They lost sight of it behind the treeline and when it reappeared it was orange and red again. They stopped to watch and were joined by a man and two teenagers in another car. They now saw that there were two lights, which were circling and appeared to descend towards them, so that they could see that the lights were on a vague dark shape. Unnerved, Brenda and her son drove on and were travelling on a road 300m from the highway, when the boy saw the orange-red lights following them, joined for a couple of seconds or so by a blue light in front of the red ones. Brenda then picked up some friends and returned to the Pike River, where they saw an orange red light manoeuvre and then descend behind the trees. Meanwhile, back home, her boyfriend Tony Hamer and observed a large dull red light on a North West trajectory, travelling below the top of a cedar tree, though above the top of a 15m tall tree, 800m away. Police investigations were fruitless.

David Haisell in Journal UFO 1,2 p23

November 20 1978. 2130hrs.

LOS RIOS (SANTO DOMINGO : DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

A female medical technologist in the company of her psychiatrist sister, her 10 year old daughter and two housemaids experienced a power failure. A bright light was moving in the clear sky; it stopped and sent out blue light rays, then moved off behind a small hill, from which came two small lights, one yellow, and the other red. Frightened, the five witnesses ran upstairs and watched from the window as the two lights stopped next to a road. As a car came along and illuminated the scene with its headlights, the women could see that the lights were worn on the abdomens of strange flying beings. These were conical, twice as large as human beings (3-3.7m) and wore translucent sheets. One witness saw three black humanoid silhouettes cross the headlights of the car, which had now stopped, and move to the driver’s side. The lights and the car headlights now vanished, and loud sounds like a metallic garage door shutting were heard by the women and their next door neighbour. Then the two small lights reappeared and flew off, caught in the lights from the house. The women and their neighbour ran out to see what had happened to the car, but there was no sign of it. The incident had lasted 45 minutes.

International UFO Reporter 4,2 p2 citing CEDIOVNI
L. N. Objio and Richard Heiden in APRO Bulletin 30,1 p6 citing IUR op cit + Stendek 38 p19 + Robiou 1979 p459

November 21 1978. Night.

CAIOLO (LOMBARDIA : ITALY)

Three youngsters saw a long bright trail above a mountain and then an elliptical phosphorescent body which hovered, landed in a field and then took off again.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 22 1978. 1720 hrs.

WEEDON (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Elsie Oakensen, the head of a teacher’s centre in Daventry was driving home. One of her front side lights was still not working, despite the car having come from the garage, so she drove with dipped headlights. She turned right onto the A5 at the Weedon traffic lights and noticed two very bright lights immediately above the road ahead of her, red to the left, green to the right. She first thought that it was a very low flying aircraft, but then realised that the lights were stationary. They were on something shaped rather like an hour glass on its side, 15m across, no more than 45m above the road. She heard nothing as she directly under the thing. As she approached Church Stowe she looked back on three occasions to see the flashing green and steady red light. She changed to third gear and put her foot down on the accelerator. He lights were still working but the engine was silent and dead, and the car was rolling to a halt. She changed from third to first, pressed the accelerator and the car started again, though she did not turn the engine on. But she had only gone 100m before her car was stationary again, the engine and lights were out and everywhere was in pitch blackness in a way she had never experienced before on that road. Suddenly piercing brilliant white circles of light about 1m in diameter came from nowhere, starting at the left of the car and going in front of it to the right and then returning again. There were about 12 flashes in all, the last one going up into the air. The she was in complete darkness again. Elsie then found herself driving along in 3^rd gear and drove home, with no memory of stopping or starting again. The journey took about 10 minutes longer than normal. When she got home she saw a yellow flashing light over the approximate site from her bedroom window. The sidelights now worked normally. She had twice experienced a tightening feeling around her head that day at 1300hrs. and 1700hrs.

Elsie Oakensen in BUFORA Journal 8,2 p.15
NUFON News 63 p.5 citing investigation by John Addison, Trevor Thornton and Mark Brown
Hanson and Holloway 2013a p147
Randles 1988 p190
Nagaitis and Mantle 1994 p18
Oakensen 1995 p23
Evaluation: The period of darkness and the strobe-like lights are very suggestive of a migraine attack, with the tightening in the head earlier on as warning signs. For the rest, perhaps astronomical objects shining through cloud

November 23 1978. 1700hrs.

HAUT DE RIEUPT near PONT-A-MOUSSON (MEURTHE ET MOSELLE : FRANCE)

A woman driving her two sons (7 and 5) home from school, was driving up a steep country road when all three, saw to their left, in a field about 30m away and about 10m above the ground, a powerful light. Suddenly a large greenish object with three red and orange lights shot across the field at low altitude and passed over their car with a terrific noise and headed north at great speed. The thing appeared to be a convex disc, 10m diameter, surmounted by a 3m tall cupola and had a greenish metallic appearance and emitted a buzzing sound. When the trio arrived home they and her husband saw the thing circling round, emitting its powerful buzzing sound until 19.30.

LDLN 191 p17 citing Est Republicain 25 + 26 November 1978. + investigation by GPUN and Phillipe Plantard
Evaluation: Military helicopter?

November 24 1978. Dawn.

ATRI (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Gabriele Savini went to the stable to feed his animals when he saw a bright pulsating spherical disc, with a brighter stripe in the central part, descending slowly over his house, stopping a few metres above the ground. He grabbed a pitchfork and ran behind the sphere, but was knocked to the ground and fainted.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
International UFO Reporter 4,3-4 p.9 citing an undated issue of Il Resto del Carlino.

November 24 1978. 1145 hrs.

GASTAGH near GALLIO (VENETO : ITALY)
Angelo D’Ambros (61) was collecting firewood when he turned around and saw two very strange ugly humanoids, hovering 40cm above the ground. The first was 1m tall, the second 1.2m. They were very thin, with green skins, bald heads, large ears, noses and mouths, with two protruding teeth, had very long fingers and naked feet, and wore dark overalls. They moved in sudden fast jerks, floating about 20cm above the ground, and emitting a groaning noise. One of the beings tried to grab Angelo’s pruning knife, and it when it touched, Angelo felt an electric shock up his arm. and grabbed a pole to defend himself. The beings fled in a single jerk and Angelo followed them. He came upon a blue, white and red disc with a dome and legs, which object then took off. At the site “U” shaped marks 15cm long, 3cm deep, were found and the grass was flattened in a circle 3-4m diameter.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Antonio Chiumiento in FSR 28,6 p.14 citing investigation by CUN

November 24 1978. 2100hrs.

