This article was published in the daily newspaper Mobile Register, Mississippi, October 9, 1973.
PETAL, Miss. (AP) — A Forrest County constable says he chased an unidentified flying object for over 30 miles, "hoping it would land so I could see if anybody got out." Constable Charlie Delk of Petal said the chase was interrupted when his automobile and police radio mysteriously went dead, then "started up again like nothing was wrong." Delk said he chased the object through pine forests and swamps in Jones and Forrest Counties, but lost sight of it when it "did a double flip and disappeared. "I'm 45 years old and I've never seen anything like it," Delk said. "It wasn't any play-toy." The constable said he went to a Petal address to investigate calls from residents who were frightened by a bright light in the sky. "When I got there, I spotted it up over Petal High School," he said. "It looked like an old-timey wind-up top with yellow lights all the way around it."
"I followed it up to the Jones-Forrest County line. It slowed down over a field and some lights came out the side. They looked sort of like blow torches. "Then it went back north. I followed it five miles and it went toward the Tallahalla Swamp. I got pretty close to it when my car died. "It was just like someone had cut the motor off. In about 15 minutes, my car started up again like nothing was wrong. Sheriff's deputies had tried to contact me by radio, but everything was dead during that time..."
