Noting past reports of UFOs around the coulee area

A number of reports on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in or around the Grand Coulee area have described incidents from as far back as 1975.

The National UFO Reporting Center, run out of a residence near Davenport, Washington, by a man named Peter Davenport, has a website, http://www.nuforc.org. The website collects reports of UFO sightings from around the nation, including reports of incidents that occurred locally.

Most of the reports tend to be by people who wish to remain anonymous.

Many tell of UFOs in the sky, including one that appeared to be running from a helicopter. Many report lights getting brighter, flying in one direction then another, and more.

One of the more detailed reports is about an incident that occurred somewhere near the Bridgeport highway in 1993:

“Saw a bright red pulsing light hovering in the distance,” the report starts. “Turned off on a dirt side road to see if we could get closer to it. It was 11:00 p.m. and we were going home from a class reunion.” Between Bridgeport and Grand Coulee, they saw it hovering about a 100 feet off of the ground over power lines.

"It let us get within 200 yards … matching my speed exactly” on a dirt road as they chased it for about three miles. When they stopped by a wheat field, all the driver could hear “was the sound of crickets.…”

“The last we saw of it, it was streaking north at a great rate of speed.”

Another report came from nine people vacationing on Lake Roosevelt in July of 2010:

“There was a glowing orange ball moving steadily directly toward us from the east,” the report states. “It was much bigger than a star; I thought it was a meteor going to hit the earth. Suddenly, it stopped moving. Then it turned, sharply, to the north and continued at a slower pace, with short bursts of speed. Then it got smaller and began to ‘burn out.’ It just looked like something that is running out of fuel, where it would glow brightly, then suddenly dim, then burn bright for a few more seconds until it finally went out. Had it not stopped in mid air and turned I would’ve sworn it was a meteor. None of us had ever seen anything like it.”

A 1975 incident describes a cigar shaped UFO:

“My uncle and I were outside walking his dogs. He worked for a major airplane manufacturer in Washington, and was over visiting. We saw a bright light approach from east. It was trailing fire behind it.” It turned north and accelerated out of sight. They heard a policeman on a scanner report seeing the same thing hover over a farm near Ritzville, scaring the animals and shining lights over the buildings just minutes before. It was reported as a meteor the next day, but “I never knew meteors could change direction.”