For two months in late 1968, objects followed the power-line corridor above the Tote Road with mechanical regularity — dropping smaller probes on luminous threads toward the high-tension lines below.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT
1968: The Tote Road Sightings — Waldo, Maine
From October through December 1968, a group of young people in rural Waldo, Maine repeatedly observed elliptical, lighted objects following high-tension power lines above an open field at a location known as “the Tote Road” — a wood road off Toad’s End on the east side of the Passagassawakeag River. Over approximately two months of near-nightly visits, the witnesses observed objects hovering above the power lines, spinning on their axes, dropping smaller lighted objects on thread-like light trails, and on at least one occasion, a second, much larger craft appearing above the first. One night the primary witness walked close enough to the larger object to perceive movement inside its windows. The following morning he discovered his sheepskin-lined coat — left in his car — had been torn apart, with the arm ripped clean off. Days later, the remainder of the coat appeared on his tire tracks in fresh snow, with no footprints or other tracks around it.
Date: October through December 1968
Sighting Time: Nighttime (various)
Day/Night: Night
Location: “The Tote Road,” near Toad’s End, east side of the Passagassawakeag River, Waldo, Maine, Waldo County
Urban or Rural: Rural
Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Lights) — primary classification for the repeated distant observations of lighted objects along the power line corridor. One close approach may constitute CE-I. Corrected from CE-II. See note above.
Duration: Multiple events spanning approximately two months; individual sightings lasted from minutes to over an hour
No. of Object(s): Multiple across the observation period — typically 1 primary object per night, sometimes 2 (one smaller, one very large), with smaller objects dropped from the primary
Description of the Object(s): Basic elliptical shape. Lit with red and green lights. Appeared to have windows or portals. Rotated on axis. Dropped smaller lighted objects that descended on thread-like light trails toward the power lines. On one occasion, a much larger craft appeared above the standard-sized one — large enough to clearly see rotating windows flashing red and blue light. Shape described as “somewhere between saucer and cigar — an elongated saucer.”
Shape of Object(s): Elliptical / elongated saucer
Size of Object(s): Standard objects not precisely estimated; the larger craft was described as “giant” and dwarfed the regular-sized object
Color of Object(s): Red and green lights; windows flashing red and blue on the larger craft
Distance to Object(s): Typically hundreds of yards (objects above power lines); one close approach brought the witness significantly closer to the larger craft
Height & Speed: Approximately 100 feet above the power lines; objects followed the east-west power line corridor and departed at high speed
Number of Witnesses: Multiple — primary witness (unnamed), Steve Woodrow, two unnamed girlfriends, and additional friends brought to the site over the observation period
Special Features/Characteristics: Objects consistently followed high-tension power lines in east-west direction — never deviated from this pattern. Smaller lighted objects dropped from primary craft toward the power lines on thread-like light trails. Larger craft displayed rotating windows or portals. The primary witness approached the larger craft on foot close enough to perceive movement inside but could not resolve specific forms. Coat destroyed and returned: the witness’s sheepskin-lined corduroy coat was left in his car one night and found the next morning with one arm ripped clean off (threads protruding, suggesting extreme force); days later, the remainder of the coat appeared on his tire tracks in undisturbed snow with no footprints or additional tracks. The witness attributed both the destruction and return to the objects.
Case Status: Insufficient Data
Source: UFO Casebook (first-person account)
Summary/Description: From October through December 1968, multiple young witnesses repeatedly observed elliptical lighted objects following high-tension power lines near a rural gathering spot in Waldo, Maine. Objects hovered, spun on axis, dropped smaller lighted probes, and on one occasion included a dramatically larger craft with visible rotating windows. The primary witness approached the larger craft on foot. A coat left in his car was destroyed overnight and the remains later deposited on his tire tracks in fresh snow with no surrounding footprints. No formal investigation was conducted.
Detailed Report
The location known as “the Tote Road” was a wood road near Toad’s End on the east side of the Passagassawakeag River in Waldo, Maine — a small town in Waldo County. The road ended on a high point of land overlooking a long open field through which high-tension power lines ran in a generally east-west direction. The spot was a regular nighttime gathering place for local young people, who came to sit in their cars, listen to the radio, and watch the stars. The primary witness, who narrates the account in first person but does not provide his name, was a regular visitor.
In mid-October 1968, the witness and companions had their first unusual experience. While sitting in his 1967 Ford, they noticed a lighted object approaching from the east along the power line corridor, approximately one hundred feet above the lines. When a few hundred yards from their position, the object halted and hovered. No sound was audible. The object was elliptical in shape, lit with red and green lights, and appeared to have windows. As it spun on its axis, smaller lighted objects dropped from it and drifted downward toward the power lines, leaving thread-like light trails as they descended. The witnesses did not observe the smaller objects returning to the larger craft. After what may have been an hour, the large object departed at speed toward the west.
The witnesses returned two nights later and made the Tote Road a near-nightly destination. Roughly half the time, they observed similar objects behaving in much the same way — always following the power line corridor, never deviating from this pattern. Over the weeks, the sightings became routine, and the group became desensitized enough to begin bringing additional friends to observe. On some nights, multiple objects were present.
