This article was published in the daily newspaper The Kentucky Post, USA, on February 6, 1978.
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By David F. Brown
Associate Managing Editor
In the winter skies above Verona something red and triangular changed Luther Barton's life last Thursday night.
But he has no idea what it was.
Barton, 48, his wife Edith and son Luther Jr., 23, stepped outside their modest farmhouse on Rt. 491 near Verona about 7:30 that night.
As they did, they stepped into the strange, mystical world of the UFO. They saw something they've never seen before and can't put a name to.
Down to earth
The Bartons saw an unidentified flying object.
And, unlike many people, they immediately reported it to the police.
"I just don't know what it was," said Barton Sunday. "I didn't know what it was then. I still don't know now."
The Bartons consider themselves down to earth folks. Luther Barton is an employee of Continental Baking Co., cincinnati. He's lived most of his life in northern Kentucky. For the first time he is thinking in terms of "down on earth."
Barton said the object flew low and slow directly above their house and disappeared across a meadow.
Not a copter.
"It was kinda in a triangle shape," he said, carefully picking his words. "It had three big light on it - and it was humming."
Barton said the lights were red and so bright it made it difficult to see clearly, or to figure out just how high above them it flew.
Barton said the sound was a steady hum.
"Some people say maybe I saw a helicopter. But it didn't sound like that. and it sure didn't look like that."
He also dismissed the idea the object was a plane.
"I never saw a plane like that. It was moving too slow. It was shaped funny. And that hum - " he said, leaving the sentence unfinished.
The Bartons' report differs from that of other northern Kentucky UFO sighters in the recent weeks.
Policeman quizzed
Erlanger Ptl. Ron Jones, his four-year-old son Ron II, and his niece, Melody Harris, saw a UFO on night in Florence. They described what they saw as green, shaped like an egg or lightbulb, and said it didn't make a sound.
Their report has been studied in detail by Cincinnati UFO expert Leonard Stringfield. Stringfield has labeled the report "credible."
Jones said he is sticking to what he said he saw, despite "the ribbing I'm still getting."
The policeman, who lives in Verona, has been contacted by other UFO experts from across the country, who have bombarded him with questions.
And Stringfield invited Jones to Northern Kentucky University Tuesday night, where the Dubois chemical Co. executive plans a lecture on UFOs.
Another UFO report came in from Rick and Judy Gibson, of Ft. Wright. Mrs. Gibson said they saw an object one night out their bedroom window. She described the UFO as green, round in shape, and silent.
In Newport, Dave Pruitt, 65 Broadway, an employee of Reliance Universal, said he saw an oval-shaped shiny object out an upstairs sindow about 8:00 one morning.
"It shined like polished aluminium. It didn't have any light. It just hung in the air like it was suspended. Then it disappeared."
Pruitt estimated the object was one or two miles away. His is the only reported daylight sighting.
