The Encounter
It was March 18th, 1975 at approximately 1:30pm. The weather that day was cool with a daytime high of 10C (50F) and a low of -1.1C (30F). There was some intermittent, light rain with a total accumulation of about 4mm. Much of the day was overcast.
It was March break, Pat was in an exam period and had some free time to engage in one of his hobbies - photographing birds of prey (this area is known to be home to both Red Tail and Cooper’s Hawks). Having failed to capture any that day, he began his walk back home. It was then that he saw something in the sky.
With his Praktica 35mm camera, fitted with a 135mm lens with a focal length of F2-8 and Kodak Plus X ASA 125 film, he began to shoot the object.
Knowing he had seen something extraordinary, he wisely chose not to develop the film himself. He called a local news outlet, The Spectator, and took the camera with the film still inside, and had them remove it and develop the photos in their lab.
The following are some of those photos.
The Story Breaks
Below is a chronological archive of printed news reports, journals, and television news screen shots of the encounter. Click on each image to enlarge.
