On the night of March 13, 1975, many sightings of bright aerial objects were made in the vicinity of Ashland, Wisconsin, which is located on Lake Superior. Our investigation indicates that several policemen observed airborne objects which they could not identify, but not much more than the "flying light" variety.
However, the most interesting of the reports comes from the Philip N. Baker family of Mellen, Wisconsin, some 20 miles south of Ashland. Fifteen-year-old Jane Baker had gone outside to take the cats to the garage where they are housed for the night, and was just at the garage door when she heard "strange high-toned noises." She turned around and looked up at the hill to the north and saw an object apparently sitting on the road into Mellen. The whole hill was lit up, she said. She described it as a silvery disc-shaped object with a domed top which gave off a yellowish-white glow. Around its midsection were located red and green lights which were flashing on and off.
Jane put the cats in the garage and went back into the house to get her father, who was sitting on the couch with his shoes off, watching television. The family is certain of the time because the "Harry-O" show had just started. Jane told her father that "there was a thing on the hill up the road." Mr. Phillips put on his shoes and they both went outside to look at it. At this point the glow was subsiding and the flashing lights had also turned out, and the noise was gone also. However, there was a square lighted area in the middle of it (see inset drawing in Lance Johnson's composite). This area, which appeared to be an opening, had the same yellow-white glow that the top of the object had had earlier when Jane viewed it alone.
The two then walked to position three and at this time noticed a metal-on-metal banging sound. They then went back into the house where Mr. Phillips put in a telephone call to the Undersheriff. While he was talking on the phone they heard a loud boom and when Jane looked out the window the object was gone.
During this period of time, the object was pointed out to Mrs. Phillips, who viewed it from a window in the house, and three other members of the family, 11-year-old Jeff, 12-year-old John and 16-year-old Montgomery also got a look at the object.
The next morning, Jane went outside to see if she could find any traces from the previous night. She looked over toward the swamp near her home and saw the same or a similar object again — only this time there were no flashing lights or glow — but the shape and color were the same. It was hovering over some evergreen trees. Jane went back into the house to put on heavier clothing, then went back out, taking the family dog with her. She was proceeding toward the evergreens when the dog gave a big yelp and started to whine and paw at her ears. Then the dog became completely still. Jane says she didn't hear anything, but carried the dog into the house. When she came back out again, the object was gone.
Later in the morning she and Monty and John walked to the spot where the object had been seen the night before. They noted that there was a round area on the road where the snow was "fluffed up." There were tire tracks over the area where a car had passed after the object had left, but there were also bicycle tracks leading up to it, then taking up again on the other side. These were tracks made by one of the boys riding his bicycle the morning before. The "fluffed up" area apparently obliterated parts of the bicycle tracks.
The condition of the snow is a new phenomenon where UFO landings are concerned. We can hypothesize that it was a result of the propulsion system of the UFO but it could also have been a deliberate attempt to cover any tracks made by whoever or whatever was making the banging noise.
All of the Phillips family agree that the object was on the ground for a total of no less than 10 minutes. The investigation of that particular night is ongoing because there seems to be more witnesses in the area who have yet to be interviewed and there may be corroborating witnesses in other homes in the area. - APRO
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Wisconsin Officers Report Multiple Sightings of UFOs
Ashland, WI (AP) - Authorities in a four-county area of Northern Wisconsin have reported several recent sightings of unidentified flying objects, with nine deputies in Ashland and Iron counties saying they saw four UFOs at one time.
At the time of the sightings, officials said, police radios were garbled or went out of service and witnesses said they saw the objects moving, changing colors, and heading toward a common position in the sky.
Authorities at the nearby Duluth airport said there was no radar contact made at the time, late in the evening of March 13.
Ashland County Sheriff Joe Croteau said "telephones were ringing off the hook from citizens who also saw the objects". Sightings were also reported in Douglas and Price counties.
A rural Mellen resident, Mrs. Phil Baker and her daughter, Jane, 15, told authorities "an object" landed on a road near their home, made noises and high-pitched sounds, and had red and green lights around it.
Ashland County Undersheriff George Ree, who investigated, said he found no evidence of a landing. He left their home and drove about two miles to meet with deputies. Then, he said, he and the deputies saw four UFOs, one brighter than the others. They said the brightest one moved, changed colors, and then became stationary while three smaller objects headed toward it. - Rochester Post-Bulletin - March 20, 1975
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Subject: Mellen, Wisconsin, March 14, 1975
The last apparent “repair job” took place on the night of March 13, 1975, near the small town of Mellen in northern Wisconsin. The Philip Baker family was engaged in various pastimes and occupations in and around their rural home outside of Mellen. Mr. Baker was sitting in the living room with his shoes off watching television and it was time for fifteen-year-old Jane to take the family cats out to the garage for the night. The Bakers are sure of the time—9:00 P.M., for the adventure series “Harry-O” had just started on the television.
