In mid-February 2009, a report was filed with MUFON about a remarkable encounter that was claimed to have occurred on a frozen lake in Maine.
It was entitled “Bright, dime sized yellow light followed us for 3 miles.
It then separated into 3 flying sets of lights. 1 was solid red and stationary and the other 2 were red/white blinking and circling us.”
The first three photos above were taken on the night of February 9, 2009. The two witnesses were on the north edge of Millinocket Lake, Maine. The object or objects they photographed were westward of them and their tracked all-terrain vehicle, “around 1/2 mile from us and 50 feet above the tree line”.
These photos were titled “alienencounter#” by the submitter. They are presented in sequence, but the time between shots is not known. In the first, using Adjust Levels in Photoshop, a darker area can just be made out below the white line. Camera movement may have been an element of this photo. It is presented with no alteration except the edges have been cropped.
The second photo has had Levels Adjusted in Photoshop, and cropped. The adjustment allows the ATV’s headlight illumination to be seen on the right, and the treeline and sky. It didn’t effect the bright line. The ‘copy’? of the bright line to the lower right of the photo is inexplicable.
The third photo has also had Levels Adjusted in Photoshop, to about the same degree as the second. The adjustment allows the ATV’s headlight illumination to be seen on the right, and its brake light glow on the left.
A very odd thing about these photos: “They look nothing like they did in person, though they are unusual. They are very colorful lines of light, and though the pictures were taken closely together, they all are different.”
The fourth photo is an example of the ATV the witnesses were using. Theirs may have had a larger bed in the rear, and they may have been pulling a trailer, as they were hauling firewood to their remote lakeside cabin. Only the first three photos were submitted to MUFON.
Here’s What Happened {my additions} bold text – all are my emphasis
I did not witness this event.
Between 9:00 and 9:30 PM, Feb. 9, the two witnesses were about in the middle of the lake, heading to the north. “The ATV we were in was traveling at a speed of about 15 miles per hour and about 2 miles across the lake I noticed a yellow light next to us {on their left, or west side} about 50 feet about the tree line. I first thought this was an odd star. Than I realized that it was in front of a mountain {the elevations to the southwest of Mt. Katahdin}. The light then shot a spot light down on the shoreline of the lake for roughly 2 seconds.”
“I alerted my brother and he then turned his head and watched the light as it followed right beside us the rest of the was across the lake. When we got directly in front of our camp {on the north bank of the lake}, yet still about 200 yards out on the frozen lake, we stopped the ATV and started taking pictures of the light. The first 2 pictures were taken with a flash and the rest (5 or 6) were taken in twilight mode. When we stopped, the light stopped and was around 1/2 mile from us and 50 feet above the tree line. The light slowly turned from yellow to orange. Then it slowly changed from one light to what appeared to be three lines of red light forming a triangle with a distinct black spot in the middle. We turned the ATV toward the light so that our head lights were pointing directly at it. We then shut the ATV off and watched it hoping that it would move or do something. We sat there for 10 minutes or so just watching it in complete darkness, and in retrospect, we should have taken more pictures, but it was soo cold (5-10 below zero) that it was unbearable to be out there without gloves on to operate the camera.”
“We pulled off the lake and the triangle was blocked from our view for no more than 7 or 8 minutes while we unloaded the wood. When we returned to the frozen lake, the light/triangle was gone and replaced by a smaller bright red light {Light 1}. The red light followed us as the other light had, across the lake {off to the west, now on their right as they traveled south} and we stopped in the middle of the lake when we noticed there were 2 red/white blinking lights coming from opposite directions toward our camp which was about 1 mile behind us. Both blinking lights disappeared behind trout mountain {nearby to the NW, see map}, and reappeared as they came over the the top of the mountain stopping directly over our camp.”
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“Then the blinking lights went in different directions, one coming around us on the drivers side {Light 2, east side of lake} about a mile away and maybe 200 feet up. The other light {Light 3} went directly to the red light {Light 1, to the west} which hadn't moved since we stopped. The red light {Light 1} was about 3/4 - 1 mile on the passenger side about 50 feet above the tree line. Then the blinking light got near the red light, the blinking light {Light 3} circled the red light {Light 1} for about 20 seconds and then slowly made its way behind us. I said to my brother that I felt that they were surrounding us and I wanted to go.”
“He started forward as fast as the ATV would go when all the dash lights on the ATV came on and the ATV's engine shut off. For the record, this is a brand new 2009 Atv with 200 miles on it. He tried to start it and the key did nothing. We got out and lifted the hood to see if we could see any issues. Everything looked fine with the ATV. At this point all 3 lights were a little closer than before. We climbed back in the ATV and the engine started right up. The red/white light directly behind us {Light 3} sped up and started coming around us on the passenger {west} side toward the solid red light {Light 1}. When the red/white blinking light got to the solid red light, the solid red light disappeared.”
