Mysterious “Cloaked” UFO from 1983
Last edited: July 06, 2009 - 4:16pm
MUFON Report 17235
LOCATION: Vicinity of Umapine, Oregon
DATE: July 06, 1983
Classification: CE-I
NOTE: Witness does not want to be identified at this time. He has agreed to locate the second witness to this event.
Background: 47 year old technician. At the time of this encounter he was a mill wright. He described himself as a “mechanic all of my life, a lot of hands on experience with fabrication.” After speaking with him at length, it was also clear he has travelled extensively. I would describe him as very articulate; he chose his words carefully.
It is also noteworthy he does not appear to be well-versed in Ufology at all. He was reluctant to make this report and he was concerned, “I would sound nuts.”
INTRODUCTION:
I received this report notification by e-mail. At about 1930 hours on May 29, 2009 I called the RP. I introduced myself and at first he was reluctant to talk about the experience. I explained I knew of two major sightings in Illinois and I didn’t know the UFO program he was referring to in his report.
We spoke about this sighting and then talked freely for most of about 50 minutes. I deliberately went away from the main subject and returned several times. The longer we talked the more details he recalled. His recollection seemed very genuine and credible. I detected no inconsistencies in his descriptions.
I took notes while we were talking, and this report is derived from the notes and my recollection of our conversation.
LOCATION OF ENCOUNTER:
Rural area; it was on an unidentified property that had a dairy farm. It is possible this location could be specifically identified because he said his friend had worked there, and that was how he knew about the “good fishing hole.”
The closest habitation is not Walla Walla, Washington. The location of the encounter was within a couple of miles of Umapine, Oregon. Therefore, it is probable this sighting did not occur in Washington State.
He described the location as fairly flat with meadow grass and brushier near the creek that also had some trees. They were walking in a flat open area when the event occurred.
DATE AND TIME:
I asked him how he remembered the date. He said he knew it was a couple of days after Fourth of July in 1983. He believes it was about 6:30 pm. It was during sunset.
BEFORE THE ENCOUNTER:
He worked as a millwright for Louisiana-Pacific. He got off at 3:00 pm and they went fishing. They caught carp; they did not keep the fish. He believes they fished for about 2-2.5 hours.
They were walking back. He was not able to recall whose vehicle was parked there.
He said his back was to the Sun so he believes he was facing east.
I did not ask him, but he volunteered after we had talked for quite a while, “I almost never drink; I was not drinking that day.”
THE ENCOUNTER:
He said the first part of the event that got his attention was that “the air went slack.” He said there was a slight breeze beforehand. He described this effect several times. The background natural sounds were muted and then there was a silence; he also said “It was like all the energy was gone out of the air.”
He also described this as a “dampening effect” that seemed to be pushed ahead of and around the craft.
He said a very large craft passed by the two of them. He recalls his friend took a couple of steps back, and he said, “For a moment I thought it would clip me. I thought about stepping back or getting out of the way. I realized it was above me.”
I asked him what it looked like. He said he could not see it directly. (This is the aspect of this encounter he alluded to in his initial report.)
He said he could see the valley, farmhouses, etc. behind it, but he believes this was a projection from the craft and he was close enough to the unknown vehicle that he could see how the projection wavered or shimmered at its edges. He said it appeared the craft was replicating what was visible behind it, “but not perfectly.”
However, the effect was good enough that he believes if you were any distance at all from the craft, you wouldn’t know it was there.
He thought it was as if the image of the background was being projected from something that was glossy, black and ceramic-like.
He had a sense of its enormous shape when he looked along its length and he saw how it curved away. He also commented on how he could sense where the top and the bottom sections came together.
He stated he has flown ultra light aircraft and he believes it was going about 6 knots. He believes the craft was so large it took 3-4 minutes for it to pass.
The unknown craft continued along the same path just above the ground down the valley. He said it was if the “silence moved with it.”
AFTER THE ENCOUNTER:
When it was over his companion remarked they should be more excited. After a while the companion said, “Maybe we should stop talking about it.”
The RP made the comment it was the most magnificent and mysterious thing he had ever encountered, but he really didn’t know what to think about it.
He thinks he knows where his friend lives, but he is not completely sure. He hasn’t talked to him in a long time.
WHAT PROMPTED THIS REPORT:
The witness never had any intention of reporting this, except within the last couple of hours he watched a documentary (UFO Files episode) about sightings of a large triangular craft in Illinois in 2000 by several police officers. He decided it was time to make a report.
FINAL COMMENTS:
I asked him if he got home on time. There was a long pause in our conversation. He said he really didn’t know what to say. He said the odd thing is he remembers just about every part of this experience, but he doesn’t remember going home.
I asked him if he knew whose vehicle they rode home in. He said he doesn’t remember.
I told him he shouldn’t necessarily draw any conclusions about this lack of recall.
He also stated he has never had any other encounters with unknown craft before or since.
We agreed we would talk again.
End of Primary Report completed on May 30, 2009
James E Clarkson
Chief Investigator
Mutual UFO Network
Washington State