COLCHESTER (ESSEX : ENGLAND)

While a passenger in a car driving from London to Colchester the 27 year old daughter of a RAF Group Captain, along with her companion who was driving saw an aerial light, like a car headlight in the northeast. At first apparently stationary but then approached. The couple stopped in lay-by and got out. They could now see there were two larger lights surrounded by small white ones. The thing seemed to be a total block with no separate wings and fuselage. The object moved overhead slowly and at low altitude. The passenger felt overcome and transfixed and had a feeling that “something was going to happen”. There was another couple who saw the thing but the primary witness was too shaken to speak to them.

Clarke 2017 p77 citing MOD files
Evaluation: A Boeing 720 diverted from Gatwick to Stanstead.

November 24 1978. 0330hrs.

GERENA (ANDALUSIA : SPAIN)

Five friends were out hunting with flashlights in the area just east of the Guadiamar River in the area between the towns of Gerena, Anznalcollar and Olivares on this dark, rather cloudy but windless night, with good visibility, on part of the “La Pizana” estate, 3km south-west of Gerena. One of the party returned to the car, while the other four went into a thick grove of eucalyptus trees. These were Manuel Gordillo, Francisco Lopez Rivero, a gypsy and another man, Manuel drew the others’ attention to some red lights on something on the ground in the distance. They first thought it might have been a car, but after they had crossed the stream to the side where this object was, they saw it was something peculiar, but were too engrossed in their hunting to take much notice, but then became alarmed. Manuel led them closer to the wavering red light, and noticed someone walking around a row of lights. The lights were about 3m high, 4-5m across, were multicoloured and close to the ground. Manuel, who was stretched out on the ground, only saw the stranger from the waist, as he approached them, passing about 10m from the object, which was 30m away. The stranger was very tall, appeared to be wearing boots, and made a mumbling sound that sounded as though it was coming from a deep well. After it had advanced, it was lost to sight, but then reappeared and grabbed something. Francisco, who was further back, managed to see some more details. The object resembled a large inverted earthenware jar, with a red light on top, and towards the centre were several rows of green, orange-red, and yellow lights. It appeared to be standing on bright coloured silvery legs. Francisco only saw the upper half of the figure, which appeared to be wearing a sort of helmet with a visor. The helmet was dark, the rest of the suit silvery. The figure appeared to be at least 2m tall. When this figure approached for the second time, the group fled from the scene in panic. When investigators visited the site in January they found prints 42cm long, about 13m apart.

APRO Bulletin 28,3 p1 quoting from Ignacio Deraude in Vimana 1,4 p34 citing investigation by Ignacio Alonso et al.

November 25 1978. 2015hrs.

TRIER (RHINELAND-PALATINATE : GERMANY)

US serviceman Chris Owens was driving home with his pregnant wife Pam (19) and their infant son Brian, from visiting friends, when a large oval object, with a flashing red light, appeared over their car. They arrived home at 0010, with a gap of about 100minutes. Under hypnotic regression Pam recalled getting out of the car and then finding herself on a table in a room illuminated by a dim yellow light. Two beings about 2,5m tall, with large, hairless heads, rough green skin and large deep set eyes and large fingers came in. One of the beings inserted a needle into her navel. Speaking without moving their lips, they told her they were looking after Brian and reassured her that they would not hurt Charles. Pam next recalled her, Charles and Brian stood next to the car. Four months later her baby girl was born normal.

Hall 1988 p299 + Bartholomew and Howard 1998 p375 (case 188) both citing El Independiente 22 January. 1980
Steiger 1988 p103 citing Richard Siefried

November 25 1978. 2350 hrs.

SANDFORD (TASMANIA : AUSTRALIA)

A woman was wakened by the sound of her dog barking and looked out of her window to see, in her front drive, a sort of “doorway” of white light, which illuminated that part of the driveway like day, though the rest of the surroundings were totally dark. A golden glow started to spread from this “doorway”, which really frightened her, but after two or three minutes the “door” vanished and all was darkness. Next day no traces were found.

Basterfield 1997 p.71,221 citing TUFOIC files

November 26 1978.

GUADALAJARA (JALISCO : MEXICO)

Two luminous flying objects were seen by local residents and patrolman Francisco Diaz Cortez near here. One of these objects hovered about 10m above the ground and emitted a red light that turned on the car’ siren and made it spin round. The object descended rapidly behind some nearby hills and when Diaz gave chase he encountered another flying object. He and a colleague fired on the objects, which then took off, after rapidly emitting red lights.

EarthLink 3,2 p7 citing San Diego Evening Tribune 28 November 1978.

November 27 1978. 1655hrs.

CRANK near ST. HELENS (MERSEYSIDE : ENGLAND)

Two red lights, the apparent diameter of a 50p piece, 15m apart, rose from wood and headed towards two women, making a strange, soft sound. Behind the lights was an unusual dark shaped, which the women compared to a jellyfish. The thing then changed direction and flew off.

NUFON News 56 p.9 citing investigation by Brian Fishwick
Randles 1983b p97

November 28 1978. 0200hrs.

HOBART (TASMANIA : AUSTRALIA)

A woman resident of a caravan park near Hobart woke up for no apparent reason and, wondering if she had been disturbed by petrol thieves, went to check on her car. It was a still clear night, and the area appeared to be illuminated by moonlight, though she could not remember seeing the moon. She turned to go back inside, when she caught sight of two short figures alongside a boat 15m away. She went inside, got her dressing gown and returned outside. The figures were still there; they were 75cm tall and of human form. The front figure had on its upper half what looked like a light coloured rounded necked tee-shirt. No hands nor feet were visible and the only movement was of the arms, which seemed to wave or ripple alongside the body. The second figure was just seen as a dark shape. After 2-3 minutes the witness became uneasy and went back to bed.

