SUBJECT: MICHIGAN UFO SIGHTINGS 03/94 FILE: UFO2741 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Interest Soars In Recent UFO Sighting Over Lake from the Grand Rapids (MI) Press - Sunday, March 13, 1994 By Michael G. Walsh Grand Rapids Press News Service A UFO Group sends a team to investigate the sightings, which were picked up on radar. MUSKEGON -- A West Michigan UFO sighting is prompting worldwide interest because the phenomenon was not only seen by several people but also was picked up on radar. Walter Andrus, director of the Texas-based international Mutual UFO Network, said the radar veriflcation is extremely rare. "That's why we're especialy interested in this case,' Andrus said. Several MUFON investigators were to be in West Michigan this weekend to probe Monday's sighting. "What impressed us most is that it was picked up on weather radar, 20 miles out in Lake Michigan, moving east to west," Andrus said. "We're interested in knowing if anyone in (West Michigan) saw it pass over, then we'd have a real confirmation ," he said. The case started about 10:15 p.m. Monday when a Holland police officer and others in Ottawa Couniy noticed sets of red and green lights "oscillating" over Lake Michigan south of Holland. At the same time, tower personnel at the Muskegon County Airport saw what they took to be aircraft flying in formation some 60 miles south, near South Haven. Simultaneously, a National Weather Service oporator picked up radar blips that found a fast-moving object near South Haven. Leo Grenier, official in charge of oporations at Muskegon's National Weather Service station, said the most interesting aspect of the phenomenon was the object's - or objects - speed. The radar blips zipped from South Haven to 10 miles west of the city, over Lake Michigan, in 10 seconds, Grenier said. The speed is not beyond human ability. Modern military aircraft can fly even faster. However, unlike known aircraft, the South Haven phenomenon could hover and was quiet. There were no sonic "booms" reported. "To go out and hover over Lake Michigan is not what aircraft would be able to do," Andrus "That's what becomes more interesting." Unidentified flying ojiects are not a new phenomenon to West Michigan skies, but what they are remains a mystery. A review of sightings over the past year shows most occurred this time of year, of what people believed were spaceships over Lake Michigan or remote areas of West Michigan.. A few witnesses claimed they saw cylindrical shaped objects flying at incredible speeds. Most reported mystic lights in the sky. Andrus said 80 percent to 90 percent of reports MUFON receives "turn out to be something mundane after investigation." Nonetheless, Andrus said, "we take our UFOs very seriously" and he has assigned a team to probe Monday's West Michigan sighting. About one or two sightings take place in the region each year, according to Muskegon Chronicle files. However, between 1982 and 1993 none was reported. Most of the reported sightings had natural explanations. A sighting last year, for example, turned out to be student pilots practicing their skills. -END- ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ *@SUBJECT:Michigan UFO Newsclip 1993 N UFO Sightings Match Thumb Reports Grand Rapids (MI) Press News Service (Exact date unknown - 1993) MUSKEGON -- Mysterious lights seen hovering over Oceana and Muskegon counties Monday night match the description of an unidentified flyihg object witnessed in Michigan's Thumb area over the last month, officials with an international UFO organization said Wednesday. Shirley Coyne of Flint, state director for the Michigan chapter of the Mutual UFO Network, said there have been at least 16 sightings of triangle- shaped flying objects in eastern Michigan over the past month. Other areas reporting UFOs within the last month include Caro, Cass City, Kingsley and Lake Odessa. Like those seen in the Muskegon area, witnesses describe the objects as triangles with round corners, accented with two red lights and one white light. She said her organization is investigating the sightings including two home videos taken of two separate UFOs. One recent sighting was of an object estimated as 500 feet long, but most involve smaller triangles. "We've had a lot of reports like that," Coyne said. "What are they? No one really knows. All we have is a lot of reports." On Monday, two Muskegon county residents described three lights in the form of a triangle over Whitehall and minutes later over Muskegon. Since an article appeared on the sightings Wednesday in the Muskegon Chronicle, that newspaper has received other calls from residents with similar accounts, some as far north as Shelby. All reported seeing a grouping of lights capable of moving very slowly, then suddenly leaving the area at terrific speed. Area law enforcement officials and air traffic controllers at Muskegon County Airport said they received no reports on the sightings. Officials from the National Weather Service said they received one call from a person who saw three lights in a triangle pattern Monday over Lake Michigan. Linda Andrews, of Whitehall, said she was the person who made the call. According to Andrews, she and her husband, Robert, were in the process of dropping their car off for repairs Monday night in Whitehall when they saw three bright lights hovering over Colby Street. She said the object they saw was similar to those described by other eyewit- nesses - but had two white lights and a red light in a triangle- or V-shaped pattern. Andrews said the red light was made up of three round lights. She said the lights occasiorially broke away from that formation and the two white lights almost collided. She said her husband estimates the lights were 1,000 feet above the ground. The object moved slowly to the northeast and was silent. "I was relieved to read that others reported seeing it too," she said. "My husband got a lot of grief at work when he told his friends what he saw." Although Michigan residents typically report a large number of UFOs, the UFO Network's Coyne said Florida residents now are reporting many sightings, especially near Gulf Breeze. Reports of UFOs are investigated by the Mutual UFO Network. -END- ********************************************** * THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo * **********************************************