THE TEN MOST COMPELLING UFO CASES IN HISTORY in order of compellingness(?) 1. "Hudson Valley," or the Westchester Wing, NY 1984 Thousands of reports, mostly nocturnal, of large, silent, hovering object with series of rotating lights. Reports came from many highly credible individuals including meteorologists, news reporters, and police chiefs. "Planes in formation" theory still in contention; however, videos taken by area resident of both the object and a formation of planes shows distinct differences. Intermittent sightings to this day. 2. "Cash/Landrum", outside Houston, TX 1979 Two ladies and 5-year-old boy report diamond-shaped object belching fire from beneath, surrounded by CH-47-style helicopters. Soon after sighting, all three suffered strange maladies which were likened to radiation poisoning. Klass explains as hoax, saying that the witness' pre-sighting medical conditions were not released to him for examination. 3. "Roswell Incident," outside Corona, NM 1947 Object crashed in remote location on a large ranch in early July, 1947. Debris recovered by AAF, who issued hasty press release saying "Flying Disk" had been recovered. Press release retracted the next day, and press conference held at which it was revealed the object was, in fact, a Rawin sonde (a device used to calibrate radar). 30 years later, AF intelligence officer Maj. J. Marcel claimed that the object was "not of this earth", that the press conference was a sham. Interviews with over 150 witnesses reinforce anomalous nature of object. 4. "Army Helicopter", Mansfield, OH 1974 Four National Guardsman aboard Bell UH-1H chopper report sighting large nocturnal object on collision course. Pilot-in-Command Capt. Coyne puts chopper in descent mode. Object stops in front of chopper, then continues westward travel, after which Coyne discovers that chopper actually rose 2000 ft. Klass' explanation of a bolide is not supported by testimony, circumstances, or scientific principles. 5. "Bentwaters," Rendlesham Forest, UK 1979 Three separate sightings of anomalous lights near a NORAD base in the UK. Official report filed by deputy base commander, who also taped the on-site investigation carried out by Air Police detachment. Occurence produced many witnesses, some of whom swear a craft was sighted. Invest- igation hampered by conflicting testimony, Britain's Secrets Act, grand- standing by one less than credible witness, and possibly the "Control Group" -- A US Senator began looking into the affair, but abruptly halted and would not communicate further with UFO researchers. 6. "Washington Invasion," Washington, DC 1952 Several fast-moving objects appear on radarscopes at three separate installations, including Andrews AFB. Interceptors scrambled, but don't find anything. Same thing happens the next night, this time objects confirmed by ground observers. Largest peace-time press conference in govt. history called to explain to reporters that radar traces were caused by thermal inversions, despite absence of proper weather conditions on the nights in question. 7. "Great Falls Film", Great Falls, MN 1954 Little League baseball coach films two objects streaking across sky near an AFB. Original explanation was that objects were F-100s on approach to AFB, but photo-analysis shows objects to be travelling much too fast. 8. "Trent Photo", McMinnville, OR 1950 Actually two photos taken by farmer with Polaroid camera, depict classic domed saucer. Foreground objects provide good references for analysis, which shows object to be around 30 ft. diameter, and at least 1/4 mile distant. Shadows on foreground structure may be inconsistent with time of day provided by photographer; however, that is immaterial to analysis of the image's size and distance. 9. "Travis Walton," Snowflake, AZ 1974 Five woodcutters allegedly witness abduction of their comrade aboard UFO. Abductee reappears five days later, fails first lie detector, after which he and four other witnesses pass, one is inconclusive. Controversy surrounds suppression of first lie detector results. 10. "My wife's sighting," Fountain Hills, AZ 1989 My wife and another witness, a friend of mine, stood in my backyard about 1AM and witnessed a large, silent, hovering object with bright, multi-colored lights that strobed in a diamond-shaped pattern. The object then took off to the northeast and vanished in less than a second. (Where was I? ASLEEP, DAMMIT!) Interviewed separately, witnesses gave basically the same description. Cursory check with area airports, AFBs yielded no clues. ___________ This file was originally prepared by ParaNet for use in a talk by Maj. James McGaha of CSICOP. We bequeath it to the public domain.