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AUGUST 13, 1965, WAVERLY, IOWA, USA, DAVID GIBSON:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

Ufologist Ralph DeGraw reportedly told in the APRO ufology bulletin in 1975 that on August 13, 1965, in in Waverly, Iowa, USA, David Gibson, 14-year-old, was sitting with his father and sister in their yard at 06:00 p.m., when they heard a high-pitched whining sound and saw an aluminum object, 15 to 20 feet in diameter, looking like "two saucers glued together".

The object descended slowly from the sky and disappeared behind a hill 1/3 of a mile away.

David Gibson walked to the hill to investigate, and when he was about 150 yards from the supposed site where the object would supposedly be located, he saw a 3.5-feet-tall, humanoid being with a baldhead, peeking out from behind a tree.

The youngster did not see the being leave, but about a minute later, he saw a "blur" and "heard a rush of air."

At the supposed landing site, in an old quarry, he reportedly found a 15 to 20 foot circle of burnt glass, within which were three indentations of 5 by 12 inches and 1 inch deep.

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. dj1:] DONALD JOHNSON:

Donald Johnson indicates that on August 13, 1965, David G., age 14, and his father and sister were sitting in their yard at four o'clock in the afternoon in Waverly, Iowa when they heard a high-pitched whining sound and saw an aluminum object 15-20 feet in diameter, looking like "two saucers glued together," descend slowly from the sky. It disappeared behind a hill a third of a mile away, and the young man walked over to the hill to investigate. When about 150 yards from the site, he saw a humanoid being 3.5 feet tall, with a baldhead, peeking out from behind a tree. He did not see the figure leave, but a minute or so later he saw a "blur" and heard a rush of air. At the landing site, in an old quarry, he found a 15-20 foot circle of burnt glass, within which were three indentations of 5" x 12" and an inch deep. The encounter lasted about a minute and occurred during a minor wave of reports from Iowa and elsewhere.

The sources are indicated as Ralph DeGraw, APRO Bulletin, January-February 1975, p. 9; David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case 1965-33 (A0644), citing Ralph DeGraw).

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in Waverly, Iowa, on August 13, 1965, at 1600, David G, 14, and his father and sister were sitting in their yard when they heard a high-pitched whining sound and saw an aluminum object 15-20 ft in diameter, looking like "two saucers glued together," descending slowly from the sky. It disappeared behind a hill a third of a mile away, and the young man walked to the hill to investigate. When about 150 yards from the site, he saw a being 3.t ft tall, with a baldhead, peeking out from behind a tree. He did not see the figure leave, but a minute or so later he saw a "blur" and heard a rush of air. At the landing site, in an old quarry, he found a 15-20 foot circle of charred glass, within which were indentations of 5" x 12" and an inch deep. The sighting occurred during a minor wave of reports in Iowa and elsewhere.

Albert Rosales indicates as source Ralph DeGraw for Apro and Mufon.

[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that in mid-August 1965, in Waverly, Iowa, USA there were ground marks of 15-20 feet circle burnt grass, three indentations of 5"x12", 1" deep. There was a high-pitched whine, an flying aluminum disc 15-20 feet diameter was seen, when it was 150 meters from site he ot they saw a 3.5' tall being with a bald head, hiding behind a tree.

One aluminum disc, about 20 feet across, was observed by three witnesses, typical age 14, at a quarry for over one minute (Gibson, D). A high-pitched sound was heard. One 3.5-foot-tall grey being was seen.

The sources are indicated as Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports; Aerial Phenomena Research Organization, APRO Bulletin, APRO, Tucson; Lorenzen, Coral E., Encounters with UFO Occupants, Berkley Medallion, New York, 1976, ISBN:425-03093-8; FSR, FSR (formerly Flying Saucer Review), FSR, London, 1966; Bloecher, Ted R., Ted R Bloecher investigation files; Eberhart, George M., A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies, Greenwood Press, Westport, 1980, ISBN:0-313-21337-2.

Points to consider:

• Two of the English versions of the report that are available to me, which are no primary sources, indicates that what the young man found was a circle of burned "glass". It may be however be a transcription error for "grass".
• It seems that the report of the traces have only one witness, the young Gibson, no indication appears to specify whether someone else took care to go look at these traces.
• It should naturally be considered that the trace, if real, might have nothing to do with the saucer which does not seem to have be seen on the ground, the site being an entirely speculative landing since at a half mile distance, a reliable site cannot be determined. The trace was said to be in a quarry, obiously a place favourable to traces of various human activities.
• The arrival of the saucer is accompanied by the indication that it was at 0.5 miles and measured 15 to 20 feet. It is obviously not really possible from such a distance to give a reliable distance, even less to give the size of an object not identified that would be so far away. This suggests that the witnesses are ordinary people giving a description that should have been documented and evaluated in terms of angular size per result of a ufology investigation; which does not seem to have teken place, or in any case, an investigation report is not available to me.

It thus seems that we have a rather short summary of alleged events which were probably not checked or investigated, and thus caution is appropriate.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Insufficient information.

Sources references:

* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.

• [---] ? Ralph DeGraw.
• [---] ? Article by Ralph DeGraw in the ufology bulletin APRO Bulletin, by the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), USA, page 9, January-February 1975.
• [---] ? Ufology magazine Flying Saucer Review (FSR), U-K.
• [---] ? "Encounters with UFO Occupants", book by Coral and Jim Lorenzen, Berkley Medallion publishers, USA, 1976.
• [---] ? "HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports", case 1965-33 (A0644), compiled by David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, CUFOS, USA, circa 1977.
• [---] ? "A Geo-Bibliography of Anomalies", book by George Eberhart, Greenwood Press publishers, USA, 1980.
• [dj1] ? "Encounters with Aliens on This Day - August 13", web page compiled by Donald Johnson, USa, circa 2005, at www.ufoinfo.com/onthisday/August13.html
• [ar1] * "1965 Humanoid Reports", compiled by Albert Rosales, circa 2007, at www.ufoinfo.com/humanoid/humanoid1965.shtml
• [ud1] * "Mid-August 1965, Waverly, Iowa, USA", web page by the website UFOdna, circa 2008, at ufodna.com/uf09/uf1/091279.htm

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This page was last updated on June 26, 2008