The 1967 UFO Wave

1967 would see several high-profile UFO encounters across the US, Canada and much of Europe. Encounters that had such an effect, some are still remembered and even celebrated today. However, despite the US government, in particular, having had a vast amount of resources directed towards the study of such sightings at the time, they seemingly downplayed this “wave” instead of performing any kind of systematic investigation.

As these sightings, as we know now, were stacking up privately and isolated from each other in 1967, there were “open debates” taking place in US Congress, with serious arguments from highly educated and respected figures, for the most part, on both sides. Despite this, no connections or interlocking study was made.

Although exact figures vary marginally, there were over 4,000 sightings of UFOs in the United States alone in 1967, compared with a little over 1,000 reports in the second busiest year of 1966. Of the many reports in 1967, more than a hundred would speak of contact or sightings of “humanoid” entities, presumably extraterrestrials.

Despite all this, it would appear this “openness” was a convenient way of drawing attention away from the real prize, and ultimately of taking an official stance of dismissing the validity of such claims and leading to often offered, but highly dubious explanations such as swamp gas or weather balloons.

What’s more, this wave was one experienced around the entire planet, with particularly persistent sightings in Canada, the United Kingdom, and mainland Europe. Further still, some of these UFO encounters would prove to be some of the best documented and well-known on record. Why was 1967 so important to the UFO and alien question? Indeed, many of the sightings, as we will examine, would appear to be waves within waves of UFO activity.

A Year Of “Classic” Encounters In “The Last Classic UFO Wave!”

There is no doubt that 1967 is one of the busiest on record. And that is just taking into account the official records of reported or acknowledged accounts. Betty Andreasson’s claims of alien abduction began in January of that year, for example.

In April 1967 over Crestview in Florida, several school students witnessed disc-shaped crafts over their school in broad daylight. Furthermore, the sightings were also corroborated by several of the staff members. Years later, many of the witnesses would organize themselves into an online group to discuss their memories of that day and to attempt to get to the bottom of just what they saw.

At around the same time, Florida was another state of America that was experiencing its own “mini-wave” of UFO activity. As well as civilian witness accounts, such as the chilling encounter of James Flynn in the Everglades only several weeks prior to the Crestview incident, there were several military encounters. Perhaps the most concerning taking place over Key West Air Force Base where radar operators would track “eight unidentified objects” for several hours off the coast of Miami.

Perhaps one of the most controversial encounters to take place during the 1967 wave is the claimed alien abductions of Carroll Watts from Texas. The abductions themselves would take place over several months. What’s more, they would feature some stark and blunt warnings. We should note, however, that many, even in UFO circles are a little standoffish regarding the claims.

Another seemingly outlandish case occurred in France – which experienced its own surge of sightings – on the Cussac Plateau when two children witnessed a floating sphere as well as the apparent occupants.

The Indiana UFO Wave Of 1967

One of the first incidents of the 1967 UFO Wave is an encounter we have examined before, the Beanpot incident from Indiana in mid-January. However, that incident was just one of an absolute mountain of UFO activity in the Hoosier State ^[1] at the start of the year. Incidentally, the witness in the Beanpot case would experience a bizarre visitation from the Men In Black several years after the sighting, coincidentally or not, right in the middle of another UFO wave. We will return to this encounter in a future case study article.

Quite possibly the very first sightings on record in 1967 occurred over the state of Indiana in the town of Richmond. At around 2 am on the 3^rd of January, a motorist would report a “mushroom-shaped object” that would hover over his vehicle for almost 15 minutes. As it did so, the witness would lose all control of the vehicle and, unable to steer or accelerate, was forced to bring the car to slowed stop.

A week later at around 8:30 pm on the 10^th January in Bruceville, Pam Ridgley and her son, Joe, would encounter a “dull, gray, elliptical” craft as they drove from their home to the main road. It would also hover of their vehicle before vanishing into the distance at great speed.

Another very similar sighting occurred the following week, this time in Freetown on the evening of the 17^th January. Another motorist, Francis Bedel, would witness a “brilliant glowing white light” suddenly appear in the middle of the road. Even more bizarre, after hovering for several seconds, the light began to reverse toward Bedel. The young motorist would ultimately lose control of his car due to his concentration on the bizarre object. Fortunately, he wasn’t injured, although his car was damaged.

The Sighting Of State Troopers, Chastain And Blevins

The following month, Indiana would continue to witness strange encounter after strange encounter. For example, at around 7:30 pm on 4^th February, Hollace Chastain had just finished his state trooper patrol duties and was checking his mailbox on his way home in Norman. As he did so, however, he noticed an elliptical-shaped bright light in the sky seemingly hovering overhead.

He watched the light for several moments and after being satisfied that it was indeed something unusual, he would radio a report to another trooper on patrol, James Blevins. As he did so, the object suddenly began to move, changing colors from “white to orange to greenish-blue” before finally returning to white as it settled back into a hovering position. Even more bizarre, although the witnesses believed the object to be solid, they also witnessed it seemingly changing its shape. In total, it remained visible for around half an hour before disappearing from their sight.

From his position, around 10 miles from Chastain’s location, Blevins would describe the object as “much too big to be a star”, even if it had of remained stationary. When it did move it appeared to “flicker and wobble”. This might be suggestive of some kind of rotation taking place.

