Subject: UFO Reports
Location: Batavia, OH (Clermont County)
Date: Wednesday, September 24, 1997 - 7:45 p.m. SUMMARY
Bob XXXXXXX called the Cincinnati UFOHotline (513-588-4548) around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 24, 1997and said his daughter and son wanted to report something they saw momentsearlier. There were 5-witnesses in one location (all under 15-yearsold), across the street from their residence on University Lane, BATAVIA,OH (address on-file).
They spotted an object traveling fromwest to east. One witness, female, described the object as REDDISH ORANGEand very bright, flying higher than an airplane. When asked if it couldhave been a meteor, she replied "I do not know." She said the object wentbehind trees, straight down.
Two others said "black things" weresticking out of it while two others said "purple things" were stickingout of it.
No airplanes were said to have been seen, and there was no sound reported.As the object crossed over, it left a light trail of smoke behind.
The object was described as being smallerthan a ping-pong ball held at arms length.
They were unable to estimate distanceabove horizon, being unfamiliar with how to describe or characterize perceivedelevation. The 'thing' was not going that fast, and it progressed "half-wayacross the sky" and started to tilt. It was going across the sky as if'someone was throwing a ball,' but had a slight curve and turned down.They spotted this during daylight skies. Sunset in progress, clouds werepink. Time of event - around 7:45 p.m. Duration of event: "1-minute"
Second Report:
September 24, 1997 - 8:30 p.m.
Williamsburg, OH (Clermont County)
Shortly after talking with two witnesseslisted above, telephone contact was made with Susan (36 yrs. old) who livesnot far (about 5-miles east) from the Batavia area in the community ofAFTON, to see if they had been outdoors during the last hour or so.
Susan reports that a "big, bright whitelight" was seen from her vantage point before 8:30 p.m. (Afton is nearBatavia).
Traveling on Rt. 32, Susan spotted awhite diamond-like light, similar to a teardrop. She said it was "huge,way up in the sky." The object was visible for 10-minutes. She first sawit while enroute to a location on Route 32 to pick up her husband. Whilepulling into a parking lot, the object was seen in the open sky, visibleabove the trees. The object was disregarded for about 5-minutes as shemet her husband. The motorist and passenger then travelled back on 32 Easttoward Williamsburg and about 100 feet above tree-level in the vicinityof East Fork Lake region, the object was sighted again but much brighter.
The object was said to have resembleda lit candle with a glow around it. The object hovered when noticed thefirst time, the second time "with path" from Batavia area to East Fork.
"Could have been a meteor," stated witness,"but 'not for ten minutes." She said there was no noise and no smoke, andthere was no daylight visible. The object disappeared from view behindtrees to the south of their location, which is in the vicinity of EastFork Lake. The husband didn't care to discuss the issue and wouldn't evenacknowledge being a witness to the event.
Susan's daughter Chrissy said she hadalso seen this same object. Chrissy (17 yrs. old) and boyfriend Mike XXXXXXsaid they saw the object for about 1-minute, and described it as a BIG,BIG white colored light. Chrissy said that an airplane next to the objectwould look like a tiny dot (for clarification, they said there were noairplanes visible at the time). The object was said to be about as bigas a baseball held at arms length, and flew along at treetop level, shesaid.
The twosome were traveling into AFTONfrom Williamsburg, and the object was visible above the East Fork Lakearea. The sighting was around 8:30 p.m. The object seemed to 'float' aboveEast Fork Lake, without any visible movement. The white light was saidto be of a diamond shape. The two witness did not maintain the observationand continued traveling home. The object was still visible whilethey were driving, but they lost sight of it behind trees. Mike did notthink it was a meteor, and although named by Chrissy as a witness (andcould be heard in the background making additional remarks), did not feelcomfortable talking about the observation.
INVESTIGATION
- CLERMONT COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: 513-732-2231,the dispatcher had no information of the sighting. He was very cordialand stated: "we get these type of reports often."
- BROWN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT. 937-378-4155,did not receive any calls or reports.
- HAMILTON COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER 513-825-2280,did not receive any calls or reports.
- CLERMONT COUNTY AIRPORT: 735-9500 Whencontacted the following morning, the receptionist stated that the Airportcloses at 7:00 p.m. and nobody would have been present to see the event.
- EAST FORK LAKE RANGER'S STATION: 797-6081& 734-4323: Park Office contacted at 9:15 a.m. Thursday morning, andthe telephone receptionist wanted me to leave my phone number for a returnphone call, and if any rangers sighted it, she said "they will call you."
COMMENTS
Thus far, the known reports from the8-witnesses originate from the two localities of Batavia and Williamsburg.The two areas lie nearly 5-miles apart. A high-flying meteor would be sightedacross a much broader area and, one would think, generate reports froma larger area. The reports are apparently clustered within the localizedareas of Afton and Batavia.
The time duration of the sightings makea meteor or bolide less likely, although this explanation still may bepossible. In addition to a lengthy duration of event, we also have an almostforty-five minute time discrepancy involved between the two reports.
From Williamsburg (Afton), an objectwas sighted around 8:30 p.m. traveling from East (said to be Batavia) toSouth (East Fork Lake region). The 7:45 p.m. report from Batavia describedan object moving from west to east. Not only the time frame discrepancy,but the reported direction of travel conflicts in such a manner as to causeus to consider whether or not the two reports describe the same event orobject. Even still, the similarities in reports and happening in closeproximity (both in general time and location) give us reason to believethat although this is possibly not the same event observed from two vantagepoints, the two reports may be related somehow to the same phenomenon.
Weather & Sky conditions: Clear,no moon, temperature 60 + degrees
Other:
Further checks were made to determineif this could correlate with any satellite/rocket launches or re-entries.There were no positive findings. It should be kept in mind that theWednesday night sighting could correlate with flare activity from SpringfieldA.N.G., as we have been previously advised that they conduct their maneuverson 'Wednesday evenings.'
Report filed:
Sept. 25, 1997
Kenny Young
