THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTING REPORT

2005: Woman is Sickened by Two Encounters

On the nights of August 24 and August 25, 2005, a woman driving cross-country from Eagle Rock, Missouri to a resort near Marion, Ohio had two encounters on consecutive nights in two different states — and spent months paying for both. The first, a few miles west of Indianapolis on I-70, began with what appeared to be fire, smoke, and flashing lights behind trees, accompanied by a putrid chemical odor she recognized from her years working at Dow Chemical: sulfuric acid and burnt tar. Lights rose from the fiery area and followed her for approximately 90 miles. The second, the following night on Highway 61 near Mount Gilead, Ohio, was closer: a stealth-like craft crossed the road slowly and very low, directly over her truck, with the same overpowering chemical stench. The consequences were medical. By the time she reached home in Missouri, she was coughing, had lost her voice, had white stool, and her lungs were burning. Her hair looked burnt. Her shoes — new, never worn before the trip — showed visible damage to their synthetic suede material. Her physician diagnosed chemical pneumonia and a kidney infection. The Morrow County, Ohio Sheriff told her to call the FBI. The FBI chastised her for not reporting sooner. Homeland Security said they were too busy with Hurricane Katrina. She reported to UFOs Northwest, whose investigator tested the shoes for radioactivity and magnetism (negative) and sent them to organic chemist Phyllis Budinger for analysis.

⚠ TWO-STATE CASE:

This report covers two encounters on consecutive nights — the first near Indianapolis, Indiana (August 24, 2005) and the second near Mount Gilead, Ohio (August 25, 2005). The page is filed under Indiana Sightings for the location of the first encounter.

Date: August 24, 2005 (Encounter 1 — Indiana) and August 25, 2005 (Encounter 2 — Ohio)

Sighting Time: Encounter 1: approximately 2:00 AM CDT; Encounter 2: shortly after midnight

Day/Night: Night — clear weather on both nights

Location: Encounter 1: I-70 eastbound, a few miles west of Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana (39.75°N, 86.2°W). Encounter 2: Highway 61, approximately 5 miles north of Mount Gilead, Morrow County, Ohio (40.533°N, 82.817°W)

Urban or Rural: Rural — highway driving through open countryside on both occasions

No. of Entity(‘s): None observed

Entity Type: N/A

Entity Description: N/A

Hynek Classification: CE-II (Close Encounter of the Second Kind) — objects observed at close range (directly overhead in Encounter 2) with documented physiological effects (chemical pneumonia, kidney infection, hair damage, shoe material degradation) and physical evidence (damaged shoes submitted for laboratory analysis)

Duration: Encounter 1: extended — lights followed the witness for approximately 90 miles. Encounter 2: brief — craft passed directly overhead

No. of Object(s): Encounter 1: multiple lights rising from a bright display area. Encounter 2: 1 stealth-like craft

Description of the Object(s): Encounter 1: fire, smoke, and flashing lights behind trees, from which lights rose and followed the witness for ~90 miles. Encounter 2: stealth-like craft, dark, angular, crossing the highway very slowly and very low. No sound. Witness passed directly under it.

Shape of Object(s): Encounter 2: stealth-like — angular, dark (witness drawing on file)

Size of Object(s): Encounter 2: large enough to be prominent crossing a highway at very low altitude — specific dimensions not estimated

Color of Object(s): Dark — stealth-like appearance

Distance to Object(s): Encounter 2: directly overhead — the witness drove under the object

Height & Speed: Encounter 2: very low, crossing the highway; very slow. No sound.

Number of Witnesses: 2 — the witness (wife, driver) and her husband (disabled veteran, passenger). Only the wife has been interviewed. The husband experienced similar gastrointestinal symptoms but declined to seek treatment or participate in the investigation.

Special Features/Characteristics: Chemical odor — strong putrid smell described as sulfuric acid and burnt tar, identical on both nights. The witness, a former Dow Chemical employee, was trained in chemical odor recognition. Physical evidence — new, never-worn shoes showed visible material degradation to their synthetic rayon suede after the encounters; shoes retained for laboratory analysis. A mist-like material was felt during the encounters. Physiological effects — coughing, laryngitis, white stool, burning lungs, hair appearing burnt, elevated blood pressure, black flakes falling from hair when brushing (primarily in the days following the incident), red sore on ankle (healed). Physician diagnosis: chemical pneumonia and kidney infection. Husband’s symptoms: gastrointestinal distress.

Case Status: Unexplained

Source: UFOs Northwest (ufosnw.com) — investigator tested shoes for radioactivity and magnetism (negative), submitted shoes to organic chemist Phyllis Budinger (30+ years analytical chemistry experience) for laboratory analysis. Morrow County, Ohio Sheriff Department notified; FBI Indianapolis office notified; Department of Homeland Security notified — no agency took action.

Summary/Description: A couple traveling cross-country experienced two encounters on consecutive nights — the first near Indianapolis, Indiana on August 24, 2005 (fire/lights display, chemical odor, 90-mile aerial pursuit) and the second near Mount Gilead, Ohio on August 25, 2005 (stealth-like craft directly overhead, chemical odor). The wife subsequently developed chemical pneumonia, kidney infection, and multiple physiological symptoms. New shoes showed material degradation. Both witnesses experienced gastrointestinal symptoms. Shoes were submitted for professional chemical analysis by Phyllis Budinger. Three federal/state agencies were notified; none investigated.

