This article was published on page 1 in the daily newspaper The People's Defender, Adams County, Ohio, on Thursday, October 18, 1973.
UFO's, what are they? Where do they come from and what are they doing here?
No one seems to know the answers to any of the above questions but there are four law officers in Adams County who definitely saw something early Wednesday morning they cannot identify.
Adams County Deputies Jerry Blanton and Tony Crawford were on a routine patrol. They were north bound on SR 41 coming into West Union. As they approached the traffic light at the junction of SR 41 and 125, an unusual object appeared in the sky.
Unusual is an understatement as the story of the sighting is disclosed by the men.
The time was 1:14 a.m., and according to Jerry Blanton the object was just hanging about 200 feet above the ground in the vicinity of Chaperal Road.
The two law officers watched it for several minutes, spellbound. They had a camera in the car but said they were so dumbfounded they never thought to use it.
The brilliance of the pulsating lights, red, green, blue and white seemed to keep them in a mesmerized state. Its movements, according to the officers, were jerky. It would then zig then zag and move in a very tight circle.
While they sat transfixed by the object, they were in radio communication with the jail. Danny Davis, West Union Police, overheard the conversation and came to the jail. Deputies Crawford and Blanton arrived and the three of them witnessed the UFO.
Jerry Blanton said they were so taken back and shaken over the episode that it almost seemed to be unreal. The trio went into the jail for coffee which would hopefully settle their nerves.
Clyde Fields, another Adams County Deputy, came in the jail. He was asked by the men if he had seen anything unusual. Fields at first wouldn't admit anything. Later, when the trio had related the story, he confirmed the sighting. This made four, all lawmen, who had witnessed this strange and unusual object.
But this was only the first half of the story. The men returned outside for another look. This time all four, standing together, saw the object. It had moved from its original location to a southwest position.
According to Blanton it was now in the area between SR 41 and 125. Deputy Blanton said if you drew a line from Barry McFarland's building on 41 to Leon McFarland's 125, the thing would have been about in the middle.
In relating the experience later Wednesday morning, Blanton said he and Tony had heard on their radio of a sighting of a UFO in Highland County earlier. They joked about it. "But," he said, "we aren't laughing now."
Deputy Blanton went on to say that he heard over the radio that Unit No. 80 in Highland County, he didn't know the officer's name, who sighted a UFO that night. Unit 80 had a passenger with him, a game warden. Both men, according to Blanton, said the object was just above tree top level.
Also in Highland County, two women came into the Hillsboro Police Station in a high state of shock, proclaiming that they had seen a UFO. Word was that the two ladies were so shaken they wouldn't leave the station until their husbands came after them.
Other reports also came in from Ross County Sheriff's Department on UFO sightings. And, from the Chief of Police at Greenfield plus reports from Scioto County.
Deputy Blanton said he couldn't see the object itself, only the bright, pulsating red, green, blue and white lights. But, the distance across, the diameter, he guessed to be 1 1/2 times the wingspan of a small plane.
