UFORCOP CASE REPORT
November 30, 2011
Project Blue Book case #10798 or also known as "the Presque Isle
landing", whichever indentification you use one main point stays the same.
A pile of unanswered questions which has kept this case shrouded in
mystery since 1966! Presque Isle park is located four miles west of Erie,
Pennsylvania in Millcreek Township and is comprised of roughly seven
miles of beaches which jut to the north into Lake Erie. Presque Isle park
boasts impressive annual visitation numbers of 1.4 million in 1937 to 4+
million every year since 2007. Yet it remains a quiet, secluded area. On a
hot summers night in 1966 this quiet state park was forever changed. On
Sunday, July 31st two couples and two young children left nearby
Jamestown, NY for an afternoon picnic on beach six of Presque Isle State
Park. No mention is made of what time these people arrived or how long
they had been at the park but the incident of that night started a major
investigation and a rash of sightings.Near the dusk closing time of the park Betty Jean Klem (16) of Jamestown,
Douglas J. Tibbetts (18) of Greenhurst, Gerald Labelle (26) of Jamestown,
and Anita Haisley (22) with her two children; Sandra (2), and Sara (6 mths)
all of Jamestown, returned to their vehicle which was at the east end of the
parking lot. Sometime during the evening their vehicle had sunk in the
sand and was unable to be freed. Other beach goers that were also leaving
lended assistance by offering to take Mr. Labelle into town to hire a tow
truck. Within a few minutes of Mr. Labelle's leaving park police officers
Ralph Clark and Robert Loeb came upon the stranded individuals. After
learning of the plan to retrieve a tow truck the officers promised to render
assistance if Mr. Labella had not succeeded by the time they returned. In a
later interview Ms. Klem recounted what then happened at approximately
9:30 pm.
"We were sitting in the car waiting for help. We saw a star move. It got
brighter. It would move fast, then dim. It came straight down. The car
vibrated. I know what we saw, we had taken a walk in that area earlier.
There was nothing between those two trees. All of a sudden it was just
there."
When asked to describe the craft Ms. Klem likened the shape of it to that of
a mushroom with a narrow base rising to an oval structure. She added that
it was metallic, sort of silvery and when asked if it made any noise Ms.
Klem told investigators that "it sounded like the noise in a telephone
receiver, only louder, of course." When Mr. Tibbetts was asked his
description of the craft he said the object appeared to be cube-shaped,
whitish or metallic in color. He also remarked that when the object landed
a series of lights were turned on. Ms. Klem also reported seeing lights on
the back of the object and elaborated by saying that the lights came out of
the craft as a beam that moved along the ground in a straight line. She
went on to say "It (the light) lit up the whole woods along its path. It wasn't
like a searchlight. There was this light along the the ground, along its
whole path". Moments later the patrol car of officers Clark and Loeb
returned to assist the stranded motorist and at that time the lights from the
object went out. At that time the officers were advised of what had just
happened. Mr Tibbetts offered to show the officers the area believed to be
the landing site, with Mr Tibbetts leading the way both officers followed
leaving the two women and the children alone with the vehicle. Not long
after the search for the landing site began the silence of the night was
broken by the sound of the stranded vehicle's horn blasting frantically.
Based on the urgency of the notes the searchers rushed back to thevehicle to find the women in a state of panic. Ms. Haisley was in such a
shock that she refused to give an account of what had her so upset. At
first Ms. Klem also refused to talk but after being removed from the site she
relaxed enough to give an account. In an interview conducted by park
police Chief Dan Dasconia Ms. Klem told an incredible story. She stated
that shortly after Mr Tibbets lead the officers down the path she noticed a
figure emerge from the wood line. At first she thought it was an animal
until it got closer, at that point she saw what she described as a dark
featureless gorilla shaped humanoid about six feet tall. The creature
slowly circled the car and at one point came close enough to begin clawing
at the vehicle. At that time Ms. Klem stated that she began screaming and
frantically sounding the horn. Only that caused the creature to sluggishly
retreat into the woods and Ms. Klem watched the craft quickly lift-off and
disappear with incredible speed before Mr. Tibbetts and the officers
returned. Chief Dasconio later remarked to the Erie Times News that Ms.
Klem appeared to be "a sensible woman" and went on to say "I'm
convinced these young people saw something". The officers did verify that
they found claw marks on the vehicle that Mr. Tibbetts stated weren't there
before. UFORCOP hasn't been able to find any photographic evidence of
the marks or any mention of that evidence ever being collected. The
stranded motorist were not permitted to return to their vehicle until the next
morning.