Although the object disappeared from the view of the two state troopers, beginning in the early hours of the following morning, only several hours later in real time, several other sightings would unfold within hours of each other.

Several Sightings Within Hours Across Indiana

As they were returning home from Huntingburg where they had performed earlier, several members of a band would witness a strange object just before 2 am, around 10 miles outside of Oakland City. They would describe the object as “pale green with a bluish tinge”. The brightness of the object varied as they continued to watch it.

However, more remarkable, and very similar to the claims of the two state troopers only hours previously, was that it appeared to change shape. At first, it appeared like a boomerang before seeming to morph into a teardrop shape. As the members of the band watched the incident, who would incidentally all request anonymity, another vehicle passed theirs. It appeared these unidentified people also witnessed the bizarre encounter.

Around 75 miles away and 45 minutes later at 2:30 am in Crothersville, state police officer, Richard Barker witnessed and followed a “huge ball of greenish-blue and white lights” that appeared to have a flat, rotating underside. He would follow the bizarre object for around 10 miles, closing to “within (about) a mile of it” before it “took off fast”. He would state:

It wasn’t like any airplane I’ve ever seen. I know it wasn’t a plane!

Just under four hours later at around 6 am, an anonymous woman would report a very similar object over Bedford. She watched the object for around 30 minutes, recalling that it was “oval-shaped, sort of like a cigar”. Furthermore, the “top was shiny” while there was a “bright light on the bottom”. She got the impression from how the light appeared to move that the object was “looking for someplace to land”.

The object came closer to her home and eventually hovered overhead for several minutes before taking off.

The Discreet And Bizarre “Cross-Shaped” UFO Wave Over England

Another apparent wave of activity within the overall wave of 1967 would unfold in the United Kingdom, and specifically England in late-August. These sightings, which we will examine later, would lead to another of the 1967 wave that we have examined previously, the Flying Cross sightings in October.

Furthermore, these bizarre cross-shaped aircraft were seemingly spotted, and reported, throughout the month of October and then disappeared just as quickly. In a wave that contained many of the “usual” disc or cigar-shaped crafts, this sudden appearance of cross-shaped UFOs, over a very specific country, no less, surely dispels any charge that these particular sightings were simply the result of mass-hysteria and misidentification. One would imagine that if that was the case, the reports would reflect the detail of the barrage of reports leading up to these sightings.

And we should remind ourselves, that when before, during, and after the Flying Cross episode, the entire United Kingdom, as well as other parts of Europe, were somewhat under siege from reports of strange aircraft seemingly from another world.

It is perhaps easy to appreciate, particularly when we factor that many of the sightings appeared to be in the immediate vicinity of nuclear plants and storage bases how the idea, however outlandish, of an alien invasion, could creep into the back of even the most level-headed mind.

The Nuclear Connection

We have examined, as have many UFO researchers, the apparent connection between nuclear facilities, particular those that stored nuclear weaponry, appear to be of apparent interest to the occupants of these otherworldly crafts. This was very much the case in the 1960s and particular during 1966 and 1967.

We have examined before, for example, the abundance of UFO activity over Minot Air Force Base in the summer and fall of 1967. And these sightings are of particular interest when we factor in the incident the previous year, as controversial and debated as it is, when UFO technology apparently “switched off” the nuclear facilities of the base.

According to NICAP’s report on the 1967 wave, and more specifically the connection to nuclear weapons and the facilities that store them, the United States “reached a peak of 31,700 stockpiled nuclear warheads” in late 1966. Is it coincidence, then, that some researchers will actually point to the latter months of 1966 as the actual beginnings of the 1967 UFO Wave?

The Build-Up

Although sightings throughout 1966 were relatively constant, there appeared to be an increase of sorts in the second half of the year. And in retrospect, the 1967 wave’s origins lie here in the activity of 1966.

As well as the many sightings, official and otherwise, around Minot Air Force Base and others around the United States that year, several other well-known sightings also occurred. The Michigan “Swamp Gas” sightings, for example, or the Portage County UFO Chase.

Off the back of such incidents, an already steadily increasing popularity in UFO and alien matters suddenly accelerated. And not just from the general public. Several influential people in “official circles” were beginning to request official investigations into the bizarre sightings being reported across the United States.

It was also during this time that the Colorado Project began (in October 1966) and was, at the time, the largest coordinated study of UFO sightings and encounters. It would run throughout the entirety of 1967 and finish in October of the following year. So, whether by coincidence or consequence, what many to be the last classic UFO Wave – even termed “The Mother Of All UFO Wave” by some – was also one of the most documented.

The (Official) Beginning Of The 1967 Wave

As well as the cases we have already highlighted above, UFO activity, already increasing overall, would suddenly explode in 1967. And would do so right from the start of the calendar year.

For example,  on 9th January in Malta, Montana, after their dog’s excited barking alerted them to something out of the ordinary taking place, an entire family would witness a “large rectangular object”, which glowed red along the bottom and amber along the top, flying low to the ground near their home. Despite how low it was, no sound came from the glowing craft. It would eventually land in a nearby field. It remained there for around an hour, glowing red. Then, without warning, it would shoot directly up into the air at breathtaking speed.

Just short of two weeks later in Methuen, Massachusetts, three teenage girls were driving alongside a field when a “string of nine or ten bright red lights”, themselves part of a solid object, moved over the field. The girls pulled the car to the side of the road to watch the lights. When they attempted to start the vehicle again, however, it stalled. The headlights and the radio were also dead. The object would suddenly leap into the blackness of the sky and vanish. The car would start shortly after.

