Ufologist Leonard Stringfield was informed around August 1955 by Herbert Clark of the Ground Observer Corp that a volunteer of the Civilian Defense had seen three men, 3-feet-tall, under a bridge of his sector; which would have prompted the local police force and the official of the Civilian Defense to take measures, Clark specifying that the bridge was then guarded by armed men.
In spite of his special contacts with the Ground Observer Corp and the command of the Civil Defense of the Air, Stringfield failed to obtain any confirmation of an official intervention. The authorities of the Civilian Defense of Loveland, Frank Whitecotton, coordinator of the Ground Observer Corp for the county of Hamilton, the chief of the police force of Loveland, John Fritz, knew nothing of that; but a member of the Council of the College of Loveland told him the FBI investigated the incident.
In 1956, Stringfield set up a meeting between the ufologist Ted Bloecher, intrigued by this case, and Frank Whitecotton. Bloecher, who would investigate the case with obstinacy during 18 years thereafter, reported that in the meeting with Whitecotton at the Stringfields' home on August 26, 1956, he asked him whether he could give additional information on the "bridge case", and the answer was neither enthusiastic nor instructive: the case was "familiar" to him, but he was unaware of details, and the chief of the police force, John Fritz, would probably know more, since it was him who, upon receiving the report, had ordered to establish police force survey around the bridge. Whitecotton however warns that Fritz might be reluctant to talk about it.
Bloecher found Fritz cordial, co-operative and precise, but not very eager to talk about the bridge case. Asked on the possibility that the FBI was interested in it, he started to play with coins and keys which were on its desk and to stir up papers, stated he was unaware of such a possibility and changed subject. He seemed surprised that Bloecher was interested in it, so the latter explained to him that he was associated with the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York and carried out investigations with Leonard Stringfield into the reports of "small men" in the area of Cincinnati. He then showed the drawings Bud Ledwith made about the Hopkinsville case entities; Fritz looked at them and became less reluctant.
Fritz then indicated that the incident of the bridge had taken place one evening in the beginning of July or perhaps in June, with a witness who was driving a truck of the Civilian Defense, as a volunteer of the civilian Defence. Driving on a bridge in the area of Loveland, he noticed four small silhouettes on the edge of the river, under the bridge, while a foul odor floated in the air.
This witness, apparently named Carlos Flannigan, went immediately to the police office of Loveland and reported the incident, whereas the chief of the police force was away, and his report was met with laughter.
Fritz told he has no knowledge that there ever was a police force survey around the bridge. In the end of the interview, he offered to drive Bloecher to the witness' home.
The witness lived in a farm with his wife and family. The two men arrived at the inappropriate moment when they were going to eat, they could not remain more than ten minutes, their visit obviously did not fill them with enthusiasm.
The man initially claimed that he would not talk about the incident to anybody and any time, that he had been ridiculed when he reported it; he was obviously bitter, because he had lost his job with the Civilian Defense because of his report.
Bloecher showed him the drawings of the creatures of Hopkinsville, and the man specified that they did not resemble at all the silhouettes he had seen. Asked whether he had seen details such as large eyes or claws at the end of the arms, he stated that he had only seen four small men with a more or less human appearance, approximately 3 feet tall, and moving in an odd manner under the bridge, seen during no more than 10 seconds. He confirmed that there was then a "terrible odor" at this place. He said nothing else.
Bloecher was surprised that for this case, nobody seemed eager to talk whereas the same people openly spoke about the other cases in the area; he supposed that there was perhaps really an intervention of the FBI with pressures to keep mouth shut.
Stringfield indicates that he explored the local press archive of three counties and found no mention of this incident at all. In November 1973, Stringfield again phoned the witness, who was at his place with influenza, reluctant to talk about the case, refusing to give any detail and insistent that his name is not mentioned on this subject, adding that the observation is so vague anyway and that he refuses to talk about it to anyone.
In January 1975, Ted Bloecher wrote to the FBI Office in Cincinnati, requesting any information available on the case, and the answer was that there is none.
