Summary

Linda Oakland (name changed for privacy, real nameand contact info held 'on file') was contacted by telephone this afternoon.I inquired about a UFO sighting that she had placed to a TV news station,.WJW Fox Channel 8 in Cleveland. The news station used a portion of a videotapethat she made of the sighting in a later newscast.

Linda said that the video was recorded on the 1st Thursdayin September (Sept. 4th) around midnight. She said the UFO had been visiblein the sky near her home for several hours and she had grabbed her videocamera and rolled tape on it.

She described the object as a bright light in the nightsky. I asked if this object was the planet Mars, which is particularlybright as of recent. The claimant responded by saying: "I don't think itwas Mars."

I asked how she had arrived at this conclusion andshe said: "Because it moved around on my camera and Mars won't do that."

I asked if she could see the movement plainly withher eyes and she said she could not see any movement at all. I asked ifshe had positioned the camera on a tripod and she said that she had not.She was asked if she attempted to zoom in on the object and she said thatshe did make this attempt. She also informed that her camera had 'autofocus'function.

The claimant was asked how she knew this 'movement'that she could not see with her eyes was not due to simple hand-held shakingof the videocamera compounded by slight zoom and focal issues and she said:"I don't know. On the video you can see the object moving."

The claimant said that she tried to hold the videosteady by resting on her knees with her elbows on a grill and sitting onthe arm of a chair with her arms raised up on a balcony.

I asked if she could describe what the object lookedlike on her television and the claimant said: "I don't know." I asked forclarification and she said: "I can't really describe it. It's like nothingI've ever seen before."

The claimant said the soundless object was visiblefor quite a while, long after she discontinued her videotaping of it (afterher tape ran out). She said the object was videotaped for 'several hours.'

She knows of no other witnesses to this alleged objectand said that she did not talk to anyone else about the sighting but toa reporter with Fox News Channel 8 in Cleveland, who she called the followingmorning.

COMMENT:

Based upon the witness description, it sounds as ifthe witness may have been videotaping a star or most likely the planetMars, which has been particularly bright the past few weeks. The witnesswas unable to offer any description of the object and further said therewere no other witnesses involved, despite the lengthy time duration ofthe alleged object's visibility. She also said that there was no discerniblemotion the object would exhibit that was visible to her eyes, yet saw 'motion'in her viewfinder - a clear result of autofocus, zoom and hand-held 'shake'influence upon the videocamera. She did not use a tripod.

The witness asked me how much money she could get fromthe video and I explained that I would offer her nothing for this recording,nor did I think it likely that anyone would based upon her descriptionof the circumstances. I suggested that there are many videos of 'lightsin the night sky' and a videotape of interest would likely be daylightfootage of a low-level object. She then abruptly said that 'she was inthe middle of supper' and discontinued the conversation.

Investigator Donnie Blessing had previously soughtinformation about this video from the claimant and had received a returnphone call from a male attorney who questioned Donnie about her interestin the UFO video and also insisted that any profit from the video go tohis client. The reporter with Channel 8 in Cleveland further advised DonnieBlessing that this video was 'insufficient' in quality, clarity and content.

Filed,
August 9, 2003
KENNY YOUNG