PART 3 OF 4: THE BLACK TRIANGLES SIGHTING EVENT 2-19-07 TO 2-22-07

MILITARY ACTIVITY AND OTHER ANOMALIES OF FEBRUARY, 2007


"Something big is happening in Suffolk, Virginia!...I wonder if it's the triangle?"
- SUFFOLk, VA NUFORC report, 2-22-07


"Two round objects and they flashed. They WERE CHASED by MILITARY PLANES!!!"
- JUNEAU, WISCONSIN NUFORC report, 2-22-07


"Green, white and red mix of lights...The lights looked like they where spinning so fast it made the form of a diamond shape."
- WINCHESTER, TENNESSEE NUFORC report, 2-21-07


"Bright Orange sphere shape object Hovering slowly down behind the Voorhees Flyers Skate Zone."
- VOORHEES, NEW JERSEY NUFORC report, 2-20-07


"...When we reached our destination, It was almost right over us...the yellow light went away, and all I could see was a small black greyish round object..."
- CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY NUFORC report, 2-20-07


"......My dad saw it, but he doesnt belive in UFO's."
- CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY NUFORC report, 2-20-07





Artists depiction of a Black Triangle Sighting, courtesy of APRA. Black and opaque craft are reported to blend in with the night sky,. Many sightings focus more on movement and lights, and less on the camoflouged craft itself.

INTRODUCTION


Over the States of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, black triangles and rectangular shaped craft were seen in close, vivid detail. From up in Dorval Quebec, Canada to the north, on Feburary, 19th, 2007, then down through the south, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on February 22nd, 2007: Black, silent, hovering craft were witnesssed and reported by very normal people, doing very normal things.



They saw them through binoculars, and over apartment buildings. They experienced them alone while out walking the dog, or together with daughters, brothers, and friends. They reported them to NUFORC, they drafted diagrams of their encounters, they videotaped these strange craft in the sky, reacting to the surrealism of the moment, much the same way that you and I probably would.



But it doeesn't end there. Alongside those ten principle reports, eighteen other individuals contacted NUFORC with UFO sightings during this time frame. These UFO's were generally farther away, more obscure, and less remarkable. Most of them, could likely be explained away as fireballs, meteors, misunderstandings, or other unusual, but otherwise quite natural anomalies.



But some elements of these UFOs were consistent with the events unfolding. They were also reported between 7:00pm and 12:00am. They were also witnessed between 2-19-07 and 2-22-07. They were also seen over the skies of the midwestern United States.

Nathan Bederdick captured video footage of orange or amber glowing lights, in slow decent, over the skies of Nufork, Virginia, in 2005. Later analysis revealed that there might be a "triangular shaped craft" behind the light. Picture courtesy of Bill Tiernan and The Virginian Pilot. Read the article "UFOs: Seeing is Believing" by Joanne Kimberlin of The Virginian-Pilot HERE. View the complete video of Nathan Bederdick's news story courtesy of HamptonRoads.TV and Pilotonline.Com HERE.




On any other evening, it might be easy to dismiss these witnesses, strictly because their reports may seem more run of the mill, and less exotic. Juxtaposed against the black triangles, however, there might be more to these sightings than just fireballs, lights in the sky, and misidentified F-22A Raptors.



With that said, let's turn our attention to the last night of this event, February 22nd, 2007:



A: THE MILITARY COMPONENT


As the Suffolk, Virigina NUFORC witness states: "Something big is happening in Suffolk, Virginia!"

Image and subtext, courtesy of Langley Air Force Base: "Lt. Col. Dirk Smith, 94th Fighter Squadron commander, and Maj. Kevin Dolata, 94th FS assistant director of operations, turn in on final approach to Langley Air Force Base, Va., Friday, March 3, 2006, to deliver the first F-22A Raptors assigned to the 94th Fighter Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker) "

Three key sightings were reported to NUFORC on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007, from 7:55pm to 11:30pm.



Two of the three sightings in question, from Virginia and Wisconsin, took place within 5 minutes of each other. Both reports described one to two objects consisting of amber, orange, and blue lights. Both reports described these lights as "orbs" or "round objects". Both reports described military aircraft either circling or chasing these unknown objects. And, both sightings described the unknown object or objects as having "zoomed away fast" or "zipped away".



Several hours later, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, NUFORC received another sighting. This sighting involved a "hazy light ball", at times "glowing", slowing down, speeding up, making 90 degree turns, fading in, fading out, fading back in, until eventually, it just "went out". Several minutes later, planes approached from the north and southwest. They followed the direction of the light, and then returned.




And let's not forget that on this very same evening, thursday night, February 22nd, 2007, A possible black triangle was videotaped in Kentucky; A black triangle was witnessed at 7:45pm in Hermitage, Tennessee; A black Axe-head shaped craft was seen at about 7:50pm over the skies of Arlington Heights, Illinois. All of this, while some kind of military activity was seen around orange, hovering, orb-shaped UFOs in Suffolk Virginia and Junea, Wisconsin, between the hours of 7:55pm and 8:00pm, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at 11:30pm.

Eastward direction: The Orange to Amber lights from Suffolk, Virginia, moved in an eastward direction being chased by 2 military jets; The "hazy light ball" UFO in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was seen over the ocean as the witness was facing "due east". He described the object as moving in a horizontal path across the earth. Later, he saw 2 jets coming from the north. Could they have been the same jets seen earlier in Suffolk, Virginia? The "axe-head" craft seen over Arlington Heights, Illinois, was also described as heading in an eastward direction. This graph represents all UFO activity on the evening of 2-22-07. Orange tags represent orange-colored UFO reports; The red lines serve to illustrate the possible connection between some of these events.


What were these people seeing? What were the military doing that evening? Are these connected events, or is it a coincidence? As our witness in Suffolk, Virginia asks: "I wonder if it's the triangle?"



THE MILITARY COMPONENT: NUFORC REPORTS

1) Suffolk, Virginia
2-22-07 at 7:55PM

"Something big is happening in Suffolk, Virginia!



"Deja Vu. That's the only phrase i can describe at this point. Tonight was a repeat of events that took place in Suffolk, VA back in October of 2005. Those events, along with other peoples accounts captured the attention of the statewide newspaper. Tonight was a repeat. I still cant believe it. Somethings going on. Around 7:50 pm leaving my mother's home, I immediately noticed the presence of two low flying fighter jets. Fighter jets in my area are not uncommon, but the way they manuevered reminded me of fall 2005; and sure enough when I looked toward the direction they were travelling, I saw it again.



"A huge orb of light, amber maybe yellowish in color. There were about 3-4 jets doing circular maneuvers over the object before the other two joined in. I ran inside to get my mother to witness the events and she saw everything. The object, the jets overhead, everything. We watch the hovering orb for about 2 minutes before she ran inside to grab the binoculars. I continued to watch. After a couple of minutes the object started violently changing colors from red to white to blue and maybe yellow. It then started to move horizontally in a eastern direction before it either disappeared or zipped away. After it left jets followed in that direction while 2 stayed behind continuing a circular type manuever. Crazy night, I wonder if it's the triangle? "



2) Juneau, Wisconsin
2-22-07, 8:00PM


"Two round objects and they flashed. They WERE CHASED by MILITARY PLANES!!!



"I watch them for about 10 seconds. One was orange and looked like a ball. The other one was blue and the same shape. They blinked several times and zoomed away fast. I also saw two military planes following it. It was outside on a farm."



3) Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
2-22-07, 11:30pm
Sidenote: I've edited this testimony due to its length. You can view the entire transcript at NUFORC's website.



"I saw something that was definitely not an airplane...It was just a hazy light ball and it was definitely airborne...


"It's path, from when I first noticed it started out parallel to the earth and traveled like this for maybe 5 seconds. Then almost a 90 degree turn at what seemed to be straight up, then another sharp degree of turn up and away at an angle, then another turn at a downward angle, and yet another at a down and backwards angle, then once it reached about where it's original path was, it resumed. Half of these turns were in a span of maybe 1-2 seconds, but no more than 3 at the absolute most and the other two were really short.