A Wave Of Sightings Across The World

Of course, sightings of strange craft were seemingly taking place across the planet.

On the 11^th January, for example, a “white ball” or oval-shaped craft was reported to be hovering relatively low to the ground. Although the details on the report are vague, it also appears that some form of paralysis of the witness took place.

Several nights later at around 10 pm over Lake Ontario in Canada on the 20^th January, a pilot and his three passengers would witness a “round, glowing white object”, approximately the size of “a large apartment building” in the skies above them. They would further claim that a “ring of red lights” ran around it, blinking and flashing. The pilot would immediately turn back to the airfield and cancel the planned flight.

Just short of a week later on the 26^th January in Heidelberg in Germany another sighting would unfold. At around 8:30 pm, the unnamed witness would suddenly hear a “pulsating sound”. When they looked up to locate the source of the strange noise, they could see a “shiny, metallic, elliptical-shaped object” hovering overhead. The witness would watch for several minutes until the sound of military jets approaching came. Then, the object took off at great speed.

On the 3^rd February just outside of Lima in Peru, came another sighting from an airline pilot, this time of a DC-4 passenger plane traveling from Chiclayo to Lima. The pilot would witness a “very luminous object” in the distance which he at first took to be a star. However, the way it moved and the fact that it was it approaching them meant he quickly discarded any such thoughts. As the object passed them, the “fluorescent lights of the cockpit and all radio receptions went out”, temporarily replaced by “static noise”.

The Truly Bizarre Long Island Landing Incident

With UFO sightings and activity having been constant throughout the opening weeks of 1967, perhaps one of the most bizarre accounts occurred at some time in early-March in Long Island, New York. According to the book UFO Universe by R Perry Collins, a family was driving through the region during the afternoon when they noticed a “large disc-shaped object” suddenly appear in the sky. What’s more, it was descending and would ultimately land in a field near the roadside.

Realizing they were witnessing something truly extraordinary, the driver of the car pulled over to the side of the road. Discreetly, the family – seven in total – watched the shiny disc. As they did, they were even more perplexed when several moments later a “sedan-type vehicle” that was driving along the road suddenly swerved off-road and into the field where the strange craft had landed. It steadily made its way to the shining object.

As the family watched this bizarre scene, a doorway on the side of the landed craft suddenly opened. In the doorway were “two men” who promptly stepped out and walked toward the now waiting car. They each got inside, and the vehicle took almost as soon as they had pulled their doors shut.

The craft, meanwhile, rose steadily into the air and then vanished with breakneck speed into the blue skies above.

While we should perhaps treat this account with a certain amount of salt, it is intriguing, nonetheless. Not least due to the obvious insinuation of some type of “government involvement or conspiracy”.

The White Sands Missile Range Incident

Perhaps one of the most credible and well-documented UFO incidents of early 1967 occurred at the White Sands Missile Range on the morning of 2^nd March in New Mexico. ^[2] At just before 10:30 am, Robert English would contact Major Stephens at Holloman Air Force Base from the Apache Summit. He was, he claimed, witnessing “silvery specks passing overhead”.

Following a short discussion and monitoring of the continuing anomalies overhead, two intercept jets would leave the runway at Holloman in an attempt to gain visual confirmation. However, neither was successful in doing so and would shortly return to base.

Radar operators, though, would manage to locate several anomalous craft – up to 20 in total – operators at two separate locations managing to track the bizarre objects. At least one other grounds crew managed to get a positive visual of the strange craft overhead. A technician named, Duane Bakke, would claim that a “saucer-shaped object” passed over him and moved away, disappearing over Alamo Peak.

The incident would last into the early afternoon and remains unexplained. What’s more, authorities at the base would order a “news media blackout” on the sighting. However, as we have learned since, 29 different people would witness “one or more objects” over the missile range that morning and early afternoon. Most would describe the strange objects as silvery and shiny and/or saucer-shaped.

Several Cases Of “Animal Reaction”

Later that same evening, whether connected or not, several other sightings of strange craft occurred in the states of Arkansas and Tennessee.

At around 9:30 pm over Patterson in Arkansas, an anonymous witness would report an “unexplained object with red lights” hovering over a residential neighborhood. So close was the object that several dogs on the street barked agitatedly at the glowing object.

Several hours later at 11:30 pm in Memphis, Tennessee, an Air Force report shows that a “cigar-shaped object” with lights along the side was reported overhead. Furthermore, the lights pulsated in a “rhythmic pattern”.

At the same, back in Arkansas, this time in Piggott around 130 miles away from Memphis, four strange lights were reported by a local high school teacher. As the witness watched these lights, several more would join them seemingly from out of nowhere. They would continue to maneuver randomly in the sky overhead for several moments before disappearing into the distance.

The following evening, just short of midnight on the 3^rd March a married couple, Mr. and Mrs. Fellows, would witness a bizarre bright light begin to descend from the night sky above in Red Hill, New Hampshire. It was soon apparent that this “clam-shaped” object was following their vehicle as it moved just above the treetops that lined the road. As it moved, it changed from a white color to a distinctly bluish-green.

