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JANUARY 10, 1978, SOUTH MIDDLETON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA, TOM GOULD:

Brief summary of the event and follow-up:

In a 1980 article about numerous humanoid encounters events in the area of Middleton in 1962, 1977, 1978 mainly, ufologist David F. Webb reported the following occurrence in 1978 in South Middleton, Massachusetts, USA:

"January 10 was a day of high, broken clouds. Snow flurries occurred in the Boston area, but the Gould's remembered no large snow fall that day. During early January there were only a few inches of snow cover at any one time. The first large snow didn't occur until January when inches fell. It is probable that if the sky were mostly cloudy, the lighting was flat on that day. Tom Gould spent much of that day working on the property. At 2:30 p.m. he was chopping wood in an area due north of their house when he spotted a white-suited figure standing on a path beside a tree about 90 feet away. The figure stood 4.5 feet tall, wore a squarish helmet in which were set two dark eyes or eyeholes. (See Fig. 1.) It had broad shoulders with arms which hung down the sides. The being's apparently gloved hands had 3 digits ("looked like mittens"), resembling a thumb, finger, and a thicker part. The hands and helmet were battleship gray. (Investigator's note: These details are a composite of Tom's observations of the being, based on at least 7 separate encounters. Tom claims to have seen this or a similar figure 4 or 5 times during December 1977, or a few weeks before this incident. The figure was always alone; however, Tom always had the vague impression of a second figure near the first that he couldn't quite perceive. On January 10 it is unlikely that Tom saw much detail of a white figure standing 90 feet away against a white background of a flatly lit, overcast day.)"

"The being stood staring at Tom. Tom spoke in English and got no reaction. But when he spoke in French, he thought it moved slightly. Tom was unafraid of the being (this not being the first encounter) and continued chopping firewood for l-ll/2 hours glancing at the being occasionally. It never moved. (In explanation of this apparent nonchalance, Tom told me that by then the figures were a common sight to him and that chasing them had always proven futile.) Upon finishing the chopping, Tom got in his pickup and drove down the road a short way. He looked again for the being but it was gone. (The area is hilly with lots of trees and shrubs. It is easy to lose sight of a small object even nearby.) Then he noticed what looked like a huge boulder about 150 feet away down a slope in a partially wooded area. (See Fig. 2.) He stopped the truck, got out and walked some distance around the area to look for the being and to get a better vantage point on the strange object."

"The object was sitting on the ground; "it was egg-shaped, wider at the front than....at the back. It's got little windows all over the sides of it....The window looked like a frog's eye — it had a hood-like over the window," said Tom. Later Nancy reported the windows as round and bubble-shaped; they seemed to protrude from the sides of the craft and were adjacent to one another. The dark gray surface of the UFO was dull and rough, like the surface of a brick. No seams or protrusions were evident."

"Measurements in the area indicated that the UFO was about 40 feet long by 13.5 feet wide across its nearer or wider end, and possibly 10 feet high (an undetermined portion lay in the snow or depressing the ground surface). The being had been approximately 300 feet to the west of the UFO. I investigated the "landing area" on April 23, or 3.5 months later; at that time it was well overgrown with brush and small trees. There was no evidence of a depression or environmental damage except for broken limbs on two trees. These two trees were the tallest in what would have been the UFO's path of vertical descent. I was the one who first noticed these broken limbs, and pointed them out to Tom. He stated he was sure they were broken by the UFO because they had not been broken before the sighting, and the wood had appeared green and clean-cut the day after the sighting. I questioned him closely on this point. He admitted that he could not be sure he had been in the area of the "landing" within several days to a week before January 10."

"Tom was afraid to approach very close to the UFO, and eventually returned home. He is uncertain when he told the family about his experience, but remembers that upon doing so they laughed and thought it was a joke. There is a discrepancy about whether the next sighting was the same day or the next day. On probably the following day (January 11) Tom was again cutting wood on the lot when he again saw the UFO sitting in the same place. In late afternoon he got first Allan, then Nancy to look at the object. Nancy remembered viewing the object about dusk. She thought the time was about 4:30 to 5 p.m.; sunset was about 4:50 p.m. Allan, whose vision is effected by glare, thought that the sun was reflecting off the snow causing glare. He could only see what looked like a big boulder. Tom would not allow the youths to approach closer than 150 feet to the UFO. Nancy was unable to see much detail because it was dusk, and the UFO was a distance away partially obscured by trees and brush. Even so she claims to have seen 7 windows on the UFO once her eyes focused on it."

