Landed Crafts, Strange Beasts, And Premonitions: The Bizarre Encounter Of Stephen Pulaski

An incident that featured a close UFO encounter as well as the sighting of a strange humanoid creature is one that was witnessed by multiple people, and that unfolded over a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, as well as the sighting of the UFO and the strange creatures, the main witness, Stephen Pulaski, appeared to suddenly be put into a bizarre catatonic state which lasted for several minutes by forces unknown.

The incident was investigated both by the police and UFO investigators almost immediately following the encounter, with one police officer even witnessing part of the mysterious events himself. Indeed, the witnesses, not least Pulaski himself, were largely seen as reliable and credible witnesses.

That the incident occurred right in the middle of a wave of UFO and humanoid sightings perhaps only makes the account that much more credible. However, as we will explore, given the detail that apparent premonitions were made by the witness following the initial encounter – premonitions that seemingly proved to be inaccurate – many researchers have paid little serious attention to the case in more recent years.

The account was first documented in the July 1974 edition of Flying Saucer Review via an article written by Berthold Eric Schwarz, M.D.

A Strange Light Near The Pulaski Farm

According to the report, at around 9 pm on October, 25^th, 1973, farmer Stephen Pulaski was on his farm in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, when he, along with multiple other people, including family members and neighbors, noticed a strange red orb-like object hovering over a nearby field. ^[1] After watching the strange glow for several moments, Stephen decided to investigate more closely, and, along with his neighbor’s 10-year-old twins, made his way toward the field. With him, he also took his rifle.

As their vehicle got closer to the field, Stephen noticed that the headlights suddenly became dimmer, as if the power was failing. From this perspective, they could see that the object was descending toward the field. Stephen brought the car to a stop and all three of them stepped outside and made their way to a small hill overlooking the field and watched the object as it moved slowly across the field.

As it moved, the object turned from red to bright white – so bright, in fact, that it lit up the entire area. From here, Stephen could make out further details about the object. He recalled that it was “dome-shaped” and “like a big bubble” and was approximately 100 feet across. Furthermore, the object appeared to make a sound that was “like a lawnmower”.

All three of the witnesses looked on in awe. Then, one of the young twins noticed something else.

Something Bizarre And Unsettling Approaching

As they were watching the object, one of the twins suddenly brought their attention to a nearby fence, claiming he could see something walking near it. Stephen, although he couldn’t make out any detail, could see two black shapes moving near the fence, and immediately raised his rifle. When he pulled the trigger, he thought the shapes were likely bears. However, in that brief moment when the flash from the gun lit up the area in front of them, he could see they were something more out of the ordinary.

Given that the fence itself was six feet high, he would estimate that the creatures were between seven and eight feet tall (with one of the strange being slightly taller than the other) and were covered entirely in dark grey hair. Furthermore, they each had piercing green-yellow eyes. He could also hear what sounded like whines coming from them that he later recalled reminded him of a baby crying.

At this point, in an attempt to scare these strange entities away, he fired his gun once more, this time purposely over the top of their heads. However, the two creatures continued walking toward them.

The Arrival Of Trooper Byrne

Now fearing that the creatures were going to attack, Stephen fired the rifle, hitting one of them three times. As he fired, one of the young boys turned and ran back toward the main house. He watched as the creature he had shot held up its arm, seeming to reach for the other one. At the same time, the glowing object simply vanished into thin air.

Stephen backed up slightly, watching as the creatures turned around and made their way back the way they had come. Both he and the twin who had remained watched them cautiously. After they had disappeared back into the darkness, the pair turned their attention to where the glowing object had been. While the object had indeed vanished, the area where it had hovered remained glowing.

The pair returned to the main house and, after being convinced, reported the encounter to the police. By the time they had arrived, both of them noticed how irritated their eyes had become.

Trooper Byrne arrived at the property to investigate at around 9:45 pm. He asked Stephen to accompany him in the patrol car to the area the encounter had taken place. Byrne pulled the vehicle to the side of a dirt road around 100 yards away from where the object had been and the two men got out. They could immediately notice that the glow remained, just as it had when Stephen had first left it.

