Organization for SETV Research

INTRODUCTION

SUMMARY OF REPORTS FOR 1973

Bright white lights, on or above Hembre Mountain, near Toppenish Ridge which later turned bright red and flashed. Position of the lights did not change, but moved in a pattern which a circling airplane might make. (Note: It is unlikely that an airplane was the stimulus for this report, because of the darkness and rough terrain involved in the sighting area.)

The lights moved back and forth in straight lines, as if traversing back and forth on a winding road. There is only one meandering dirt road in the area. At approximately 1845, an lndian Police mobile unit was dispatched to the sighting location and no activity of any kind was found. The lights were also no longer visible to the original observer.

The lights observed the previous night (see Report 1.) were approximately 14 miles to the east of the above observation.

The observer was proceeding east in a car along US 220 from the town of White Swan. As she neared tho Tribal Community Center and White Swan Ranger Station, she noticed an object hovering over tho Satus fire lookout. (From the observer's position, Satus lookout was eight miles away and just a few degrees west of south.) There were no clouds in tho sky, visibility was excellent and the lookout was clearly visible in its position at Satus Peak on Toppenish Ridge.

The observer stopped the car and continued to watch the object. Her first impression was that the object was a reflection from the microwave relay antenna dish near the lookout building, but soon determined that it was not. The object hovered quite low over the lookout for an estimated five to ten minutes. It then began to move slowly northward in jerks, much as an automobile will move when the clutch is released too quickly. The series of jerking movements lasted approximately 15 to 20 seconds and the object then accelerated into a very high speed departure to due north, passing just west Or the observer and moving out of sight just west of the city of Yakima.

The object was described as being almost identical to an old dinner bell with the handle on the top (See Slide #1.). The object was oriented as shown in tho sketch, with the "handle" at the top. The observer estimated the object to be larger than a small aircraft (such as a Piper Cub), but smaller than an airliner. The object was a metallic grey color, except for the bottom, or what could be called the mouth of the bell. The latter portion of the object gave-off a strange, florescent orange glow. The colors did not change as the object departed.

The observer reported the sighting to Bill Vogel on March 16 -- three days after the sighting. Mr. Vogel took a detailed report at this time. This investigator verified details given in Mr. Vogel's report with the observer several weeks later. This investigator and Mr. Vogel know the observer personally and know her to be reliable. She is familiar with many of the manifestations of UFO activity on tho Yakima Reservation and is also aware of mundane conditions prevailing in the area. In short, she qualifies as a "trained observer" for the purposes of this study project.

Satus Fire Lookout, as well as the whole of the north side of Toppenish Ridge, has been a focal point of reports of UFO activity for some time (See the 1972 report). This is, however, the most detailed daylight observation reported in the vicinity of the lookout.

While lying in his room in bed, the observer, a ten year old boy, reported that he saw a yellow ball of light, about the size of a soccer ball or basketball, descend noiselessly from a NNW direction in front of his bedroom window and then shoot straight up into the air and disappear from view. The object was very bright and hurt his eyes. He was also frightened, but noted time of the incident (2043) from the electric clock next to his bed. The observation was estimated to last about ten seconds. The boy reported the incident to his father tho following day and also drew the picture reproduced in Slide #2.- The window through which the object was observed is on the northwest corner of the house, facing north.

This investigator followed-up on the report about a week after the incident and determined that the boy appeared to be objective about details of tho report and was not inclined to embellish his account.

A tan colored, luminous object at an estimated altitude of 4000 to 6000 ft. was observed moving from west to east, parallel to and slightly north of Toppenish Ridge. First impression of one observer was that the object was an aircraft. However, the tan color, absence of flashing running lights and lack of any sound appeared to rule-out the possibility of a conventional aircraft. Speed of the object was estimated to be under 200 mph.

Activity Location: East of US 97, on LaRue Rd.
Observer Location: Same

The observer was in bed when he heard a high-pitched, whining sound. He looked out of the window and observed an object about 80 ft. long and 30 to 40 ft. wide passing directly over the house. The object was florescent or a slightly glowing, whitish-blue color, with darker blue-colored spots scattered over the surface. Altitude was estimated at 150 ft. The object moved from east to west and was observed until it disappeared over White Swan.