Keith Basterfield in APRO Bulletin 28,3 p8 citing TUFOIC

November 28 1978. 0400hrs.

HOLMES CHAPEL (CHESHIRE : ENGLAND)

A 26 year old cinema projectionist and part time worker for a security company, who was regarded as reliant and observant, was driving from Stafford to Warrington along the M6. As he was passing close to the Holmes Chapel junction his attention was caught by a “shooting star”, which appeared to land in adjacent fields. Then he saw a very large, stationary light in the NW. Puzzled, he slowed, turned off the slip road, stopped and got out, leaving his van lights and radio on. A car raced by but he was unable to attract the driver’s attention. The light then came towards him at 50m altitude, and the witness stepped back into his van in panic. He heard the radio filled with static and turned it off. The van engine was not affected. The large object passed overhead on a SE course, taking 8 seconds to do so, allowing him to see the dark metallic looking, apparently bevelled underside, and what looked like a fin at the rear. From the front were projected two beams of light, angled up and down at 45 degrees, the lower one so bright that it cast a shadow on the ground. When the thing was directly overhead, the witness heard a faint buzzing, but the object was silent the rest of the time. The object curved away to the SE. The weather was cold with no cloud and wind. The witness was extremely shaken when he arrived home. Driving from Northwich 11 days previously he had seen two bright white lights in the sky, while his radio transmitter was filled with static.

Martin Keatman in NUFON News 65 p9 citing investigation by Anthony Lakin

November 28 1978.

SANREM O (LIGURIA : ITALY)

Fishermen Sergio Castori and Giogrio Sparenzani were coming out from the sea 200m away, when they saw about 1.5km away from the shore, a whirlpool followed by a bright, very fast, light coming out of the sea.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 28 1978. 2130hrs.

MADISON COUNTY (KENTUCKY : USA)

Vickie Allen and Lise Leger were driving down Log Cabin Road, when they were chased by a large object, flashing blue and white lights, which hovered over their car, causing it to stall. Other residents apparently reported seeing something.

MUFON UFO Journal 131 p.13 citing Richmond (KY) Register 30 November 1978.

November 29 1978. 0145hrs.

NAPOLI (CAMPANIA : ITALY)

A woman was awakened by someone knocking on her window and saw two human shapes standing on her terrace. They were about 1m tall with thin arms and legs, bright spherical helmets and dark overalls. When he son arrived on the scene they were no longer there.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 30 1978. 0600hrs.

VENTIMIGLIA (LIGURIA : ITALY)

Dozens of fishermen between here and Capo Mele saw 6-9 very bright lights rising out of the sea. At the same time several people in Ventimiglia saw a bright noiseless object moving in the sky.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

November 30 1978. 1830hrs.

WALSDEN (WEST YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A woman was out walking her dog, when the animal came to a sudden halt and looked up. When the witness did the same she saw a lens shaped object, surrounded by a glow and with some sort of neon blue mass inside it. There were three circular marks that she took to be windows. The intense light did not illuminate the surroundings. The outer glow was green-white. She felt first a sensation of terror, which changed to awe, and then she seemed to sense a voice telling her not to be afraid, which induced a feeling of calm and security, as though hypnotised. This was then followed by a sensation that the thing or its unseen occupants were sampling her life experiences, and that she and the object “were joined at the soul”. She felt sad when she “knew” that it was leaving, and heard a voice telling her that she had not been harmed and would be protected. The thing then split in two and discharged a chain of sparks. Its going left her in tears.

Jenny Randles in NUFON News 143 p13 citing investigation by herself and Roy Sandbach
Randles 1993 p88
Evaluation: A classic account of a mystical experience, and it is interesting to see how this is now interpreted in secular, ufological rather than religious terms.

December 1978. 0130hrs.

NEWTON (CAMBRIDGESHIRE : ENGLAND)

Michael Bradford, licensee of the “Old English Gentleman” inn at Harston, about 8km from Cambridge, was putting the dog out, when he noticed a star like light, which grew in brilliance and descended at 45 degrees behind trees near Newton, about 4km away he drove towards the scene and just before Newton observed an orange glow in a stubble field to his left. He reversed, got out and went through a gap in the hedge. About 150m away, across the field, were two pulsating orange lights 7.5-9m apart, about 2m above the ground, brightening and dimming in opposition. After a few moments Michael began walking towards them, but had only gone a couple of paces, when a light, the brilliance of a 150 watt bulb and the size of a tennis ball, jumped from almost under his feet, reached a height of about 1.8m and then zigzagged towards the orange lights, disappearing between them.

This was followed over about the next several minutes by about 10 other white spheres coming from various points in the field and surrounding hedges and trees, all performing similar manoeuvres before disappearing between the orange lights. The last ball appeared about 4.5m above the ground and Michael drove to get underneath it but failed. He then drove home and returned with his wife Gwen. The light now appeared as a circular orange rim, with vertically divisions, but not shape could be made out behind the lights, which were now duller and no longer pulsating. One white sphere then came from the top of a tree and disappeared as before. The Bradfords then returned home, leaving the orange lights still there. When they returned to the site in the daylight the lights had gone.

Norman Oliver in BUFORA Journal 9,1 p.21 citing his own investigation

December 1978. (Approximate date) Evening.

SANTA CRUZ (RIO GRANDE DO NORTE : BRAZIL)

Francisco Henrique De Souza (78) was walking back to his ranch south-east of Santa Cruz after visiting friends and had stopped to smoke when the area was illuminated by a light coming from aa vertical cylindrical object hovering a few metres overhead. An opening appeared in the object, through which De Souza could see a man and a woman sat motionless. From this opening came a brilliant light that surrounded the witness who felt himself being drawn up into the thing. He held on tight to a small palm tree as he felt this levitating force five times. Some sort of hot liquid dropped on him, burning his arms. Eventuality the opening closed and the object moved off.

Bob Pratt in Good 1990 p109

December 1978. (Approximate date)

HOLLYWELL (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

Several children detected a foul smell and then saw saw a 2.1m tall ape like biped running through the bush, snorting as it did so. The same thing happened a week later.