The pair walked along the fence toward the area, noticing as they went that a part of the wire appeared to have been purposely damaged. As they were inspecting it, the two men heard the sound of something walking in the nearby woodland.

Bright Lights And Unnerving Sounds

They turned their attention to where the noises were coming from. Both sensed that something was heading in their direction. And that something, appeared to be very large, not least as the two men could hear what sounded like entire trees being ripped right out of the ground.

The two men turned and made their way away from whatever was approaching. When they happened to stop, however, the sound of footsteps also stopped. Then, when they began walking away once more, the footsteps began again also.

As they continued on back toward the car, Byrne noticed a glow a little over 150 yards away. After a few moments’ contemplation, Byrne stated he was going to drive toward the strange glow. However, after exiting the vehicle and walking to around 200 yards of it, Stephen asked him to stop, telling him he didn’t wish to go any further.

Byrne decided to drive Stephen back to the main house, with the intention of returning to investigate. However, before they could get back in the patrol vehicle, the two men heard the sound of movement in the woods once more. As soon as they heard the sound, both men rushed to the car. By the time they had returned inside, Stephen noticed a dark shape heading in their direction.

Byrne put the car in motion and drove around 50 yards away before turning the vehicle around so the headlights would light up whatever was following them. However, when he did so, there was nothing there. Furthermore, the sounds had now also stopped. After a few moments, the men made their way back to the house.

An Even Stranger Turn Of Events

It was around 10:30 pm by the time the men arrived back at the house. Byrne telephoned a local UFO organization and spoke to Stan Gordon, offering that something unusual had just taken place. Gordon, along with several others quickly made their way to the area, arriving at around 1:30 am.

Like when Byrne arrived, the group made their way, with Stephen, to the location where the incidents had unfolded. However, by this time, the glow had seemingly disappeared. What’s more, there were no signs of increased radiation in the area.

By 2 am, the group, along with Stephen, were at the location where they had witnessed the strange creatures. As they were there, they noticed that one of the nearby cows suddenly started acting as if it was scared by something. At the same time, they noticed that Stephen’s dog also began looking in the direction of the cow, acting anxiously as it did so.

Then, things turned even stranger.

Stephen began to reach for his face, rubbing his hands over his head. When investigators asked if he was OK, he began to shake somewhat, looking as if he was about to faint. They noticed how his breathing was becoming heavier and faster. Most startlingly, however, he began to growl like a wild animal, throwing his arms into the air when investigators reached out to steady his potential fall.

At this point, the pet dog ran toward Stephen, looking as though it was going to attack him. Before that could happen, though, Stephen went on the offensive, ultimately chasing after the dog as if he was intent on attacking it. This went on for several moments until he eventually collapsed to the ground, screaming that something was here with them.

“Keep Away From The Corner! It’s In The Corner!”

While this was happening, several of the other investigators also began to experience light-headedness, as well as trouble breathing. The group also noticed a sudden intense smell of sulfur. One of the investigators, George Lutz, suggested that they “get out of here”.

As the group was arranging themselves back into the vehicle, as well as bringing Stephen back to the car, he suddenly began to call out that they had “keep away from the corner”, adding that “it was in the corner”.

As investigators guided Stephen back to the car, he continued to speak to them. He claimed he could see a strange man wearing “a black hat and cloak”, even claiming this mysterious being was “carrying a sickle”. He continued that there was “fire behind this man” and “in front of him was a force, and in this force were the creatures”. These creatures were calling his name over and over.

Perhaps ominously, he also stated, as if being told by an unseen third party that “if man doesn’t straighten up, the end will come soon”.

During the struggle to get him into the car, his glasses fell from his face. His father, who had also made the journey, picked them up. Interestingly, when Stephen came to a short time later, when his father handed him the spectacles back, he claimed that he could see perfectly well without them. We might recall that only hours earlier he had noticed that his eyes appeared irritated when he returned home after viewing the object up close. It is certainly possible that his sudden improvement in eyesight was connected to the close proximity sighting.

What Connected These Events?