By 7:00 am members of the Pa State Police and an Air Force official with
Project Blue Book were already involved. Police officers Paul Wilson and
Robert Canfield combed the area and found among other evidence two
areas with tripod type impressions in the sand. The first pattern was
discovered 350 to 400 yards from where the vehicle was parked. The
imprint was in a triangular pattern 10 to 12 feet apart, each contact point
was roughly 18 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 9 inches deep. At the time
of this writing UFORCOP has an inquiry in with the engineering department
of a local university to estimate the weight of this object based on the
compression ratio of sand but have yet to get that information. That
information will be added as an update when it becomes available. Plaster
imprints were made of these impressions by Maj. William S. Hall based out
of Wright- Patterson Air base. Maj. Hall representing Project Blue Book
also gathered evidence of what appeared to be bi-pedal prints of a clawed
creature leading from the tripod indentation to the vehicle, sticky non- evaporating droppings found near the tripod, and hair samples removed
from a tree near the stuck vehicle. By Tuesday Maj. Hall made an
announcement to the media that any disclosure concerning the PresqueIsle case must come directly from the Secretary of the Air Force. That very
day five members of the National investigations Committee on Aerial
Phenomena (NICAP) were brought in from Buffalo, NY to continue the
investigation. Air Force investigators interviewed Ms. Klem and ordered
her to be interviewed by a psychiatrist who stated that the testimony given
by Ms. Klem seemed to be true and not due to illness or delusion.
In the days after the sighting beach six was swarmed by UFO
enthusiasts and people claiming to have witnessed sightings of their own.
The most prominent report came early Wednesday morning when an Erie
newsman with WJET radio claimed to have seen and photographed a fast
moving bright star near beach six at 2:30 am. Another WJET newsman
also came forward and stated that he had seen the same moving star plus a
strange cluster of lights near beach six at 4:00 am. Another report placed a
creature resembling a drawing of the figure spotted on beach six in
Edinboro, Pa, a few miles south of Erie. On Wednesday, August 17th Brett
Butler of Edinboro and six other witnesses claimed to have seen the
creature at Edinboro Lake. Mr. Butler claimed to have fired several shots at
the creature with weapons he had taken along.
In recent years some individuals have claimed to have been behind a
hoax perpetuated on the night of July 31st 1966 involving a kite. Even
though that theory has been debunked several times a controversy still
seems to linger around it. It’s only mentioned so that people are aware that
the story does exist, as for UFORCOP we will stick with the fact that of over
twelve thousand cases in the Project Blue Book files only about seven
hundred are still unidentified. The Presque Isle landing is one of those!
November 30, 2011
Project Blue Book case #10798 or also known as "the Presque Isle
landing", whichever indentification you use one main point stays the same.
A pile of unanswered questions which has kept this case shrouded in
mystery since 1966! Presque Isle park is located four miles west of Erie,
Pennsylvania in Millcreek Township and is comprised of roughly seven
miles of beaches which jut to the north into Lake Erie. Presque Isle park
boasts impressive annual visitation numbers of 1.4 million in 1937 to 4+
million every year since 2007. Yet it remains a quiet, secluded area. On a
hot summers night in 1966 this quiet state park was forever changed. On
Sunday, July 31st two couples and two young children left nearby
Jamestown, NY for an afternoon picnic on beach six of Presque Isle State
Park. No mention is made of what time these people arrived or how long
they had been at the park but the incident of that night started a major
investigation and a rash of sightings.Near the dusk closing time of the park Betty Jean Klem (16) of Jamestown,
Douglas J. Tibbetts (18) of Greenhurst, Gerald Labelle (26) of Jamestown,
and Anita Haisley (22) with her two children; Sandra (2), and Sara (6 mths)
all of Jamestown, returned to their vehicle which was at the east end of the
parking lot. Sometime during the evening their vehicle had sunk in the
sand and was unable to be freed. Other beach goers that were also leaving
lended assistance by offering to take Mr. Labelle into town to hire a tow
truck. Within a few minutes of Mr. Labelle's leaving park police officers
Ralph Clark and Robert Loeb came upon the stranded individuals. After
learning of the plan to retrieve a tow truck the officers promised to render
assistance if Mr. Labella had not succeeded by the time they returned. In a
later interview Ms. Klem recounted what then happened at approximately
9:30 pm.
"We were sitting in the car waiting for help. We saw a star move. It got
brighter. It would move fast, then dim. It came straight down. The car
vibrated. I know what we saw, we had taken a walk in that area earlier.
There was nothing between those two trees. All of a sudden it was just
there."
When asked to describe the craft Ms. Klem likened the shape of it to that of
a mushroom with a narrow base rising to an oval structure. She added that
it was metallic, sort of silvery and when asked if it made any noise Ms.