Flight path of the object reported in (5.) above was only slightly north of the above location. This investigator was unsuccessful in contacting the witness directly for further details of the sighting.

During a series of night time brush fires in the area, small white balls of light, about the size of tennis balls, or larger had been observed coming out of the dark, circling the fires several times and then moving back into the darkness.

Slide nos. 3 and 4 are full frame and magnified copies of one slide taken by an observer located at Satus Fire Lookout. Exact time of the exposure was not logged and the time was given only as "late afternoon". The witness reported that it was cloudy with complete coverage at the time of the sighting. A thunderstorm had been in the area earlier.

Quoting from the observer: "I was looking out the window in the door, when I saw this "thing" come from behind a cloud. The bright red color was what caught my eye. My first thought was "what on earth is that?" At almost the same instant, I ran, got my camera, opened the door and quick-like took a picture. As I took the camera away from my eye, it, the object was heading behind another cloud. It was headed from SW to NE. It was kind of this (elliptical) shape as I remember, with this extra bright red glow or light or whatever. I can't exactly say, except it was brilliant red and large. Maybe I should have looked better, rather than thinking "I must get a picture". It was moving quite rapidly."

Additional questioning revealed that the object was positioned SSE of the lookout, over Logy Creek at the time of the photograph. The distance from the camera would then have been approximately 9 1/2 miles. The lookout structure has two doors, co-located at the SE corner of the south side of the building. The inside door opens inward and is covered with glass panes. The outside door is a standard screen door which opens outward. The line in the upper right-hand quadrant of the picture is a guy wire used to hold the lookout on its foundations during high winds. The photograph was taken through the screen door.

The camera used by the observer was a Kodak 35. This is a simple range-finder camera with an adjustable f3.5, 50mm lens. At the time of the exposure, the lens was set at f3.5 and the shutter speed was 1/25 second. High-speed Ektachrome, daylight film was used and development was for the standard ASA rating of 160.

The photographer was an experienced fire lookout who has had a number of UFO sightings. The need for "hard" photographic data had been impressed upon her and other lookouts in the Reservation network during the field study made by this investigator in the summer of 1972. She therefore had the camera ready for the occasion of the above observation. It is probable that, If such preparations had not been made, the photograph would never have been taken. It is to her credit that she had the presence of mind to take the picture in the very short period of time in which the object was visible.

Both fire lookouts observed a very fast moving light, travelling from southeast to northwest. The sighting was of very short duration. Lightning had been observed to the north of Satus Lookout earlier in the evening.

Three orange lights below the ridges of Horse Heaven Hills were observed at intervals during a two hour period. The lights would disappear at about the same time and re-appear 15 or 20 minutes later at nearly the same time. While visible, they would flicker and move slightly. With the naked eye, the lights were separated by about 5ø of azimuth. No roads are in the area of the sighting.

Distance from the observers was 18 miles. Given a 5ø separation angle, the objects would have to have been about a mile apart. It would be difficult to attribute the nearly synchronous "on" and "off" characteristics of the lights to automobiles or motorcycles operating at such distances apart.

A bright red object was seen moving in an area where there are no roads, below the lookout and between the lookout and Mill Creek Canyon. Photographs were attempted, but nothing was found on the film after development. It is possible that the object was too far away to photograph.

Two observers were outside feeding cows at the Dolson Dairy (locally called the "Cow Palace"), located at the intersection Or East Zillah and North Liberty Roads, 4 miles east of Zillah, Washington. At approximately 0300, both observers spotted an object in the sky to the west, in front of the hills which lie behind the town of Granger. The object generally followed the line of hills, moving SE slowly and silently towards the town of Mabton.

After watching the object for 15 to 20 minutes, one observer went inside to report the sighting. He dialed the telephone company operator and was referred to the Toppenish Police dispatcher. After describing the circumstances of the sighting to the police dispatcher, he again joined the other observer and continued to watch the object. Time was 0320 (verified by the police dispatcher).

