This afternoon I spoke with Mrs. Stephenson (namedchanged, on-file), a resident of Wayne Madison Road near Trenton, Ohio.Mrs. Stephenson reported a UFO sighting to the Butler County Sheriff'sDepartment on Friday evening, August 9, 2002. Her telephone number waslisted on that police report.

Mrs. Stephenson spoke freely of the occurrenceand said that around dusk on Friday evening, she observed a star-like objectto the west of her residence. She estimated the object was localized overthe vicinity of Oxford, Ohio and also said this object was visible on 3consecutive evenings previous to her call to the Butler County Sheriff'sOffice.

She informed that her residence on Wayne MadisonRoad, near Route 73, is situated on a hill and affords her a good viewof the western sky, and that in her 11-years of living at this location,she has never seen anything like this previously.

"It was an unusual object," she said, "very brightand changing colors from red to green."

Mrs. Stephenson said she thought it would be bestto report the object to the Butler County Sheriff's Department, and contactedthem at their non-emergency telephone number. According to a CAD OperationsReport released to researcher Donnie Blessing by the Butler County Sheriff'sOffice, Mrs. Stephenson placed the call at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, August9. The officer arrived on the scene at 9:43 p.m.

"The officer was taken back by this object," shesaid, "he had no explanation for it.

"He had no idea what this was, and said that eventhough he doesn't believe in UFOs, it may have been an alien."

Mrs. Stephenson said both she and the officerobserved the object through her binoculars (hand-held). She said the objectappeared like an 'umbrella of light' that she compared to the spread ofexploding fireworks receding downward, changing colors from red to green.

Mrs. Stephenson said the object was still visibleas the officer left at 9:55 p.m. (according to the CAD operations report).

"When my husband arrived home from work around10:15 p.m., the object was barely visible and much lower on the horizon,"she said.

Before his departure, the officer recommendedthat Mrs. Stephenson report the sighting to a radio station. She did soaround 10:30 p.m., calling a local Middletown, Ohio area radio station.But to the best of her knowledge, the call was not particularly productivein any way.

The following evening, Mrs. Stephenson told herneighbors (5-acres away) about the sighting, but they were unaware of theoccurrence.

When asked if there were any particular flightcharacteristics that would rule out this object being a star, Mrs. Stephensonsaid: "I don't know. It could have been a star."

Although Mrs. Stephenson says that she has notseen anything quite like this in the 11-years of residing on Wayne MadisonRoad, she does report an interesting event taking place in May of '93.She said that she went to her window to see why dogs were barking furiouslyoutside her home and saw a large area of light illuminating the groundnear the dogs. This was described as a soft, diffused area of light thatseemed to have been caused by a beam shone from above. She could see thebeam through the air but could not discern its source in the sky (Note:the time-frame of this sighting was during a spate of UFO activity reportednear Trenton, Monroe, Waynesville and Lebanon, Ohio. Most notable duringthe activity reported during the spring of '93 was the UFO Incident atthe Lebanon Correctional Institute happening on April 8, 1993).

INVESTIGATOR COMMENT

It is my suspicion was simply observing a routinestar or planet.

It should be firmly noted that Mrs. Stephensoncould not describe any flight characteristic incompatible with the trackof a routine star or planet in the western sky as it descended low to thehorizon. Further, hand-held binocular observation of celestial objectsoften results in misperception due to autokinetic optical issues.

The Butler County officer responding to the callmay have also been flummoxed by the star and binocular observation.

What makes this report terribly curious is theactivity reported around 10:10 p.m. in Oxford, Ohio mere moments afterMrs. Stephenson reported her sighting, and also in the very same directionshe viewed the alleged object. Compounding this situation further stillis additional activity also taking place in that same direction near BrookvilleLake in which a Department of Natural Resources employee advised of 'havoc'taking place at a campground in which a silent, low flying object camedirectly overhead at treetop elevation. According to this witness, theobject was comprised of 3-red non-strobing lights in a triangular formationand no larger than 12-feet in diameter.

Filed,
August 18, 2002
KENNY YOUNG
--
UFO Research
https://home.fuse.net/ufo

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS courtesyof TERRY ENDRES, Instructor of Astronomy at Cincinnati State University

On August 9, 2002, at 9:30 p.m., the Sun was 9.4° belowthe western horizon.  That means the sky was still in twilight. Venuswas 11.1° above the western horizon.  In the twilight, it wouldhave been predominant, and few background stars would have been visible. By 10:15 p.m., Venus would have been 3.2° above the horizon. At that horizontal altitude, the light from Venus would have been subjectto diffractive and refractive effects of heat and haze, conditions thatcould create the illusion of movement and a "firework" flicker.  

Additionally, when Venus appears in the eveningsky, it is moving towards Earth and will appear amazingly bright and large. [In fact, Venus, because of its global cloud cover, reflects 76% of thesunlight it receives.] Interestingly, at the same time, Venus will be ina crescent phase that could easily look like an umbrella through binoculars.  

This is where the optics of the binocularsbecomes important.  If they are designed for terrestrial viewing,the lens alignment may allow for color aberrations that can cause the objectiveimage to flare, or break into a "rainbow" of colors, most notably at theedges of the image.  Combined with the seeing conditions mentioned
above, Venus would have made for quite remarkableviewing.

All reported details strongly suggest thatthe object sighted was Venus.