Klem told investigators that "it sounded like the noise in a telephone
receiver, only louder, of course." When Mr. Tibbetts was asked his
description of the craft he said the object appeared to be cube-shaped,
whitish or metallic in color. He also remarked that when the object landed
a series of lights were turned on. Ms. Klem also reported seeing lights on
the back of the object and elaborated by saying that the lights came out of
the craft as a beam that moved along the ground in a straight line. She
went on to say "It (the light) lit up the whole woods along its path. It wasn't
like a searchlight. There was this light along the the ground, along its
whole path". Moments later the patrol car of officers Clark and Loeb
returned to assist the stranded motorist and at that time the lights from the
object went out. At that time the officers were advised of what had just
happened. Mr Tibbetts offered to show the officers the area believed to be
the landing site, with Mr Tibbetts leading the way both officers followed
leaving the two women and the children alone with the vehicle. Not long
after the search for the landing site began the silence of the night was
broken by the sound of the stranded vehicle's horn blasting frantically.
Based on the urgency of the notes the searchers rushed back to thevehicle to find the women in a state of panic. Ms. Haisley was in such a
shock that she refused to give an account of what had her so upset. At
first Ms. Klem also refused to talk but after being removed from the site she
relaxed enough to give an account. In an interview conducted by park
police Chief Dan Dasconia Ms. Klem told an incredible story. She stated
that shortly after Mr Tibbets lead the officers down the path she noticed a
figure emerge from the wood line. At first she thought it was an animal
until it got closer, at that point she saw what she described as a dark
featureless gorilla shaped humanoid about six feet tall. The creature
slowly circled the car and at one point came close enough to begin clawing
at the vehicle. At that time Ms. Klem stated that she began screaming and
frantically sounding the horn. Only that caused the creature to sluggishly
retreat into the woods and Ms. Klem watched the craft quickly lift-off and
disappear with incredible speed before Mr. Tibbetts and the officers
returned. Chief Dasconio later remarked to the Erie Times News that Ms.
Klem appeared to be "a sensible woman" and went on to say "I'm
convinced these young people saw something". The officers did verify that
they found claw marks on the vehicle that Mr. Tibbetts stated weren't there
before. UFORCOP hasn't been able to find any photographic evidence of
the marks or any mention of that evidence ever being collected. The
stranded motorist were not permitted to return to their vehicle until the next
morning.
By 7:00 am members of the Pa State Police and an Air Force official with
Project Blue Book were already involved. Police officers Paul Wilson and
Robert Canfield combed the area and found among other evidence two
areas with tripod type impressions in the sand. The first pattern was
discovered 350 to 400 yards from where the vehicle was parked. The
imprint was in a triangular pattern 10 to 12 feet apart, each contact point
was roughly 18 inches long, 7 inches wide, and 9 inches deep. At the time
of this writing UFORCOP has an inquiry in with the engineering department
of a local university to estimate the weight of this object based on the
compression ratio of sand but have yet to get that information. That
information will be added as an update when it becomes available. Plaster
imprints were made of these impressions by Maj. William S. Hall based out
of Wright- Patterson Air base. Maj. Hall representing Project Blue Book
also gathered evidence of what appeared to be bi-pedal prints of a clawed
creature leading from the tripod indentation to the vehicle, sticky non- evaporating droppings found near the tripod, and hair samples removed
from a tree near the stuck vehicle. By Tuesday Maj. Hall made an
announcement to the media that any disclosure concerning the PresqueIsle case must come directly from the Secretary of the Air Force. That very
day five members of the National investigations Committee on Aerial
Phenomena (NICAP) were brought in from Buffalo, NY to continue the
investigation. Air Force investigators interviewed Ms. Klem and ordered
her to be interviewed by a psychiatrist who stated that the testimony given
by Ms. Klem seemed to be true and not due to illness or delusion.
In the days after the sighting beach six was swarmed by UFO
enthusiasts and people claiming to have witnessed sightings of their own.
The most prominent report came early Wednesday morning when an Erie
newsman with WJET radio claimed to have seen and photographed a fast
moving bright star near beach six at 2:30 am. Another WJET newsman
also came forward and stated that he had seen the same moving star plus a
strange cluster of lights near beach six at 4:00 am. Another report placed a
creature resembling a drawing of the figure spotted on beach six in
Edinboro, Pa, a few miles south of Erie. On Wednesday, August 17th Brett
Butler of Edinboro and six other witnesses claimed to have seen the
creature at Edinboro Lake. Mr. Butler claimed to have fired several shots at
the creature with weapons he had taken along.
In recent years some individuals have claimed to have been behind a
hoax perpetuated on the night of July 31st 1966 involving a kite. Even
though that theory has been debunked several times a controversy still
seems to linger around it. It’s only mentioned so that people are aware that
the story does exist, as for UFORCOP we will stick with the fact that of over
twelve thousand cases in the Project Blue Book files only about seven
hundred are still unidentified. The Presque Isle landing is one of those!
