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    An alternative way to explore and explain the mysteries of our world. "Published since 1985, online since 2001."

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Classic Mysteries



The Sam Case 1973



by: Charles J. Wilhelm



It was October 19, 1973, during a night of heavy UFO activity, that I received a call from a Mrs. Wright. She reported seeing a bright ball of light descending about 8:30 p.m. near a neighbor’s farm. “It was moving in an easterly direction and went over a hill,” she said. “It looked like it landed in my neighbor’s field.”

The calls were coming in, one right after another that night. With only three of us investigating at the time, it was impossible to check out every report; especially a report as far as Goshen, Ohio.

Several days later, by chance, I happened to be in the area, where Mrs. Wight saw her bright ball of light and decided to investigate the incident.

Lady Luck must have been with me, because I found the farm where Mrs. Wright thought her ball of light landed. (I tried to contact Mrs. Wright but she was gone for the weekend)

I knocked on the door of the farmhouse and was greeted by an elderly gentleman. After introducing myself and why I was there, Sam was very reluctant to talk at first. (In order to keep the true identity of the witness confidential, we’ll just call him Sam)

Somehow during our conversation, it was mentioned that I was born in Kentucky. Again by a stroke of luck, that’s all it took to get Sam to tell me his story, because he too was from Kentucky. However, before he related his story, I had to give Sam my word as a Southern gentleman, promising not to reveal his true identity, because he didn’t want it in the newspapers.

His story begins on October 19, 1973, the same night I received a call from Mrs. Wright. That night, Sam witnessed something that would last until his dying days. In his sixties, very agile and alert, Sam had a habit of taking his two “coon” hounds out for a nightly run. Except for the unusual event that took place, it was just an ordinary evening walk with his dogs.

On his way returning to the house, Sam’s dogs, being on leashes, began “tugging” and “acting funny” as they approached this slope. Reaching the top of the slope, between him and the house, was a ravine that held something out of the ordinary. About three hundred feet away, settled near the base of the wide ravine below him, Sam saw a strange looking craft.

The craft was saucer-shaped with a bell top, being approximately fifty feet in diameter and dimly lighted. There were two blue and two white lights pulsating. The craft made no sound.

Sam said he could see that the craft was resting on three legs and underneath were three human like figures in the shadows. One figure was in the process of climbing up what seemed to be a ladder, while the other two, one standing and the other kneeling on the ground apparently probing or reaching for something.

While the visitors were apparently finishing what they came to do, Sam’s dogs were just raising hell and becoming uncontrollable. The dogs made so much noise that the one figure on the ladder stopped and turned to look in their direction. Turning and continuing up the ladder, the figure soon disappeared inside the craft. Several minutes later, the other two followed and raised the ladder into the craft with them. Suddenly the craft began to rise slowly, making a “train like whistle”, and shot-up into the night sky.

After telling me his story, I was then taken to the spot where the incident took place. My investigation of the area turned up nothing proof-wise. Probably because the area was moss-laden and spongy. When I would walk across the area my foot impressions would retract as though I hadn’t walked the area.

I questioned why they picked this particular place and what were they doing? After talking further with Sam about the area, I did find out that an underground spring ran beneath that ravine where the visitors were seen.

I thanked Sam for his cooperation and assured him that if his unwelcomed visitors should return, I would be at his beck and call.

As I was driving home, I began to sort out all the previous happenings. The pertinent questions that kept coming to mind were: Why did they stop at that particular spot? Were they thirsty? Were they trying to treat the water? Or were they extracting the water for some needed purpose? Only they can answer these questions. This just seems to be another riddle to boggle the ufologist’s mind.

____________________


Reprinted from The Ohio Sky Watcher, 1978. This was the official publication of the Ohio UFO Investigators League in Fairfield, Ohio, which Charles Wilhelm founded. Back in the 1970s, I visited with Charlie and his wife Geri a lot. In fact, they kindly allowed me to use their home as a base of operations during the summer of 1975. They treated me like family and I’ll always have fond and wonderful memories of those times. In our many conversations, this case frequently came up. Charlie was really impressed with this man’s story.


Thursday, March 28, 2024