The National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (Nicap)

# Approved For Release 2001/04/02 : CIA-RDP81R00560R000100010001-0

Physiological Effects; November 1957

As in the fall 1954 French sightings, the November 1957 "flap" in the United States brought with it reports of physical and physiological effects from UFOs. On a farm in Scotia, Nebraska, November 3, Roger Groetzinger (10) was milking the cows when he noticed an oblong object circling low over the barn. He thought it was a plane about to land, and went outside to the pasture fence to watch. The object was at low altitude emitting a humming noise. Suddenly Roger found that he could not move. As the UFO gained altitude and started moving away, the paralysis left. When Roger's mother returned home, she found a thoroughly frightened son. Where the UFO was seen low above the ground, heavy fumes lingered in the air.

A week later, Mrs. Leita Kuhn in Madison, Ohio, observed a brilliant glowing object at close range. The physiological aftereffects of her sighting were fairly serious. Between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. on the morning of November 10, Mrs. Kuhn had been having difficulty with an overheating stove in her kennel. It was a dark night, snowing and windy, and she had to make several trips between her house and the kennel.

Finally, after she was sure all was well in the kennel, she shut the door and stepped outside. Suddenly she realized the sky was very bright. It had stopped snowing.

"I stepped away from the kennel," she told NICAP, "and there in back about 60 feet above ground was a huge glowing object. . . It was phosphorous in color. Base, forty feet wide and nine to ten feet thick, domelike top. Top seemed brighter than bottom. I looked the bottom over well. . ." Exhaust-like clouds were visible on the left side of the object.

"The top was brighter. I couldn't look at the top. My eyes burned so I closed them--orange sparks seemed to glow every time I closed my eyes. . . The brilliance is beyond description."

Becoming frightened, Mrs. Kuhn fled to the house. She looked out the window and it was dark again. "I went back outside and it was gone. There was no noise, no odor. It was 1:55 a.m."

Mrs. Kuhn couldn't sleep, and wondered what to do about the sighting. UFOs were not supposed to exist; who could she report it to?

"I decided not to," she said. "A few days later I had to see a doctor. My eyes were troubling me, a rash was driving me insane and I hadn't slept since November 10. Upon hearing my story, he advised me to report it. Which I did--thank goodness. The publicity was tough but through it I met others who have seen these too."

UFO witnesses sometimes need psychological reinforcement. In the face of repeated official denials that UFOs exist, a person would begin to doubt his own sanity unless he knew that others had made similar reports. Mrs. Kuhn was shocked by her experience, and a little bitter toward those in authority.

"I surely wish they [the Air Force] would call on me. I've been wanting to tell them I'm mad--clear through. I feel duped and deceived."

Later NICAP contacted Mrs. Kuhn again to inquire about her health. In a detailed letter which she requested be treated as confidential, she described in detail what the physiological effects had been. Although ultra-violet radiation had been suggested as the cause at one point, the doctors she consulted treated her for a variety of ailments which had not been present prior to the UFO sighting. Some were painful and emotionally disturbing, and she began to fear for her life. In time, the symptoms began to clear up until, as of her January 1959 letter, her health was returning and she felt "rather well."

Aside from the physical effects, Mrs. Kuhn experienced several psychological problems. Local civil defense officials treated her report seriously, but why did the government deny the existence of UFOs? Some friends rebuffed her, curiosity seekers plagued her. Getting no satisfactory explanation from government or scientific authorities, she sought an answer among UFO believers. In the process, she encountered the inevitable crackpots who took every light in the sky to be a space ship bearing noble beings. She was repelled by their attitude toward UFOs, and felt they only obscured the truth.

Mrs. Kuhn seemed to be an intelligent and level-headed woman who was shocked and disturbed by an experience so immediate that it caused her to lose confidence in officialdom. She now feels it is urgent that the truth about UFOs be made public so that others may be prepared psychologically where she was not. At last report, she had given up her kennel to devote more time to establishing the truth about UFOs.

## SOUND

The notion that UFOs are typically silent, unlike piston and jet aircraft, is true in general. In a surprising number of cases, however, UFOs have made noises of some kind. This aspect of the phenomena should be studied carefully in the future, since it could provide some important clues to the nature of UFOs. To date, the descriptions of the sounds have been sketchy. This line of questioning has not been pursued by investigators in as much detail as it might have been, probably because of the "silent UFO" stereotype.

Useful information for a study of UFO sounds would include careful estimations (or measurements when possible) of the distance of the object from the observer when the sound was heard; and ideally tape recordings of the actual sound, as well as information about the appearance of the UFO and what maneuvers it was making at the time. Sound detection and amplification equipment would be required for any complete scientific investigation.

The following chart is intended only to be descriptive, and to organize seeming patterns tentatively.

Date & Location	Type of UFO	Distance estimate	Sound & Maneuvers
8-1-52; Sharonville, Ohio	white disc	low	crackling, while ascending after level flight
9-17-54; Nr Rome, Italy	top-like	3600-6000 ft. (radar track)	series of staccato explosions [Section X.]
11-12-54; Oolitic, Ind.	white ball	--	hovered, exploded like shotgun, took off at high speed
7-29-55; Cincinnati, Ohio	glowing ball	--	penetrating shrill noise while zig-zagging, making sharp turns [Section VII.]
1-27-57; Glendora, Calif.	2 amber discs	--	hovered, sped away making swishing noise
8-2-57; Sebago Lake, Maine	greenish glowing light	--	maneuvered, rapidly at times; hovered 30 minutes, making loud humming noise
11-2-57; Levelland, Texas	torpedo-shaped	first on ground, rose & sped low over truck	rush of wind, "noise like thunder"
11-5-57; Nr Ringwood, Ill.	luminous ball	2000 ft. altitude	noise like swishing water"
11-6157; Dunn, N.C.	shaped like lamp-shade	--	sharp explosive sound attracted witness; saw UFO going straight up
11-6-57; Dugger, Ind.	est. 40 ft. diameter; no description	1000 ft. altitude	hovered, climbed straight up, moved away horizontally making "whirring" noise