"On the following day (probably January 12), Allan saw a daylight disc ascend from the property. He was in the bathroom about 10 a.m. when he suddenly observed a UFO about 100 feet in the air over a rise at an azimuth of 15°. Its bearing was approximately the same from the house as the location where the landed object had been but apparently closer to the house. The object had a smooth, dull, steel-gray or silver surface, and was shaped like two discs pressed together, the bottom being flatter than the top. Four long legs extended from the underside (Allan remembered seeing only 2 legs but assumed there were 4). The legs extended below the rise along Allan's sightline. As he watched, the object slowly rose vertically. He quickly ran outside, but saw nothing more of it. He later found what he called "pod marks" in the clay-like soil near the rise. Only one of these alleged marks was visible the day I visited the site, April 23. The hole was 4% inches deep, 6 inches wide at the top and lay on an inclined portion of ground. It lay near a partially buried can. The immediate area is open with a dirt access road running through it. The topsoil has been removed from some of this area; what remains is claylike and dry. The remains of an old hog pen lie atop the rise. I had Allan stand where he remembered the. other holes and measured the distances. The result was a roughly rectangular area. Allan's idea was that these distances were the spacing between the four legs of the craft as it rested on the ground. The investigators consider these events to be the most important and best documented. However, a host of attendent events involving both entities and UFOs were reported before and after this period."

Figure 1. Figure observed by Tom Gould

Figure 2. Boulder-like object on ground

Basic information table:

Narratives:

[Ref. dw1:] DAVID F. WEBB:

In a 1980 article about numerous humanoid encounters events in the area of Middleton in 1962, 1977, 1978 mainly, David F. Webb reported the following occurrence in 1978.

Figure 1. Figure observed by Tom Gould

Figure 2. Boulder-like object on ground

[Ref. ab1:] ALBERT BUDDEN:

Albert Budden indicates that a complex series of incidents started in 1962 at the home of the Gould family in South Middleton, Massachusetts, investigated by US ufologist Raymond Fowler and David Webb.

The Gould family said they saw the apparition of a man that did not move like a man; which they called "the Prowler" and two different types of helmeted "spacemen" and several types of UFOs comprising orange balls of light and a structured craft that landed.

They reported that around January 9, 1978, a UFO landed and stayed two days long until departing on the morning of January 12, 1978. They observed a helmeted white-suited "spaceman" on January 9 and 10 near this landed UFO, and reported "psychic phenomena" of apparitions and poltergeists in connection with the UFO experiences.

On January 9, 1978, the parents were in their sitting room and at about 07:30 p.m. they saw from a window facing East a very large yellow-white round light moving down at an angle just above some trees. It was a short duration sighting and they were not sure about the description, Mrs Theresa Gould saying later that the UFO had three round lights whereas another of the witness said it had a smaller light at the end, and the daughter Nancy Gould saw it from a closer point and said it was a huge orange globe.

Nancy Gould said she ran out the back door and saw it disappear behind some trees where it winked out and that her sighting lasted 20 seconds overall. 5 minutes later she tried to phone someone but the phone line was dead and remained dead for 20 minutes, and it is said that someone tried an incoming call to the Gould that was unsuccessful.

The youngest child Douglas was staying nearby at a relative's house and did not see the UFO. He and other children were just put to bed when one of them called the father saying he saw a pale "man" at the foot of his bed, that suddenly vanished. The father heard a knocking sound in an unoccupied adjacent room, and when he opened the curtains he saw a white figure in a "space-suit" and wearing a dome-like helmet about three feet away and that must have been standing on the roof of an adjacent porch; which was drawn as:

The father then dropped the curtain, ran outside, did not find the entity on the porch roof, but after going to the back of the house he saw it immediately, standing just outside the glass-paneled outer door.

