UFO still puzzles 30 years later (Coyne Incident)

Mansfield Journal ^ | 10/18/2003 | Russ Kent

[SteveH]

MANSFIELD -- Thirty years ago tonight, strange things were happening in the skies over north central Ohio.

A close encounter in Mansfield, that has since become known as "The Coyne Incident," is still raising eyebrows among believers and UFO investigators.

[SteveH]

The following article appeared in the Nov. 4, 1973, edition of the Mansfield News Journal. It was written by a United Press International reporter. 

CLEVELAND -- Army Reserve helicopter pilot Capt. Lawrence Coyne is a military commander who doesn't believe in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or little green spacemen.

But after a near miss two weeks ago between his helicopter and a "big, gray, metallic-looking" object in the sky over Mansfield, he doesn't know what to think.

"I had to file an official report in detail to the Army on this thing," he said.

"Coyne is a member of the 316th Medical Detachment stationed at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. He was returning from Columbus at 11:10 p.m., Oct. 18, when the UFO showed up near where the Air National Guard has a squadron of jet fighters based.

He said a check turned up that none of the unit's F-100 Super Saber Jets were in the air when the UFO appeared.

Coyne said when he first encountered the UFO, his helicopter was cruising at 2,500 feet. He had the controls set for a 20-degree dive, but the craft climbed to 3,500 feet with no power.

"I had made no attempt to pull up," he said. "There was no noise or turbulence, either."

Coyne said a red light appeared on the eastern horizon, and was first spotted by his crew chief, Sgt. Robert Yanacsek.

"The light was traveling in excess of 600 knots," Coyne said. "It came from the horizon to our aircraft in about 10 seconds. We were on a collision course."

The pilot said he put his helicopter into a dive.

"At 1,700 feet I braced myself for the impact with the other craft," he said. "It was coming from our right side. I was scared. There had been so little time to respond. The thing was terrifically fast."

There was no crash.

"We looked up and saw it stopped right over us," Coyne said. "It had a big, gray metallic-looking hull about 60 feet long.

"It was shaped like an airfoil or a streamlined fat cigar. There was a red light on the front. The leading edge glowed red a short distance back from the nose. There was a center dome. A green light at the rear reflected on the hull."

Coyne said the green light swiveled like a spotlight and beamed through the canopy of his craft, bathing the cabin in green light.

He said as he and members of the crew stared at the craft his helicopter began to climb without his guidance.

"I had made no attempt to pull up," he said. "All controls were set for a 20-degree dive. Yet we had climbed from 1,700 to 3,500 feet with no power in a couple of seconds with no g-forces or other noticeable strains."

Coyne said the UFO finally moved off to the west and was gone.

[swilhelm73]

Anybody checked the records to see if Senator Lifeguard borrowed any air force prototypes for a little Drinking and Flying?

[Jaxter]

[tkathy]

A lot of credible people are seeing silent craft the size of football fields.

[glock rocks]

National UFO Reporting Center

[Ichneumon]

A lot of credible people are seeing silent craft the size of football fields.

I saw one too. Somehow I got the feeling that it was trying to communicate in some way.

[Revelation 911]

I'd guess ball lightning

[Snowy]

UFO threads are Ok, but please, no one mention CONTRAILS!

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Weather ballons can look red in the afternoon sun.

[Hatteras]

I'mmmmmm DUDDITS!

[Michael Barnes]

Oct/2003 Reports

[ClearCase_guy]

It seems to me that in the decades after WWII, there were a lot of photos taken of UFOs. Of course, there were suddenly a lot more planes in the sky at that time, and a lot of cameras in the hands of the general population.

Then videocameras came on the market -- and ordinary people could videotape UFOs so that their size and flight charactristics could truly be studied!!

'Course I'm not aware of many videotapes of UFOs. Wonder why? We've got just about everything else in the world captures on "video from bystander". But UFOs seem more rare on videotape than they ever were on single-shot film.

Must be an explantion for this ... let me think ...

[R. Scott]

I will never deny the possibility of extraterrestrial craft.

[Michael Barnes]

You ever see some of the videos out of Mexico? Unidentified objects buzzing all around Mexico City.

[ClearCase_guy]

I have not seen these videos.
If they offer any degree of "proof" why are they not more widely known?
Why would aliens choose Mexico City of all places?

[The Shootist]

Why would aliens choose Mexico City of all places?

Largest city on the planet?

[Michael Barnes]

Whoa..I'm not saying Aliens or E.T., I do however find the footage I have seen over the years interesting..Here's a couple links:

Mexico City

Interesting Footage

I make no claims about these sites or videos. Just find the lot of unidentified objects interesting.

[Michael Barnes]

Whoops...Here is the base URL for the site I linked..

[mtbopfuyn]

Contrails!

I'd never heard of contrails until a year ago and laughed them off until I saw an old newspaper article about one in our little podunk town. Everything happens elsewhere so out of curiosity, I had to chase down any info I could. I found the usual group of suspects and unsubstanciated reports of strange illnesses but things were hitting too close for comfort. What I learned has made me a believer. A couple days after the "sighting" I had been sick. I mean really sick, sicker than I'd ever been. The kids got sick too though not as bad, but it confirmed it wasn't just me but an exposure to a bug or something. The doctors ran tests but couldn't come up with anything. Kept wanting to put me in the hospital but admitted they didn't know it would do any good other than monitor it. Joints were burning, bones were hurting so bad I wanted to pull them out, couldn't lay down but had to sit propped up with 8 pillows 24/7, and other things I won't go into. This went on for months, I couldn't work, and had physical complications 3 years afterwards. The kids refer to that time as, "when we were sick." So, add me to the list of wackos, I don't care.

[Sam Cree]

I think it's widely known that there is a lot of UFO video.
'Course it's not proof, any more than the photographs are.