The object would continue to follow the couple for around 20 minutes before disappearing. Interestingly, and very similar to the sighting in Patterson, the couple’s pet dog became increasingly agitated while the UFO was overhead. Furthermore, the couple would report how the atmosphere had “an electrical quality” to it. Several days later in Illinois, an almost identical incident would occur.

A Summer Of Activity

By the late-spring early-summer part of the year, UFO sightings were in full swing. And what’s more, many of the sightings were far from distant sightings of strange or flashing lights. On 1st April in Fishing Creek Valley in Pennsylvania, for example, three children were witness to a sphere with two antennae and a halo that changed color. It would drop to the ground hovering at a level of around forty feet, projecting a bright beam all around as if searching the area. It then disappeared in an instant.

An incident from early-April from the NICAP files is also particularly interesting. “Jimmy D” was driving home with his wife in Moulton, Iowa in the early evening when they witnessed “three strange men” standing in the middle of a recently plowed field. As the couple watched them, the three men vanished right in front of their eyes. They literally “faded from sight”.

Shocked and amazed at what they had just seen, Jimmy would turn the car around and drive past the sight again. This time, seven men were stood in the field. And, within a few moments of the couple spotting them, they too simply disappeared as if they were a light that was rapidly running low on energy.

The couple would pull up and, from a distance, keep watch over the area. However, after doing so for several hours they witnessed a strange object “like a dust cloud” seemingly forming in the field where the men had disappeared. Now scared and not willing to risk getting caught in some deadly force, Jimmy and his wife left the area. They would, apparently, stay in the next town for several days before finally feeling comfortable enough to return home.

The Ramstein Air Force Base Incident

As outlandish as the above account might sound, an incident from the files of Leonard Stringfield and Philip Corso is equally so. The exact dates are uncertain, but it appears the following incident took place around late-April or early-May between Ramstein and Manheim in Germany, near the Ramstein United States Air Force Base.

On the evening in question, radar operators had picked up an anomalous object on their systems. A short time later, two military jets left the runway on intercept missions. They would, however, prove unsuccessful in intercepting the craft, although they would confirm its presence visually.

As the jets returned to base, the report claims that a “surface to air missile from Ramstein Air Force Base” successfully hit the object, which then fell to the ground on the outskirts of the base. Within minutes an “American retrieval team” were at the crash site and secured the location.

At the scene, they discovered a “flat disc-shaped object”, similar in appearance to “two plates joined together at the rim”. The retrieval team eventually gained access to the cockpit of the disc and discovered two alien crew members inside. However, both were dead, apparently from either the explosion of the missile or the impact with the ground. Each was around 7 feet in height and had on identical “tight-fitting silver metallic suits”.

According to the account, the two bodies and the remains of the craft were taken by sea to the United States. Once there, the otherworldly cargo was taken to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Even more intriguing, the account claims that an identical disc was the subject of an American recovery in Vietnam in 1958. What’s more, this recovered disc also contained two crew members, identical to those inside the Raimstein wreckage.

The Ricky Banyard Sighting

In what the Edmonton Journal newspaper called the “most detailed report of any UFO in the Edmonton area”, the sighting of 14-year-old Ricky Banyard in early-May in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is most certainly worthy of our interest here.

At around 2 am in the early hours of 8^th May, Banyard was returning home when he first noticed what he would call “the spaceship” hovering overhead. He would remain watching the encounter unfold for the next four hours.

As the craft hovered overhead, he would see “white beamed lights moving over the neighborhood”. This very much reminds us of some kind of search operation. Initially, the object disappeared into the distance. However, a short time later and with Banyard on the doorstep of the family home, it returned. With binoculars he settled into a spot under the trees outside his home, satisfied that they provided him with adequate cover.

He would recall how the ship – approximately 200 feet above the ground – made a “muffled whistling noise as it hovered”. The strange white beam continued to “search” the ground below. He would recall:

“The beam came straight down and then spreading out in kind of a rectangular shape about six inches above the ground!”

It was at this time when the young teenager came out from the tree’s cover to get a better look at the situation. As he did, the light suddenly went out, as did all the lights on the ship. At the same time a “kind of screaming noise” sounded out. Then, the futurist craft took off. Interestingly, black “burn marks” were later discovered in the cemetery over which the craft had been hovering.

The sighting and the markings remain unexplained.

The Falcon Lake Incident

Without a doubt, one of the most intriguing, and arguably most credible UFO encounters, not only in 1967 but perhaps of all time, occurred in the picturesque regions of Canada. ^[3]

Sometimes referred to as the Michalak Encounter, the events of 20th May 1967 are still spoken of and researched today. In 2017, there were even public celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the incident.

On the day in question, 51-year-old mechanic, Stefan Michalak, was roaming in the rocky, woodlands near Falcon Lake in search of rare, valuable, or just interesting minerals. He was within the boundaries of Whiteshell Provincial Park in the Manitoba region of Canada, and around eighty miles from his home in Winnipeg. As he was examining what he believed to be quartz crystal, he suddenly noticed a cacophony of noise from the wildlife around him. He looked upwards, and through the trees, he could clearly see two glowing red, oval-shaped objects. What’s more, they were heading his way with alacrity.

One of the objects would come to rest on an outcrop of rocks around 160-feet from where he stood. The other would hover over him at a distance of approximately 15-feet. It then shot upwards into the air with great speed.

The object on the rocks remained where it was, as did Michalak. He noticed a “great heat” filling the air around him. The object would change colors several times. Going from red, to gray and then to a “hot stainless steel, with a golden glow around it!”

