 +81 more
The crew of an Army Reserve helicopter (UH-1H), based in Cleveland, Ohio, was returning from Columbus, Ohio, at about 10:30 p.m.: it was a clear night
with no moon, and they were cruising at 90 knots at an altitude of 2,500 feet above sea level.
The crew:
Lt. Arrigo Jezzi, 26 (at the controls from the left-hand seat)
Sgt. John Healey, 35, (flight medic, sat behind him).
Spec. 5 Robert Yanacek, 23 (crew chief, sat in the right rear seat)
Capt. Lawrence J. Coyne, 36 (commanding the flight, sat on the right front seat)
This figure shows the places of the four helicopter crew
members
Lawrence J. Coyne
The sighting of the crew:
About 11:00 p.m. near Mansfield, Healey saw a red light off to the left(west) heading south. Three or four minutes later, Yanacek noticed a single
steady red light on the eastern horizon, and reported it to Coyne. About 30 seconds later, Yanacek announced that the light appeared to be converging
on the helicopter, and they all watched it warily.
As the light continued its approach, Coyne grabbed the controls from Jezzi and began a powered descent of approximately 500 feet per minute. He made
radio contact with Mansfield approach control, requesting information on possible jet traffic. After Mansfield acknowledged their transmission, radio
contact was lost on both UHF and VHF.
The red light appeared to be on a collision course, approaching at a speed estimated to be more than 600 knots. Coyne increased the rate of descent to
2,000 feet per minute until they reached about 1,700 feet, about 600 feet above the tree tops. With the unknown object about to ram them, the crewmen
feared for their lives. Just as a collision appeared imminent, the light suddenly stopped and hovered above and in front of the helicopter. They
saw a cigar-shaped, gray metallic appearing, domed object whose apparent size filled the entire windshield.
The object appeared solid, blotting out the stars behind it. It had a red light at the nose, a white light at the tail, and a distinctive green beam
emanating from the lower part of the otherwise featureless "fuselage." The green beam swung up over the helicopter nose, through the windshield, and
into the upper tinted window panels. The cockpit was bathed in intense green light. No noise or turbulence was noted. After a few seconds, the object
accelerated and moved off to the west. Coyne and Healey reported that it then made a distinct 45 degree turn to the right, heading toward Lake Erie.
While the object was still visible, Jezzi and Coyne both noted that the altimeter read 3,500 feet with a rate of climb of 1,000 feet per minute. Yet
the collective (steering mechanism) was still in the full-down position set during the descent.
As Coyne cautiously raised the collective, the helicopter continued climbing, as would be expected.
At an indicated altitude of 3,800 feet Coyne finally felt that he had regained positive control.
Then they felt a slight "bump." He descended to the previously assigned cruise altitude of 2,500 feet and made radio contact with Akron/Canton,
which now was easily achieved. The remainder of the flight to Cleveland was routine.
The sighting from the ground:
At about 11:00 p.m., Mrs. Erma C. and four children were returning from Mansfield to their rural home southeast of town. As they drove south on Laver
Road, they noticed a bright red light flying south. She turned the car eastward and continued on across the Charles Mill Reservoir, a distance of 3.6
miles, covered in about 5 minutes. At this point they saw to the east a red and green light, moving together, coming down rapidly toward them. At
first they assumed it was a low-flying light plane, but changed their minds almost immediately. The red was too bright, especially compared to the
green. They could not see any shape or, at first, hear any sound. When they stopped the car and got out to look, they heard the typical sounds of a
helicopter. As they watched, the red light and the helicopter converged.
After the red-lighted object stopped, the green light flared up. "When we got out, everything was green. I saw that thing and the helicopter." The
witnesses agreed that the helicopter was green "because of the light from the thing up above... It was so bright that you couldn't see too far.
Everything was green. The trees, the car, everything."
The helicopter with the other object above and slightly ahead of it moved in tandem from southwest to northeast. Suddenly the green light went out and
the object was gone. "When the light went out you couldn't see the object. And then the helicopter went northeast. Then we got back in the car and
went on, and saw it [the helicopter] fly out over the lake."
Jeanne Elias, 44, was watching the news at her home southeast of Mansfield just after 11:00 p.m. She recognized the sound of an Army helicopter
approaching so loud and near that she feared it was going to crash into the house. The sound persisted for "a long time," and when it was over her
son John, 14, called out from his room. He had been awakened by the sound, and then had observed a bright green light that lit up the bedroom. The
light persisted long enough for him to realize that "there must be some kind of object right above the house, because it was coming in so heavy in my
room."