"Once it resumed it's "original" path it faded out after about 3 seconds. Like a lightbulb slowly going out, then instantly it began glowing again...it faded out for about a second...and then came back to full glow before it "passed" behind the light pole and remained glowing...it faded out again for the second time and that's when I never saw it again.



"About 5-7 minutes later I saw two planes coming from the north along the coastline or there abouts and heading that direction. About the time they got where it was, I noticed another plane that must've come from the southwest or that general direction. The two planes from the north went further south..., while the other plane continued north for a few minutes and returned. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing, so I just stared in disbelief. "


B: UNUSUAL LIGHTS IN THE SKY

New Jersey UFO sightings were reported to NUFORC on the same evening as the black triangle close encounters in Gridley, Illinois and Mequon, Wisconsin, on February 20th, 2007.

Sometimes, seeing is not believing.



Such was the example of a young boy and his father, driving at 7:00pm in Cape May, New Jersey, on February 20th, 2007. The young boy witnessed unusual lights in the sky. He saw bright yellow lights slowing down, and speeding up faster than "any plane he had ever seen".



More strange behavior was observed: The object extinguished its lights, and the young boy witnessed a "small, black, greyish round object", until 10 seconds later, the light reappeared, and the object then "dissappeared into the sky".


He was so compelled by this sighting, that he called NUFORC and reported his experience. He doesn't leave out that his father also witnessed the event, "but he doesn't believe in UFO's".



I wonder how his father might feel now, if he knew that just one hour later that evening, right over his own home state of New Jersey, another witness contacted NUFORC, and reported a "bright orange sphere Hovering slowly down behind the Voorhees Flyers Skate Zone".


Would it make any difference to his father, if he was aware of the fact that close encounters with black trianglular craft were being reported to NUFORC, over the skies of Illinois and Wisconsin, westward of the Great Lakes, that very same evening.



A bright, orange "sphere" hovered below the Voorhees Flyers Skate Zone, in Voorhees, New Jersey.


UNUSUAL LIGHTS IN THE SKY: NUFORC REPORTS


1) Cape May, New Jersey
2-20-07, 7:00PM


"Me and my dad were driving in our car, when I was looking at the stars. It was a very clear night. I saw a bright yellowish light moving in the sky.



"I thought it was a plane, untill I realized it was changing speeds dramatically. When we came to a stop I really noticed it. It would go slow, almost come to a stop, and then speed up. And it was moving faster than any plane I have ever seen.



"When we reached our destination, It was almost right over us. All of a sudden, the yellow light went away, and all I could see was a small black greyish round object moving through the sky. And it was way to far up for a plane to give off light like it did. Then after about 10 seconds, the light turned back on, and dissapeard into the sky. "



My dad saw it, but he doesnt belive in UFO's .




2) Voorhees, New Jersey
2-20-07, 8:00PM



"Bright Orange sphere shape object Hovering slowly down behind the Voorhees Flyers Skate Zone. Looked like the Phoenix lights but more solemly."



C: FIREBALLS?







This is an IDENTIFIED Flying Object. It is one of the best recorded Bolide Fireballs in history, captured during a small-town football game, over Halifax, Virginia, on October 9th, 1992. Bolide Fireballs are dramatic, rare, unusual, and frightening. They are typically reported in the news, and almost always viewed, measured, analyzed and reported into organized scientific databases by astronomers. Video courtesy of the website, METEORITE ACTION!


A fireball, otherwise known as a "bolide", is a very large meteor that explodes upon impact with the earth's atmosphere. This explosion causes a large, bright light to appear. This light is generally brighter than the planet Venus, with a -5 magnitude. It can leave very large trails, sometimes known as "glow-worms", and its impact and subsequent explosion can sometimes produce an audible sound which can be heard from stargazers on earth. It's no wonder, that the sight of this dramatic light in the sky, can cause UFO reports to be filed at NUFORC, by people like you and me, who may not have the scientific expertise to understand and identify a fireball when we see it.


CLICK HERE: EXPLODING FIREBALL OVER NEW ZEALAND IN 1999 CAUSED THIS SONIC BOOM.


The International Meteor Organization, aka: IMO, indicates that only one in 1200 observable meteors reach the magnitude necessary for a typical bolide-like fireball, -5 magnitude. Only one in 12000 observed meteors ever reach the truly bright fireball of -8 magnitude. So, these events are fairly rare, and definitely dramatic. One would expect that if a fireball was seen by non-experts, and reported as UFOs to NUFORC, than experts would have also seen them too, and would have also reported them to various meteor astronomy societies, especially in and around the midwestern United States area.



The American Meteor Society is located in Geneseo, New York. They have been in existence for over 90 years. One of their principle objectives is "To observe, monitor, collect information, plot and report on meteors, meteoric fireballs, meteoric trains, and related meteoric phenomena.". The AMS has an online database of all fireballs reported to them during the year of 2007. This database of fireballs is extensive. From 1-1-07 through 3-24-07, 109 fireball sightings, from across the United States, had been cataloged by the AMS.



Between 2-13-07 and 3-1-07, zero fireballs have been cataloged (as of the date of this article.) This is odd, since fireballs have been seen and reported to the AMS on almost every other evening during the year. This means, that there were no fireballs reported to the AMS by expert and amateur astronomers and star-gazers, on February 21st, 2007. Yet, that is the very evening that 4 witnesses saw dramatic fireball-like UFO's in the skies, and reported them to NUFORC.


In addition, along with the typical fireball-like characteristics being reported, note some of the more unusual descriptions here as well: Alternating colors from red to white; Object descending over a period of 45 minutes. The Tennessee report is quite unusual, describing a fast, rotating diamond ascending slowly, and with alternating red and green lights.



It might strike you as coincidental, that NUFORC received reports from these 5 witnesses just prior to receiving a close encounter report of a large, unusual rectangular craft, tilted on its side, with rows of smaller rectangular fast blinking lights, travelling over the town of Somerset, Pennsylvania , at 10:45pm.



That's 5 fireball-like reports to NUFORC between 8:00pm and 10:15pm, a rectangular craft reported to NUFORC at 10:45pm, and no apparent fireballs or bolides reported to the AMS, on February, 21st, 2007.


Fireball? Coincidence? Anomalous Black, Rectangular Craft? Nothing should be ruled out.


FIREBALLS: NUFORC REPORTS



1) Terra Haute, Indiana
2-21-07, 8:00PM



"Decending bright white light in the sky lasting for 45 minutes visible from the midwest USA in the PM.



"Bright Light visible...between the hours of 20:00 and 20:45 descending steadily from 145 degrees elevation with respect to the earth’s horizon down to the horizon.


"Bright white light alternating sporadically from white to red then back to white. 1/20th as bright as an eighth moon and 5 times brighter than an air plane landing lights. Similar in nature to a satellite in motion which are normally barely visible to the naked eye if visible at all.



"The main difference between a satellite and this is the amplitude of brightness and the alternating color. One other similarity to a satellite is the cyclical nature in which it appears. One way or another, this is an extra terrestrial object.


"I have spent a reasonable amount of time tracking satellites which are tracked and publicized as visible from these coordinates. Having been unable to identify a man made object in this orbit which emits this type of light I have no choice but to classify this as a UFO sighting. "



2) Rome, Georgia
2-21-07, 9:00PM



"My wife and I were coming home from church, and we were driving up the street/hill to our house, when we noticed a blue-green light in the sky that was very bright and large and moved very quickly from left to right above the tree line. And, it had a trail of sparks. It looked somewhat like a meteor. "



3) Spruce Pine, North Carolina
2-21-07 9:00PM



"I was lying in bed talking with my boyfriend when I happened to glance outside. When I looked outside I suddenly saw a very large neon green ball shooting across the sky. It looked outside I suddenly saw a very large neon green ball shooting across the sky.