“The 2 blinking red/white lights were now on either side of us and the one on the passenger side {Light 3} started coming directly at us. It moved at about 10-15 miles an hour at an altitude of about 200 feet directly over us and I noticed it left a very small trail behind us though it wasn't like one from a jet. It was more like steam from the difference in temp and whatever the light was. None of the lights made any noise. At this point the other light {Light 1} followed the light that us passed over us and they slowly traveled away from us and out of sight. We continued the rest of the way back to our truck, and confirmed that that experience indeed happened.”
The statement about the photos not looking like the objects “in person” ended the submitted report.
If this is not a hoax, then this was a very interesting series of events.
A Summary Of These Events
A low yellow light moves for 2 to 3 miles on your left, then forms a red triangle of lights. It is replaced by a smaller bright red light that follows you back for a mile or 2. Then, two red blinking lights arriving “from opposite directions” maneuver in an intelligent way, using the nearby topography, and one moves to your left, the other moves to the non-blinking light on your right, and repeatedly circles it! Then it slowly moves to a position behind you.
Meanwhile, your ATV quits running. You are 2 to 4 miles from your automobile parked at the paved road. And left, back, and right lights in the air all seem to ‘close in’ on you. But just as strange, you can now restart your ATV.
Then the light behind you moves to the light on the right. The right light disappears, and the moving light then moves east, directly over your position. It leaves a ‘steam trail’, joins with the light on your left, and they then both fly away.
There was no noise reported from these lights.
Millinocket Lake
I used Google Maps Satellite View to search the banks of Millinocket Lake. The southwest bank, and a little to the east, around Black Cat Mountain, are well developed. But the east and west banks are very sparsely developed. The north bank has only a handful of cabin sites. And winter inhabitants of any lakeside lodgings here are very, very few.
To reach the area north of the lake, in February, requires following a maze of snow-covered dirt roads. Crossing the frozen lake on a tracked ATV (the tracks spread weight loads much more evenly than wheels, and have better traction in ice and snow) would be much faster and safer than travelling overland.
This report submitted to MUFON begins “My brother and I were hauling fire wood across Millinocket Lake to our remote cabin on the back side of the Lake. We hauled a total of six trips in a side by side ATV with tracks on it. We started hauling wood at around 1 PM and each trip averaged 90 minutes round trip from our truck full of wood in the Black Cat parking lot {warm weather boat landing}, cross the lake (5-6 miles), unload the ATV and return back to the truck for more wood.”
“It got dark around 6 PM and the sky was clear and the moon was large and bright. Millinocket Lake sits in the shadow of Mount Katahdin (the tallest point in Maine) and I recall that the moon lit the mountain brighter than any night I had seen in the past. We started from the parking lot with our final load of wood about 9 PM. It was a cold clear night . . . “.
Three statements that the night sky was unusually clear. The moon was full that night, or the next, February 10.
When they stopped the first time, they were 200 yards south of their camp, or cabin, and took the photographs. Then “The light slowly turned from yellow to orange. Then it slowly changed from one light to what appeared to be three lines of red light forming a triangle with a distinct black spot in the middle.” They shined the ATV’s headlights on these lights. Then they turned off their ATV and sat in the “total darkness” for 10 minutes or so. Apparently, the lights did not “move or do something”.
At this time the two witnesses became concerned. “My brother and I decided to continue in the camp {cabin} and unload our firewood so we could retreat at a faster speed if needed.”
If I was out on that lake at 10 PM or later and a blinking light came over my little ATV after it had suddenly quit, then started working again, and I was 2 to 4 miles from my car, in those Below 0 Temperatures, I would have been really concerned.
With all the misspellings, and the photos, why no more statements of concern? If MUFON has investigated this case, # 15455, I am definitely interested in their findings.
This MUFON report was included in Filers Files #8 2009 02-18 titled
Maine – Moving Lights. A synopsis of the report was included there.
Here is a report submitted to MUFON from Western Maine, far from
Mt. Katahdin, in early January, 2009 :
January 3, 2009 “hovering and moving in NW sky right now, been watching for 30+ minutes”
“At first it appeared to be a star in the distance rapdily flashing white and trailing what looked like 2 orange tentacles of light. I watched it for a few minutes and then saw it move and thought, what the heck is that. It would move occasionally in rounded sweeping movements and I saw it move in a 90 degree movement downward and to a sudden stop. The best description I can give is that with the naked eye it moves alot like a kite would up up the sky. I took a couple pictures but it was too dark and the object is too distant. It appears like it is up over Quebec somewhere” {due north}.
“When I got my binoculars to look at it I was astonished. At many points it looks like a 2 disc craft with a central core connecting the two discs, mostly green halo surround the entire craft and rapidly flashing white light around the top disc with random bright reds flashing in the white area, on the bottom disc it is mostly orange and green lights, no red flashing in this area.”
“When it moves (watching with binoculars) it spins rapidly almost like looking at a laser pointer being moved around a white screen. Looping and spinning almost like my hands were shaking. So I stabilized the binocs and sure enough, it was not me. It rapidly circles when it moves then suddenly stops.”
If true, it sounds like the photographs from mid-February taken on Millinocket Lake, Maine.
