The name of the witness and some identifying names of the exact location have been changed to protect the principal, as requested.
Mrs. Pat Norris, 28, lives with her husband, Carl, and three children in a suburb of Mobile, Alabama. On the evening of February 3, 1983, she had visited a friend in Mobile and when the friend's husband arrived from work, Mrs. Norris left and headed home on Highway 90. She had turned off the Highway and when about 90 minutes' ride from her home she heard an explosion. At this point, her car began to vibrate and continued to do so, making it difficult for her to steer. She negotiated another turn off the road she was on, brought the car to a halt, opened the car door and leaned out and down and looked to ascertain if the transmission could have been causing the trouble. It had not.
Mrs. N. continued driving and the vibrating stopped. She executed another turn onto another road and saw that the woods ahead were brilliantly illuminated. At first she thought that there was a helicopter search in progress because of the lights and was very frightened. She again stopped the car, and at this point sighted a huge object about l/2 mile west of her. She now feels the explosion she had heard earlier was the object coming down over a clay and gravel pit in the vicinity.
The thing was huge — later estimated to be 7 to 8 stories (70 to 80 feet) high and "six telephone poles" (210 feet) wide, and appeared to be moving toward her at 4-5 miles per hour. The evening had been clear and cool and she had driven with the car windows closed. After the explosion, she noted a "chopping wind, a high-pitched sound and a roaring sound" as well as the vibration. She particularly noted the "whipping of the wind — like a tornado."
When the object reached a point fairly close it stopped and all of the noise stopped. It was completely silent and Mrs. Norris lost all of the fear she had felt before. She then got out of the car to get a better look. She strained to take in every detail — feeling like a child with "unbelievable happiness."
Mr. Norris said that although Pat told him of her sighting after it happened, he didn't realize how important it was to her until she started checking books out of the local library pertaining to UFOs and "related subjects."
She estimates the time duration of the sighting as five minutes. As the craft appeared Mrs. Norris' attention was drawn to a top deck with a long window which she estimates 53 feet and through which she viewed 20 to 30 persons, apparently oblivious of her presence, walking about as if they were changing shift. The wall behind them was curved and white. There were no instruments. The people did not give the appearance of looking out. The beings were pale skinned, dressed in white one piece suits. She judged them to be about our height, five feet 10", quite slender but with chests larger than ours, the top of the head more prominent, no hair, and having the lower half only of ears similar to our own. She noted nothing out of the ordinary about the eyes. What did draw her attention was the great grace of their movements. The atmosphere seemed "sterile."
Below this top deck window was an opaque window. The area around it was all white. This window was in sections and was inset. The glass was tinted.
Below the center of the craft a door was closing from right to left. (See drawing). And she looked onto a street that was dark as if made of asphalt or possible concrete. Off to the side of this street was tubular rectangular equipment. All across the craft she saw rivets and portholes. She said she could see the portholes "inside out" as she peered into the craft. She saw some construction that included "huge I beams like they put ships together with and beams holding the glass in there." The bottom side was tiered upwards. The construction reminds her of a ship or submarine. She said it seemed possible, very likely, it could have been constructed here on Earth.
The very bottom of the craft was formed into a cross made with one foot square mirrors and an observation deck hung down and around the bottom with beings in it. In this case, unlike the top deck, the people were peering out, while overhead she heard a very low pitched but clearly audible (almost like a growl) "announcing" coming from the area of the observation deck now closest to her.
Mrs. Norris said she believes they didn't realize she was there until directly over her position.
As drawn, she saw four pipes projecting six to eight feet out from the craft set in three or four foot square boxes. They had a hollow flange on the end like a tank cannon and she believes "it looked like a weapon."
The craft took a southerly turn as it went on from where she was parked. She said it was staying in the wooded area and did not cross Highway 90 again. Possible it was doubling back towards Irvington and Pascagoula. It lit up the wooded area, and all beneath it as it moved on off. It had white spotlights and to the side blue and red lights that intermingled, pointing up to the clouds and then down to Earth.
She told Mr. Brown she had prayed she might have such a sighting. She had extensive dream material both prior to and after the February 4 incident. The late dreams contain a detailed physical examination and scan of her emotions, which we expect to present later, when prepared.
After the object was out of sight, Pat continued on home, arriving at 1:10 a.m. - APRO - Field Investigators Bob Gribble and Ed O. Brown
NOTE: the U.S. Gulf Coast from Panama City, Florida to New Orleans, LA has been a hotbed of odd UFO activity since 1960's and continues to experience a myriad of anomalous incidents. Though this particular case has not received the notoriety the Gulf Breeze and Pascagoula scenarios have it is still one of the more credible and descriptive sightings. Unfortunately, there have been no follow up investigator reports associated with this case...Lon
