1987: UFO Encounters over Wytheville, Virginia

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THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: October 7, 1987 – December 1987

Sighting Time:

Day/Night: Night

Location: Wytheville, Virginia

Urban or Rural: Rural

Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light) Point or extended luminous source observed at night.

Duration:

No. of Object(s):  2 – 4

Size of Object(s): two football fields in length

Distance to Object(s):

Shape of Object(s): domed, wingless

Color of Object(s):

Number of Witnesses:

Special Features/Characteristics:   MIB, approximately 1,500 reports had been filed.

Source: Unsolved Mysteries: The UFO Odyssey, parts 1, 2 ; Wytheville, Virginia WYVE radio station 

Full Report

Wytheville, Virginia – 10-07-87

In 1987, in the community of Wytheville, Virginia, a series of UFO encounters would occur. The first sighting to be reported was made by three policeman. On October 7, 1987, WYVE radio station news reporter Danny Gordon received a telephone call from the local Sheriff. This was a routine call that Gordon received to gather news each day. However, this report was not your run-of-the-mill call. Gordon was shocked at what he was told – three Wythe County Sheriff deputies, all former military, had seen a UFO.

A report such as this was normally relegated to the end of Gordon’s news cast, as a tongue-in-cheek report. This was the case with the UFO report, but it would not remain humorous long. Almost immediately after the broadcast, telephone switchboards were overloaded with UFO reports. Obviously, the three deputies were not the only witnesses to UFOs.

On October 19, Gordon set up a call-in show for the UFO reports. Though the reports came in, Gordon felt that there must be a reasonable explanation. He made numerous calls to the military, but was assured that nothing from the military would explain the reports.

On October 21, Gordon, along with his friend Roger Hall, a commercial pilot, took a drive to the southern part of Wythe County, where most of the UFO reports had originated. They were armed with both still and video cameras.

For about two hours they searched the skies for something unusual, but saw nothing. Their luck would change on their drive home. Gordon saw a strange object in the sky, and alerted Hall. They quickly pulled off the road, and piled out. Both men could clearly see a large, domed, wingless object moving toward them. The right side of the UFO was illuminated with various colored lights. Hall reported that the object was the size of two football in length. He could see three windows on the craft, light from the inside. Also, he was shocked to see a red ball moving toward what he felt was a mother ship. Soon, the larger ship slowly moved into a cloud bank, with the red ball joining it. Both men thought the other was taking photos or video of the object. They were both so taken by what they were seeing, neither man had grabbed a camera.

The very next night, the two sky watchers again searched for the UFO. They were reward this time with photographs. Although the photos were not yet developed, a press conference was called for the following day. The night before the conference, Gordon received an anonymous call, warning him that the Federal Government was very much interested in what Gordon and Hall had seen. Gordon continued to receive calls, warning him to back off of the UFO subject.

After the conference was held, Gordon arrived at his home only to find that someone had broken in. Nothing was taken, but Gordon believed that someone was trying to find his UFO photos. Gordon would get a second chance to capture a UFO with his camera. 

Six weeks after the conference, he, along with his wife and daughter, were leaving a local mall after doing some shopping. Suddenly, they heard a roar of voices coming from a Wythe school bus which was sitting in the parking lot. The reason for the student’s excitement was soon discovered. Hovering in plain sight was a large group of four unknown lights. This time Gordon had his camera ready and snapped several photographs.

After the photos were developed, it could be clearly seen that the four lights changed shapes.