This article was published in the daily newspaper Delaware Coast Press, Delaware Coast Press, on Wednesday, January 19, 2005.
By Roger Hillis
Coast Press Reporter
When Teresa Alexander of Seaford drove to the Rehoboth Beach area with her husband to do some Black Friday holiday shopping, "they were not alone."
Alexander said she and her spouse noticed a strange light which appeared to follow them for almost an hour Nov. 26.
The incident so unnerved Alexander that she began researching UFOs on the Internet and discovered a Web site, www.ufocenter.com, which is regularly updated with reports from throughout the country. She filed a report Dec. 9 and it was posted a few days later.
While larger states have dozens of sightings per year listed in the site's data base archive, Delaware averages between five and 10 cases per year. Alexander said she was surprised to see a Millsboro report from 1999 which was strikingly similar to hers.
The site is maintained by Seattle UFO researcher Peter Davenport. Portions of a Jan. 8 lecture by Davenport in Seattle were filmed by ABC News for possible inclusion in a television program to air during the last week of February. Davenport is also a regular guest on the (very) early morning syndicated radio program "Coast to Coast," which is broadcast throughout coastal Sussex County daily from 1 to 5 a.m., on 92.7 WGMD-FM.
To ensure that people who file reports are spared the ridicule that is common with those who acknowledge UFO sightings, Davenport deletes names and personal information when posting reports to his site. Alexander, however, said she is far from embarrassed about her experience. "I don't worry about what other people think," she said. "I know what my husband and I saw."
Alexander said she and her husband wanted to arrive at the Kmart store on Route 1 near Rehoboth prior to its 6 a.m., Black Friday opening to take advantage of the store's holiday sale. They left Seaford at about 4:30 a.m., to drop their children off at a relative's house in Millsboro, Alexander said.
"We were traveling on Route 20 toward Millsboro and I noticed this bright 'star' on the left side of the road above the woods," Alexander said. "My husband commented about how bright it was. I said, 'Yeah, it must be the north star,' but that didn't make sense because we were traveling southeast."
Alexander said the light crossed the road to the right. "It would seem to stop and then accelerate to keep up with us," she said. "It was very high in the sky, and all we could see was like a round ball of bright light."
When the car turned right on Route 113, the object appeared to make a sharp righthand turn, said Alexander, who became scared.
After they had dropped their children off on Mitchell Road in Millsboro, the Alexanders drove down Route 24 toward Long Neck. "The light still seemed to be following us, but I was relieved that the kids weren't in the car any more," Alexander said. "I told my husband to speed up and make sure he was close to other cars because I didn't want us to be alone with that thing.
"After we had stopped at a red light, my husband started speeding down Route 24 doing about 80 mph and the light kept up with us the whole time."
Alexander said the light now appeared to be a little closer to the ground. "It was kind of florescent blue," she said. "It would dim and then brighten, and it reminded me of a lighthouse light. It would dissipate and then come back as if it had made a full circle."
When the Alexanders arrived at Kmart on Route 1, the light appeared to hover above the store. "I don't know if anyone else noticed this since everyone was so preoccupied with getting in line for holiday shopping," Alexander said. "But I wonder if anyone else traveling the road noticed."
When a Frankford family reported a UFO sighting in 2002, a town spokesperson cited a possible earthly explanation -- a high-powered searchlight which was projected against the clouds by a former Ocean City, Md., nightclub.
Alexander said she doesn't know what her family witnessed, but she's confident that it wasn't a star, a blimp or a helicopter.
"From now on, I'm going to keep my digital camera in my car with me," she said.