Drawing by Curt, aged 10, who saw the object from the
ground
Drawing by Camille, aged 11, who saw the object from the
ground
Flightpath
Investigator Jennie Zeidman conducted a time-line analysis, second-by second, showing that the object was continuously in view of the helicopter crew
for at least five minutes. This duration and the witness descriptions both from the helicopter and the ground rules out the object being a meteor.
The official report:
DISPOSITION FORM
AR 340-15: the proponent agency is The Adjutant General's Office.
Near Midair Collision with UFO Report
To: Commander Flight Operations Office
DATE 23 Nov 73 Cmt 1
83D USARCOM USAR Flight Facility
ATTN: AHRCCG Cleveland Hopkins Airport Columbus Support Facility Cleveland, Ohio 44135
1. On 18 October 1973 at 2305 hours in the vicinity of Mansfield, Ohio, Army Helicopter 68-15444 assigned to Cleveland USAR/FFAC encountered a near
midair collision with a unidentified flying object. Four crewmembers assigned to the Cleveland USARFFAC for flying proficiency were on AFTP
status when this incident occurred. The flight crew assigned was CPT Lawrence J. Coyne, Pilot in Command,1LT Arrigo Jozzi, Copilot, SSG Robert
Yanacsek, Crew Chief, SSG John Healey,Flight Medio.
All the above personnel are member of the 316th MED DET(HEL AMB). a tenant reserve unit of the Cleveland USAR/FFAC.
2. The reported incident happened as follows: Army Helicopter 68-15444 was returning from Columbus, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio and at 2305 hours east,
south east of Mansfield Airport in the vicinity of Mansfield, Ohio while flying at an altitude of 2500 feet and on a heading of 030 degrees, SSG
Yanacsek observed a red light on the east horizon,90 drgrees to the flight path of the helicopter.
Approximately 30 seconds later, SSG Yanacsek indicated the object was converging on the helicopter at the same altitude at a airspeed in excess of 600
knots and on a midair collision heading.
Cpt Coyne observed the converging object, took over the controls of the aircraft and initiated a power descent from 2500 feet to 1700 feet to avoid
impact with the object. A radio call was initiated to Mansfield Tower who acknowledged the helicopter and was asked by CPT Coyne if there were any
high performance aircraft flying in the vicinity of Mansfield Airport however there was no response received from the tower. The crew expected impact
from the object instead, the object was observed to hesistate momontarily over the helicopter and then slowly continued on a westerly course
accelerating at a high rate of speed, clear west of Mansfield Airport then turn 45 degree heading to the Northwest. Cpt Coyne indicated the altimeter
read a 1000 fpm olimp and read 3500 feet with the collective in the full down position. The aircraft was returned to 2500 feet by CPT Coyne and flown
back to Cleveland, Ohio. The flight plan was closed and the FAA Flight Service Station notified of the incident. The FSS told CPT Coyne to report the
incident to the FAA GADO office a Cleveland Hopkins Airport Mr. Porter, 83d USARCOM was notified of the incident at 1530 hours on 19 Oct 73.
3. This report has been read and attested to by the crewmembers of the aircraft with signatures acknowledgeing this report.
Lawrence J. Coyne [Signature]
Arrigo Jozzi [Signature]
Robert Yanacsek [Signature]
John Healey [Signature]
DA FORM 2496
The article published in The Mansfield News Journal on November 4, 1973
Incident named after pilot
CLEVELAND -
- Army Reserve helicopter pilot Capt. Lawrence Coyne is a military commander who doesn't believe in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or little
green spacemen. But after a near miss two weeks ago between his helicopter and a "big, gray, metallic-looking" object in the sky over Mansfield, he
doesn't know what to think.
I had to file an official report in detail to the Army on this thing,
he said.
Coyne is a member of the 316th Medical Detachment stationed at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. He was returning from Columbus at 11:10 p.m., Oct. 18, when
the UFO showed up near where the Air National Guard has a squadron of jet fighters based. He said a check turned up that none of the unit's F-100
Super Saber Jets were in the air when the UFO appeared. Coyne said when he first encountered the UFO, his helicopter was cruising at 2,500 feet. He
had the controls set for a 20-degree dive, but the craft climbed to 3,500 feet with no power.