2008-04-17 Maine “A large triangular craft (later appeared to be diamond shape) flying very slowly over my house “
“I was in my kitchen when I noticed two very bright lights outside the window (similar to vehicle headlights) above the tree line. I immediately went outside and watched for approximately seven minutes as the craft slowly made its way over my house. At times, it was moving erratically (side to side) which told me I was not seeing an airplane. Also, it emitted a strange, high pitched sound. It's difficult to explain what it sounded like but it was unlike the sound of any aircraft I've heard flying overhead."
"While the craft was over me (approximately 200-300 feet in the air), I noticed that it had a white light on each point of the triangle, a red light in the center and a red light in the rear. As it slowly moved away, it seemed to change shape from a triangle to a diamond (or a kite shape) with a white light on each point.”
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“My wife and i were sitting down getting ready to watch the fireworks display in Bangor maine. probrably 15 or 20 min before they began, we saw a red object in the sky. i had my video camera and was able to take 19 seconds of footage with both distance and zoom footage. it was red and pulsating with concentric circles going from the center to the edges. it was silent and floated in the air. it was noticable for probrably 5 to 10 seconds before i got my video camera ready to film. at the end of the footage as i pan out there is a second object over the first object that i did not notice at first. they just seem to disapear, as if they take off at very high speed going directly away from our vantage point. i noticed the object because i thought it was the first firework. but it just continued hovering and did not burn out. it was visible for 25 to 30 seconds total. it stayed quite still throuout the sighting, not moving, just pulsating. i cannot explain what we saw.”
2004-06-01 Maine “We noticed a bright star movng in the sky across left and right and up and down”
“It was few years ago. I remember it was a warm night. It was about 10:30 p.m., the sky was very clear. The stars were shining diamonds against the cerulean blue sky. I can't remember exactly which summer month we were in, but we could not see the moon.”
“My father, Cousin Ryan, and I were sitting on the dock enjoying the night and the calm water of Little Sebago. My Dad and i were sitting on the bench of the dock, while my cousin was laying on the dock on his side.”
“We were sitting out their for about 10 or 15 minutes when i noticed a very unusual star. I thought it was a plane, but a plane in the sky does not look like a star, it was to far away. Then i thought OK maybe it is a satellite, but i have never seen anything like this before. It looked just like a star, but it moved over to the right, Up, Then down, up half way, to the left, and back up, then down half way and then just shoot across the sky, and covered great distance. That is when i was like OK im not crazy, i am seeing this, so i pointed it out to my cousin and my father.”
“We were just amazed by what we were seeing, trying to pinpoint what it was or what it could be. We watched for probably about 15 or 20 minutes, maybe longer. I believe whatever we were watching was about northwest, then my dad spots another star of the same behavior directly west. This one was only moving up, down, left, right, and not shooting across the sky, but i have to tell you this is only the TIP of the ice berg...”
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“The bench on the dock is facing west. The left and front of the dock is facing open water, but to the right is the opening to the cove of the third lake of Little Sebago. At about 2 o clock of the dock across the cove is a [dam]. behind us next to the dock is a willow tree right at the opening of the cove. im not good with distance or height, but i would say the willow tree is about 35 feet tall.”
“After noticing the second moving star, we were just baffled and utterly confused. About 5 more minutes go by and then...I heard this weird noise. Out of my 21 years on this earth, I can NOT describe this sound easily. The sound was like a small fan i suppose. I said, "Do you hear that, that sound" about7 seconds later, i noticed that they could hear it too, and before they could say anything there it was! It was not above the willow tree but beside it, more over the water, but right beside us! This craft was moving about 3 m.p.h! just floating in the air! going beside us so slow. I felt mesmerized totally focused. The memory that i have of that night is clear as day, but that moment, that exact moment, the memory that i have is like a dream...”
“This thing, craft, ufo, whatever you have it was as big as a suv or van. It was rectangle. It was yellow with some wide black stripes across it diagonally. it had what looked like big black tires around it with bright lights in them.”
“We were hypnotized by it and just speechless like we had no control of our bodies. We just watched it floating in the air, continuing with the bends of the shore, and it was gone around the bend. Then all of a sudden we just relaxed and started to breath again. Once in a life time i tell you, but there is still more to go...”
“After regaining our sanity. we looked once more to the sky. Both stars were still there. Then we heard it. The military jets flying up into the sky. two of them. the star moving in the north west was doing the normal, but a little different this time. it was like every time it finished its routine, it powered up, But this time before it shot across the sky it got so bright i had to squint my eyes. Then it just took off. it was gone, just gone. the other one was gone as well. I wonder what the guys in the jets thought when they were forced to go back?”
“I am not crazy, but i tell you i will not beleive your story. All the other stories out there sound like crazy people stories. Well that is how i felt for a few years untill i met a guy named jason. His story was similar, but he was in nevada. his encounter was triangle. Then this year on the history channel there was this story with the same kind of sighting like mine.”
“I dont understand...those ufos looked like a star...They were in outerspace...they could see at least half of the world...Why would one come to visit us in windham maine of all places on little sebago lake, on our little dock? Why?”
“We don’t know one-millionth of 1% about anything.” Thomas Edison