Jane got nearly to the garage door when she heard “strange high-toned noises,” and turning around, looked up at the hill to the north and saw an object apparently sitting on the road into Mellen. The whole hill was lit up, she said, and she described the object as a silvery, disc-shaped object with a domed top which gave off a yellow-white glow. Around its midsection were located alternating red and green lights which blinked on and off.
Jane put the cats in the garage and then went back into the house to get her father. She said, “There’s a thing on the hill up the road.” Mr. Baker hurriedly put on his shoes and they both went outside to look at it. At this point the glow was subsiding and the flashing red and green lights were no longer in evidence. There was no noise at this time but there was a square lighted area with rounded corners in the middle of the object. This area, which appeared to be an opening, had the same yellow-white glow that the top of the object had had earlier when Jane viewed it along.
The two then walked to a position beyond the garage where they were able to hear a metal-on-metal banging sound coming from the direction of the object. Partly because it was cold, and partly because Mr. Baker wanted to call authorities, the two went back into the house and he made a telephone call to the under-sheriff. While he was talking on the phone they heard a loud boom and when Jane looked out again the object was gone.
When Jane initially came into the house to get her father she pointed out the object to Mrs. Baker as well as three other members of the family, eleven-year-old Jeff, twelve-year-old John and sixteen-year-old Montgomery, so that they also viewed the object.
The next morning Jane went outside to see if she could find any traces from the previous night. She looked over toward the swamp near her home and saw the same or a similar object again—only this time there were no flashing lights or glow. The shape and color were the same, however, and it was hovering over some evergreen trees. She went back into the house to put on heavier clothing and when she came back outside she brought the family dog with her. She was starting toward the evergreens when the dog gave a big yelp and started to whine and paw at her ears, and then became completely still. Jane said that she could hear nothing and carried the dog back into the house because it refused to move. When she came back out again the object was gone.
Later in the morning she and Monty and John walked to the spot where the object had been seen the night before. They found a round area on the road where the snow was “fluffed up.” There were tire tracks over the area where a car had passed after the object had left, but there were also bicycle tracks leading up to it, and taking up again on the other side. These tracks made by one of the boys riding his bicycle the morning before. The “fluffed up” area where the object had been sitting apparently obliterated parts of the bicycle tracks.
This “fluffed-up” condition of the snow is a new phenomenon where UFO landings are concerned, and while we can easily understand how a jet of flame can burn vegetation or an antigravity propulsion system could partially dislodge bits of earth when a UFO takes off, it is hard to understand how the snow condition relates to the UFO. It did occur to us that had that really been a repair-service stop, possibly the repair/servicemen “fluffed” the snow up in order to cover their tracks and destroy any evidence of their presence there. - Encounters with UFO Occupants
- Lorenzen, Coral and Jim, l976-----
Animal Reaction Feature:
Jane Mellen, 15, went outdoors on this morning to look around after she and her family saw an unidentified object the night before. She saw the same or a similar silver domed disc, now hovering over some evergreens. She went inside for heavier clothing and when she came out she brought the family dog with her. As they walked toward the evergreens, the dog gave a big yelp and started to whine and paw at her ears and then became completely still. Jane carried the dog back into the house because she refused to move. Jane heard nothing.
Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Specialist:
At 9 p.m. on March 13, Jane was putting the family’s cats into the garage when she heard some “strange high-toned noises.” She saw a silvery, disc-shaped object with a domed top that seemed to be sitting on the road into Mellen. The object gave off a yellow-white glow that lit up the hill it was sitting on. Around its midsections were blinking red and green lights.
Jane went into the house and alerted her family. Six members, including her mother and father, saw the object, although at this point the glow had subsided and the red and green lights were not visible. There was now a square lighted area with rounded corners in the middle of the object, apparently an opening, and this square area had the same yellow-white glow as seen earlier. While her father was on the phone with authorities, a loud boom was heard, and when Jane looked, the object was gone.
The next morning Jane and the dog had the experience described above.
No EM effects were reported, no sound was heard when the dog was present and observed, and no physiological effects were reported. There were ground marks in the form of a round fluffed up area of snow on the road where the object had been seen on March 13 at 9 p.m - NICAP - Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Specialist
UFO Wisconsin: A Progress Report
Wisconsin UFO's & Extraterrestrials!: A Look at the Sightings & Science in Our State! (Carole Marsh Wisconsin Books)
Weird Wisconsin: Your Travel Guide to Wisconsin's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets
