1973 UFO Flap Comes to Southern West Virginia

It’s July 2nd, otherwise known as WORLD UFO DAY!!!  World UFO Day was started back in 2001 as a way for UFO researchers and enthusiasts to bring awareness to the field of UFO research, share information and evidence, and to celebrate this fascinating field of study!

In honor of World UFO Day 2020, I wanted to share an article from The Raleigh Register, dated 17 October 1973. Around this time, the local paper, based out of Beckley, WV was publishing numerous articles about area residents reporting some pretty strange things in the skies…and even LANDING close by.

While other sightings had been reported earlier in the year this wave of the 1973 UFO flap seemed to originate on October 11th, when Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker, Jr. reported being abducted by aliens while fishing down by the river in Pascagoula, Mississippi.  Both men passed lie detector tests and the case immediately garnered mass national attention.  Soon after, people in other parts of the country started reporting their own UFO sightings. These reports came from all over, but most notably from the Deep South, Ohio, and…southern West Virginia.

Skeptics were quick to dismiss the majority of these sightings as an alignment of Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, which appeared very bright in the night sky, misidentified aircraft, and of course weather balloons.  Some were deemed outright hoaxes, others simply the result of people getting caught up in the UFO hype.  But, could so many witnesses be wrong about what they were reporting? There were some pretty credible witnesses to various events, including Ohio’s governor at the time! Either way, I found it really interesting that West Virginia, which has a pretty fascinating track record when it comes to UFO history, was right there in the middle of the 1973 events.

Beckley State Police say they received numerous reports Tuesday night of ‘unidentified flying objects, flying saucers, and lights in the sky’ from all over Raleigh County.

One trooper estimated 20 calls came into state police headquarters here over a period stretching from 8:30 pm to 11:30 pm. Reports came from Bradley, Mount Tabor, Daniels, and Shady Spring.

The trooper said the callers spoke of lights in the sky, 200 to 300 feet off the ground.

Trooper B.A. Vaughn reported that one man called from Bradley and said, “one of these flying things was out on the ground.”

“He was scared to death and breathing hard—too serious to be lying,” Vaughn said and he went with the man to investigate, but found nothing.

Vaughn said the man told him he couldn’t describe “it,”—”but it looked like it had diamonds all over it.”

A UFO sighting was reported Monday night by several people at the Raleigh County Airport. One man chased “it” in a small plane toward Bolt Mountain. Residents of that area have reported seeing a similar “something” in the sky that night.

Meanwhile in central and southern Ohio, reports of UFOs poured in from residents and law officers, according to United Press International. The sightings, which started in the Dayton area last Thursday, were reported in seven counties Tuesday night.

Three Greenfield, Ohio police officers reported separate sightings in Highland County.

“The one I chased was about 100 feet in diameter and glowed with a real bright white light,” said Patrolman Mike Conklin.

“There were about 20 people out there looking at it at the same time I was, so I know I’m not crazy,” he said.

Sgt. Raymond Davis said the Cincinnati Police Department received so many calls Tuesday night they asked people to refrain from reporting sightings because jammed switchboards waylaid emergency calls.

UFOs were first reported sighted in the Raleigh County area 26 years ago, with some nine sightings since that time reported in the newspaper.

Numerous sightings have been reported from around the nation in recent weeks.