This case appeared for the first time as an "entity" case in the INTCAT catalogue by British "skeptical" ufologist Peter Rogerson in the 2010's.
Rogerson said that in June 1932, late in the evening, in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, farmer Reuben Knight went onto the porch of his farm, 5 km from Wattsburg, when he observed a bright speck of light emerge from out of the scrub 400 meters to the south. It appeared to grow in size as it advanced towards him, coming within 1.2 meter. It now appeared as a blue sphere, 35 cm in diameter. It circled him and returned to the woods on a steady course at 55-65 km/h. After being in the woods 6 to 8 seconds it re-emerged and performed the same manoeuvres. Reuben called his wife, who saw the sphere when it performed for a third time
No ufologist had previously considered this report - made by the witness in a letter to NICAP in 1965 - as an "entity" report, and nobody, skeptical or not, although the witness did mention that he had first thought of some natural phenomenon, thought that it might have been ball lightning.
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[Ref. ld1:] GORDON I. R. LORE Jr., AND HAROLD H. DENNEAULT, Jr.:
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Scientists looking for a challenging brain-teaser are invited by Reuben D. Knight and his wife to account for what they thought might be "some natural phenomenon that has not been explained yet." The phenomenon appears to be of the unnatural variety seen at Rolling Prairie, Indiana, in 1904. Were it not for the repeated appearances of the "lights" in farming sections of the United States, some might attribute the following account to an over-stimulated imagination. Mr. Knight said the eerie event took place in 1932, on a farm 18 miles south of Erie, Pennsylvania, and three miles from Wattsburg, Pennsylvania. "One June evening, after supper, I went onto the porch and stood looking across the meadow, enjoying the cool, quiet evening, at dusk, when there appeared out of the scrub woods 400 yards to the south, a bright speck of light, which appeared to advance toward me. It grew in size and came up within four feet of where I stood. It was about eye level, a brilliant blue ball, about 14 inches in diameter. It traveled in a loop when near me and went back into the woods, proceeding (on) a steady path, at about 35 or 40 miles per hour. "Having disappeared in the woods for about six or eight seconds, it came again and followed the original route, up to me and looped away again. I called my wife ... and the silvery ball came again. When it had gone, we waited for it to return but it did not come back. Then I asked my wife, 'What did you see?' And she said, 'A ball of light came and went away.' "The object... was perfectly round; it did not seem to illuminate objects around it nor did it give off heat... "We never spoke of this to anyone (except my wife described it to our daughter). We did not try to explain it and did not connect it with the 'flying saucer' craze of later years. . . . I am no scientist but now I am convinced there is a direct relationship between what we saw and the so-called 'flying saucers.'" Mr. Knight seemed positive that the UFO had been weightless, and "not of any solid or metallic substance." 34 |
The source "34" is referenced in the footnotes as a report on file in the NICAP file.
[Ref. pr1:] PETER ROGERSON:
June 1932 Late evening.WATTSBURG (PENNSYLVANIA : USA) Farmer Reuben Knight went onto the porch of his farm, from 5km from Wattsburg, when he observed a bright speck of light emerge from out of the scrub 400m to the south. It appeared to grey in size as it advanced towards him, coming within 1.2m. It now appeared as a blue sphere 35cm in diameter. It circled him and returned to the woods on a steady course at 55-65kph. After being in the woods 6 to 8 seconds it re-emerged and performed the same manoeuvres . Reuben called his wife, who saw the sphere when it performed for a third time Lore and Deneault 1969 p 109 + Clark 1998 p 931 citing letter from Knight to NICAP 2 August 1965 |
The reason why Peter Rogerson made this observation that of an "entity" escapes me a little, I have the feeling that if "proponents" had done that, they would have been mocked. But I am willing to admit that an interpretation in terms of an "entity" cannot be formally excluded.
Yet, I am also amazed that nobody seems to have thought of a ball lightning event. The appearance and the size match. Sadly, it lacks essential data to go further: we do not know if the weather was stormy or not, and we do not know the duration of the three passages of the ball.
But we do have some striking information suggestive ball lightning:
It should be noted that the most primary source does not say that the ball "circled" the witness, the latter only said that it "traveled in a loop when near me".
| Id: | Topic: | Severity: | Date noted: | Raised by: | Noted by: | Description: | Proposal: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||||||
Probable ball lightning.
* = Source I checked.
? = Source I am told about but could not check yet. Help appreciated.
| Main Author: | Patrick Gross |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | None |
| Reviewers: | None |
| Editor: | Patrick Gross |
| Version: | Created/Changed By: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Patrick Gross | August 19, 2018 | Creation, [ld1], [pr1]. |
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | August 19, 2018 | First published. |
