Then in 1973 a major UFO
wave broke out across the country, and hundreds
of sightings were being reported in the Keystone state. Then to
make the situation even stranger, sightings of Bigfoot-like creatures
began to be reported over a multi-county area in both western and
eastern Pennsylvania. These reports continued for several months
then began to slow down.
Interestingly, the media and police agencies for
the most part took the reports seriously, And our UFO Hotline number
was literally deluged with reports and questions. While some police
agencies were investigating some incidents, they were commonly referring
the reports to our group to investigate, and in some cases our teams
were assisting the agency involved.
I had set up a communications center in my home,
and we were radio dispatching investigators to the sites as reports
were coming in. We were conducting this research around our regular
jobs, but in many cases, we had teams on site within minutes to
hours after a UFO or creature sighting was reported. But it was
one case which occurred, that made myself and my associates aware,
that there were some aspects of the UFO and Bigfoot mystery that
are even stranger than were first apparent.
As I have stated since this event, most unexplained
UFO sightings are not reported with Bigfoot encounters. And most
sightings of Bigfoot have no association with UFO reports. But here
in PA we investigated a few cases, where both were seen at the same
time. In other cases, A UFO
would be reported in an area, and soon Bigfoot reports would come
from that area, or vise versa. What association there exists between
the two anomalies if any, remains open to speculation. I must stress,
these cases are historically rare, but some are well documented.
It was my position as an investigator to gather the data, and present
the information, not hide the facts that were uncovered because
it would cause controversy from both Cryptozoologists and UFOlogists
who have their theories as to what these phenomena represent.
Briefly, on the night of October 25, 1973, My UFO
Hotline was active with UFO reports from around the state. About
10:30 P.M. that evening, I received a call from state trooper from
the Uniontown barracks concerning an incident which he had just
returned from investigating. One of those involved, was put on the
phone for me to interview. At about 9 P.M. about 15 people observed
a very large red spherical object hovering low in the sky which
began to descend towards a pasture. The witness and two boys proceeded
up the field and observed a white dome shaped object on the ground
that illuminated the area, and was making a loud whirring sound.
It was estimated at about 100 feet in diameter. They were about
250 feet from the object, and about 75 feet from a fence line. Walking
along the fence line were two tall figures, 7 to 9 feet tall, covered
with hair, and arms hanging down past the knees, and displaying
glowing green eyes.
The creatures were fired upon, first tracers were
shot overhead, then live ammo was used. The largest of the two creatures
turned towards the other almost touching it, and at the same time
the object in the field disappeared, and the sound stopped. The
creatures slowly walked towards the woods. One boy had already ran
home, the other two left the field, went to the farmhouse and moved
the family members to a neighbor's home, and called the state police.
When the trooper arrived he and the main witness went to the site,
and where the object had landed there was a glowing area, that according
to the trooper was about 150 feet in diameter. He said he could
read a newspaper from the amount of light that it was emitting.
The farm animals refused to go into the area. The witness we talked
with has always stated that before they left the field, the largest
of the two creatures was seen in the woods about 10 feet from them,
and he shot at it and it struck the fence that stood between them.
Later that night our team arrived in the area. Radiation
levels normal, glowing area now gone, but animals still wouldn't
go near the spot. Strange events began to occur during the early
morning hours in this dark secluded location. A farmhouse several
hundred feet from us was seen by some in the party to suddenly light
up like daylight for several seconds. A bull in the field and a
dog seemed unconcerned about us, and were looking into the woods.
The main witness, a rather large individual while being questioned,
suddenly begins to growl, throwing his father and my assistant George
Lutz towards the ground. The man ran into the field growling like
an animal and emitting screams, one which was near inhuman. His
own dog approaches him as to attack, then runs off whimpering. The
man suddenly collapses onto the ground. Then two of my team members
begin to complain that they are having trouble breathing. Suddenly
the air is filled with a strong odor that can best be described
as rotten eggs.
The man as he came out of what appeared to be an
almost trance-like state, began talking about visions he saw about
the end of the world, etc. Not knowing what could happen next we
helped each other back to our vehicles. It was apparent that professional
help was required in this case, and eminent psychiatrist Berthold
E. Schwarz was contacted. Dr. Schwarz traveled to PA at his own
expense and interviewed all of those involved including the eyewitnesses
and state trooper. There is much
more detail to this case, and I spent years following
the life of the principal involved. There were many para-normal
events which reportedly occured in the years following this episode.
And many years later in a follow up interview, an MIB event associated
with the case was revealed.
For a more detailed account of the case see Dr.
Schwarz's article "Berserk" in Flying Saucer Review, Volume
20, Number 1 (January-February, 1974, or "An Encounter in Fayette
County" in True Tales of the Unknown, Vol.II, published by
Bantam Books, November, 1989.
This was a well documented event involving numerous
individuals who had no interest in the unusual. But it seems that
the circumstances of this case affected many of those who were involved.
If you are aware of any similar cases please contact
me. Please check out my website at www.westol.com/-paufo
Stan Gordon