"It had an extended green and white tail. It was much larger than any meteor I have ever seen and seemed to be about or below cloud level. It was awesome!!! I immediately yelled at my boyfriend "look, look!" but by the time he turned around it was gone, so it only lasted about 3-5 seconds. The window looks out to the north and the object went across the sky from approximately west to east.



"I am guessing this was a similar object to the sightings that were reported back on January 24th. I am an avid sky watcher and make a point of sky watching during any major predicted event such as meteor showers etc. This was unlike anything I have seen before. "



4) Winchester, Tennessee
2-21-07, 10:15pm



"Green, white and red mix of lights started out just above tree line about 22:15 and we observed it as it moved upward without moving east or west up to around 23:00 before we went to bed. After about 45 min. it had elavated to the point of having to look almost straight up.



"The lights looked like they where spinning so fast it made the form of a diamond shape. We observed many planes during that time and compared them,no chance of a plane or helicopter or any kind of aircraft like I had ever seen before. We used Nikon spotting scope and High powered Nikon Bino...



"I'm going to look for the object again to night it should be another clear night.
Send feed back if anybody may have some on what me and my wife where watching. Thanks"

TOMS PART 3 COMMENTARY

UNUSUAL LIGHTS IN THE SKY: SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT

It's easy to classify an experience as a UFO, when seen from up close. But, what if this very same object was seen farther away, above the city lights of New Jersey, or miles into the upper atmosphere? Would you know for certain what you were looking at? Would you be able to make out features, characteristics, and details? What about everybody else around you? Would other people be able to spot what was taking place, or would it only be the few people who happened to be looking at the right place, at the right time, without prejudice and preconception?

Instead of exotic craft, would you see unusual lights in the sky? Would you describe what you were seeing as orange to amber orbs or spheres, or perhaps a descending or ascending light? perhaps initially, you would attempt to relate what you were seeing to something common, such as the planet Venus, a helicopter, or an aircraft.

But, upon further scrutiny, instinct kicks in. Something is missing. It is not obeying the rules. It is not conforming to what you know. It is misbehaving.



Perhaps you soon recognize that there, staring you in the face, is something that should not be there, something that should not exist. Something is not right.

THE SHAPE OF THE BLACK TRIANGLES PUZZLE:

Fireballs, unusual lights in the sky, and unexplainable military activity does not, on its own, present any compelling evidence of a phenomenal event. But like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces do, in fact, fit together. We might not be able to see the final solution, but the puzzle begins to take shape.


The shape of this puzzle, looks something like this:

People were reporting close encounters with black triangles, at the same time that other people were reporting close encounters with rectangular shaped craft, at the same time that other people were reporting military activity around orange and amber lights in the sky, at the same time that other people were reporting strange descending orange orbs, at the same time that other people were reporting fireball-like sightings with no reported fireballs having descended to the earth.

The shape of this puzzle has a date, a time, and a location. It has principle players, and key elements:

The date is from 2-19-07 through 2-22-07. The time is between approximately 7:00pm and 12:00am. The location is the general midwestern United States. The principle players are normal people having close-encounters with unexplainable craft. The key elements, as you now know, are black triangles and rectangular shaped craft of unknown origin, and of unknown intent.

NEXT, IN PART 4:



Since the launch of this report, I've been truly overwhelmed by the amazing responses I've received all across the nation. Hundreds of you have emailed me with your thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Thousands of people have visited Black Triangles, and have chimed in on this investigative journey I started less than a month ago.


I had no idea that so many people would join in and partake in this conversation. I'm humbled by your emails, your participation in the forum, your subscriptions to the RSS feed, your sign-ups to the Black Triangles Newsletter, and of course, your emails.

The experiences, wisdom, theory, and concerns raised by you, are far more fascinating than anything I could have come up with on my own. So, join me in the 4th part of this report, where YOU will be heard, and together, we will do our best to try and put some understanding on this phenomenon, in Part 4, Understanding the Black Triangles of February, 2007, here at http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/ .

Copyright 2007, Tom Levine, Levicom, LLC. This article is protected by copyright, and cannot be duplicated or altered in any way, without the sole, written permission of its author. This article can be distributed as an RSS feed, providing that it is not altered, that credit is given to its author, and that a viable, hyper-link is included in the article back to the originating website. For questions and further information, the author can be contacted at levicom@comcast.net or by visiting http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/

Links and Thank yous:
MUFON: http://www.mufon.com/
NUFORC: http://www.nuforc.com/
Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/
APRA: http://www.apra.org.uk/ufo_uk.htm
Bill Tiernan at The Virginian-Pilot: http://welcome.hamptonroads.com/vpstaff/bio.cfm?s_id=211
Joanne Kimberlin at The Virginian-Pilot: http://welcome.hamptonroads.com/vpstaff/bio.cfm?s_id=118
Langley Air Force Base: http://www.langley.af.mil/
METEORITE ACTION!: http://fireball.meteorite.free.fr/index_en.html
International Meteor Organization: http://www.imo.net/
American Meteor Society: http://www.amsmeteors.org/

Thank you to all the witnesses who have reported their sightings to NUFORC and MUFON on this case, especially Gridley, Illinois. I appreciate your input on this report.

Some of the testimony was edited strictly for syntax. You can review the testimonials in their entirety, by conducting a simple search at the NUFORC and MUFON websites.

PART 2 OF 4: THE BLACK TRIANGLES SIGHTING EVENT 2-19-07 TO 2-22-07

THE BLACK RECTANGLES OF FEBRUARY 2007


"...to see what appeared to be a high rise building like structure hovering above him..."
- FORT LORAMIE, OHIO NUFORC report, 2-19-07


"...It had a rectangular shape with about 4 or 5 rows of small rectangular lights. The lights were blinking vey fast...My heart has never raced like that before."
- SOMERSET, PENNSYLVANIA NUFORC report 2-21-07


"[I] have seen planes, planets, meteors all the like; but this was quite unusual...Have you received any reports of a large plane (or other object?) passing over our skies @ about 1:10 a.m.Thursday morning of February 22?..."
- EVANSVILLE, INDIANA NUFORC report, 2-22-07


"...I noticed a rapidly moving completely silent craft. The craft was shaped roughly like a somewhat skinny axehead, with the "axe blade" in the front..."
- ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS NUFORC report 2-22-07




Artist's depiction of a black rectangular UFO sighting.


INTRODUCTION

Earlier in this report, you learned that the diagram from the Black Triangle sighting in Gridley, Illinois, included a drawing of a rectangular shape. The diagram described it as follows: "...turned on side into rectangle...".

Close up: Drawing of rectanglular craft, from Gridley, Illinois 2-20-07 witness



I spoke with the Gridley, Illinois witness about this observation in further detail, to gain some clarification, and this is what she had to say:


"The ship actually changed it's shape..I saw it with my own eyes. It moved up onto it's side, the nose started turning it's front point inward and was engulfed into the bottom of the ship....I was seeing this very close up with my binoculars and the whole craft turned into a rectangle. I could tell that with and without the binoculars...

Gridley, Illinois vantage point: Craft approached from the North, hovered over these pine trees, and passed over the apartment complex. The parking lot is behind this vantage point, next to the buildings. The witness is to the left in this image, and viewed the triangle using her binoculars. Notice the close distance of the encounter.

Craft would have travelled over this field from the north.


"When we first saw the triangle shape, the bottom of the ship was facing the ground...then when it started to change, it began to rock back and forth then quickly went up onto it's side with the bottom now facing me and my daughter(still shaped like a triangle). At this time she ran into the apartment, scared out of her wits...I was beginning to get scared but stayed for a minute to see what was happening. It was obvious that it was a triangle before it changed and then it turned into a rectangle. I had a full view of what shapes it was..."


Craft was viewed through these binoculars


The Gridley, Illinois close-encounter witness, provides you with compelling testimony about the very nature of this unusual craft she saw on the evening of February 20th, 2007. Somehow, from her perspective, as strange as this may sound, this craft appeared to morphologically change from the shape of a triangle, into the shape of a rectangular craft.