The next day, January 10, 1978, was cold with snow falling but no snow-cover on the ground, and Thomas Gould spent the day working outside his house. At 02:30 p.m., he began chopping wood just North of the house when he suddenly saw the "spaceman" standing on the path next to a tree at about 90 feet from him. It was a 1.25 m - 4.5 feet tall only, with a squarish dome-like helmet in which were set two dark eye-holes, it had broad shoulders, with arms hanging down naturally but ending in mittens with three fingers. The hands and the gloves were "battleship grey". Thomas Gould an this entity stared at each other for some time then Thomas spoke to it in English, did not get an answer, spoke in French and for a moment thought that the entity moved slightly.

Thomas Gould apparently had already experienced encounters with the same entity and often had the feeling that there was also another entity that he could not perceive. In the past he had tried to chase the figure but it always vanished to reappear a bit further. He thus did not bother more and resumed his work for 90 minutes, whereas the "spaceman" stood there all the time without moving as Thomas Gould looked at it from time to time. Eventually Thomas Gould went into his truck and drove away a short distance. when he looked back, the "spaceman" was gone. He then noticed that there was a new "boulder" on his land at about 150 feet (46 meters) away down a slope in a partially wooded area. He got out of the truck and walked to a place where he could see it better. The "boulder" is described as posed on the ground, with little hooded windows all over it that reminded him of the bulbous eyes of frogs. He then drove away to get his daughter Nancy so that she would see the object too, and she described it as having side by sides regularly spaced protruding windows on the sides. The object was dark grey and rough in texture like the surface of a brick, with no visible areas of jointing or seams. The investigators later measured the area where the object had rested and estimated the object's dimension as 40 feet (12 meters) long, 14 feet (4.25 meters) wide. The place where the "spaceman" had been seen was 300 feet (91 meters) west of the place where the object was posed.

Thomas Gould was afraid and did not approach the object; at dusk, he asked his daughter Nancy and his son Allan to look at it. At this time Thomas Gould said he could see only 7 windows on the object and Allan Gould said he could only see what looked to him to be a huge boulder.

On the next Day, from an upper-room window, Allan Gould saw a disc-like object ascend he described it as like two shallow disks pressed together, of a silvery surface, with "legs" under it that he interpreted as a landing gear. A short while later, he found what he said were "pod marks" on the ground, and one that remained was shown to the investigators.

Albert Budden says the earliest event was an orange ball of light seen by the grandmother following a thunderstorm. It grew in size and then divided into smaller lights, it lasted 5 minutes, and there was a background of multicolored beams. He reminds that Allan gould had seen in 1974 when he was 17 a ball of light from his bedroom, so intense that it shone through the heavy curtains, at about 10:45 p.m. He had another sighting around this time, of a huge dark shape with lights that constantly alternated in color from white to red and back.

Albert Budden adds that the Gould, in the summers, had reported an entity they called the prowler and reported it to the Middleton police several times but when the police would come there was nothing to be found. this "prowler" was always dressed in a white shirt and dark trousers, he appeared to have short dark hairs but no facial features were ever seen, as in many ghost-like apparitions. It was nearly always seen at short distance, and walked in an odd and slow ambulatory mode that was differing from normal human walk: its body held stiffly erect, his arms did not move, and his knees did not bend, and when he turned it was with a rotation of the whole body. Even when there was a snow cover, the entity never left footsteps traces.

At one time the grandmother saw it about 2 meters away, with his back to her, and she first thought he was her grandson, but when she called the grandson answered from inside the house in the back. She looked there, then looked again where the entity was but the entity had disappeared.

Albert Budden notes that the place is near places known for supernatural activities, an earthquake epicenter, with an atomic research facility with a linear particle accelerator built by the MIT, and that such combination of permanent natural and artificial electromagnetical fields produce a hot spot that alters the state of consciousness of people and makes them see unreal things like ghost, UFOs and alien entities.

Albert Budden indicates that the source for the report is FSR, vol. 27, N.1, June 1980.

[Ref. rh1:] RICHARD HALL:

Richard Hall lists that on January 10, 1978, in South Middleton, MA, at 02:30 p.m., Tom Gould saw one 4.5 feet-tall, stocky humanoid, with three fingers on hands, with an egg-shaped UFO; the being stood 90 feet away looking at witness.