The UFO investigators were as intrigued as they were perplexed to the events that had been reported, as well as those they had witnessed for themselves, including Stephen’s apparent catatonic state. Indeed, in the days and weeks that followed, investigators would study the case, and Stephen quite intensely, with the overriding question being just what connected the UFO sighting to the strange creatures and the effect it had on Stephen.

Perhaps of most importance, the fact that each of the encounters had multiple witnesses (13 different witnesses in total), meant that it was a certainty that something strange occurred that evening. Furthermore, investigators found Stephen and the other witnesses to be very credible and reliable. And when they were interviewed, each version of events matched completely with the others.

From these interviews, investigators were able to put together a timeline of events and what likely occurred that evening.

It would seem that the lights were from a solid craft which was likely at a low altitude when it was first noticed. It then descended to the field and hovered a very short distance from the ground. As it did this, it gave off a sound that Stephen had recalled was very similar to a lawnmower, as well as lighting up the area around it. It also appeared to have an effect on Stephen’s vehicle, causing its headlights to dim significantly the closer it got to it.

Suggestions Of Bigfoot Creatures?

Regarding the strange beings themselves, whatever they were, given the reaction to it being shot – not least the immediate whimper that suggested it was in pain – it is also certain that it was a genuine, flesh-and-blood creature. And there was considerable damage noticed to the trees when investigators viewed them in daylight.

However, despite examining the entire area, investigators failed to turn up any strands of hair or even blood from a presumably wounded creature, nor did they manage to locate any footprints on the ground.

It is difficult not to notice the similarities in the description of the creatures – large, tall creatures covered in grey-brown hair – to Bigfoot. And we might also note that there have been many UFO and Bigfoot researchers who have noticed some kind of connection between the two.

It is also interesting to note that the creatures seemingly disappeared into thin air (much like the glowing object) after returning back into the woodland. Some Bigfoot researchers suggest there is a supernatural element to their existence. Might this be the case here? Might the two creatures have been Bigfoot creatures, and did they mysteriously vanish from sight?

And if they did disappear, where did they, and the glowing object disappear to? Were they simply invisible to human eyes? Or did they indeed leave our realm of existence to another dimension or part of the universe? And if so, how was this achieved? Through some kind of technological device, or due to the existence of portals that these mysterious creatures know how to manipulate?

Indeed, the creatures themselves are intriguing enough without the UFO sighting, or the strange behavior of Stephen while at the location with investigators.

Not A Medical Episode

Investigators would, understandably, conduct extensive research on Stephen, not least with the other witnesses as to his past behaviors. All would state that not only had they not seen him act in such a way previously, but that the behavior that evening was completely at odds with his normal demeanor.

Furthermore, he had no history of sleepwalking, fainting, or of speaking in a strange, trance-like state at any point during his life, perhaps ruling out that the behavior was some kind of medical episode. In fact, when they sought medical advice about the behavior that evening, it was suggested that the reaction was almost certainly to the events Stephen had witnessed and not an underlying condition.

Interestingly or not, Stephen would have no memory whatsoever of the events after he began to feel faint, nor did he recall what he said, or what it might have meant when he was told. Of course, whether this episode was a strange and subconscious way of Stephen dealing with the truly bizarre events that were unfolding all around him, or whether it was some kind of long-distance communication between the strange entities and himself is open to debate.

We should perhaps also remember that many of the other investigators also began to feel faint and breathless. This would perhaps suggest that while Stephen was the only one who reacted so extremely that evening, there was something quite palpable there which caused reactions in several other people, albeit less intensely.

Further Details Come To Light

Although Stephen couldn’t initially recall the events while in the strange trance-like state, the more he spoke with investigators, the clearer those events became. He would recall, for example, that behind the group, he could see “a big light” that the creatures were urging him to walk toward. As he began to walk toward it, he recalled that he could “see myself as crazy, as a man so powerful that I wasn’t scared of anything”.

As he walked forward, he could hear the creatures continuing to call and beckon to him. When he looked at them, though, all he “could think of was death and the faceless form in the black robe who was commanding these things” to kill him. It was at this point, he claimed, that he passed out and dropped to the ground.

