On December 4, 1970, Wallace Bowers' wife, of Vader, Washington, USA, heard her children call her outside, she did, and she saw enormous footprints in the snow layer of 2.5 cm in the yard. Her examination showed her that the traces were 38 cm in length on 15 cm broad, being inserted in the snow towards the gravel underneath which had been pressed on approximately 4 cm depth. The family dog "behaved strangely" the previous night. Mrs. Bowers immediately called the sheriff's office.
On December 7 of the same year at 07:15 a.m. she was again called by the children, who were at a window looking at something moving in the sky, of which she said that initially it looked like a shining star, but it then came closer during ten minutes, showing an appearance of dome around which a larger circle seemed to turn.
The thing was of a darker orange light in the center with a definitely more luminous edge. It seemed slightly tilted laterally like a plane banking, it briefly hovered above the power lines near Bonneville, moved away, its orange light became a brilliant clear light, it seemed to approach again and take an orange color again. The children thought that they saw a gray form falling from the phenomenon right before it disappeared in the distance.
At one time during the observation, Mrs. Bowers turned on the house intercom and it produced a "peculiar sharp noise", she told a journalist that it made the same noise the previous night.
Later in the same week, Mrs. Bowers saw the curtains moving in the boys bedroom, visible from the living room where she was with all the children, and she became convinced that it was urgent to leave the house. They gathered in the car and left, whereas she was certain to have seen "a form" in the bedroom while they fled, of which she felt certain that it was probably a burglar, as there had been in the vicinity, but stated to have no explanation for the footprints and the "saucer."
The family returned only after Mr. Bowers came back from work, and it is said that the probable prowler "had apparently searched" the bedrooms but nothing had been stolen.
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[Ref. cc1:] JEROME CLARK AND LOREN COLEMAN:
The authors indicate that on December 4, 1970, Mrs. Wallace Bowers of Vader, Washington, USA, heard her children calling for her to come outside and sent outside her home. She saw huge footprints in the inch-deep snow covering her yard. She examined the footprints closely and found that the fifteen inches in length and nearly six inches across footprints sank all the way through the snow down to the gravel underneath which was crushed down about an inch and a half.
She recalled that the family dog behaved strangely the night before and called the sheriff's office immediately.
On December 7 the same year at 07:15 a.m. she heard her children calling again. They were at the window and stared out at something moving across the sky. Mrs. Bowers said that it initially "looked like a bright star," but the light then came closer and during ten minutes they could observe that it appeared to be centered by a dome around which a larger circle seemed to be revolving. It was of an orange colored light of deeper hue in the center with the light diffusing toward the outer edge with a definite brighter rim.
The phenomenon seemed slightly tipped sideways like a banking airplane. It hovered briefly over the nearby Bonneville power lines, and after it had left the power lines, its light changed from orange to a bright clear light, and at one time seemed to make one last sweep closer while taking again an orange color. The children thought they saw a gray shape drop away from the phenomenon just before it vanished in the distance.
At some time during the sighting, Mrs. Bowers has switched on the house intercom and it produced a "peculiar sharp sound". She told a journalist of the Centralia - Chehalis Chronicle that they tried to use the intercom the night before and it produced the same "sharp sound."
Later in the same week Mrs. Bowers was putting a log in the living room fireplace when she saw the curtains moving in the boys bedroom, which was visible from where she stood. she said that "All the children were in the living room with me, and all I could think of was getting them safely out of there. So I loaded them into the car and we left, but I definitely saw a shape in the bedroom as we drove away."
And: "I feel sure that was probably a prowler. We've had trouble in our neighborhood and I don't think it's related to the others. But the footprints and the saucer, I don't know."
The family returned only after Mr. Bowers had come home from work. The probable prowler had apparently searched through the bedrooms but nothing was stolen.
The authors note that Vader is in "the middle of Bigfoot country."
[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:
Albert Rosales indicates that after finding huge mysterious footprints in their property three days before in Vader, Washington, USA, the witnesses observed on December 7, 1970 at 07:15 a.m. a very bright object approaching their house. The object seemed to have a central dome with a revolving ring around it and was deep orange in the center.
It then slightly tilted to one side, hovered briefly above some nearby power lines, then became brighter then made a low sweep over the area. Before it left, two of the witnesses saw what appeared to be a gray colored shape drop from the object and run away into the woods. Later that week, a mysterious dark "prowler" was seen peering through windows. Rosales cites the book "Mysterious America" by Loren Coleman as source.
It seems the series of events were merely picked up in a local newspaper and there seems to be no trace of an investigation.
The series of events were probably unrelated and each feature has a dramatically low strangeness when considering Mrs. Bowers' account:
Many loopholes in the story raise questions. For example, Mrs. Bowers immediately called the Sheriff when she noted the footprints in the yard. But why? What did she think it was? What did the Sheriff say? It does not seem very likely that the officer proffered that it was very weird, or Bigfoot evidence, or alien evidence.
Overall, the account gives the impression of imaginations running wild on a series of unrelated events of really low strangeness. Not much of a good "UFO with occupants" case.
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data | Severe | November 5, 2006 | Patrick Gross | Patrick Gross | Article in the newspaper Centralia - Chehalis Chronicle of the time, probably the unique primary source, missing. | Help needed. | Opened. |
Series of confusions.
* = 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 | November 5, 2006 | Creation, [cc1], [ar1]. |
| 0.2 | Patrick Gross | November 5, 2006 | First published. |