Related Cases: 1957 Merom Indiana CE-II (radiation-type burns, same state) | 1980 Cash-Landrum, Texas CE-II (radiation burns, physiological effects, physical evidence) | 1983 Copley Woods CE-IV (radiation-type eye burns, Indianapolis area)

Detailed Report

The 2005 two-encounter case is unusual in the CE-II literature for several reasons: the encounters occurred on consecutive nights in two different states along a cross-country driving route, the physiological effects were diagnosed by a physician as chemical rather than radiological in nature, and the physical evidence (damaged shoes) was submitted for professional laboratory analysis by an organic chemist with over 30 years of experience.

The couple was traveling from Eagle Rock, Missouri to a small resort near Marion, Ohio. The wife was driving their Ford pickup truck eastbound on I-70 in the early morning hours of August 24, 2005 when she noticed what appeared to be fire, smoke, and flashing lights behind trees to the north, a few miles west of Indianapolis. Simultaneously, a strong putrid chemical odor filled the cab — an odor she immediately recognized from her career at Dow Chemical as resembling sulfuric acid and burnt tar. Lights rose from the fiery area and followed them for approximately 90 miles until they stopped for gas at Richmond, Indiana. The couple pulled off the road, slept until sunrise, and completed their journey to the resort.

The following day they drove from the resort to visit a relative in Marion, Ohio. On their return shortly after midnight on August 25, on Highway 61 approximately 5 miles north of Mount Gilead, the wife saw a stealth-like craft crossing the road very slowly and very low. She heard no sound. The truck passed directly under the object. The same putrid sulfuric/tar odor was immediately present. Upon returning to the resort, she noticed severe damage to her shoes — new, synthetic rayon suede, never worn before the trip — which appeared to have undergone material degradation.

The physiological effects developed progressively. The wife experienced coughing, laryngitis, white stool, burning lungs, and hair that looked burnt. Black flakes fell from her hair when brushing, primarily in the first days after the incidents. Her blood pressure rose significantly. A red sore appeared on her ankle and later healed. Her husband, a disabled veteran, experienced similar gastrointestinal symptoms but declined to seek medical treatment or participate in the investigation.

The witness attempted to report through official channels. The Morrow County, Ohio Sheriff told her to report to the FBI. The FBI’s Indianapolis office chastised her for not reporting sooner (she waited until her return to Missouri on August 30). The Department of Homeland Security informed her they were occupied with Hurricane Katrina relief. She then reported to UFOs Northwest.

The UFOs Northwest investigator tested the shoes for radioactivity and magnetism, finding no abnormal measurements. The shoes were subsequently sent to Phyllis Budinger, an organic chemist with over 30 years of analytical chemistry experience, for professional material analysis. The physician who examined the witness on October 11, 2005 — described as being familiar with physical ailments associated with close UFO encounters — diagnosed chemical pneumonia and kidney infection.

Researcher’s Notes

The I-70/Highway 61 Chemical Encounters — Indiana/Ohio 2005 and the Chemical Pneumonia Diagnosis

Source Chain and Investigation Quality: The source is UFOs Northwest, a civilian reporting and investigation organization. The investigator conducted multiple follow-up interviews, tested the physical evidence for radioactivity and magnetism, and arranged professional chemical analysis by Phyllis Budinger — a credentialed analytical chemist with over 30 years of experience who has conducted laboratory analysis for multiple UFO cases. The multiple federal agency contacts (Sheriff, FBI, DHS) are documented but none resulted in investigation. The physician’s diagnosis of chemical pneumonia is a medical finding of specific type, not a vague “illness,” and constitutes the strongest medical evidence in the case.
Classification Rationale: CE-II is appropriate for both encounters. Encounter 2 involved an object directly overhead (within feet of the witness’s vehicle) with subsequent physiological effects and physical evidence. Encounter 1 involved lights that followed the witness for 90 miles, accompanied by the same chemical odor — a longer-range interaction that nonetheless produced the same physiological response. The chemical odor present in both encounters — identified by a trained Dow Chemical employee as sulfuric acid and burnt tar — constitutes a shared physical characteristic linking the two events.
Chemical vs. Radiological Injury Pattern: This case diverges from the standard CE-II radiation-burn paradigm (Gilham 1957, Cash-Landrum 1980, Copley Woods 1983). The physician’s diagnosis of chemical pneumonia — lung injury caused by chemical inhalation rather than radiation exposure — suggests an entirely different interaction mechanism. The sulfuric acid/burnt tar odor, the mist-like material felt during the encounters, the shoe material degradation, the black flakes from the hair, and the gastrointestinal symptoms in both witnesses are consistent with exposure to an airborne chemical agent rather than electromagnetic radiation. If accurate, this represents a rarely documented category of CE-II physiological effect.
Physical Evidence Assessment: The shoes are the strongest physical evidence element. New, unworn shoes of known material composition showed visible degradation after the encounters. The investigator’s negative findings for radioactivity and magnetism narrow the causal field. Phyllis Budinger’s professional chemical analysis — comparing the damaged shoes against a control pair of similar construction purchased by the investigator — represents the highest standard of physical evidence analysis available in civilian UFO investigation. The results of that analysis, if available, would be the single most important datum in this case.

Two nights, two states, one chemical stench that a Dow Chemical veteran recognized instantly, and a physician who diagnosed what the exposure did to her lungs. The I-70/Highway 61 encounters are a CE-II case with a rare chemical — rather than radiological — injury profile. The shoes are in a laboratory somewhere. The archive holds the medical record.