Area
UFO sighting under investigation
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19490510&BRD=1134&PAG=461&dept_id=150853&rfi=6 Local
law enforcement officials are investigating several reports from individuals claiming
to have observed an unidentified flying object hovering in various locations across
Barron County.
According to Barron County Sheriff Tom Richie, the dispatch center received numerous
calls from individuals at approximately 10 p.m. Monday reporting a possible UFO.
Barron County deputies on duty that night reportedly observed the object.
Kristina Hauser, 20, of Chetek,
was traveling with her family near the Rice Lake airport at about 9:40 p.m. when
they saw the object. Hauser explained that the object, which initially appeared
yellow, was flying toward Rice Lake and was dipping very low and moved very fast,
heading back and forth across the road. She stated the object was hovering around
their car for about a mile before it headed back to the airport. Hauser
also reported that after she was dropped off in Rice Lake, her family witnessed
the object again on the way back to Chetek, hovering about 20 feet above their
vehicle. They described it to her as a triangular or teardrop-shaped object with
purple and blue lights. They could hear no sound coming from the object, and a
red laser like light was shining on one end of it to the ground. The object followed
their vehicle another four miles before it just disappeared. Hauser's
father, Glen, also spoke with various local police officers who had gotten calls
on the object as well. While working at Wal-Mart, Kristina also spoke with a Rice
Lake police officer who had talked with local hospitals and the Federal Aviation
Administration. All confirmed helicopters were grounded and there did not appear
to be any air traffic in the area. "By
the way it moved, having no sound, and th way it looked, I knew it was not from
this planet," said Julie Hauser, Kristina's mother. "It was the scariest
thing." In
a brief interview, Rice Lake Air Center Manager Jerry Stites explained that there
were employees of the airport in the Rice Lake area who observed what appeared
to be aircraft landing between 9-9:30 p.m., but no employees were at the airport
when the sightings were reported. After reviewing security tapes, Stites added
that to their knowledge, no planes landed at the air center Monday night. The
helicopter at the airport also remained grounded until about 3 a.m. He added that
he monitored the aviation radio until abut 9 p.m., and there was no activity in
the vicinity, but explained that did not mean there were no aircraft landing.
Calls
to Cumberland Memorial Hospital and Sacred Heart in Eau Claire confirmed there
were no airport runs to the Barron or Rice Lake area. Information on helicopter
runs from Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake, Luther Hospital in Eau Claire,
and Luther Midlefort Northland were not available at press time.
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