Phenomainon
PCF-092013 · case file

Traverse City, MI, USA

October 1977 · Traverse City, MI, USA · 1 sources

The record

Two witnesses were parked in a car on a remote bluff overlooking a field and small lake. Around 9:30 PM, the car was suddenly surrounded by very intense bright white cylindrical lights descending from above, approximately the diameter of a gallon milk jug, appearing sequentially and circling the car many times very fast before vanishing. The entire visible event lasted about 1-2 minutes. Despite the apparent brief duration, the witnesses experienced approximately 4.5 hours of missing time — arriving home after 2 AM when they believed only about 30 minutes had passed. The following morning both witnesses suffered identical physical symptoms: eyes crusted with mucus, full-body aches, and mental fogginess. The car was not running during the incident and was started after the event ended. Within a few months the primary witness developed asthma following a prolonged sinus infection.

Characteristics
Shape
Cylindrical beams/lights
Nature
Unidentified lights surrounding parked vehicle with associated missing time and physiological aftereffects
Sound
Absolute silence — no noise whatsoever
Weather
Clear, crisp fall evening with stars visible, cloudless
Site
Remote bluff overlooking a field and small lake, approximately 500 yards off a dirt road, no houses in view, closest occupied house at least 3 miles away
Size
Approximately gallon milk jug diameter (~0.15m) per beam
Duration
1 min
Time of day
Night
Local time
9:30pm
Theme
cigar_cylinder
Source records · 1

The unmodified record(s) the master event was assembled from.

NIDS-DOCNIDS-DOC:aec67b69:128 fields
city
Traverse City
date
1977-10-01
site
Remote bluff overlooking a field and small lake, approximately 500 yards off a dirt road, no houses in view, closest occupied house at least 3 miles away
shape
Cylindrical beams/lights
sound
Absolute silence — no noise whatsoever
state
MI
country
USA
weather
Clear, crisp fall evening with stars visible, cloudless
date_raw
October 1977
incident
Two witnesses were parked in a car on a remote bluff overlooking a field and small lake. Around 9:30 PM, the car was suddenly surrounded by very intense bright white cylindrical lights descending from above, approximately the diameter of a gallon milk jug, appearing sequentially and circling the car many times very fast before vanishing. The entire visible event lasted about 1-2 minutes. Despite the apparent brief duration, the witnesses experienced approximately 4.5 hours of missing time — arriving home after 2 AM when they believed only about 30 minutes had passed. The following morning both witnesses suffered identical physical symptoms: eyes crusted with mucus, full-body aches, and mental fogginess. The car was not running during the incident and was started after the event ended. Within a few months the primary witness developed asthma following a prolonged sinus infection.
time_local
9:30pm
trajectory
Lights descended from above, circled the car multiple times rapidly, then vanished
case_source
NIDS
emf_effects
Car was not running when incident happened; started normally after event ended
size_meters
Approximately gallon milk jug diameter (~0.15m) per beam
time_of_day
Night
source_quote
All of a sudden the car was surrounded by very intense bright white lights. They were like cylinders coming down about as big around as a gallon milk jug...These lights went around the car many times very fast then simply vanished...She then told me it was 2 a.m.!
catalog_entry
NIDS-DOC:aec67b69:1
ground_traces
Grass was clearly illuminated by the lights hitting the ground; witnesses did not return to check for physical traces
location_text
Near Lancaster Lake in Northern Michigan - about 5 miles west of I-75 and about 1 mile south of C-66.
witness_count
2
source_doc_sha
aec67b69e3d83e328f64fc9d65fc2d0174857ea7001abbe4f1385ec505360d47
light_emissions
Very intense bright white lights, cylindrical beams descending from above, appearing and extinguishing sequentially, circling the car
witness_sex_age
Primary witness female, age 40-49 at time of report (approximately 17 at time of incident); second witness sex/age unspecified
duration_minutes
1
witness_reactions
Witnesses screamed, were petrified, experienced uncontrollable shaking, deep dread and fright, sensation of air being sucked out of car; fled the scene after lights vanished; both experienced missing time of approximately 4.5 hours; both suffered identical physical symptoms the following morning (crusted eyes, body aches, mental fogginess); primary witness reports lasting psychological impact and developed asthma within months
witness_occupation
Not specified (primary witness associated with Cherry Central, Traverse City MI at time of report)
nature_of_phenomenon
Unidentified lights surrounding parked vehicle with associated missing time and physiological aftereffects
Geography
Satellite basemap of the case location
Traverse City, MI, USA
Sources
  • NIDS-DOC
    NIDS-DOC
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