Healy and Cropper 1978. p244 case 129 citing Gold Coast Bulletin 11 January. 1979 + investigation by Paul Cropper

December 1978. (Approximate date ) Afternoon.

LAMINGTON NATIONAL PARK (QUEENSLAND : AUSTRALIA)

Two teenagers hiking back to Binna Burra lodge heard a sound like the chopping of wood and then one of them saw a dark, possibly hairy, 1.8m tall biped, moving into the rainforest.

Healy and Cropper p244 case 128 citing investigation by Malcolm Smith

December 1978.

MEGALONG VALLEY (NEW SOUTH WALES : AUSTRALIA)

Steve Delainy was out bushwalking near the Packsaddlers when he saw a 1.8m tall, hairy humanoid moving in the bushes. Steve turned and fled

Gilroy 1995 p218

December 1978.
KROTZ SPRINGS (LOUISIANA : USA)

Jack Potter was out driving on a deserted road when they encountered a fast moving bipedal creature covered in red brown hair.

Guttilla 2003 p267 citing Willamette Valley Observer n.d.

December 1978.
KROTZ SPRINGS (LOUISIANA : USA)

A youth counsellor from Alabama encountered a 2.5m biped.

As above.

December 1978.

RAPATEE (ILLIONOIS : USA)

Two teenage girls out driving on Rte 116 near Rapatee saw a cylindrical object that came within 3m of their car, circled it, and left to the west at high speed. There was no sound.

Ridge 1994 p66 citing press sources

December 1978. 2155hrs.

TITTENSOR (STAFFORDSHIRE : ENGLAND)

A farmer was driving out to collect his wife from her hospital shift when he saw two bright lights coming towards him low over the hedges. He stopped and wound down his window but he could not hear anything. He then climber up a low embankment to see the lights cross the fields about 40m away, banking at one point to avoid a tree and telegraph pole. The thing was a sort of oval with tapered ends, about11m long, 3m wide, surmounted by a straight turret like structure, 3m wide, 3m high and was divided by struts. From the gaps between these came a powerful light. On the underside of the base was a sort of grill composed of bars about 1m long.

Jenny Randles in Fortean Times 271 p27 citing investigation by Martin Keatman

December 1 1978. 0005hrs.

OFFERTON (GREATER MANCHESTER : ENGLAND)

MRS b Roston (31) was letting her dog out before going to bed, when she noticed a bright star like light in the sky, emitting three different colours. She thought nothing of this, let the dog in, and went to her daughter’s bedroom where she saw the “star” again. Suddenly a sort of fireball appeared to the east the “star” hovered for a while and then began to come straight towards her. As it came closer she could see that it was triangular, with a light in each corner. It passed within less than 5m from the house with a swishing noise. Her daughter also saw the object.

Skywatch 32 p.5 citing investigation by MAPIT

Early December 1978. Dawn.

VACRI (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Two workers saw two beings wearing bright overalls and ovoid helmets as a fireball passed over.

CUN Provisional Catalogue

December 6 1978. 0005hrs.

MONDELLO DI PALMERMO (SCILIA : ITALY)

Teacher, Salvatore Guadfagna, student Pietro Troia and several other people observed a very bright light beam forming a luminous circle, 5m diameter on the ground. The beam was coming from a light in the sky, which was slowly moving and stopping. The aerial light was rose-white in colour and the beam was blue.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 6 1978. Evening.

NORWAY (SOUTH CAROLINA : USA)

Farmer Richard Fanning (21), his wife and two companions saw a 3m diameter light, under which were two pairs of red and green lights, hovering over their hog pen. The party drove away but the things followed at ground level, the white light 50m behind, the red and green ones pulling alongside. After 3 or 4 minutes all the lights went out. When Richard went to feed the hogs three days later he found two of the animals were dead.

Berlitz 1989 p66

December 6 1978. 2035hrs.

MARIMBONDA (MINAS GERAIS : BRAZIL)

Jesus Antunes Moreira, a night watchman at the Marimbonda Hydroelectric Plant, a man regarded as steady and reliable, was in the guard house on to the dam, sheltering from the rain. Suddenly he noticed something illuminating the surface of the water in the dam, and stepped outside to see what was causing it. he saw an object approaching him from across the Rio Grande 200m away, and level with the horizon. He first thought it was some new type of helicopter, but when it got closer, he saw it was an object 5m wide, 3m high, white and luminous. It appeared to land on the dam and he walked towards it; but the object went past him and moved to the earthen part of the dam, 1.5m from the foot. By now it was only 7m away, and Jesus could see it was of a light grey colour, with a door 2m high, a little window in the upper part and a sort of platform running right around it. Then the little window opened and a human like face appeared. The door then opened and from it came three beings about 2m tall, dressed in blue metallic overalls, and with long smooth black hair. They spoke to him in an unknown language.

Thinking that perhaps they were foreign engineers, Jesus muttered something about getting someone who spoke the language, and went towards the telephone. But as he did so, one of the beings gestured at him to stay back, which so alarmed him that he got out his revolver to fire a warning shot over their heads, but it would not fire. At that point one of the beings went back into the machine and collected a black box, like a shoe box, which it handed to one of its colleagues, the one with the longest hair. Jesus noticed that they all wore luminous rose coloured gloves. Now he was able to understand what they were saying, as if they were talking in Portuguese. They told him to keep calm as they meant no harm. When Jesus asked them what they wanted, they said they were on a research and mission, and if he kept calm he would learn all about it. When one of them tried to extract some stones using a rope and hook, Jesus objected, whereupon they put away the box and re-entered their craft. When Jesus was examined he was found to be suffering from nausea and an extreme sensitivity to light.

FSR 25,3 p18 citing Vakdir Pachedo in Ultima Hora 2 March 1979 citing investigation by Walter Buhler
Buhler et al 1985 p55

December 6 1978. Night.

RINCON near JARABACOE (LA VEGAL : DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

During the night, four people observed a discoid object, surmounted by a dome, stationary over a pine tree for four hours. It moved slowly out of sight. At 0700 on the 7th the watchman saw a tall being, with very bright eyes and dressed in a coverall, stood next to the tree. He thought it was a thief and attacked it, but it stepped aside and disappeared.