[Ref. dj1:] DONALD JOHNSON:

Donald Johnson indicates that on January 10, 1978, Mr. Gould, age 52, was chopping wood just north of his house in South Middleton, Massachusetts at 2:30 p.m. when he spotted a white-suited figure standing on a path about 90 feet away. The figure was described as four and a half feet tall with broad shoulders and arms that hung down its sides. It wore a square helmet with two round eyeholes and gray gloves, each with three digits. The witness spoke English and French at the figure but got no reaction. After a while the witness drove back home and on his way there spotted a large egg-shaped object on a slope in a partially wooded area. The object was dark gray in color and had bubble like windows. Ground traces were found.

The sources are indicated as David F. Webb, FSR, June 1981, p. 24; David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case A1906, citing Raymond E. Fowler; MUFON UFO Journal, issue #143; Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty Year Report, p. 491.

[Ref. dj2:] DONALD JOHNSON:

Donald Johnson indicates that on January 9, 1978, two members of the Gould family were sitting in their living room in South Middleton, Massachusetts at 7:30 p.m. when they saw an approaching large yellow ball of light angling towards the ground through their window. One of them ran out the back door to glimpse the object disappear behind some trees. Telephone interference was experienced in the home at about this time. Later one of the children in an upstairs bedroom reported seeing a white figure at the foot of his bed that tried to touch him. Moments later the father heard a noise coming from an empty room, and when he went to investigate he then heard a noise at the window. Pulling back the curtains, he saw a white figure standing on top of the back porch roof, only four feet away. The figure was hooded and seemed to be wearing a mask. Later while investigating a noise at the door to the front porch he again saw the white suited figure standing just outside the glass door.

The sources are indicated as David F. Webb, MUFON UFO Journal, issue #143; Richard H. Hall, The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report, p. 22; David F. Webb, FSR, June 1981, p. 23, citing Raymond E. Fowler; David F. Hall and Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case A1905.

[Ref. ni1:] "THE NICAP WEBSITE":

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in South Middleton, Massachusetts, on January 10, 1978, at 1430, the witness was chopping wood just north of his house when he spotted a white suited figure standing on a path about 90 feet away. The figure was described as four and a half foot tall wearing a square helmet with two round eyeholes; it had broad shoulders and arms that hung down its sides. It wore gray mittens each with 3 digits. The witness spoke English and French at the figure but got no significant reaction. After a while the witness drove back home and on his way there he spotted a large egg shaped object on a slope in a partially wooded area. The object was dark gray in color and had bubble like windows.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "David Webb, Mufon Journal #143."

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in South Middleton, Massachusetts, on April 8, 1978, at 2100, the witness was sitting on her bed listening to music when she suddenly looked up and saw a humanoid figure silhouetted behind the door. The figure was about five-feet seven inches tall and appeared to be wearing a jacket. The door began to open slightly and the witness looked up again, seeing the figure still there, she swung the door open and saw the figure moving swiftly away. A search in the nearby rooms failed to locate anybody.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "David F Webb, FSR Vol. 27 #2."

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in South Middleton Massachusetts, on April 9, 1978, in the morning, two youths were riding a mini bike near a wooded area when they suddenly caught a glimpse of two white headed figures that appeared to be crouching behind the brush, their faces were light gray with large wrap around dark blue eyes. The heads were of normal size but had no hair. Later at 1400 four other youths were out sitting and talking when they suddenly felt they were being watched, two of them then saw several similar beings that quickly retreated into the brush. The other two witnesses saw a figure standing in profile 15 feet away. It was about five-foot three inches tall with a pear shaped head that appeared to be encased in clear round helmet, it had large dark oval eyes a nose slit but no mouth or ears. It wore a belt with a dark central band, vertical stripes, and a black buckle. The witness attempted to chase it but it disappeared into the woods. An odor like sulfur pervaded the area during the encounters.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "David Webb, Mufon Journal #143."

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in South Middleton, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1978, at night, the witness was playing with 3 cousins when she happened to glance at the window located in the basement. A foot away from the window a white face was staring back at her, it was oval shaped with vertical nose slits and a narrow mouth, the eyes were large slanted and gold in color. A transparent helmet possibly covered the head. She yelled at her companion but when she turned back the entity was gone.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "David Webb, Mufon Journal #143."