After around thirty minutes, a door opened.

A “Maze Of Lights” Inside

Later describing the door as “square but with round edges”, Michalak would state that a “brilliant purple light” would come from inside the craft. He also felt “wafts of warm air” washing over him, as well as the distinct smell of sulfur. This last point is particularly interesting as it is often found within many such close contact reports.

He could also hear a high buzzing sound like a “tiny electric motor running very fast!” He made his way towards the craft. The nearer he got, the more he could make out what he eventually realized were voices. They sounded human, if very high-pitched.

He called out in several different languages, including English, Russian, French, Italian, and Ukrainian in an effort to communicate. All went unanswered. He moved closer to the strange craft, now so close he could touch it. Placing on his protective glasses he used for chipping rocks, he made the decision to look inside. Taking a breath, he reached his head inside the doorway.

A “maze of lights” would greet him, some flashing repeatedly. There were also “direct beams running in horizontal and diagonal paths”. To him, there appeared to be no design or pattern to the lights, which seemed to be “working in a random fashion!” He turned his attention to the ground, noticing no seams or joins on it, or from the walls above. Again, this is a detail that arises in many such UFO cases.

Just as he was about to look closer, the ship “tilted” somewhat.

Intense Burns and Ill Health

The tilt caused one of the machines on the craft to make contact with his chest. He instantly felt an intense searing pain on his torso. Of even more concern was his glove, which had melted from his hand, and his shirt was in flames. He fell away from the craft, removing the shirt as he did so. He noticed the craft had risen slightly from the ground. Then, as a rush of hot air hit him, the object vanished upwards.

Machalak took a moment to gather his thoughts. Confused and in great pain, he began to make his way to his vehicle parked on the highway. He would drive to Misericordia Hospital where he was treated for severe chest burns. He would also report the encounter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), although they would do little more than make a basic report.

When local media and radio became aware of the incident, however, several UFO investigators would descend on the area eager to talk with Michalak and investigate the incident further. Michalak himself still had a bizarre “checkered burn mark” on his chest, presumably where he fell against the machinery inside. Michalak remained severely ill for several weeks following the incident. He would suffer from intense nausea and struggled to keep any food in his system. He would also develop nasty blisters on his torso several weeks after the incident, as well as a bizarre rash that ran in a V-shape from his ears to his chest.

Investigation Of The Landing Site

Although his health would return to normal after a month or so, he would suffer “flare-ups” of ill-health for some time. In September of 1967, for example, he would attend hospital again due to several strange, large spots appearing on his torso, as well as an intense “burning feeling” around his neck and chest. Furthermore, he would suffer random episodes of dizziness and his joints around his hands would swell considerably.

After initially showing little interest in his account, following pressure from UFO researchers as well as the general interest in the case by the public, the RCMP, and the Canadian Air Force would investigate the matter more seriously. During this investigation, Michalak, along with investigators and an electrical engineer, would locate the site of the incident. To the surprise of everyone, a clear “outline of the ship” remained on the ground for all to see.

They would also recover the remains of the burnt shirt that Michalak had ripped from his back after falling back from the craft. It was noticed that the trees and plants in the immediate vicinity of the landing spot of the craft were withered and dead.

Ultimately, the incident at Falcon Lake remains a mystery, but many in UFO fields regard Michalak as a very credible witness, and his story authentic and genuine. Michalak passed away in October 1999, 32 years after the incident, at the age of 83.

A Late-Summer And Fall To Remember

As the summer months unfolded and prepared to submit to the fall, at least in the northern hemisphere, the sightings of strange lights and aerial objects would continue. And they would do so around the globe to varying levels of believability.

In early July, according to an account from a Dutch UFO magazine, in Oosterchelde in The Netherlands, Stefan Danaerde and his son were in their sailboat when they realized that their radar equipment was malfunctioning. At around the same time, “a blue sun” descends to the surface of the water. As Denaerde looked on he spotted what looked like a body floating in the water. Immediately, he jumped in in an effort to recover and possibly save whoever it was.

As soon as he did so, however, the “blue sun” came immediately over them, allowing the witness to see that the light belonged to a “metallic saucer”. As it remained overhead, a doorway opened in the underside of the craft and a staircase dropped down into the water. Danaerde would enter the strange craft and find himself surrounded by humanoid figures. They were a little over 4 feet tall and each wore uniforms similar to astronauts.

When they spoke to Danaerde, they did so in a “mechanical voice”. However, they apparently thanked him for helping their injured crew members in the water. We should note, while this account is very intriguing, it is littered with “personal human agendas” such as political ideology that perhaps makes it very suspect.

Another Alleged Recovery In The Vizcaino Desert

Back in the North American continent in Baja California in Mexico on the evening of 2^nd July is another alleged account of a crashed and recovered UFO. This time, in “a remote location” somewhere in the Vizcaino Desert. The report comes to the wider public through UFO researcher, Anton Anfalov and can also be found in the files of Bobbie And Slate and Peter Guttilla.

According to the report, the United States’ military recovery teams would arrive at the location, with some witnesses claiming that these vehicles had “special devices” for unknown uses on them. The craft itself was in two pieces, with witnesses claiming that the strange vehicle had landed briefly before an explosion caused the separation.