Leonte Objio and Richard Heiden in APRO Bulletin 30, 1 p6

December 6 1978. 2345hrs.

MARZANO DI TORRIGLIA (LIGURIA : ITALY)

Fortunato “Peiro” Zanfretta (26), a married man with two children, who worked as a co-operative security guard, was on patrol, when 100m before the last of the summer villas on his beat, he saw, after a turn in the road, four white lights, like torches, arranged in a triangle and moving to and fro 1m or so above the ground in front of the South East facade of the house. Thinking it was thieves, , he tried to radio HQ, but after only getting the call sign of one of his colleagues, his radio went dead, followed by his car’s headlights and internal lighting. He decided to see what was up at the villa before dealing with its lights. Armed with his torch, he walked towards the house, noting the total silence of the area. When he reached the gate, he saw the lights standing silent about 15m away. Looking round he became even more convinced that burglary was in progress, so he got out his gun and began sneaking around to surprise the crooks. Ass he looked around the south corner something pushed him to the ground from behind, and as he fell, the torch came on by itself. Thinking that the thieves had got him from behind, he grabbed the torch, his cap touching something as he did so. As he staggered to his feet, he pointed his torch up to a figure that seemed to consist of a mass of horizontal dark grey tubes. Finally at 3m, he picked out a dark green head about 60cm wide, with two enormous triangular yellow eyes, inclined upwards at the outer corner, and on the lower part of the forehead, an ill defined yellow “third eye”, surrounded by wrinkles. At the side of the head were great pointed spines, in front of which were large pointed ears or horns. No sooner had FZ picked out this figure than it vanished.

Terror stricken, FZ dashed back to the car; as he did so he heard an unbearably loud whistle and felt a wave of heat. He swung round back in the direction of the villa, where he saw the profile of the upper part of a large flattened triangle, the base of which seemed hidden in an immense dazzling light that forced him to put his arm up to shield his eyes. As he did so, FZ saw the glow spread beyond the confines of the house and shoot up into the air. He dived back to the car, noting that the lights and radio were on again and had time to make a hysterical message before fainting. When his colleagues arrived on the scene at 0106, FZ was in a large field 80m from the car, had just come to, and was quite hysterical and panic stricken. At the spot where he was found, a dark horseshoe shaped impression 3cm deep, 15cm long, minimum width 2.5cm, maximum 8cm, was found. A similar mark, 2m diameter was found in a field to the north west of the vill. There was no trace of a burglary or disturbance at the house. FZ further described the figure as having ripples of dark grey flesh, like the “Michelin Men” Under hypnotic regression he recalled the period as he ran back to the car and said that he had been under the control of several of the beings, who came from “the third galaxy”, and being taken to a hot, bright, round room.

FSR 26, 1 p4 quoting Lucinano Boccone et al in Notiziario UFO 3, 2 citing own investigation
International UFO Reporter 4,5 p13 citing Gente 20 January 1979 + Skywatch not dated + SHADO News 1,1.
CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Marco Raffa in Earthlink 3,2 p2
Buhler et al 1985 p174

Early December 1978. Dawn.

VACRI (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Two workers saw two beings with bright overalls and ovoid helmets, while a fireball passed over.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 7 1978. 2355hrs.
NAVELLI (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Alfonso Marinelli was out driving near here when his car engine failed. When Alfonso got out the car he saw two lights approaching at 12m altitude. When they got closer he saw that they were two little beings dressed in tight shiny suits and helmets, flying along in a vertical pose with lights on their chests, The objects moved on for a while and then turned round and traversed their path till they were out of sight, at which Alfonso could start his car again.

Gerhart 2013 p46

December 8 1978. 0130hrs.

PORTEGRANDI (VENETO : ITALY)

Franco Bergamo and Luisa Geminian were driving home when they observed some orange flashes of light. Coming nearer, they confronted a discoid object hovering 3m above the road, 40m away. It was 7-8m in diameter, had four bright orange lights all around it, four white beams pointed towards the ground, a smaller orange light in the lower part and another one on a dome. As the couple drove back, badly frightened, the object changed shape into a red fireball and then returned to a disc shape and then back again into a sphere as they left the area.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 8 1978. 0430hrs.

BARLETTA (PUGLIA : ITALY)

Several night-watchmen saw a bright light moving from north to south. They stopped four youths in a car and sent them to call for the carabineers. They went and then returned to see a triangular object hovering in the sky. It was like an inverted cone rotating on its own axis and emitted a brilliant white light. The thing began to move towards Trani and the youths drove behind it. Suddenly it stopped and another object appeared right in front of their car, blinding the driver, who staggered out into the road. He was so shaken that he had to be hospitalised with a nervous breakdown. The carabineers arrived in time to see the light and call their station, where the commander was watching it with his binoculars.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 9 1978. (Approximate date) 1600hrs.

BRIZE NORTON (OXFORDSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Chris Bromham was going out for a walk on this drizzly Afternoon when he became aware of the sound of piston driven aircraft. He then saw two children dressed in long grey coats and carrying what looked like gas masks. They held out their hands and Chris took them across the road. The children then walked off and after 15-20m just disappeared.

Robinson 2000 p80

December 9 1978. 2300hrs.

MILANESE (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Two lads saw a blinding blue-white light among the trees. One of them approached it, going out of sight of his companion. A few minutes later the light took off into the sky. The second boy called some companions and they went in search of the boy who had disappeared. They found him in the opposite direction, unconscious, cold and having trouble in breathing. It took him some time to come to, he was unable to walk and could not strand the light. Both boys suffered from conjunctivitis for a few days. The boy who went missing had a strange wound on his leg, as if it had been made surgically. He remembered approaching the pear shaped light, which grew larger. He then saw three or four human shapes with melon shaped heads, outlined against the light. Frightened, he tried to run away, but found himself paralysed, and then could only remember indescribable lights and sounds, along with feelings of being touched and lifted up.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
Paolo Fiorino in UFO Times 13 p.6 gives date as 9th, time as 2000hrs. and location as Milanere

December 10 1978. 2230hrs.

SERRENTI (SARDINIA : ITALY)

Driver Osimo Lilliu, worker Emanuele Perra and peasant Benedetto Corna independently observed a bright red stripe, wider at the bottom than the top, take off from fields

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 12 1978. 0430hrs.

