The Trumbull County Disturbance

Discussions with the reporter from Youngstown TV-Ch. 33

Delving further into the mysterious affairs surrounding the 1994 Trumbull County Disturbance, I contacted a Ms. Stacey Adger, a news reporter with WYTV Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. Adger is the reporter whose voice is heard on the 9-1-1 tapes, inquiring with the Trumbull County dispatch headquarters of the UFO situation.

I first spoke with Stacey Adger on June 8, 1998, and asked her why this story was never reported, and how such an incredible event could have been kept so quiet for so long.

She said that she was off of work in the two days following the incident, and nobody else ever 'reported' on the situation. She said that while she was off, she "did some checking" into the story, but nobody would tell her anything. She added that she was fully aware of the numerous UFO reports and the police pursuit of an unknown object.

I asked Stacey about the FAA involvement with the report, and where the FAA tower was in relation to the airbase. She said the airbase and airport are both in Vienna, Ohio, adjacent to one another. This is the same area where the UFO was sighted. Adger said that if the security guard was visually observing the UFO from his vantage point at the airport, there is "no way" the FAA tower could NOT observe the UFO, especially from a 70-foot elevation and using binoculars.

She was aware that a Howland police officer was standing alongside a security officer at the airbase and both were observing the UFO. Neither could identify the object.

Stacey said that she called the airport herself that night, and talked with the same FAA tower operator who was on the tape. This man told her that 'people were pulling pranks' and there was nothing on radar.

She recalled the first woman who phoned in, and said that the woman was extremely scared. The woman described the UFO as a bluish-green object that was real close to the ground, and had lights associated with it.

I told Stacey that I had been advised by the 9-1-1 telecommunicator (who furnished me the tape) that she was also going to be sent a copy, and we would be the only two recipients, aside from several police officers who wanted a copy for their own curiousity. I asked her if she had received her copy, and she said that she did. She said she has listened to it 5 or 6 times now, and each time was thunderstruck by what she heard.

I asked if she conveyed information of this to others, and she said that she has not. She announced that she was the only person in the news media who had the tape.

She has not told anyone about it, because she "wanted to check with certain persons involved," whose careers may be in jeopardy, she was inclined to suspect. Evidently, she was given to believe that the tapes were removed from the regular storage area and were hidden in another part of the 9-1-1 center. Adger felt that the tapes may have been hidden purposefully.

Yours truly was also told by one of the telecommunicators that the tapes were mysteriously 'misplaced' in another location, or lost altogether. The telecommunicator expressed to me that when he noticed the tapes missing, he was 'spooked.' He did not, however, interpret this as a conspiratorial act, because he said there was a 'backup' tape located elsewhere that he was able to retrieve. The exact circumstances surrounding this situation is still unclear, but there was a definite problem which surfaced when the tapes were initially sought for retrieval.

Adger thought that any reportage of this incident may have grand ramifications. She also was aware of the re-assignment of the air traffic controllers at the Youngstown FAA after the UFO incident.

During my June 8 discussion with Stacey Adger, she said that her managing editors are not aware of this situation, and she didn't have any plan on when or how to tell them. She feared that the News Director may "hop all over" the story with a motivation not to focus on the UFO incident, but to wrongfully characterize the 9-1-1 center in a false light.

I spoke with Stacey Adger again on June 12, and still she gave no indication that this story is being pursued, or that she has given the information to the News Director. She did say that her initial estimation that the tapes were deliberately concealed by the management of the 9-1-1 center were 'probably incorrect.'

In my reflections of this entire situation, the news staff of WYTV Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio is largely to blame for this story being concealed from the public so. Certain persons on the news staff have been in full possession, from the beginning, of this remarkable account. No efforts were made to report on this event. Even after acquisition of these incredible tapes, this valuable data has not been addressed, and there is no indication that it will yet be pursued.

Following my June 8 phone call, I assumed that reportage of this incident would shortly commence. This has not been the case, and I am under the impression that the staff of Channel 33 longs for this matter to be swiftly swept aside and forgotten.

During my June 12 conversation, Adger even acknowledged that her initial fears were unfounded, and the understandable concerns for the job safety of others were largely exaggerated. Despite no expressed interest in addressing this incident with the Channel 33 news forum, Adger agreed with me that the tapes are shocking and are of extreme news-interest.

June 12, 1998
KENNY YOUNG