In the vicinity of the crippled object were the dead crew, which even more bizarrely, many claimed were almost identical to many of the Bigfoot creatures witnessed around the world but particularly in North America.

Much like before, the wreckage of the craft was recovered by the units at the scene and then taken to an unknown location.

While each of the previous accounts was outlandish in nature with little to back them up by way of proof or photographic evidence, several incidents in the opening days of July would prove to be much different.

The Beginnings Of Things To Come – Increasing Pictures Of Anomalous Objects!

On the evening of 3^rd July at around 7:15 pm in Cumberland, Rhode Island, Joseph Ferriere was on his way to Woonsocket to investigate reports of a UFO sighting. As he did so, he would spot, and photograph a huge cigar-shaped object hovering overhead of his location. Not only was this huge object hovering, but Ferriere claimed to witness several smaller disc-shaped objects flying into and out of it. This is, of course, suggestive that the cigar-shaped craft was some kind of mothership. You can see one of those photographs below.

Several hours later over Pigeon Lake in Alberta, Canada, another witness, this time a night fisherman, manager to capture a photograph of a bizarre object they encountered. The witness, Douglas Dennis, was fishing at Pigeon Lake when he suddenly noticed a strange “soft orange-colored ball” appear overhead. Within a few moments, the object had descended to a relatively low altitude. Realizing he was witnessing something bizarre he reached for his color camera, aimed roughly, and pressed down on the shutter. You can view that picture below.

Earlier that day, also in Canada, this time in the Calgary region of Alberta, Warren Smith, along with two other people, would witness and photograph a shiny disc-shaped object above them. While it is a little difficult to see, you can check out that picture below.

From The Very Strange To The Very Credible

Several days later and across the Atlantic Ocean in Cradle Hill, Warminster, England, three witnesses would report a “tall man” near the woodlands in the late evening of 8^th July. According to the researcher, Arthur Shuttlewood, Bob Strong, Sybil Champion, and a third anonymous gentleman, noticed the strange figure and turned their flashlights on to it.

The humanoid was dressed in a shiny one-piece suit with a black helmet on his head. His skin appeared particularly pale. As if the incident couldn’t get any strange for the three witnesses, however, the strange figure then completely vanished right in front of them. In a second, he was gone. It does, of course, sound extremely similar to the accounts of the vanishing men in the field in Iowa that we examined above.

The following evening, in Meridian, Mississippi at just before 6 pm, Philip Lanning was driving when his car suddenly came to a stop as his engine died. As he exited the vehicle, a huge oval-shaped object – “like a cymbal on a drum set” – moved overhead. As it did, it remained completely silent. Furthermore, Lanning couldn’t recall any portholes or other obvious openings or doorways on the craft.

Incidentally, Lanning’s sighting was one of the last to enter the files of Project Bluebook. And perhaps did so due to Lanning’s solid detail taking and insistence and level-headedness about what he saw.

Humanoid Encounters And Strange Lights

According to the files of NICAP’s Richard Hall, an incident just before dawn at around 5 am on the 15^th July in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania would see a morning jogger have an encounter with two blond-haired, blue-eyed men who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Each wore “mustard-colored overalls” and neither said a word to him. He realized, however, that they were leading him to an opening in the wooded part of the park.

Once there, he saw a saucer-shaped craft, approximately the size of “one-third of a football field”. It appeared white on top while the underside was a brown color. He was led onboard the craft which would ultimately take off. The witness, “Charles S” would claim to spend the next 24 hours “flying around” before his hosts returned him to the spot where they had met him in the park.

Just short of a week later, while traveling home near Key Largo, Florida in the early hours of the 21st July, two sisters noticed a bizarre yellow light emerge in front of them from the swamp area. It began to descend in front of the car. Before it was directly in their path, however, it veered to the right. It would eventually land on a roadside sand dune.

The girls continued driving, noticing the light becoming dimmer and dimmer. Then, it suddenly shot upwards and was behind their vehicle once more. It soon vanished into the distance, but the young girls would report the incident to the authorities. The following day, a search unit went to the location and discovered “a scorched area” on the ground.

The Mini 1967 UFO Wave Of England

Beginning in late-August 1967 and continuing into the following month, reports of UFO sightings around England would begin to reach newspapers and police stations ^[4] in abundance.

The first sighting report would appear in the ‘The Evening Sentinel’ courtesy of the 18-year-old unnamed witness. According to the report, as the young man was walking over the canal bridge in Shelton on the evening of 28th August, he would witness “two bright orange lights hanging motionless in the sky!” Each of the lights was the same size and both were an oval shape. Even stranger, there was no noise whatsoever from these mysterious orbs.

The following day, in Newcastle, a 17-year-old girl and three friends would report their sighting of “two red lights traveling at great speed”. They were driving from Newcastle to Nantwich and were just outside their home city when they witnessed the objects. The lights were quite low down. So much so that the four young ladies at first thought they were the headlights of another vehicle. They then vanished from view in a flash.

Two days later, on 31st August, a story appeared regarding a cluster of sightings in various locations. A woman in Smallthorne claimed to see a “bright orange light” hovering over houses on a residential estate. She would add that the “light seemed to be revolving” and made “absolutely no noise!”

A young girl and her parents witnessed three objects hanging over Hanley High School for several moments the following day. They would remain silent before moving off into the distance. The following evening, an unnamed housewife would report seeing three saucer-shaped crafts landing on the school field.