The next thing he realized he could hear something – inside his head – saying “he is here, he is here”, while claiming that something was “putting a puzzle” inside his head. He also kept on seeing the date, 1976, flashing repeatedly through his mind. It was at this point that he blurted out – without realizing it – that “if these people don’t straighten out, the whole world will burn”.

Was this some kind of strange premonition? And if it was, is it connected to the events before it or is it pure coincidence that these events played out when they did? And, while it is, of course, impossible to prove, might some kind of world-changing disaster have been avoided and so meaning 1976 passed by without incident? We might also ask, if this premonition was connected to strange objects and creatures, then what was the purpose, and why was Stephen chosen to receive such information?

It is perhaps interesting to examine Stephen’s own opinions about the apparent communication and just why he had seemingly been selected to receive it. He would state to UFO investigators that what he was telling them “happened before”, and that “this is how the Earth was destroyed”. He would continue that “it will be very soon and this world will be gone”.

The 1973 UFO And Humanoid Wave

It is interesting to note that 1973, particularly the second half of the year, experienced a wave of not just UFO sightings but encounters with humanoid occupants. Indeed, the peak and undoubtedly busiest period of this wave in the United States was the month of October. Furthermore, some of these encounters share remarkably similar details.

On October 1^st, for example, in Anthony Hill in Tennessee, an encounter unfolded – in the middle of a thunderstorm no less – involving a “huge, hairy, robot-like creature” being seen in the woodlands. The beastly creature was reported by three teenagers, whose claims were corroborated somewhat by other local residents who had made independent reports of strange, glowing objects over the woodland at the same time the three teenagers claimed to have seen the strange entity. What’s more, on this occasion, monstrous footprints were discovered in the area the following day.

Only ten days later in Alabama, a three-year-old boy would inform his mother that he had spent the day playing with “an old monster” near the trees of the woodland near their home.

Less than two weeks before Stephen Pulaski’s encounter, on the evening of October 15^th in Berea, Tennessee, the Cline family was awoken by the sudden barking of their dogs outside. When they looked out of their windows, they could see several bright lights of a strange object just above the nearby woods. When they went out to investigate the following day, they discovered strange claw-like footprints in the ground near to where they had seen the object.

On the same evening in Gulfport, Mississippi, a taxi driver was making his way along Interstate-90 when he noticed an oblong-shaped object with a bright blue light move overhead before landing by the roadside a short distance in front of him. As the object passed over the top of him, the engine of his car suddenly cut out and his vehicle came to a stop. The next thing he realized, a strange figure rushed past the car, a claw-like hand tapping on the window as it did so.

The following night, a woman in Lehi, Utah claimed she and her children were abducted from their home by humanoid creatures with large heads and large claws for hands. On October 17^th in Watauga in Tennessee, several people witnessed a “copper-colored” object descend out of the sky and hover just above the ground. Suddenly, a doorway opened in the side of the object, and a six-foot humanoid figure with claw-like hands reached out and tried to grab two children.

Whether these encounters, particularly those with claw-like hands are connected to the creatures Stephen Pulaski witnessed remains open to debate.

A Truly Perplexing And Nuanced Case

Just what should we make of the encounters of Stephen Pulaski? While it is indeed as intriguing as it is bizarre, it is also one of the most credible on record – certainly of the time when many such reports, as we have seen, were flooding into UFO investigators’ in-trays from all over the United States.

The encounters also feature, and potentially tie up, several different fields of interest – those of ufology, Bigfoot research, and investigators into supernatural events such as the apparent telepathic communication and potential premonitions. Might we indeed find that these fields of interest are more connected than we might think? Indeed, as we have stated before, we just might find that understanding one such field could very well help us understand others. Perhaps we might find there is a connection between many mysterious and anomalous phenomena.

And while there is clearly doubt as to where Pulaski’s encounter sits within the many others of the UFO and humanoid wave of late 1973, it would perhaps be unreasonable to think that at least some of the many other reports share some kind of connection, whatever that connection might be.

The video below looks at some of the most intriguing UFO sightings from the United States.