The UFOs came to Hillsdale County in Michigan
about 18 months ago. Since then, 37 sightings have involved objects which
cannot be identified.
Of all these sightings, only one, and
that one not the most spectacular, has resulted in wide publicity. This is
explained by the pledge made to UFO witnesses by William E. Van Horn, county
civil defence director, that he will not divulge the names of persons who give
him information.
Van Horn considers that it falls
within his duty as head of civil defence to investigate the sightings in the
interest of public safety. He noted that in some other areas visited by UFOs
witnesses reporting the incidents had been subjected to harassment and
humiliation by investigative agencies and the public. Van Horn was determined
that this would not happen in his county. People, he said that he believed,
have the right to report what they see without running the chance of being
made to look like fools.
The policy has resulted in public
co-operation in his investigations which would not otherwise have been
possible. The folks of Hillsdale County know that what they tell him will go
no further than his files.
Formal Report
The one sighting which gained
publicity gained it, not so much because it was particularly spectacular, but
because Van Horn disagreed with conclusions reached by the United States Air
Force and said so in a formal report challenging the air force findings.
Fully subscribing to Van Horn's
method of operation, and co-operating with him, is Richard Deller, safety
director of the City of Hillsdale, the county seat. Deller is administrative
head of the city's police, fire and health departments.
The policy which treats in confidence
the names of witnesses and, in most instances, the details of the sightings,
amounts to official management of news. It can be a frustrating situation for
a reporter to walk into, but it does produce results in that people are not
afraid to talk to their officials. Hillsdale County, as a result, has an
outstanding file of information of UFOs.
No Explanation
As might be expected, many sightings
have been reported which have been explained as low-flying aircraft and other
phenomena which traditionally have given rise to UFO reports. The 37 incidents
which Van Horn cites are those events for which, at the moment, no explanation
exists.
The county is agricultural with
broad, rich fields and neat farm buildings. With a population of 8,500, the
City of Hillsdale has a number of industrial plants and is a trading centre
for the surrounding farm area. It is intensely proud of HilIsdale College,
founded in 1844. It has wide cultural interests. It is as American as a field
of corn. Its people are solid midwestern citizens.
Here is no backwoods community where
superstitious beliefs might be a factor in UFO sightings. Nor would one be
likely to find the people of Hillsdale County inclined to the cultism which
often gives rise to flying saucer tales.
Near Dormitory
The one sighting that gained wide
publicity came on the night of last March 21. Coeds at one of the dormitories
at Hillsdale College saw an object with glowing lights plunge by outside the
windows. Later the object, or one very much like it, returned to hover over a
park area back of the dormitory. During the night, it was observed by 90 to
100 students. Van Horn, called to the scene, found the object was located
1,300 to 1,500 feet from the dormitory, and that at times it rested on or near
the ground. Two lights were visible. One he described as a "dirty white," the
other as a dim orange. At times, however, the brilliance of the lights would
increase, and the white would become a clear white and the orange a bright
red. When this happened, the object would rise to a height of 100 to 150 feet
and then slowly settle back to its original position. The two lights, at all
times, maintained a distance of about 25 feet.
Van Horn estimated the rate of ascent
and descent at 25 to 30 feet a minute. At times the object also oscillated
with a smooth sidewise motion. At no time did it make a noise.
At one point during his observation,
Van Horn reported, a glow from the reverse side of the object flared up, and
he was able to distinguish a convex surface. He estimates that he was able to
see the surface clearly for a period of 30 seconds to a minute.
'Marsh Gas'
The object remained visible for about
5 1/2 hours, from 11 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. Van Horn might not have voluntarily
released the news of the sighting, but it is hard to keep secret something
which has been seen by up to 100 people. The news leaked out.
On March 24, Dr. J. Allen Hynek,
director of Northwestern University's Dearborn Observatory and an air force
UFO consultant, arrived to investigate the sighting. His conclusion: What tile
students had seen was marsh gas. Also, he said, "certain young men had played
pranks with flares." The object he said, had hovered over marshy ground, which
made marsh gas seem the most probably explanation.
In a formal reply, Van Horn answered
Hynek point by point.
2 Days Later
The "flare incident," he said, did
not happen on March 21 but two days later, when two young men, apparently
hoping to give rise to another UFO "scare" ran about the park area with
torches.
Hynek may never have seen marsh gas;
Van Horn had. He stated positively that the object he had seen was not marsh
gas.
Nor was the area over which the
object hovered a marsh. It was, rather, a park connected with the college.
Hynek had not visited the area and apparently had assumed it was a marsh.
Hynek mentioned that popping sounds,
such as might be made by marsh gas, had been heard. There had been, Van Horn
said, no sounds - popping or otherwise.
Disputing Hynek's statements, Van
Horn said that the weather was far too cold for the formation of marsh gas and
that a wind was blowing, sufficiently strong to dissipate any gas had it
formed. He bolstered his statement with meteorological data.
In an appendix to his report, Van
Horn reported the investigation had shown that the area over which the object
hovered contained an abnormal amount of radiation, not only in the soil, but
in the plant and animal life found there. All microscopic plant and animal
life in a small pond in the area was dead.
White patches floated on the surface
of the pond. Analysis showed this white material to be boron. The purity of
the element was about 90 per cent. Unusual amounts of boron were found in the
soil, as well.
Boron exists in some soils in amounts
so minute that it is termed a trace element. It is absent even as a trace
element in the soils of Hillsdale County. Where, asked Van Horn, did the boron
come from?
Next: Conclusions reached by the
Aerial Phenomena Research Organization.
HOMEPAGE