And with that startling testimony, I'm now going to turn your attention to four more witnesses who reported unusual, close encounters with UFO craft on the evenings of February 19th, 2007 through February 22nd, 2007, under the skies of the midwestern United States.

Remember that these are actual NUFORC reports. None of these witnesses know each other, or have any knowledge of any of the other testimony given. The consistencies and differences that you are about to hear, are organic in nature, and have not been altered in any way:

THE BLACK RECTANGLES

1) FORT LORAMIE, OHIO:
2-19-07, 9:00pm to 11:00pm
Sidenote: This witness reported observering a rectangular shaped object the size of a "hovering apartment building", over the Lake Loramie channel, in Fort Loramie, Ohio. In addition, this craft hovered at approximately 1000 feet, and then "abruptly shot out into space...", leaving a hole in the clouds. The witness reports heavy winds associated with the event. Weather conditions were reported as "calm" for this area.

Map of Lake Loramie State Park. Sighting was at the Luthman Road, Route 119 intersection in the upper right corner. Map, courtesy of Ohio Department of Natural Resources.


"While driving home on County Rd. 78 ( Luthman Rd.) in Shelby county, said person stopped along the road near a state park area to use a blue outhouse to relieve himself. While using the facilities he had left his car door open with the radio playing loudly on a local fm station.

Tourism picture of Lake Loramie Channel, courtesy of Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

"Upon exiting the blue outhouse he noticed his radio went to complete static. As he attempted to take the few large steps thru the knee high snow, he for whatever reason looked out the channel and upward to see what appeared to be a high rise building like structure hovering above him in the area of Lehmkuhl Landing, near the intersection of Rte. 119 and Luthman Rd.


"The object seemed to be a kind of Black which seemed to mimic the stars around it in order to blend in. The surfaces were hard to distinguish, and not enough to discern an exact shape. Nevetheless best guesses lean towards an upright rectangular shape.

"The distance between observer, the object, and the lake below was extremely hard to observe therefore the altitude of the UFO was not possible to calculate. Guesses lean towards the huge object to be approx. 1000ft in the air while the top of the object must have been approx. 30 to 60 floors high as described by the observer while comparing it to a hovering apartment building from a large city.


"While the observer was stunned and had been standing, staring in amazement for approx. 30 seconds the silence of the entire area including the object was noticed. There was no sounds except for the car and the static radio.


"The object abruptly shot off towards space with no sound and at speeds uncomprehendable to the observer. The object traveled through a cloud in the sky which left a hole that quickly refilled in the cloud. It would also be noticably important to mention that there were considerable windy conditions during this event.


"The following night while typing this out the weather conditions where described as winds having calmed causing freezing fog to plague the dark area."


2) SOMERSET, PENNSYLVANIA
2-21-07, at 10:45PM
Sidenote: Here is another rectangular-shaped sighting of an object hovering over Somerset, Pennsylvania. It had 4 to 5 rows of small rectangular lights, and fast, blinking lights were described.


"I was driving home from a friends home, and I saw bright blue lights in the sky. I pulled over because I knew it was not an airplane. I looked up at it and it was going fairly fast, sideways.


"It had a rectangular shape with about 4 or 5 rows of small rectangular lights. The lights were blinking vey fast.


"The road I was on was coming down from a ski resort and there were not many homes around, just a few farms , and lots of fields.

"When I stopped to look at this object, it was hovered about a mile from the ground, and then it took off sideways again. I could not tell where it went because it went so fast. I have had dreams about ufos but this was the first time I ever saw any. I am sure of what i saw, my heart has never raced like that before. "

Artists depiction of black rectangular UFO's, courtesy of Billy Booth at UFOCasebook.com.



3) ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS
2-22-07, at 7:50PM
Sidenote: An "axehead-shaped" craft was seen silently hovering overhead, while this gentleman was out walking his dog. The witness indicated it was not illuminated, and it was moving silently, and quickly, heading eastbound towards Lake Michigan.


"While out walking the dog, I was looking at the sky. It was clear out, with a bright quarter-moon and bright stars. Looking up and in front of me, I noticed a rapidly moving completely silent craft. The craft was shaped roughly like a somewhat skinny axehead, with the "axe blade" in the front, two fluted sides forming the right and left flanks, and the smaller base of the axe in the back. The front end, perhaps half the length as the sides, may have been somewhat rounded. The back end was perhaps half the length of the front end.


"Although the craft must have passed almost directly overhead just moments before, I couldn’t hear any sound from it. It was perhaps nickel-sized at arm’s length. It did not appear to be self-illuminated, but the moonshine from behind me must have been illuminating it enough for me to see it relatively clearly. There was a bit of a shimmering appearance to it. This was not an easy object to see, however. If I hadn’t been looking at almost that exact spot in the sky, and if it hadn't been moving, I wouldn’t have noticed it.


"It was moving across the sky fairly quickly, directly eastbound in a straight line towards Lake Michigan, and within fifteen seconds or so passed out of sight behind the trees in my yard. I ran down the block to the next clearing, but I was unable to see it again. I was alone with my dog, and certainly there was no time to get anybody else outside to see it.


"I’d like to encourage anyone reading this to watch the skies, high and low, day or night, for unusual objects. If you see something inexplicable, get somebody else as a corroborating witness if at all possible! And get photos if you can. Call the newspapers and radio stations! And at the very least, file a written report. Don't just keep it to yourself. "



National UFO Reporting Center, in Davenport, Washington. Image, courtesy of Peter Davenport and NUFORC.

4) EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
2-22-07, at 1:10AM
Sidenote: This witness, an amateur astronomer, alongside her brother, reported a large craft passing overhead in the early morning hours of February 22nd, 2007. She sees 2 orange and 1 uncentered greyish light. She almost describes them as flickering. She could not make out a shape. She was meticulous in her honest report of this sighting to NUFORC, and she wavers back and forth in wondering if perhaps it was a misunderstood, regular plane. She states that "...[I] have seen planes, planets, meteors all the like; but this was quite unusual." She feels compelled to report it, and asks quite innocently, "Have you received any reports of a large plane (or other object?) passing over our skies @ about 1:10 a.m. thursday morning of February 22?"

It is fair to say that the answer to her question is emphatically, yes. A large, rectangular shaped craft was reported over the skies of Somerset, Pennsylvania, not more than 2 1/2 hours prior.


"Have you received any reports of a large plane (or other object?) passing over our skies @ about 1:10 a.m.Thursday morning of February 22?


"I certainly saw something, raced up to tell my brother, and he saw it as well. I was peeking my head out our window to see if Sirius had set yet and to see Saturn, when I noticed what looked like two stars of equal magnitude that I didn't recognize (not that I'm knowledgeable enough to notice something out of place...it just looked odd). They were moving though, so I thought plane...which would be nothing out of the ordinary, they are always overhead, blinking away.


"These really weren't blinking...and the lights were too far apart to be from the same plane. it passed overhead slowly, couldn't have been extremely high in the sky, on account of the wingspan covering a wide field of the sky.


"There was a noise similar to the kind of noise you get as a large plane many thousands of feet in the sky passes overhead (you know, you see it and the sound is slower, so it appears that the sound of it is trailing behind)(it was very low in pitch, could be easily heard from indoors, and spooked a few of the local animals, including a cow...which I didn't know lived so close to us:).


"I could not make out a shape of the object, just its lights...three of them two on the outside being a very light orange with the third being grayish but not centered in between the two on the outside. They weren't crisply flickering, I'm not even sure you could say they flickered at all.

"I wasn't sure who to contact, I looked in the phone book under Evansville Regional Airport, but the numbers were for parking employees, Security office...none of them seemed like the right contact for this type of question. Anyways, I just wondered if anyone else had seen it and reported of it, or if there was some kind of way you might forward this to anybody who would be interested or aware of what was flying overhead during that time.