I had made no attempt to pull up,
he said. There was no noise or turbulence, either.
Coyne said a red light appeared on
the eastern horizon, and was first spotted by his crew chief, Sgt. Robert Yanacsek.
The light was traveling in excess of 600 knots,
Coyne said. It came from the horizon to our aircraft in about 10 seconds. We
were on a collision course.
The pilot said he put his helicopter into a dive.
At 1,700 feet I braced myself for the impact with the other craft,
he said. It was coming from our right side. I was scared.
There had been so little time to respond. The thing was terrifically fast.
There was no crash.
We looked up and saw it stopped right over us: it had a big, gray metallic-looking hull about 60 feet long. It was shaped like an airfoil or a
streamlined fat cigar. There was a red light on the front. The leading edge glowed red a short distance back from the nose. There was a center dome. A
green light at the rear reflected on the hull.
Coyne said the green light swiveled like a spotlight and beamed through the canopy of his craft, bathing the cabin in green light. He said as he and
members of the crew stared at the craft his helicopter began to climb without his guidance.
I had made no attempt to pull up: all controls were set for a 20-degree dive. Yet we had climbed from 1,700 to 3,500 feet with no power in a
couple of seconds with no g-forces or other noticeable strains.
Coyne said the UFO finally moved off to the west and was gone.
Coyne UH-1H Helicopter UFO Incident 1973
Too bad there are neither some photos nor videos of this sighting: anyway, it's one of those very rare cases in which something was spotted from both
air and ground. Basically, there aren't visual proofs, but at the same time there are some extremely reliable witnesses: and it's also something
very close to a mid-air collision, as mentioned in the official report (Near Midair Collision with UFO).
I would like to thank Steve Hammons, journalist, for being so kind to bring
this case to my attention (BTW: his articles are always some VERY interesting reading).
I would greatly appreciate any comment about this story.  
Sources:
www.nicap.org...
www.fufor.com...
www.freerepublic.com...
www.youtube.com...
www.ufologie.net...
/5juuzt
www.cosmicparadigm.com...
/5b4guy
www.ufocasebook.com...
www.nicap.dabsol.co.uk...
www.cufon.org...
References:
Cincinnati Enquirer, October 22, 1973.
The Mansfield News Journal, November 4, 1973.
Jennie Zeidman, "Helicopter-UFO Encounter Over Ohio", Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, 1979.
Army Disposition Form incident report on case reproduced in Larry Fawcett and Barry Greenwood, Clear Intent, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,
Prentice-Hall, p. 239, 1984.
MUFON 1989 International UFO Symposium Proceedings, Seguin, Texas, pp. 13-30.
UFO-Helicopter Close Encounter Over Ohio, Flying Saucer Review 22 (4), pp. 15-19.
International UFO Reporter, pp. 13-14, November-December 1988.
International UFO Reporter, pp. 17-18, March-April 1989.
News Journal, october 18, 2003.
[edit on 6/11/2008 by internos]
|
What a great thread, Internos! Excellent reading, and once again one of those well documented cases with multiple and also very credible witnesses.
Another case that makes it very difficult indeed to deny that UFOs are real phenomenas in our skies.
It also sent shivers down my spine when I read this:
While the object was still visible, Jezzi and Coyne both noted that the altimeter read 3,500 feet with a rate of climb of 1,000 feet per minute.
Yet the collective (steering mechanism) was still in the full-down position set during the descent.
That sure must have been a scary experience, being out of control that way!
Thanks again, Internos, GOOD job as always.
|
Whoo hoo! Flagged for sure!
The red light appeared to be on a collision course, approaching at a speed estimated to be more than 600 knots. Coyne increased the rate of
descent to 2,000 feet per minute until they reached about 1,700 feet, about 600 feet above the tree tops. With the unknown object about to ram them,
the crewmen feared for their lives. Just as a collision appeared imminent, the light suddenly stopped and hovered above and in front of the
helicopter. They saw a cigar-shaped, gray metallic appearing, domed object whose apparent size filled the entire windshield.
Now what kind of meteor can do those kinds of maneuvers?
I remember seeing that drawing of the ground observationsomewhere but never paid any attention to it. Even without much physical evidence, the
cases prior the eighties turn out to be the most interesting. Make you wanna check back the ‘ancient’ cases again.
|
) 
