Form 97-AR
Date: Sat, 01 Oct 2005

From: Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Specialist
Subject: Ramona, California, October 15, 1974

Cat: 4
To: NICAP

 

Animal Reaction Feature:

Witnesses noted numerous animal reactions when a circular object flew overhead. The object’s altitude was not estimated, but the object appeared to have landed on a hillside before rising and flying overhead.

 

·        Horses excitedly whinnied and bucked, one kicked a rail off a fence.

·        One chained dog ran excitedly in and out of its doghouse, sometimes smashing into the back of the doghouse with great force.

·        Another dog grasped the sleeve of a girl and tried to pull her into the house.

·        Goats were reported to be “jumping around.”

·        Chickens were cackling in the dark and scrambling about.

·        A cat ran into the side of a garage, stunning itself.

 

The sighting:

In the evening, after dark, five young people saw a round object maneuvering over Santa Maria Valley.  [Checking a topographic map, Ramona, where the witnesses were located, is in the Santa Maria Valley.   The valley is described by the local Iron Mountain Conservancy as gentle lush grasslands surrounded by low-laying hills—jw]

 

After maneuvering over the valley, the object landed on a hillside, gradually turned ruby red, then intensely white.  A compass needle alternated erratically from north to northeast in one-second intervals while the object was on the hillside. Then the object hovered above the ground, and streaked toward the witnesses.  As the object flew overhead, the animals reacted as described above, the TV had blue spots and vertical bands, the radio would not work, and the compass needle lodged itself against the glass cover.

 

A further description of the object was that it was ruby red with a blue halo around it as it flew overhead. The sound of the object was described as “a mix between a hum an a fog-horn.”   [The distance of the landing site from the witnesses is not estimated. Exactly when the sound was heard is unclear—throughout the sighting or only when the object flew overhead?—jw]

 

After the object flew over, aircraft the witnesses thought to be Navy jets followed.

 

Both EM effects and sound were reported.  No physiological effects or traces were reported.

 

Source:

Gribble, Bob, 1989, Looking Back, MUFON UFO Journal, no. 258, October 1989, page 24 [Copied below]:

 

 

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO – October 1974:  Jeannie, Beth, Linda and Tony Overfelt, and Pat Nelson, all of Ramona, California, had a frightening experience on the evening of the 15th as they watched a mysterious object maneuver over Santa Maria Valley.  The object landed on a hillside, gradually turned ruby red, then intensely white, hovered a short time over the ground then streaked toward Country Estates.  The object was perfectly round.  According to the five young people, when the object flew overhead the horses began excitedly whinnying and bucking; one kicked off a fence rail.  A dog grasped one of the girls by the sleeve and tried to pull her into the house.  The other dog, which was chained, ran in and out of the doghouse, often smashing into the back of the doghouse with great force.

     The goats were “jumping around,” and the chickens were scrambling and cackling in the dark.  The cat ran with great force into the side of the garage, stunning itself.  No radio or TV station would work, the TV had blue spots and vertical bands.  Tony’s compass alternated erratically from north to northeast in one-second periods when the object was on the hillside, but when it flew overhead the compass needle lodged itself against the glass cover.  After the object flew over, some airplanes followed, which the young people believed to be Navy jets.  The object appeared to be ruby red with a blue halo around it, when moving rapidly at high elevation.  Its sound was described as “a mix between a hum and a fog-horn.”