"I am an amateur stargazer, have seen planes, planets, meteors all the like; but this was quite unusual and worth my trouble to email you, and hopefully I wasn't to much trouble for you to hear out. Thanks."



TOMS PART 2 COMMENTARY:

TEN LARGE CRAFT:
Four additional sightings must now be added to the previous six. Ten sightings of large craft in total, occurring between the hours of approximately 7:00am and 12:00pm, from 2-19-07 through 2-22-07. All of these sightings primarily occurred in the skies above the midwestern United States, and all of them made such a large impact on these individuals, that they felt so compelled to notify NUFORC and MUFON, and file a report.

CHARACTERISTICS:
Many of the characteristics of these rectangular sightings are similar to those of the black triangle reports: They are also "huge"; They are also hovering; They are also black; and They also appear to be virtually silent.

In addition, however, some have reported a low-pitched or static hum or sound; There are some descriptions of the object camouflaging with the dark background, blending in with the night sky, and yet blocking out stars; Some are reported with seeing rectangular-shaped lights, like windows; Some of the light colors are different as well, and include orange glow and fast blinking; Great thrust from stationary to fast speeds is also reported. The Arlington Heights report described the object he saw as an unusual "Axe-shape".

A CONNECTED EVENT:
It's difficult not to see a connection between these two different kinds of sightings. On the one hand, you have black triangles, and on the other hand, you have black rectangles, axe-heads, and undetermined shapes. They are all being seen in the same general area, and they are all being seen during the same general time frame. Is it possible, that at least some of these objects, might be the same objects, as the black triangles witnessed over the skies of Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and Tennessee?

"MORPHING" CRAFT?:
Based on the "morphing" testimony of the witness in Gridley, Illinois, who claims to have seen these black triangles up close and personal, anything is possible.

I must admit that the idea of a "morphing" craft, is unsettling. I don't know what to make of it. Either it is an accurate observation, or it is not. If the testimony of the witness in Gridley, Illinois, is taken out of context, alone, and without other additional information, it would be easy to dismiss this observation out of hand.

But, if you want to understand something as complex and mysterious as the black triangles phenomenon, you simply cannot exclude or deny evidence that presents itself to you. I have no explanation for these facts. But, facts they are. The witness from Gridley, Illinois is adament about what she saw. She saw it up close, and she saw it through binoculars. She provided her testimony to NUFORC in February, 2007, at or around the same time that all these other individuals provided their testimony.

Along with the report of a triangular shaped craft morphing into a rectangular shaped craft in Gridley, Illinois, we discover that a witness saw a black rectangle in Ohio, in Pennsylvania, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and black triangles and other shapes were also seen all over the midwestern United States, during the exact same time period as the Gridley, Illinois sighting.

UNUSUAL UNKNOWNS:
Given all of that, you must look at this evidence with an open mind. If you are interested in getting to the truth, none of this testimony should be dismissed, simply because it is unusual. The entire phenomenon is unusual. None of us in the general public, know for sure, what these craft actually are. There are many unusual unknowns.

But even with all of the questions you are ultimately left with, after examining the testimony and evidence, it is hard not to walk away without concluding that at the very least, these people witnessed and experienced something very unexplainable, and very real.

Join me in the 3rd part of this report, wherein I will share with you the final NUFORC reports of these four compelling evenings. Part 3, Military activity and other anomalies of February, 2007, here at http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/ .

Copyright 2007, Tom Levine, Levicom, LLC. This article is protected by copyright, and cannot be duplicated or altered in any way, without the sole, written permission of its author. This article can be distributed as an RSS feed, providing that it is not altered, that credit is given to its author, and that a viable, hyper-link is included in the article back to the originating website. For questions and further information, the author can be contacted at levicom@comcast.net or by visiting http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/

Links and Thank yous:
MUFON: http://www.mufon.com/
NUFORC: http://www.nuforc.com/
Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/
Ohio Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/lkloramie.htm
Billy Booth and UFOCasebook.Com: http://www.ufocasebook.com/

Thank you to all the witnesses who have reported their sightings to NUFORC and MUFON on this case, especially Gridley, Illinois. I appreciate your input on this report.

Some of the testimony was edited strictly for syntax. You can review the testimonials in their entirety, by conducting a simple search at the NUFORC and MUFON websites.

PART 1 OF 4: THE BLACK TRIANGLES SIGHTINGS EVENT 2-19-07 TO 2-22-07

"...it hovered for almost a minute or two above us. It swayed from side to side and at one point stood up and looked tall but then went back to it's triangular shape...we could see pulsating white and red lights...and it was huge!..."
- Gridley, Illinois NUFORC report, 2-20-07

"What I did see was 3 white, bright circles in a triangular formation and a fading red light between the back 2..."
- Mequon, Wisconsin NUFORC report, 2-20-07

"...What the hell is that!"
- Hermitage, Tennessee NUFORC report, 2-22-07

"...Notice object hovering when I looked out from my deck...I have never seen anything like this before..."
- Kansas testimony MUFON report with Video footage, 2-22-07


INTRODUCTION:
Take a good, close look at this image.

What you are looking at is a visual representation of all UFO sightings reported to NUFORC (National UFO Reporting Center) during a four day period of time, from monday, 2-19-07 through thursday, 2-22-07, most events taking place between the hours of 7:00pm and 12:00am.

All NUFORC reported sightings from the period fo 2-19-07 through 2-22-07, layered onto Google Earth. Black Triangles depict Black Triangle Sightings; Black Rectangles depict Black Rectangular object sightings; Yellow pins indicate all other sightings including fireballs, orbs, and other anomalies. CLICK HERE for large scale viewing and further details.

Sidenote: Because of some compelling video evidence, I've also included one additional MUFON sighting into this examination.

That's 28 reported UFOs: 6 of them were Triangular in shape; 4 of them were Rectangular in shape; The remaining reports were various lights, orbs, fireballs, and other anamolies.

1) Notice the complete lack of activity in the Western United States?

2) What's causing the high level of UFO reports to be generated mostly around the Great Lakes, and the Midwestern United States, all within 4 nights of eachother?

3) 36% of these NUFORC reports are comprised of Triangular and Rectangular shaped craft, demonstrating consistent and unusual behavior, such as hovering, large size, black exterior, red and white illuminated lights, and silent propulsion. They blend in with the dark sky, they hover at slow speeds, than take off with unconventional thrust.

What could be the simplest explanation here? How can such unusual sightings, be corroborated by so many people, in the same geographic area, during the same general time, over the same 4 day period?

One possibility, is that something happened over the skies of the midwestern United States, on the evenings of February 19th, 2007 through February 22nd, 2007.

Actual witnesses will report their sightings to you in their own words, using diagrams to explain their experiences, photographs to document the objects they saw, and videotape to show the world.

Join me, as we put it all together, and begin to uncover what may be one of the least reported, and possibly most compelling UFO events of 2007 so far:

PART 1: THE BLACK TRIANGLES OF FEBRUARY, 2007:

The 6 individuals you are about to meet, reported seeing triangular-shaped craft on the four evenings in question.

It is worth noting that there are several consistent characteristics reported about these objects: They are "huge"; They appear dark and opaque; They appear to be made of metal; They can appear with bright (and sometimes flashing) white and red lights; They can hover; They can move slowly; They are seen over populated areas, even apartment complexes and small town streets; Their propulsion system appears to be virtually silent; And, they seem to be in open deployment, without fear of being seen.

This testimony is complimented with 2 compelling diagrams from the Illinois sighting, and one piece of video footage from the Kentucky sighting.

Keep in mind that while each is reported by one individual, most of these experiences were shared alongside family members and friends.

1) Gridley, Illinois:
2-20-07, 9:00PM
Sidenote: NUFORC indicates that the event date was reported as 2-21-07 but was an estimate. This witness has indicated to me that she firmly believes 2-20-07 was the actual occurrence date. That change is noted above for this report.

I was in the kitchen getting ready to feed my bunny when all of a sudden I got hot from the inside out and had to run outside because of the heat..it was pretty dark outside and around 9pm...

