Jan served in Vietnam in the Army and and knows aircraft. That's why I paid special attention to his report, and he kindly allowed me to audio-record our interview in 1978 and use his name when I thought it would be helpful.
On or about April 5, 1978 at around 10:15 p.m. Jan and a female friend were driving on Route 31 in Cicero, NY, when they observed a tubular-shaped object about 10 feet above the trees on the left. The ground was illuminated in four spots by four bright white lights on the object. He pulled the car over and parked as three cars passed by. "When we pulled off the side of the road the object started moving," Jan related. "When the first car went by, the object dipped and turned and looked toward the second and third cars. When they went by, it just started moving slowly, horizontally, alongside the car at 50 or 60 yards away at about treetop level."
The object slowly descended and then turned toward the witnesses, giving off a quiet "thrashing" sound. Reddish-blue lights were noted on its bottom. Further describing the noise, Jan stated that it "sounded like the sticks on the trees may have been clicking." When the object began to depart, it tilted and the four bright white lights went out and the blue-red color underneath became prominent. From the back, a diamond shape was observed and displayed four or five white, twinkling lights. Jan estimated its size as that of a dump truck-and-a-half because of a nearby dump truck used for comparison.
Finally, Jan estimated that the object may have moved at a speed of three to five miles per hour at most when it maneuvered horizontally, but when it departed it simply shot up into the air and disappeared. He offered a litany of details about the observation, but this embraces the main points.
I acquired a file filled with reports and miscellaneous notes about the 1978 UFO wave, and much of it was sent to APRO and/or written up for various UFO organization newsletters. I think this was also a time when I began to wind down my UFO research activities significantly because of all the frustration involved. I was impressed, very impressed, with the UFO activity evidenced in Central New York at that time, but even when you find yourself stone-cold convinced that something real is involved, it all becomes like trying to catch the wind when you have few resources to back you up.