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[Ref. lo1:] CORAL AND JIM LORENZEN:
Coral Lorenzen indicates that defunct "Orbit", the official publication of the Civilian Research, Interplanetary Flying Objects organization (CRIFO) of Cincinnati, Ohio, provided a scantily detailed article in their September 2, 1955 issue about four three-feet-tall little men seen under a bridge near Cincinnati by a man who supposedly reported the observation to police, whereupon a guard was placed at the bridge. It occurred several weeks prior to the September 2, 1955, Orbit's issue date, and according to Leonard Stringfield, the witness was a prominent businessman of Loveland, Ohio.
The authors note that there is a lack of name and other supporting evidence in the story; which they would not have mentioned if it weren't for Leonard Stringfield, Orbit's editor, high reputation as a researcher, and the fact that most people reporting strange men in conjunction with landed UFOs prefer not to be identified.
The author suggest that their reader check for additional details to come in Leonard Stringfield's book, Inside Saucer Post 3-0 Blue, Cincinnati, Ohio, Moeller Printing Co., 1957.
[Ref. cl1:] CORAL LORENZEN:
Coral Lorenzen provides exactly the same information as in [lo1].
[Ref. ls1:] LEONARD STRINGFIELD:
Leonard Stringfield tells about the several sightings of entities in the Loveland are he checked out with Ted Bloecher, and tells about one of the most intriguing; which he nicknamed "the affair under the bridge".
He reminds that he wrote about it in his bulletin Orbit as a case involving a prominent business man who saw four little men about three feet tall under a certain bridge, and reported the bizarre affair to the police; an armed guard was placed there.
He unfortunately had to tell Ted Bloecher that most of his attempts to glean additional details failed, that the local Civil Defense unit, which he heard had been engaged at the bridge, would not talk, the Loveland Police Chief John Fritz, who supposedly knew about the case had "brushed off" one inquisitor, and so on.
However, Stringfield learned from a member of the school board of that community that the incident had been investigated by the F.B.I.
Stringfield tells that Ted Bloecher was not discouraged, and early one morning, hopped a cab to Loveland. He visited the police station, found Fritz cordial and chatty, but "somewhat fidgety" when asked about the armed guard at the bridge.
Ted Bloecher however had no trouble in getting the home address of the witness, C. F., and visited him later that afternoon.
Unfortunately, C. F. refused to review the case beyond the details that had already slipped out.
[Ref. ls2:] LEONARD STRINGFIELD:
The author indicates that Herbert Clark of the Ground Observer Corp told him that a volunteer of the Civilian Defense had seen three men of 3 feet height under a bridge of his sector; which would have prompted the local police force and the official of the Civilian Defense to take measures, Clark specifying that the bridge was then guarded by armed men.
Stringfield indicates that in spite of his special contacts with the Ground Observer Corp and the command of the Civil Defense of the Air, it could not obtain detail on this official intervention. The authorities of the Civilian Defense of Loveland, Frank Whitecotton, coordinator of the Ground Observer Corp for the county of Hamilton, the chief of the police force of Loveland, John Fritz, provided him any of it; but a member of the Council of the College of Loveland let him know that the FBI had made an investigation into the incident.
In 1956, Stringfield set up a meeting between the ufologist Ted Bloecher, intrigued by this case, and Frank Whitecotton. Bloecher, who would investigate the case with obstinacy during 18 years thereafter, reported that in the meeting with Whitecotton at the Stringfields' home on August 26, 1956, he asked him whether he could give additional information on the "bridge case", and the answer was neither enthusiastic nor instructive: the case was "familiar" to him, but he was unaware of details, and the chief of the police force, John Fritz, would probably know more, since it was him who, upon receiving the report, had ordered to establish police force survey around the bridge. Whitecotton however warns that Fritz might be reluctant to talk about it.
