Wood County WV paper carrier, June 1980: “I was 12 maybe 13 years old. I had a morning paper route and usually set out around 4:45 am…it was still dark and I was walking down a dead end road and all of a sudden these lights appeared overhead…There were 4-5 separate lights…white, light gold and green colors…the leading edge of the ship/aircraft appeared rounded…I was shaken and walked away fast…A few minutes later, it was gone… I have never told anyone about what I saw…”

The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) is an independent database that has reported UFO sightings since 1974. It has catalogued 170,000 sightings. There have been numerous reports from our area. Below are several observations, edited for length and content, from Washington and Wood Counties unless noted. I can sense the emotion in these observers: wonder, excitement, suspicion, even fear. Some seem troubled about the experience and are reluctant to speak about it, sometimes even to family members.

5/3/2023. “I was driving a friend home on S R 676 about 11:30 pm. He shouted ‘look at that!’ I turned and saw two VERY white VERY bright circular balls of light. They were stationary, visible for several minutes until we passed into a forested area…We are both outdoorsmen who have seen most natural lights…this was most disturbing, especially the brightness.”

8/15/1997. A truck driver and passenger were southbound on I-77. “Just to our left we saw a black triangular craft with a dim, white, light on each corner and a dim red/orange light in the middle… I stopped the truck, and we got out. It seemed so close. No noise. We observed it for at least ten minutes. I do not believe this craft was manufactured anywhere on earth…Indred Cold (an alien character in John Keel’s book Mothman Prophecies) kidnapped a man from Mineral Wells, about 6 miles south of us. After much reading, I find there is a vortex of sorts in this general area.”

4/17/1999. Observed by 4 people. “It was hovering in one spot about 100 ft off the ground, it was triangled with the brightest white lights I have ever saw, when the space craft started putting beams to the ground that’s when we all left the area, it never made a noise.”

7/20/1980 Athens. “My cousins and I were watching TV. A bright light shined into our windows. We went outside. It was the largest thing I’ve ever saw. Disc shaped with blue white light coming from it. Just hung in the air. Moved away so quickly that it bent over large trees. All 5 of us kids agreed on what we saw. None of us spoke about the sighting the next day. This was one of the most frightening experiences I’ve ever encountered.”

8/16/2023 Strouds Run State Park near Athens.” I was swimming in the lake at sunset. Among the high clouds were 5-7 square yellow green colored objects. All equal distance and within the clouds. There was no noise. They moved very slowly over head…It was a bit frightening being in the water as the object(s) passed overhead of me. I felt …that something above was looking at me.”

Many sightings have manmade explanations- aircraft, balloons, satellites. One famous UFO sighting was the “Phoenix Lights” in 1997. These were later said to have been aircraft in formation dropping flares. Other observations could be a natural phenomenon like ball lightning (round orbs of light during thunderstorms), meteors, and rocket plumes.

I noticed that these reports are not from 50 years ago when UFOs were a thing. Many are within the last few years. UFOs are still with us. So be alert and hit record.