CONOLEY MOOR (NORTH YORKSHIRE : ENGLAND)

Two police officers, Sergeant Tony Dodd and Constable Alan Dale were on night patrol near Conoley Moor when the road became illuminated by a powerful light. When they looked up, they saw a large, luminous disc shaped object, moving slowly north to south. They first thought that it was an aircraft on fire and about to crash, but then saw that it was at about 30m altitude, travelling no more than 65kph. On its underside were three large spheres, and on the upper part was a dome in which there were darkened portholes. The soundless object was about 30m in diameter, and had a large number of red, blue, green and white lights, and seemed to be surrounded by a sort of halo. The object passed overhead and appeared to land on the moor.

Hanson and Holloway 2013a p.156 citing Tony Dodd
Good 1987 p115 citing his own investigation
Good 1996 p79 dates this to January 1978!
Evaluation: The description comes exclusively from Dodd, probably years after the event. The description is obviously based on the fake photographs of George Adamski, and Dodd was later to have a career as an abductee and contactee. If not entirely the product of his fertile imagination, this might have been a bright fireball

December 12 1978. 0800hrs.

BURGHAUSSEN (BAVARIA : (FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF) GERMANY

Adele Holzer was driving to work when she saw a white hemispherical object, hovering over some nearby trees. She stopped and got out for a better look, and noted it had a row of luminous green portholes along its edge. She mentally wished for the object to turn, which it did, revealing three spheres on its underside, a large central one, and a smaller one on each side, It also had a central orange spot. The thing then shot 6 beams of green light at her, which made her feel “slightly paralysed”, and sense that she had been given a message that “they” were friendly and that we should not destroy the earth. The beams then went out and the object took off. Adele found that her watch had stopped, and her ignition key, that she was holding, had become bent.

Haines 1999 p258 citing Hesemann 1994 (Geheimache UFO Neuweid 1994)

December 12 1978. 2350hrs.

ADRANO (SCILIY : ITALY)

While driving between Adrano and Regalbuto, Alfredo Canciullo and a friend observed a large rotating ball, the colour changing white-red-blue-green, which hovered motionless for 17 minutes, hurting their eyes and giving them a headache. The car would not work until the object left.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 13 1978.

BRINDISI (PUGLIA : ITALY)

Two sentries at an air force base watched, independently, an object emitting intermittent green and orange lights, which manoeuvred then hovered. Not very far from them, they saw a strange being, which looked as it were wearing a cloak, take off and rise high into the sky.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 13 1978.

CASALBORDINO (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Motorist Temisteele Brogli saw a dome shaped object, its colour chsnginfg from white to orange, moving as fast as his car, 30m in front of him at 10m above the ground. It then moved out to see near Castalbordino.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 13 1978. Dawn.

CHIETI (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

An object like an illuminated building was seen taking off.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 13 1978. 2230hrs.

CONCHE DI AGIRA (SICILY : ITALY)

A peasant. Angelo Naselli observed a luminous sphere moving above the ground at head height.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 14 1978. Early hours.

(MAINE : USA)

A man felt a compulsion to get up and go for a drive. He was driving along Route 9E when his car suddenly stopped and he heard a sort of clicking sound. He then saw a large dark, rectangular object hovering about 10m above the ground, 15m away. A green light shone into the car, giving the witness the feeling of pins and needles. He felt paralysed and entranced. The light changed to red-pink and began to pulse at high speed. He heard a voice telling him not to be afraid and that “they” came from the 17th star and would return. The lights then went out and the crackling sound returned at high tempo. The car now restarted. The witness felt cold now and the skin around his nose began to peel

Fowler 1981 p149

December 14 1978. 0430hrs.

FARO (MARCHE : ITALY)

Police patrolmen Tommaso Davi and Pantaleone Palladinetti observed a bright light coming out of the sea and rising to 500m, where it hovered, emitting a red cigar shaped cloud. It then moved rapidly towards Senigallia where it emitted a smaller bright light, which came back over Fano. Part of the phenomenon was seen by another patrol near Silligate.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 14 1978. 0830hrs

DOLCEDO (LIGURIA : ITALY)

A large number of people saw a bright glistening disc come earthwards and land. It was also seen by several schoolboys at Porto Maurizio.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 14 1978. 2350hrs.

CALENZA (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

A young motorist driving between Calenza and Torrebruna saw a bright object coming towards him along the road. At first he thought it was a car and switched his headlights on. It then stopped in front of his car, and his radio stopped working. The man approached and the object, which was about10m in diameter. An opening appeared and he into a very brightly illuminated circular room, where there were a lot of strange instruments. After a few minutes he left and the object took off.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 15 1978. Afternoon.

CATANIA (SICILY : ITALY)

Two boys playing near a TV mast saw a hovering object with multicoloured lights. A door opened in it and an ugly being with two buttons for eyes and no mouth nor nose, descended in a light beam and stood floating above the ground. One of the boys ran away, while a third arrived and saw the scene. Then a taller entity appeared near the door. The first being carried something like a pistol, with which it shot at the rocks, breaking one. It then fell back to the ground and was taken back inside the object by the light beam, along with an iron tube the boys had been playing with. The object then took off.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 15 1978. 1830hrs.

COLLEGNO (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

Several people saw a 1.6m tall being wearing rose coloured overalls standing near a wall. The figure had no facial features. One fellow, braver than the rest, thought it was a boy playing a trick, so he walked up to it, but was so frightened by the being’s absolute stillness that he dared not touch it. Police were called and searched the cellars for what they assumed was a hoaxer, but when they finally saw the figure it was running away at an impossible speed, and they were unable to catch.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 15 1978. 2350hrs.

LICODIA EUBEA (SICILIA : ITALY)

Truck driver Angelo Capuzzello was listening to the radio as he drove home, when the radio went off by itself. He stopped to repair it and saw a bright flash fall from the sky, a few metres from his truck. Two human shapes, 2m tall, wearing tight fitting overalls and large flattened helmets approached the truck. When they were 5m away, two bright beams, like soldering iron lights, came from their helmets, lighting up the truck cabin. They came within a few centimetres of Angelo and spoke in a clear low voice, in an incomprehensible language. Thinking they were asking where the town was, Angelo showed them. They then went back and disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later a domed shaped object took off with a bright flash. The radio was working again. He detected a strong sulphurous odour.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 16 1978. 0045hrs.