Bloecher found Fritz cordial, co-operative and precise, but not very eager to talk about the bridge case. Asked on the possibility that the FBI was interested in it, he started to play with coins and keys which were on its desk and to stir up papers, stated he was unaware of such a possibility and changed subject. He seemed surprised that Bloecher was interested in it, so the latter explained to him that he was associated with the Civilian Saucer Intelligence of New York and carried out investigations with Leonard Stringfield into the reports of "small men" in the area of Cincinnati. He then showed the drawings Bud Ledwith made about the Hopkinsville case entities; Fritz looked at them and became less reluctant.
Fritz then indicated that the incident of the bridge had taken place one evening in the beginning of July or perhaps in June, with a witness who was driving a truck of the Civilian Defense, as a volunteer of the civilian Defence. Driving on a bridge in the area of Loveland, he noticed four small silhouettes on the edge of the river, under the bridge, while a foul odor floated in the air.
This witness went immediately to the police office of Loveland and reported the incident, whereas the chief of the police force was away, and his report was met with laughter.
Fritz told he has no knowledge that there ever was a police force survey around the bridge. In the end of the interview, he offered to drive Bloecher to the witness' home.
The witness lived in a farm with his wife and family. The two men arrived at the inappropriate moment when they were going to eat, they could not remain more than ten minutes, their visit obviously did not fill them with enthusiasm.
The man initially claimed that he would not talk about the incident to anybody and any time, that he had been ridiculed when he reported it; he was obviously bitter, because he had lost his job with the Civilian Defense because of his report.
Bloecher showed him the drawings of the creatures of Hopkinsville, and the man specified that they did not resemble at all the silhouettes he had seen. Asked whether he had seen details such as large eyes or claws at the end of the arms, he stated that he had only seen four small men with a more or less human appearance, approximately 3 feet tall, and moving in an odd manner under the bridge, seen during no more than 10 seconds. He confirmed that there was then a "terrible odor" at this place. He said nothing else.
Bloecher was surprised that for this case, nobody seemed eager to talk whereas the same people openly spoke about the other cases in the area; he supposed that there was perhaps really an intervention of the FBI with pressures to keep mouth shut.
Stringfield indicates that he explored the local press archive of three counties and found no mention of this incident at all. In November 1973, Stringfield again phoned the witness, who was at his place with influenza, reluctant to talk about the case, refusing to give any detail and insistent that his name is not mentioned on this subject, adding that the observation is so vague anyway and that he refuses to talk about it to anyone.
In January 1975, Ted Bloecher wrote to the FBI Office in Cincinnati, requesting any information available on the case, and the answer was that there is none.
[Ref. lc1:] LOREN COLEMAN:
Discussing various sightings of purported "frog men" in the Loveland area, Ohio, the cryptozoologist and Fortean researcher notes that frog-mouthed trolls under a bridge were sighted in March 1955 in Loveland Ohio, and investigated by Leonard Stringfield.
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Loveland, Ohio, on July, 1955, in the evening, Carlos Flannigan, driving a truck over a bridge, noticed a terrible smell, and saw 4 "more or less human looking" figures 3 ft tall "moving about oddly" on the river bank beneath the bridge. He reported it to the local police headquarters.
Albert Rosales indicates that the source is Ted Bloecher, and Humcat 1955-7.
Obviously there will certainly never be a firm conclusion about the vague small human-looking silhouettes the witness saw only ten seconds long. Shadows or brushes, kids, owls, flying saucer occupants, anything is possible and nothing is certain.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ufology | Severe | February 14, 2008 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Low strangeness case in which commonplace explanations are possible and were not investigated. | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 2 | Ufology | Severe | February 14, 2008 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Poor observation conditions: by night and short duration, distance unknown, only silhouettes are seen. | Help needed. | Opened. |
| 3 | Ufology | Severe | February 14, 2008 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | No UFO reported. | - | - |
| 4 | Ufology | Severe | February 14, 2008 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Chances of counter-investigations are slim as ridiculed witness became reluctant and incident is old. | - | - |
Extraterrestrial beings or confusion. Insufficient data.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | February 14, 2008 | Creation, [lo1], [cl1], [ls1], [ls1], [cl1], [lc1], [ar1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | February 14, 2008 | First published. |