The Toppenish dispatcher called the Yakima County Sheriff's dispatcher. The sheriff's dispatcher said that the Yakima Firing Center had two helicopters somewhere on maneuvers at that time and that these craft might account for the sighting. The Toppenish dispatcher received a second report at 0338 (See 13. below). The dispatcher noted information concerning the second report and called the first observer back to ask if the object he was seeing was still visible. It was. The observer again went outside just in time to see the object disappear over the highest point, Snipes Mountain, SE of Granger. Co-workers at the dairy were not called until the object had disappeared from view. Estimated total observation time was 1/2 hour.

Physical characteristics of the object were such that they could not have been those of a conventional aircraft: Movement was very slow and steady -- approximately 3-4 mph. No noise was heard and any kind of powered aircraft would have clearly audible at that distance and time of morning.

The object appeared as a pair of lights moving in a definite, periodic pattern. The color of the light emitted by the object was reddish-orange. Because of the repetitive nature of the light pattern and the fixed relationship of the lights to one another, the observers felt that the lights must have been attached to a body or fuselage of some sort and spinning around this body. The structure would have been about the size of an F-27 airliner, according to the estimate of one observer. Figure 1. shows schematically the pattern traced by the lights. The object was at an elevation of about 0ø relative to the observers, since the observation point is on a hill overlooking Granger. The lights of Granger were also clearly visible under the object.

A deputy marshal was driving 1/4 mile east of the Zillah cemetery on the Zillah-Toppenish Road when he observed two side- by-side orange balls of light straight ahead of his patrol car, to the west. The lights were above and behind trees located in the cemetery, over the Yakima River which runs behind the cemetery. His attention was diverted momentarily from the lights while he shined the spotlight of his patrol car into the yard of a house on his right. He again looked back to the cemetery and saw that the lights were moving in his general direction.

The marshal drove to the entrance of the Zillah cemetery, opened the gate and drove into the cemetery grounds. The entrance road heads in a SW direction and the observer watched the lights through the trees as he drove approximately 600 ft. to a point where the drive is closest to the river. He stopped the car and called the Toppenish police dispatcher on the radio, telling her that he was observing a UFO. She informed him that the Yakima Firing Center had helicopters on maneuvers somewhere in the area.

The deputy next turned-off the car engine and walked approximately 100 ft. to a point where the cemetery ends in a bluff overlooking the Yakima River. The lights continued very slowly, appearing to move directly towards him.

The lights, estimated at about 2 ft. in diameter, moved smoothly and maintained a very rigid spacing, as if attached to each other, throughout the sighting. They remained oriented side-by-side and had sharp, well defined outlines.

At a distance of about 1/4 mile from the deputy, the lights turned, still maintaining their rigid spacing, and headed south. After travelling approximately another 1/4 mile, the lights executed another turn and headed southeast. At this time, the deputy returned to his patrol car and called the Toppenish dispatcher again, saying in no uncertain terms that what he was observing was not a helicopter. The car engine had been off and he had heard absolutely no noise.

During the entire observation, the lights seemed to generally follow the path of the river bed. Altitude was just over the trees along the river and nearly the same as the observer. The lights were observed until they disappeared from view behind hills southeast of the cemetery, towards the town of Granger.

As in (12.) above, the deputy had the impression that some mass was in between the two lights, because of their rigid spacing. It was to dark to see anything other the lights, however.

Several members of a camping party observed a rapidly moving, fairly large white ball of light coming from the northwest and passing overhead at 1930. No sound was heard and altitude was estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 ft. At 1945, two smaller lights were seen coming over the top of Mt. Adams and moving to the northeast. The lights were staggered in position, with the front one an orange color and the rear one white. Altitude was estimated to be the same as for the light seen at 1930. No noise was heard. Observers were familiar with the appearance of meteors and insisted that the lights were not meteors.

ANALYSIS OF REPORTS FOR 1973