I looked toward the North and saw two huge white lights in the sky(fairly low) through the pine trees that were coming right towards our apartment...

Witness diagram 1 from Gridley, Ill. CLICK HERE to explore this diagram in larger detail.

There was no noise the whole time this was happening...I called for my 25 year old daughter to come out and look and I asked her to run and get the binoculars...After she gave it to me, it hovered for almost a minute or two above us. It swayed from side to side and at one point stood up and looked tall but then went back to it's triangular shape...we could see pulsating white and red lights...and it was huge!

We agreed on what we both saw...it was definitely a UFO. After we looked through the binoculars and saw details of the ship it was obviously not of our world! It was a dark gray color with odd looking squiggly like markings on it. My daughter got scared when she saw it up close with the binoculars and was trying to pull me back inside...I was pretty shook up too..I ran back out to see if it was still there and it was heading south of town. I watched it until it disappeared.

Witness diagram 2 from Gridley, Ill. CLICK HERE to explore this diagram in larger detail.




My daughter got scared when she saw it up close with the binoculars and was trying to pull me back inside...I was pretty shook up too..I ran back out to see if it was still there and it was heading south of town. I watched it until it disappeared."

2) Mequon, Wisconnsin (note: 215 miles North of Gridley):
2-20-07, 7:15pm
Sidenote: This sighting may have occurred about 2 hours prior to the Gridley, Illinois sighting. The Gridley sighting noted that the craft was moving in a Southward direction. That means that this could be the same object witnessed earlier in the evening...

I didn't see any real body of the craft because it was night. What I did see was 3 white, bright circles in a triangular formation and a fading red light between the back 2. I didn't see any propulsion on the back so the white circles must have been making it hover. I also didn't see the standard flashing red and green lights on airplanes.

3) Hermitage, Tennessee:
2-22-07, 7:45pm
Sidenote: We'll now project forward 2 evenings to 2-22-07, where this witness from Tennessee reports a black, "crescent" shaped object, the size of a jet-liner, hovering 300 to 400 feet above ground, travelling at approximately 40mph. Note that this is southward from the previous sightings.

On Feb.22 around 7:45 that evening a friend was leaving. We had just stepped out the back door. Having a few telescopes and [being an] amateur astrologer, I had looked up at Orians Belt. They were very bright.

I had started to tell my friend "who is retired [from] American Air Lines" that there is a nebula there between those stars when he said, "what the hell is that!"

I didn't see it until he pointed it out: Coming directly at us, was a craft flying about three to four hundred feet above the ground. It had no lights.

The only way you could tell that it was there, [was because] it was reflecting lights from the ground. The craft was a gold bronze color moving at about forty mph. It was very black, only darker than the sky. The shape was a cresent figure. The most amazing thing to me [was] that something that size, a little bigger than a jet liner, [had] not a sound [coming] from it.

After we had tried to figure [out] what this was, about two minutes after the sighting, there came all these geese and ducks, kind of going in the direction of the craft. We figuring that they had been scared up from Percy Preist Lake."

4) Kentucky Video Footage:
2-22-07, Evening
Sidenote: This was a MUFON report involving some compelling video-footage. This sighting is reported to have occurred on the same date, and within 200 miles, of the Hermitage, Tennessee Black Triangle report. Could these two sightings be related? Are we looking at the same craft?

Notice object hovering when I look out from my deck. I started to use the video on my cell phone. Then I told my girlfriend to grab our digital camera for a better picture. I think it could be something from our military. I have never seen anything like this before.






LINK TO YOUTUBE UPLOAD OF VIDEO

THANK YOU MUFON! CLICK HERE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD 45MB QUICK-TIME VIDEO IN UNCOMPRESSED FORMAT COURTESY OF MUFON.ORG

Video notes: The YouTube upload is a compressed version of this video, and has been presented here for ease of viewing. The actual MUFON file is a 45mb Quicktime video, it is about 2:45 in length. It has not been compressed or modified so that it's integrity can be preserved. You will need the QuickTime player in order to view it. You might want to right click and "save-as", and download it to your computer, prior to viewing.

5) Dorval, Quebec, Canada:
2-19-07, 11:00pm
Sidenote: This is an earlier report from Monday evening, 2-19-07, at 11:00pm, Northeast of the Great Lakes. It consists of a UfO with three lights, that stays suspended over a the Saint Laurent River for several minutes. The object hovers, and then bolts away with an amazing amount of Speed. The witness reports that a photograph might be available, although it has not yet been obtained for review.

At aprox 11pm I was looking out my bedroom window, I had just finished my homework (I'm a College Student), and I was about to go to bed. I was about to close the drapes when over the water (I live beside a large River nameed the St - Laurent), I noticed a phenomenal light formation in the air.

I knew right away that this was a type of craft I had never seen before in my life. It was bright and shun with three round lights. From the outline I assume it was triangular.

Within 5 seconds of looking at it I made no hesitation and grabbed my sony digital camera out of my desk drawer. I remembered the batteries were almost dead and hoped I had enough to snap the shot. I turned on the Camera and Snapped the picure. When I went to snap another one the camera shut off.

I observed it for about 15 seconds longer when all of a sudden it took off towards the left so quickly that when I turned my head to follow it, it was just as if it dissapeared out of mid air. Honestly for all I know, whatever it was, it just might have.

6) Fort Lauderdale, Florida:
2-22-07, 8:25pm
Sidenote: This comes to us as the last reported sighting of this potential craft. It is much farther South, in Florida, and it is a day or two after the prime close encounters occurring in the midwest earlier that week.

On Feb 22, 2007 at 8:25 pm on a boat in Ft.Lauderdale. Looking at the stars we saw a very dim set of lights that moved quickly across the sky. It was traveling S-Saw what looked like a dim red color. The shape was V but not in perfect form, more like a flock of birds flying. It moved from the north star to what I believe to be Venus (S of north star) and disappeared.

TOMS PART 1 COMMENTARY:

6 witnesses or groups of witnesses, mostly within the same region, are all reporting the same general phenomenon, between the hours of 7:00pm and 12:00am, February 19th, 2007 through February 22nd, 2007.

• On 2-19-07, a triangular shaped craft is observed over the St. Laurent River, in Canada, Northwest of the Great Lakes.

• The next evening, on 2-20-07, the craft is seen south of there, hovering over Mequon, Wisconnsin. Several hours later, it is seen in Gridley, Illinois. Fairly significant diagrams and testimony shows us a triangular shaped craft, with 3 lights on each corner, and a red light in the center. The craft is reported to leave Gridley, Illinois, in a Southward direction.

• On the evening of 2-22-07, in Hermitage, Tennessee, a large triangular craft is reported. That very same evening, MUFON obtains video footage from witnesses in Kentucky, approximately 200 miles northeast of Tennessee, claiming to have captured images of a large, hovering craft.

• That same evening, 2-22-07, NUFORC receives a reported sighting of a triangular shaped craft off in the distance, heading in a southward direction, out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Based solely off of the NUFORC reports, and the one MUFON video-tape, I have mapped out a clear, southward trajectory of this craft:

Visual representation of Black Triangle Craft trajectory, as per witness reports posted at NUFORC. The craft first appears in the North, on 2-19-07, and is last seen far to the South in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 2-22-07. CLICK HERE to view this image in larger detail.

A reasonable conclusion can be drawn, as to what is going on here.

1) Six separate testimonials from completely unconnected strangers.
2) All reports occurring over the course of 4 nights, primarily in the midwestern United States.
3) A triangular shaped craft is witnessed, diagramed, and potentially videotaped.
4) The descriptions are consistent: It is black and opaque, with white and red lights, and it hovers.
5) this craft has a trajectory. It is travelling in a southward direction. It starts in the northwest above the great lakes, and it leaves in the south, below Fort Lauderdale.