[Ref. ar1:] ALBERT ROSALES:

Albert Rosales indicates in his catalogue that in South Middleton, Massachusetts, on May 2, 1978, at an unknown time, a witness noticed two white gray humanoid figures standing on the grounds of the property. They stood motionless and held their arms close to their bodies. No other details were noted. No other information.

Albert Rosales indicates that the source is "David F Webb, FSR Vol. 27 #2."

[Ref. ud1:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on January 9, 1978, at 19:30, in South Middleton, Massachusetts, USA, white suited humanoid on roof of back porch, hooded by mask, 2-4' away.

One yellow ball was observed by three witnesses names Gould and Thompson in a bedroom for seven minutes, and one 4.5-foot-tall broad-shouldered being, wearing a white suit and mask, was seen.

The sources are indicated as: Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports; FSR, (formerly Flying Saucer Review), FSR, London, 1966; Hall, Richard H. The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, 2000, ISBN:0-8103-3881-8; Hatch, Larry, *U* computer database, Author, Redwood City, 2002.

[Ref. ud2:] "UFODNA" WEBSITE:

The website indicates that on January 10, 1978, at 14:30, in South Middleton, Massachusetts, USA, a white suited entity was seen 90 feet away on a path near a house, it wore a helmet, had broad shoulders, gloved hands with three digits, the gloves and helmet were gray.

Ground traces were found. One yellow ovoid object, about 40 feet across, was observed by one male 52-year-old witness named T. Gould in a yard. One 4.5-foot-tall broad-shouldered being, wearing a white suit and mask, was seen.

The sources are indicated as Webb, David, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports; FSR, (formerly Flying Saucer Review), FSR, London, 1966; Hall, Richard H., The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report, Scarecrow Press, Lanham, 2000, ISBN:0-8103-3881-8.

Points to consider:

Some aspects of the case prompt a certain caution to me. The witness of the humanoid is a signel witness, a repetitive witness and with a "careless" reaction a little strange all the same. When his son looks at the UFO which resembled a rock, he seemed to state that he indeed saw only a rock there; while being altogether witness of his own UFO - which was hardly likely to have been a rock - two days later.

List of issues:

Evaluation:

Extraterrestrial visitors.

Sources references:

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

• [---] ? "HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports", case A1906, compiled by David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, CUFOS, USA, circa 1978.
• [---] ? Raymond E. Fowler, USA.
• [dw1] * "The Middleton Humanoid Affair", report by David F. Webb, in the ufology bulletin The Mufon UFO Journal, Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), USA, #143, pp 7-9, January 1980.
• [dw1] ? Report by David F. Webb, in the ufology magazine Flying Saucer Review (FSR), U-K., page 24, June 1981.
• [ab1] * "Psychic Close Encounters", book by Albert Budden, Blandford publisher, U-K., pp 51-55, 1995
• [---] ? "The UFO Evidence, Volume II: A Thirty-Year Report", book by Richard H. Hall, Scarecrow Press publishers, USA, pages 22, 491, 2000.
• [---] ? "*U* Computer Database", compiled by Larry Hatch, USA, 2002.
• [rh1] * "UFO Occupant Sightings", web page compiled by Richard H. Hall, on The NICAP Website, circa 2006, at www.nicap.org/occupants_hall.htm
• [dj1] * "Encounters with Aliens on this Day - January 10", web page compiled by Donald Johnson, USA, circa 2006, at www.ufoinfo.com/onthisday/January10.html
• [dj2] * "Encounters with Aliens on this Day - January 10", web page compiled by Donald Johnson, USA, circa 2006, at www.ufoinfo.com/onthisday/January09.html
• [ni1] * "UFO Occupant Sightings", compiled by Richard Hall, The NICAP Website, circa 2007, USA, at www.nicap.org/occupants_hall.htm
• [ar1] * "1978 Humanoid Reports", compiled by Albert Rosales, circa 2007, at www.ufoinfo.com/humanoid/humanoid1978.shtml
• [ud1] * "9 Jan 1978 - South Middleton, Massachusetts, USA", web page by the website UFOdna, circa 2008, at www.ufodna.com/uf00/uf7/007700.htm
• [ud2] * "10 Jan 1978 - South Middleton, Massachusetts, USA", web page by the website UFOdna, circa 2008, at www.ufodna.com/uf00/uf7/007701.htm

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