This article was published in the daily newspaper Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, on March 4, 1993.
Two police officers of the Air Patrol of Jefferson county - described by their Lieutenant as "reliable guys" - swear that they were paced during two minutes by a UFO friday night as they were on a routine patrol.
Two officers on the ground also said they saw the object.
The UFO - a glowing object in the shape of a pear and the size of a baskeball balloon – literally circled around the helicopter which, according to the airmen, flew at approximately 100 mph.
In one dazzling moment, when the two machines rushed one towards the other, the UFO launched three balls of the size of a baseball, according to the statements of the three officers. These racing balls died out in sparkles.
Officers Kenny Graham and Kenny Downs did not speak much about their Friday evening flight above the General Electric plant because they feared they would not be believed. But they are convinced that it was not an hallucination.
"We both go to church each week," said Downs to explain that they a regular men. "In fact, I may start to go there twice a week."
Officer Mike Smith, from his patrol car, said he saw the object during only one minute. But he confirms that three racing balls escaped from the UFO before disappearing.
Officier Joe Smolenski said that during more than a minute he tried to catch up with the object in his patrol car. "I searched for them during 14 years, and I think that was the closest that I approached something I could not explain."
Lt. David Pope, which was awaken at half past midnight saturday morning by a call from the officers, testifies of their mental health and their sincerity.
"These guys are totally reliable," said Pope. "There isn't any doubt in my mind, there was something there."
The night had started like any other nights. Graham and Downs checked in to work at 06:00 P.M. and were quickly in routine patrol. Graham, aged 39 and 11 years veteran, was the pilot. Downs, aged 39 and 5 years veteran, was the observer.
As they were patrolling, they received a call about a possible break in near Sanford Avenue and Buechel Bank Road. They quickly reached the area which is close to the Electro Park, at approximately 11:50 P.M..
As they circles around the area, Graham saw something which resembled a small fire on his left. Dozen campfires had been lit in the county that night by happy people celebrating the new snow fall.
Soon, Graham was convinced that it wasn't a fire at all. Downs illuminated the object using his 1.5 million candles flashlight and the object started to drift slightly like a balloon. It then floated gradually up to the altitude of the helicopter at nearly 500 feet above ground-level, where it remained stationary there during a few seconds.
"It then buzzed away at a speed which I had never seen before," said Graham, an experienced pilot.
The object made two enormous loops in counter clockwise direction and then approached the back of the helicopter.
Graham, anxious that the object may strike the tail rotor, pushed its speed to more than 100 mph. The UFO passed in front of them and is instantaneously rose up several hundreds of feet. It then descended and passed close to the helicopter. Graham tried to reduce the distance between him and the object but it moved away again. When the UFO approached in a parallel trajectory, the three flashing objects darted from within it.
Frightened, Graham went away from the object.
"When we wanted to close in again, it had disappeared," added Graham.
When both returned to their base, Graham called the control tower in Standiford Field to enquire whether their radar had collected something unusual. Nothing special was recorded.
Downs then called the radio dispatchers for the county to ask whether somebody had reported observations. Nobody reported anything.
But they obtained a confirmation from two officers on the ground, one of them being Smith.
"I do not have any idea what it was," Smith said, but his confirmation encouraged the two airmen.
"I feel better," Downs said, "when I knew that there were... grown men, who swore to protect this community, which saw the same thing we saw."