PICTON (MARLBOROUGH, SOUTH ISLAND : NEW ZEALAND)

Mrs Pegg Macdonald was still in the living room, a few minutes after her husband, Frank (55), a worker at the freezing plant, had gone to bed, when the room became illuminated by a brilliant light. She woke her husband and their son-in-law, John Andrell and his wife Francis, who lived next door. When he went outside, Frank saw, 30m above the bush ridge beyond Waikawa Bay, about 1.2km away, a light shaped like an inverted sheaf of wheat, almost 500m long, and emitting a blue-green light, dimmer than the moonlight. For some minutes the object was as still as a photograph, then it shot up into the area and began to billow out streams of flame. It then descended back to 30m above the ridge in a couple of seconds. It performed about 20-30 more bounces in the next few minutes, moving slowly northwards, following the contours of the ridge. The object then began to drift towards Allports Island, getting dimmer as it did so. Then four powerful red lights came on from its underside. Frank was then able to see the object, now at 55m altitude. It was a hemisphere with a vertical red “V” down the side, which looked as though it had been crudely painted on. The thing then shot from the island to Kumutoto Bay, 9.5km away, tilting as it passed, revealing a dome with a diamond shaped top, from which came dome projected five cylindrical objects like tunnels, with large red cowlings at the end. The rest of the object was silver-red. It appeared to be moving in and out of control manner, the beams illuminating the area. It moved to a saddle in the mountains and then moved back over the bay toward the island. Frank could now see right into it and put his binoculars down with a feeling that he was intruding. As it reached the island again, the light wrapped around it and it seemed to be back under control as it moved off over the Sound.

Startup and Illingworth 1980 p18 citing their own investigation + Marlborough Express 20 December 1978.

December 16 1978. 2000hrs.

NORWOOD (GREATER LONDON : ENGLAND)

Ian V (14) was travelling in his father’s car in the direction of the Crystal Palace TV mast at Norwood when he saw a sizeable object with flashing lights that moved slowly over the top of the car, where it was lost to view for a few seconds. Then his brother saw it again and they watched it for about 20 seconds until it disappeared from sight. It was a hexagonal object with a black body and red and yellow flashing lights, which was travelling between 15-25m above the ground.

Ken Phillips in BUFORA Journal 8,2 p12 citing his own investigation

December 17 1978.

SAINT EWE (CORNWALL : ENGLAND)

W P Wroath observed an object about 30m diameter and 30m above the ground, resembling a giant red mushroom, with a stem like a beam of light, winch gave the impression of a vast metallic column. The cupola was surrounded by “gentle” flames. On the rim were blue discs. Wisps of cloud formed themselves around the cupola appearing and disappearing in a continuous cycle. Where the pillar met the ground, there was a brilliant white light and a white mist. The thing moved off in the direction of St Austell’s bay.

Journal UFO 1,3 p8 citing an undated issue of Sunday Independent (Dublin)

December 17 1978. 2330hrs.

BOCCONI (EMILIA : ITALY)

Three people were out driving when their car stopped as they saw an intense white ball crossing the road 3m above the ground 15-20m away. It then hovered and opened up in slices with white flashes. There were independent sightings in the area.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 17 1978. (or following day)

MONTEBELLO DI BERTONA (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Postman Giuseppe Colaasante saw a fiery mass 2m in diameter coming straight towards him.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 17 1978. (or following day) Night.

COLLIXDI BARETE (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

A woman saw a very bright light in some fields. She first thought it was a fire but then a round orange light took off. No traces were found.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 18 1978. 0105hrs.

WALTON ON THAMES (SURREY : ENGLAND)

Security manager Paul Brown and his brother in law David Barrowcliffe, an immigration officer with many years’ experience observing aircraft, were driving along the M3 in the Walton on Thames area when, to their left, they noticed an aerial object with large red lights on either end. As it approached their car they saw that it was disc shaped with more red lights around it. A dull silver ball then dropped from this object, floated across the motorway and landed in a field on the other side. The main object was by then in level flight, 60m up, and Paul drove onto the hard shoulder and switched off the engine to listen. The main object was making a sound like an electric train boosting its motor” Four red lights surrounded a grey disc, which could be clearly seen as the object moved off in the opposite direction to the witnesses, first slowly and then at up to 300kph, staying in line with the motorway and showing two small white lights at the rear. Although there had been a fair amount of traffic, the motorway was completely clear when the incident occurred.

Ken Phillips in BUFORA Journal 8,2 p10 citing his own investigation.

Mid December 1978.

VILLADACTI (PEIMONTE : ITALY)

A youngster was out driving when his car stopped and he saw a tall luminous green man cross the road. He fainted and was unable to remember anything more. There were psychological and/or physiological after effects

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 20 1978.

PENNE (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

A round bright object, with brighter windows, attempted to land.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 20 1978. 2020hrs.

ABBINGDON (INDIANA : USA)

Five people in a car when they saw a dark object, three times the angular diameter of the moon, descend over the trees and hover in front of them. As it did so the car’s engine and radio failed. The thing had three red lights, and a large white on at its rear. The object then left with a “whooshing” sound.

Ridge 1994 p66 citing Don Worley

December 22 1978. 0015hrs.

CASTELNUOVO (CAMPANIA : ITALY)

Two men out driving saw strange lights and coming closer saw a large dark mass, surmounted by a dome, hovering a few metres above power lines. They switched their car headlights onto it, and it replied by pointing light beams at the car. Frightened the men drove away and were passed over by the object a few minutes later. At the site a triangle like track was found, where the ground was calcinated, and nearby footprints 45cm long, 21cm wide were found.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 22 1978. 2145hrs.

SAN DONNA DI PIAVE (VENETO : ITALY)

Scores of people were surprised when a giant inverted cone of light descended from a cloud into a garden.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 22 1978. Night.