RAF Ternhill offered a rather ambiguous explanation that they were “dropping flares” to assist pilots landing at night.

Another Intriguing Bigfoot-Type Encounter

Although the exact date is unknown, an incident from the “fall of 1967” at Point Isabel in Ohio comes to us once more from the files of Leonard Stringfield. It is another sighting of an apparent “beast-like” creature. In fact, it has many similarities, to some Bigfoot encounters.

This is perhaps an interesting detail. We have examined before, for example, the apparent connection between UFO hot spots and waves, and Bigfoot encounters. And while these were more prevalent in the 1970s onwards, it is interesting that several accounts from the 1967 feature such incidents.

The main witness, 15-year-old, Perry Adams, was at home with his father and his brother-in-law when a sudden “metallic noise” captured their attention. It appeared to come from right outside their home. Grabbing a flashlight, the trio ventured outside to see what the sauce of the apparent calamity was. As they did, they witnessed something about 50 feet in front of them. Perry would recall:

…(it was) a monster, raising up…it was walking toward us!

The witnesses would claim it was 10 feet tall and at least four feet across at the shoulders. Furthermore, it appeared hairy with long arms, large teeth, and glowing eyes.

The three men immediately went inside. From the safety of the house, they peered outside. Upon seeing the creature, they took aim at it with their rifle. Then, something even more bizarre took place. After hitting it with one of the shots causing the creature to let out a piercing scream, it simply “dissipated” after having “changed into a white-colored mist”.

The Bentile Estate Incidents, Stoke On Trent, England

According to the research of Roger Stanway and Anthony Pace, an incident took place on the Bentile Estate in Stoke on Trent in England on the evening of 2^nd September and into the early hours of the 3^rd.

At around 9:15 pm, several local residents would witness and report to the local police “an orange disc with a bright red glowing dome” flying at low altitude overhead. None of those who witnessed the otherworldly craft heard a sound from it, but at least one witness claimed to feel a strange “wind” as it passed by.

For several moments it appeared as though the craft landed in a nearby field. However, by the time the police arrived the light had vanished. Several moments later, though, with the police present, the object rose into the air before vanishing “in a fraction of a second”.

Several hours later, however, another incident would unfold on the same estate.

At around 1:30 am, only several hours after the orange glowing object disappeared, Barbara Ward woke to hear her baby crying. She left her bed and walked to the cot where her child lay. As she did so, however, she glanced out of the window and saw a “bright yellow object with an orange light on top”.

Although she didn’t open the window, she would later claim to witness “shadowy figures” moving around in front of the craft. As if they were investigating the ground or possibly the craft itself.

She would continue to watch the craft for approximately 30 minutes. However, nothing more of interest took place and she eventually came away from the window and returned to bed.

The incidents remain unexplained, but it would appear this strange glowing craft was on some kind of reconnaissance mission or down for repairs.

More Seemingly Outlandish Claims Of Humanoid Occupants

A similar incident, from the files of Horacio Gonzalez Ganteaume, occurred in the early hours of 8^th September in Caracas, Venezuela. The witness, Alicia Rivas Aguilar, was getting ready for bed at around 2:30 am. However, much to her surprise, as she did so, she witnessed a “strange being” outside her bedroom window. She let out a high scream which caused the creature to “fly off”.

Her screams alerted her parents and her brother-in-law that something had happened. Ultimately, they would all witness the strange creature “flying off over the neighborhood”. As it did so, it appeared to be “surrounded by a yellow glow”. He would later state:

…. he soared as if he were lighter than air, with his hands and feet pointed backward!

Perhaps even stranger was the claim that the bizarre creature wore some kind of “metallic suit” as well as having an aroma of “melted iron” accompany its presence.

Three days later, reports surfaced in San Joao Pernambuco in Brazil of a saucer-shaped craft landing in a field. Furthermore, some witnesses claimed to see two entities emerging from the disc.

Several mornings later, at around 9 am on the 14^th September, also in Brazil, 16-year-old Fabio Josos Dinis witnessed a “brown mushroom-shaped object” apparently landed in the middle of a local football field, at least according to the files of Dr. Hulvio B Alexio.

The witness would approach the strange craft which seemingly caused a doorway to open in the side of the craft. At the same time, two 7 feet tall humanoids emerged. Their “greenish skin” and “large eyes” caused the teenager to turn and run. In his native Portuguese, one of the men called to him to stop, an order he ignored.

The Shag Harbor Encounter

Just under six months later, on 4th October 1967, came a sighting over Nova Scotia at Shag Harbor. Furthermore, the sighting was witnessed by several RCMP as well as numerous residents. ^[5]

In the early evening, several reports would come into the RCMP switchboard from residents around Shag Harbor. All would state the same thing, that a plane had crashed into the waters. As concerned locals, fishermen, and the police themselves gathered around the harbor to investigate and assist any survivors, the night took a strange and fascinating turn.

Reports through the chatter of the gathered residents began to reach the RCMP at the scene. An object, around sixty feet in length was witnessed moving rapidly through the sky. It then descended with great speed into the waters, making a “bright splash” as it cut the surface. For a short while, a “single white light” emerged from below the water. In an effort to reach the craft, several of the fishermen prepared their boats and took the RCMP officers to the spot in the water where the craft was last seen.