At the very least, a resaonable person must come to the conclusion that something happened over the skies of the midwestern United States, between the hours of 7:00pm and 12:00am, on the evenings of February 19th, 2007 through February 22nd, 2007.

This is not a random set of sightings. It is a connected event. The testimony correlates, and the evidence establishes its reality. One or several objects were seen over the skies in February of 2007. It's not entirely accurate to call those objects "unidentified". We know that, at the very least, they are certainly identified, at least by some, as enormous black triangles.

In Part 2, I will be expanding this report to include 4 more sightings throughout the midewestern United States on the evenings of 2-19-07 through 2-22-07. In many ways, the witnesses I will share with you in the next section will further correlate the triangular shaped sightings. In other ways, these next 4 sightings are much more different, much stranger, and much more revealing about what was going on out there. Join me next time, as we review Part 2: The Black Rectangles of February, 2007, here at http://black-triangles.blogspot.com .

Copyright 2007, Tom Levine, Levicom, LLC. This article is protected by copyright, and cannot be duplicated or altered in any way, without the sole, written permission of its author. This article can be distributed as an RSS feed, providing that it is not altered, that credit is given to its author, and that a viable, hyper-link is included in the article back to the originating website. For questions and further information, the author can be contacted at levicom@comcast.net or by visiting http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/

Links and Thank yous:
MUFON: http://www.mufon.com/
NUFORC: http://www.nuforc.com/
Google Earth: http://earth.google.com/
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/
Thank you to all the witnesses who have reported their sightings to NUFORC and MUFON on this case, especially Gridley, Illinois. I appreciate the input on this report.

Some of the testimony was edited strictly for syntax. You can review the testimonials in their entirety, by conducting a simple search at the NUFORC and MUFON websites.

NIDS 2002 Hypothesis: It's a DoD BLIMP!

Since they can be built, "They would have been...But ONLY as "black projects built by established DOD contractors...no matter how advanced the small companies technologies may be..." - Testimony of aircraft designer in NIDS , July, 2002 report

Conceptual design of the Dynairship 2, at Aereon's Corporate website

INTRODUCTION:

Reporter Leonard David of Space.Com broke the story one early morning, 7:00am, August 5th, 2002:

"...NIDS researchers contend that these type vehicles are lighter-than-air, blimp-style craft of the U.S. military's making. Likely powered by "electrokinetic" drive, the lifting body-shaped airships have been skirting the skies from perhaps the early to mid 1980s..."

So, it's a Blimp!

At least, that's what NIDS thought it was, as of August of 2002. Let's take a deeper look into the NIDS 2002 hypothesis, and examine the evidence, the logic, and the final conclusion. Judge for yourself:


PART 1: 1-2000 ORIGINAL HOTLINE REPORT TO NIDS:

NIDS originally captured an official Black Triangle sighting report on their toll free UFO hotline on January 5th, 2000, involving the now famous Shiloh, Illinois Black Triangle event. An entire article can be written to cover this story, but for now, let us just acknowledge that this is the domino, which started NIDS down the path of scientific exploration into the realm of Black Triangles.

At this juncture, the NIDS Institute was just getting started, and by no means, had they formed any formal conclusions one way or the other about the Phenomenon. That said, one of their primary areas of inquiry was on the possibility of the "Aereon Hypothesis".


THE AEREON HYPOTHESIS:

"..One of the police eyewitnesses testified that the craft he observed bore an unusually close resemblance to the artist's impression of a stealth blimp published in the September 1999 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine ("Skunk Works Magic" by Jim Wilson). Further, there was other speculation that the observed craft bore a resemblance to a revolutionary hybrid lifting body that was tested, flown, and patented by Aereon Corporation of Princeton, NJ. The story of the development of the Aereon hybrid craft is publicly available and is the subject of an engaging book called The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed by John McPhee..."



"Stealth Blimp", Popular Mechanics, September, 1999 - "Skunk Works Magic" by Jim Wilson

Diagram of Aereon-style craft, as published in NIDS original Illinois UFO Sighting report.

PART 2: NIDS 2002 HYPOTHESIS:

Let's project forward now to July of 2002, wherein NIDS produces a document entitled, "Hypothesis: The Illinois Flying Triangle is a Department of Defense, Not an ET Craft":

TRIANGLE-MILITARY COMMAND CORRELATION:

NIDS rendered a compelling map of the United States, blocking out red dots representing Black Triangle reported sightings, and black dots representing known existing military commands. The correlation, visually, was difficult to ignore. If any explanation was to be postulated, it would have to explain this correlation. Could these craft be military? Could these craft be ours?

"In the two years since the Illinois investigation, NIDS has accumulated over 150 separate reports of sightings of large triangular or deltoid shaped objects. The reports have mainly come from the United States with a small minority from Canada and Europe. Last year, NIDS noticed and published an apparent correlation between the locations of the large triangular shaped object sightings and the locations of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) and Air Mobility Command (AMC) bases throughout the United States.This correlation was checked in two other independent databases and shown to be consistent..."

Red dots = Black triangle sighting locations
Large black dots = Air Mobility Command and other base locations

Big Black Deltas (BBDs): DoD, Not ET

In their hypothesis, NIDS called upon an unnamed aircraft designer, to share his expertise on the subject. The designer suggested that the object reported in the 1-5-2000 Shiloh Illinois sighting, reminded him of a large, LTA (lighter than aircraft), using what he described as an electrokinetic drive. Both of these technologies existed in 2000, and the designer speculated that if the DoD were to combine them, it might closely replicate the dimensions and maneuverability as reported by the police officers in Shiloh, Illinois. He further suggested that the DoD had likely built this craft sometime in the early to mid 1980's. These craft are now commonly referred to as BBD's (Big Black Delta's).

Big Black Delta, as portrayed in the NIDS 2002 Hypothesis

Using the information gathered from the witnesses of the Shiloh, Illinois Black Triangles sighting, alongside the data of 150 other reported black triangle sightings, the aircraft designer concluded that, if it were a BBD, it would be 600 feet long, 300 feet wide, it would weigh 40 tons, have a mass of 100 tons, it's surface range would be approximately 180,000 square feet horizontal, by 94,245 square feet verticle, and it would have an approximate payload at 10,000 feet of 100 tons.

PART 3: LTA AIRSHIPS AND ELECTROKINETIC PROPULSION SYSTEMS:

"Phils Lifter" - hobbyist example of Electrokinetic propulsion, courtesy of "The Tesla Pod"

The Yamato 1, running entirely on a MagnetoHydroDynamics (MHD) propulsion system

Why the reported huge size (football field size)?

The short answer is payload, propulsion, and design.

"The BBDs are so large so they can:

1. Carry massive payloads at low altitudes at speeds 3 to 5 times as fast as surface ships.

2. They can use highly advanced but large and crude power and propulsion systems in early stages of development. (ie electrokinetic / Field drives or airborne nuclear power units.)

3. They can fly at extreme altitudes, taking advantage of the LTA’s altitude ability to stay out of the range of conventional aircraft and ground based traffic control radars. "

Why is it silent?

The relatively simple answer to that question, is that blimps have been silent propulsion systems since the 1880's. If you've ever been up close to a Goodyear blimp at a football game, you can attest to the virtual silence of airship propulsion technology.

That said, other, more exotic, more modern forms of propulsion systems were cited in the NIDS 2002 report; Propulsion systems that are not the thing of science fiction, but modern mechanics:

1) "..In the late 1920s, T.T. Brown developed the electrokinetic (meaning motion from electricity) capacitor. ..

2) "...By the late 1950s aviation pioneer Alexander de Seversky's IONOCRAFT had demonstrated a far more advanced, fully controlled, version of such a system

3) " ...The electrokinetic system shows a number of the “Characteristics” of “UFO” power systems. It flies with “no visible form of support”, no propellers, jets, and in the case of a hybrid LTA craft which would NOT use thrust from the drive to hold the ship up (since it would have aerostatic, lift gas, like a balloon) no downwash like a helicopter’s. Except for “a slight humming” from high voltage control equipment and an occasional coronal discharge in the older units it makes no noise."