PAINTSVILLE (KENTUCKY : USA)

Shirley Elkins was sat listening out for flood warnings on her radio when the local dogs started barking and she felt a strange vibration shaking the house. Looking out she saw a hairy face against the window. As the thing retreated she saw it was humanoid shaped. The thing entered the cemetery, shaking trees and ripping up shrubs before moving off.

Newton 2010 p67

December 23/4 1978. Night./Early hours.

ALBINIA (TOSCANA : ITALY)

On the night of the 23/4 some motorists between Albina and Fonteblande saw an object like one plate inverted over the other, wider than the 4 lane highway, flying at treetop height. It lit up the road twice with a large white beam. After switching off the beam it flew away, illuminated by small lights all around it.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 24 1978. 0650hrs.

PIETRACAMELA (ABRUZZO : ITALY)

Benito Franchi, working in the power station, felt suddenly ill and faint, while at the same time the working generator dial hands registered an overload on the network, and the dial hands on the disconnected generator were also waving. This continued for about a minute, leaving the dials badly out of calibration. Benito felt paralysed and fell to the ground. Suddenly everything was finished and out of the window he saw three or four bright flashes coming from a ball of brilliant red light, which hurt his eyes, as the thing took off and disappeared into the sky. Benito suffered from severe conjunctivitis and dials had to be calibrated again. Another manoeuvring, colour changing light was seen over Mt Gran Sasso by a colleague, Guido Di Varano and by hotel keeper Aladino Parogna and his clients at Prati di Tivo

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 25 1978. 1020hrs.

PLYMPTON (DEVON : ENGLAND)

Barbara Browett, a former RAF photographer, was walking along Downfield Way back to her home in Plymstock, past an area of open fields, when she saw a smooth silvery cylindrical object, with tapered ends moving slowly along about 30m above the rooftops. The object seemed to rise slightly as it went along just faster than walking pace. It had neither lights nor external features and was silent, Barbara was struck by the lack of ambient sound during the observation.

Boyd 1982 p10

December 26 1978. (Approximate date) 0030hrs.

FRESNO (CALIFORNIA : USA)

A man driving along an old dirt road, finally gave up his fight against sleep and slept in his car beside a walnut grove. He was suddenly awakened by a bright light, like daylight. Thinking he had overslept he got out of his car. The light went off and he saw a disc shaped object 30m away and approaching at 25m altitude. Its neon blue light changed to a “powdery” orange-white. He heard a hissing sound and an opening appeared, in which there were three or four entities, with large heads and eyes but lacking ears or hair. They wore sparkling clothing. The object seemed to pulsate in unison with his heartbeat. He then heard another hiss and another opening appeared. At this point the witness panicked and tried to drive away, but it took many attempts before his car would start. Afterwards he suffered from sore eyes, facial rash and sore nose.

Swords 2005 p93 citing John Timmerman

December 26 1978. 0430hrs.

CICAGNA (LIGURIA : ITALY)

Truck driver Aldo Devoto, his son and mother in law, were awoken by a strong blast and the room was illuminated by a light coming in through the window. A few metres from the house an object the size of a car, with protrusions, was hovering. It emitted bright flashes from two points, which hit Aldo’s eyes, irritating them. The object then left southwards, emitting two fiery trails.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 26 1978. Afternoon.

BIG THICKET NATIONAL RESERVE (TEXAS : USA)

Alan Briggs was out driving through the Big Thicket when something like a 2.5m tall bipedal lizard, with green skin and wearing a blue military style suit ran across the road in front of him.

Redfern 2017 p389

December 27 1978. 2345hrs.

ROSSI DI TORRIGLIA (LIGURIA : ITALY)

The night watchman Fortunato Zanfretta (qv) was driving towards Torriglia when he suddenly experienced a strong headache and found himself enveloped in mist. He tried to stop the car, but could not, the car driving itself, turning and climbing ever faster along the road, the brakes and steering wheel completely unworkable. The car stopped by a large bright oval object and he felt he had to get out, as the car door opened itself. His colleagues found him at 0110 on December 28^th. Under hypnotic regression he recalled being taken on board a yellow triangle shaped object, via a green light beam. There, in a very hot room, he was questioned by and questioned a group of strange tall green skinned beings, which took his pistol and fired it against a picture. When he was found, five bullets were missing from their cartridges and six cartridges were also missing., but it was clear that they had not been fired from his gun. Fortunato was found in his car, hot and suffering from sunburn on his face, the car roof was hot also, although the night was foul and wet. Footprints 50cm long were found all round the area.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.
International UFO Reporter 4,5 p13 +Earthlink 3,2 p5 give earlier versions of this story, the CUN version is used here

December 281978. (Approximate date) 0430hrs.

ARROYITO (CORDOBA : ARGENTINA)

Three employees of the Provincial Power Board; Orlanda Corizo (40), Severiano Brunetto (53) and his 20 year old son Daniel Omar, were about to cross a bridge near Arroyito in their truck when they saw an object hovering a short distance from the ground. One of the men exchanged signals with the occupants of the craft. Suddenly the trio were in the middle of the road, 15km away, with no sense of crossing the bridge or travelling along the road. They still had their cigarettes in their hands as they were about to cross the bridge.

MUFON UFO Journal 133 p15 citing Buenos Aires Herald 29 December 1978. citing an undated issue of Cordoba.

December 28 1978. Evening.

AVIGLIANA (PIEMONTE : ITALY)

A bright light landed on the frozen surface of a lake.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 30 1978. 0045hrs.

CUPRAMARITTIMA (MARCHE : ITALY)

Alfredo Danese on board the boat “Domenico Verni”, 8km off shore saw a large red ball very slowly descending onto the town of Cupra, being reflected on the sea surface as it did so. The same phenomenon was also seen by another fisherman on the boat “Barabarico”, two youngsters on the beach and by a motorist. No traces were found at the presumed landing site near the Castle.

CUN Provisional Catalogue 1978.

December 31 1978. Night.

FANO (MARCHE : ITALY)

Many people saw a luminous sphere coming from the sea. There was TV interference and variations in voltage for some minutes.

Jacques Bonabot citing A Cortellazi in Approche 21 p22 case 1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pages

INTCAT 1978. AUG - DEC