As they made their way through the cold waters, a “thick, glittery, yellow foam” was present on the surface. Strange bubbles also exploded calmly around their boats. No survivors were discovered, however, and an underwater search of the waters over the following days would yield no sign of wreckage.

That something entered the waters that night is beyond doubt. Whether it was a purposeful entry or indeed a crash, and what it was, are all still unsolved.

Multiple Witnesses To “Something” Over Nova Scotia

A report from Captain Pierre Charbounneau as he piloted Air Canada Flight 305 to Toronto would seem to confirm something was in the skies over the area that evening. He would state to seeing a “brilliantly lit, rectangular object” at 7:15 pm which was moving along a parallel course to theirs. Several moments later he observed two silent explosions, separated by a minute or so, come from the craft. It then “faded to a blue cloud around the object!”

Captain Leo Howard, from his fishing vessel on the waters of Shag Harbor, would appear to offer corroboration to Charbounneau’s account. As he stood at the wheelhouse of the boat, he suddenly noticed four stationary blips on the radar. He turned his gaze from the screen to the window and in the sky were four “bright objects” in a rectangle shape. All of the crew, just short of twenty fishermen, were also witness to the sighting.

Multiple witnesses would also report sightings similar to that of Darrel Dorey. Along with his mother and sister, Dorey sat on the porch of their house in nearby Mahone Bay. Suddenly, a large rectangular object came into view, heading in the direction of Shag Harbor.

As the RCMP, and in turn the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) had exhausted all possible explanations for the incident, the file would land with Royal Canadian Air Force as a UFO incident. They would send a team of divers to investigate the waters. They would spend two full days doing so before, officially at least, declaring nothing was discovered.

Sightings Continue Until Year’s End!

While the Shag Harbour incident is arguably the last of the “well-known” accounts of the 1967 wave, sightings would continue at a similar rate throughout the end of the year. And what’s more, they would continue to be as varied in detail, with members of the public and military or aviation employees witnessing them alike.

On 6th October radar operators at Vandenburg Air Force Base, for example, would detect, on radar, a “large stationary object” over the Pacific Ocean off the Northern California coast. Even stranger, shortly after first detecting the object, numerous smaller objects emerged from the large craft, traveling in numerous directions. On 11th November, Cleveland Air Traffic Control Center would track an unknown object for nearly ninety minutes, traveling from Eire, Ohio, to Buffalo, New York. It would vanish ten miles before arriving over the city.

Furthermore, not only were the apparent encounters with the occupants of these strange crafts increasing, although they had been occurring steadily but sporadically since the early 1950s, many claims of actual alien abduction were beginning to creep into the UFO narrative. Some of which, would see the abductees not taken from their cars on a lonely road or somewhere else outside in the elements, but from the apparent safety of their beds.

One such incident took place late one November evening in Indiana County in Pennsylvania and is from the files of researcher Paul Johnson.

The Indiana County Abduction – Taken From The Safety Of One’s Bed!

In the early hours one November morning in 1967, the anonymous witness would claim to wake to see a “dark-complexioned man in dark clothing”, standing at a little over five feet tall next to her bed. The next thing she knew, the strange “man” picked her up from her bed and promptly led her outside and into the woods that were near her home in Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

Eventually, they came to an opening where a “metallic object” sat waiting on the ground. He led her inside the craft and into a “very dark room”. She could make out what appeared to be a “dimly illuminated desk”. She realized she was on her own in the room and walked over the dimly glowing desk.

On top of it sat something similar to a logbook. Cautiously, she reached down and picked the book up. At the same time, the humanoid reentered the room, apparently angry that she had the book in her hands. It reached for it, pushing her over as it did so.

As it did so, however, she got her first close-up look at this strange creature. In place of its nose was merely “two holes” and it had only a slit for a mouth. Most bizarre, though, was the “large, dark slanted eyes”.

She further noticed that the figure was not alone, with four other almost identical creatures standing just behind the first one. They would lead the witness into another room where she was ordered to undress. The entities would then perform a number of tests and take a number of samples from her. She was eventually released unharmed if not mentally scarred from the ordeal.

Just What Was Going On Overhead In 1967?

The sightings we have touched on here are but a tiny fraction of the sightings that are on record. It is probably safe to say that for each of the thousands of sightings on record for 1967, at least an equal amount would go unreported through fear of ridicule, intimidation, or both.

And, at a time when the US authorities, in particular, had arguably more feet on the ground in terms of investigating such sightings, it is strange that a thorough analysis as to why UFO sightings suddenly quadrupled overnight didn’t happen. And then seemingly leveled back out to pre-1967 annual levels. Was this intentional? Did the US government, as is usually the accusation, know a lot more than they let on publicly? Were they themselves involved, whether directly through secret aviation tests or indirectly through prior knowledge?

Or might the increase in sightings have to do with a natural phenomenon that we are yet to understand? Some cosmic circumstance that allowed for increased travel from one end of the universe to the other? And if that was the case, why did those who might have taken advantage of such phenomena feel the need to maintain such visits to our planet? What was the ultimate purpose? Reconnaissance? Materials of importance to them? After all, Earth is rich in varied minerals, metals, and not to mention water. Or might these UFO waves have agendas that are not only unknown to us but also not at all beneficial? Only further study and research will provide a satisfactory answer.

And we may find that the year 1967 to be a key piece to the overall puzzle. Even if we don’t yet understand why.

The video below looks at some of the most intriguing UFO encounters of the era.