How come it appears to accelerate so quickly from a hovering position?

The short, simple answer to this somewhat complicated question, is that if a Black Triangle is a BBD airship operating with an innovative propulsion system, than it would operate essentially, like a tricked-out blimp, and not like an aircraft.

It would be a lighter than air airship, that utilizes it's strengths, such as bouyancy and its power to mass ratio, to achieve startling results. The airship would not maneuver like a jet. The airship would not be restricted in the same ways that a jet might be. The airship would not be constrained. It would have amazing low hovering capabilites, while at the same time be capable of high-altitude flight, far surpassing what we commonly think of as jet-like maneuverability. It would behave much differently than any plane or blimp for that matter, and almost anyone who would see it in flight, might not fully understand what it is they are looking at. NIDS explains:

"...an electrokinetic system combined with LTA technologies...in a way that makes the hull of such a craft the “engine” with the hull area of such a craft interacting with the “working fluid” (i.e. The surrounding air) the larger the craft, the “better.”...At low altitudes, the “working fluid” is more dense and a lot of thrust can be obtained from a fairly small area..."

"A modern jet fighter only has a power to mass ratio of a little over 1 to 1. As reported such a craft should be able to “pull away” from any modern aircraft trying to catch it. Note that as often reported “in a climb” such a craft would add the extra buoyancy of its lift gas (assuming some sort of buoyancy control system) to the electrokinetic thrust while a jet is fighting its mass with thrust and the craft would pull away even faster.

"After a certain altitude the jet starts to lose lift from its wings as its engine loses thrust from intake of the thinning air. A craft as described would continue to climb due to both its LTA altitude ability and the high altitude operation of the EK drive “Climbing away” is a well-known scenario when such craft are pursued by aircraft. Another side effect of such a high voltage external drive would be that if a conventional aircraft approached it too closely one would expect the electrical systems of such an aircraft to be overloaded and possible the operation of the engines and other systems stopped. This effect has frequently been reported."

How come it can turn without banking?

"LTA craft use “static lift” not the “lift vector” of aerodynamic surfaces, i.e. “wings.” They do not normally “bank” when turning. In addition, a craft with the systems described would have omni directional thrust and in normal circumstances using the top and bottom surfaces for horizontal thrust would merely “turn” as the thrust vector is changed with the two surfaces generating equal thrust both pitch and roll motions would be prevented."

Why is it brightly lit, sometimes blinding light?

"Besides the “coronal discharge” often seen with such craft, another reason for such light displays is the inability of aircraft power systems to rapidly change power output...If such a craft was operating at low thrust with a nuclear or other closed cycle power system, it would be best to setup such a system to produce a steady state amount of power at all times.

Reconstruction depicts lights, as described by officer Lopinot, courtesy of DARRYL BARKER PRODUCTIONS

"Power can be diverted from this unit to both the thrusters on onboard systems. This would also require some sort of onboard “power storage” and a method of getting rid of excess power at periods of low power demand like hovering or low speed flight. High power illumination is a simple method of doing this. Lights are fairly small, light in mass, and in a night flight craft such as this useful in landing when operating at low altitude and low speed.

"Such a craft using “optical camouflage” would naturally have a large number of light producing systems as part of the optical camouflage, further reducing complexity by using them to a multiple purpose, (landing, “disappearing”, and blinding pursuit).

"One might also mention that even If the lights did attract public attention it makes little difference. Conventional aircraft cannot catch one of these craft and side effects of the drive along with the sensor transparency and active camouflage make pictures indistinct allowing deniability."

PART 4, TOM'S COMMENTARY:

So, in July of 2002, NIDS declares that the Black Triangle mystery is solved. They gather the facts. NIDS studied 150 cases, and amassed a matrix of data concerning the physical details and behaviors of this object; They correlated the reports into a graphical map which illustrated that the sightings were taking place around military installations; They analyzed the data, using an aircraft designer who seemed to know a thing or two about LTA airships and Electrokinetic drives, and correlated that the behavior patterns and dimensions of this ship, fit suspiciously well with the dimensions, maneuvers, and characteristics of a prospective "Big Black Delta" LTA airship using Electrokinetic propulsion. They examined circumstantial evidence of historical references to such potential craft, such as Jim Wilsons' article, "Skunk Works Magic", published in the Popular Mechanics issue of 1999; John McPhee's "The Deltoid Pumpkin"; and perhaps most importantly, a study of the Aereon Corporations work on hybrid airship craft (such as the Dynairship II).

They gathered all of this evidence, data, and theory, and came to the solid conclusion that the Black Triangles, such as the one seen over Shiloh, Illlinois, on January 5th, 2000, are most likely DoD LTA Airships with Electrokinetic propulsion systems.

And why is this hypothesis likely? Why so covert? Why would a blimp be a black-ops project? NIDS aircraft designer eloquently states:

"An interesting sidelight to this “Deltoid airship development” is that since it has abilities far outstripping those of conventional airplanes in many military areas, no public, commercial companies have been able to acquire funding to develop such craft. (DOD and NASA funding for both the AEREON corporation and the MICROCRAFT “AEROCRAFT” were both dropped.) These military mission scenario and the military applications for the large deltoids are a prime reason that since they can be built, “They would have been.” But ONLY as “Black projects built by established DOD contractors,” as stated by DOD representatives at recent aerospace technology conferences, “no matter how advanced the small companies technologies may be.”

So, is that it? Is the mystery solved? Did NIDS lay out the most viable explanation in July of 2002? Has the Black Triangles mystery finally been laid to rest?

Well, not exactly. One really difficult snag in this puzzle, lays in two somewhat disturbing, very inconvenient facts.

Fact 1: NIDS changes their minds, and forms a DIFFERENT conclusion in August of 2004.

Fact 2: NIDS goes silent after August of 2004, on the entire Black Triangles phenomenon.

Does that mean that they are NOT LTA Airships? Does that mean that NIDS got it wrong in July of 2002. Part of me thinks that this is possible. But deep down, one can come to an entirely different conclusion. Perhaps, NIDS got it right. Perhaps, NIDS was extremely close to the mark. Why did NIDS cease and desist their invesigation into the Black Triangle Phenomenon? Where did they go? Mr. Bigelow went on to launch Genesis 1 and soon to be launched Genesis 2, his very own satellites into space via Bigelow Aerospace. Dr. Vallee is general partner for Euro-America, a funding group focused on high technology. What does all this mean? I'm not sure. I guess for me, I'm not convinced the BBD explanation is not correct, and I'm left with many more questions than answers.

Like everything having to do with Black Triangles, the answer is never simple. It is never straight-forward. It is always complex. At least this answer, as contained in NIDS July, 2002 Hypothesis, is thorough, solid, and based on scientific research and fact. It is a good hypothesis. It is sound, logical, and reasonable. It is the simplest explanation I've seen so far, regarding what is the most complicated of subjects. If friar William of Okham is correct, then Occam's razor might suggest that Black Triangles are, in fact, LTA airships with an Electrokinetic propulsion system.

Copyright 2007, Tom Levine, Levicom, LLC. This article is protected by copyright, and cannot be duplicated or altered in any way, without the sole, written permission of its author. This article can be distributed as an RSS feed, providing that it is not altered, that credit is given to its author, and that a viable, hyper-link is included in the article back to the originating website. For questions and further information, the author can be contacted at levicom@comcast.net or by visiting http://black-triangles.blogspot.com/

Links and Thank yous:

Darryl Barker
Producer, "The Edge of Reality, Illinois UFO, January 5, 2000"
SkewsMe Collective of the Arcane - http://skewsme.com/
Leonard David, and Space.Com - http://www.space.com/
NIDS - http://www.nidsci.org/
Jim Wilson, author of "Skunk Works Magic", and Popular Mechanics
John Mcphee, author of "The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed"
The Telsa Pod - http://webpages.charter.net/tesla/index.htm