THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502170248
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
THE STRANGE SIGHT in the night sky was orange, glowing from the bottom.
And it was huge. Half as long as a football field, it hovered over treetops near Elephant's Fork, the man who spotted it said. He asked not to be identified: ``Some people might think you're crazy.''
It wasn't an airplane or a helicopter, he said. It didn't look like a hot-air balloon or a blimp. Yet he was reluctant to utter ``UFO.''
His wife and children saw it, too. Others, they believe, must have also witnessed the eerie sight that recent Friday night.
``Other people were riding real slow, looking for it,'' he said.
Surely there's an explanation, I said. Sorry I hadn't been outside my house, not far from the spot he described.
The mysterious airship was oval on the bottom, its orange glow casting shadows above so its top was obscured. At first, they thought it was a new water tank. Then they realized it was moving.
They first spotted it as they turned onto the U.S. Route 58 bypass from Wilroy Road, heading west. Mystified, they watched as it dipped below the horizon, out of sight at times, seeming to float over Route 460 toward Windsor.
``It was right over the top of the road,'' he said.
The father of two spellbound youngsters in the back seat rolled down his window, but all he heard was road noise.
They continued on the bypass, later wishing they had gotten off for a better view. Finally, they turned onto Pitchkettle Road, looking back across Lake Meade at the orange thing just over the truck stop across from the Holiday Inn.
``It was real close to the ground,'' he said, ``right at the treetops.''
It dipped down now and then, out of sight, then vanished, leaving them wondering what they had seen. They drove around but never saw it again.
Strangely, he said, as soon as they got home, helicopters were swarming in the sky overhead. He believed they were searching for the orange glow.
Suffolk Police hadn't gotten any calls, said Mike Simpkins the next week. And they'd be the first to hear, he said, looking at me askance.
A Suffolk Airport official said it was likely lights from an airplane or helicopter. ``A lot of people don't know what they're looking at,'' he said.
But could an orange glow near the treetops be an airplane? I asked, beginning to sense that people were questioning my sanity.
``Well, no,'' he said.
Other airports - Hampton Roads and Norfolk International - were no more helpful, having seen nothing unusual on their radar. They couldn't tell me about a swarm of helicopters either.
A deputy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the space shuttle, launched the night before, should have been visible. In Suffolk - just over the treetops? I asked.
``No,'' he said, suggesting I call the National Weather Service.
A spokesman there said he believed in UFOs but didn't know if there had been one in Suffolk recently. ``It was a wild and wooly night with all the wind,'' he said. ``Your imagination can play tricks on you.''
Maybe it was an atmospheric phenomenon, said Larry Myers at the Federal Aviation Agency.
``We had nothing out of the routine for Friday night,'' he said, adding that helicopters often fly in the area. Hard to say who they were, he said. Perhaps Army, Navy, Marines, National Guard or a reserve unit.
Nobody, it seems, keeps track of our air space.
State Police spokeswoman Tammy Van Dame, who knew nothing of anything strange, referred me to the Air Force. ``They handle that,'' she said.
But Air Force officials said they had stopped UFO investigations - Project Blue Book - a couple of years ago.
Army and Navy spokesmen also denied knowing anything.
I called Robins Aviation in Franklin and asked Randy Robins what would someone do if he were to see a UFO.
``Run and hide, probably,'' he said, chuckling. ``Usually, you'd report it to the local police. But the people with ultimate authority are the Air Force.''
Apparently he hadn't heard about Project Blue Book being closed.
It could have been a blimp, he said, referring me to the Flight Service Station in Leesburg.
Bob Wright there said they don't track blimps. ``But there's always a laser light show going on down in Norfolk,'' he said, sounding like he wasn't sure of my sanity either.
Wright said to call the Washington Center, which handles radar for Virginia. They referred me to New York. I figured they wouldn't know where Suffolk was.
I finally decided if I ever see anything that glows orange near my house, I'll just whip out my note pad and a camera. And I'll grab the cordless phone - just in case E.T.'s inside. I won't bother reporting it to anybody. No one would believe me anyway.
And every night as I drive home, I look up in the sky, wondering what I might see. Then I look around for the young man who saw the orange mystery ship in case he's out trying to prove he's not nuts.
He still doesn't know what he saw that night, but he's certain it was unusual.
``I sure saw something weird,'' he said.
KEYWORDS: UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT UFO by CNB