Then one night a much larger craft appeared above the standard-sized object. The witness described it as “giant,” dwarfing the other. Its windows or portals were plainly visible, rotating around the diameter of the object and flashing red and blue light. The shape was described as “somewhere between saucer and cigar — an elongated saucer.” The witnesses strained to see inside the windows but could only make out indistinct objects. This larger craft also dropped multiple smaller objects on light trails. It eventually departed along with the smaller craft.
The pattern continued through October, November, and into early December. Then one Saturday night, the primary witness and Steve Woodrow brought their girlfriends to the Tote Road. Before dark, a large object came down the power line corridor and hovered, performing the same behaviors. The four decided to walk toward it. The girlfriends became frightened and refused to go further, and the group stopped. This was the closest any of them had been to one of the objects. Eventually the girlfriends convinced them to return to the car. Steve and the women left, but the primary witness walked closer alone. He was able to perceive movement inside the craft, though the forms remained vague and indistinct. He suddenly felt a chill and intense fear, turned, and ran back to the car.
The following morning, the witness went to retrieve his sheepskin-lined corduroy coat from the car. It was gone from where he had left it on the back seat. Reaching under the seat, he pulled out only the left arm of the coat, ripped clean off. Short threads protruded at various angles from the separation point, suggesting the arm had been snapped off by extreme force rather than cut. The witness accused Steve Woodrow of destroying the coat; Woodrow denied it. The two argued.
After the coat incident, no one would return to the Tote Road. The witness went alone for three consecutive nights. On the third night it had snowed just under an inch. He pulled in, listened to the radio (the Beatles), ran the heater, and left after seeing no objects. The following evening he returned. His tire tracks from the night before were the only marks in the snow — no one else had visited. There on one of his tire tracks was a dark form. No footprints or additional tracks approached it. The object appeared to have been deposited from above. It was the remainder of his coat. He picked it up, was overcome with fear, and left immediately.
After this incident, the witness stopped visiting the Tote Road. The account was submitted to UFO Casebook as a first-person retrospective narrative. No formal investigation was conducted. No physical evidence (the coat remnants) was preserved for analysis that is documented in the record.
Researcher’s Notes
The Torn Coat and the Power-Line Patrol — Waldo 1968 and Anomalous Object Return
- Classification Correction — CE-II Unsupported: The existing page classifies this case as CE-II, which requires physical traces left by a UAP — landing impressions, burn marks, radiation readings, physiological effects on witnesses. None of these are present. The primary sightings were of objects following power lines at distances of several hundred yards, which is standard NL (Nocturnal Light) classification. The one close approach — the witness walking toward the larger craft and perceiving interior movement — may qualify as CE-I if the distance was under 500 feet, but no precise distance is provided. The destroyed coat is a genuinely anomalous physical artifact, but it was removed from a parked car and returned days later by an unknown agent — this is not a physical trace left at a landing site or encounter point. The Hynek system does not have a category for “object taken from witness and returned by unknown means.” The coat incident is worth documenting but does not support CE-II classification.
- Power-Line Association — A Recurring Pattern: One of the most compelling aspects of this case is the objects’ rigid adherence to the high-tension power line corridor. Over two months of near-nightly observation, every object — without exception — followed the east-west power line path. This is consistent with a substantial body of reports in the UAP literature linking anomalous aerial phenomena to electrical infrastructure, including power lines, substations, and transmission towers. The objects were also observed dropping smaller probes on “thread-like light trails” toward the power lines, suggesting interaction with or monitoring of the electrical infrastructure rather than mere proximity. Whether this reflects energy harvesting, electromagnetic navigation, or coincidental flight paths along a cleared corridor cannot be determined from this data.
- The Coat Incident — Outside Standard Categories: The two-stage coat episode is the most unusual element of this case and defies easy categorization. The coat was left in the car, covered by the witness to conceal beer beneath it. The next morning, only the left arm remained — ripped off in a way that suggested extreme force (protruding threads, not a clean cut). Days later, the remainder of the coat appeared on the witness’s own tire tracks in undisturbed snow, with no footprints or vehicle tracks approaching it. The witness’s interpretation — that the beings took and returned it — is one hypothesis. Mundane alternatives (Steve Woodrow or another person taking and returning it) are undermined by the undisturbed snow, though this detail rests entirely on the witness’s uncorroborated claim. If the coat was indeed placed on the tire tracks without leaving any approach tracks, the incident represents either a deliberately anomalous act or a significant fabrication. The coat remnants were not preserved for forensic analysis.
- Witness Base and Source-Chain Assessment: This is a first-person retrospective account published on UFO Casebook. The primary witness does not provide his name. One secondary witness — Steve Woodrow — is named. The two girlfriends and additional friends brought to the Tote Road over the months are not identified. No investigator examined the case. The narrative is detailed, internally consistent, and includes specific verifiable-in-principle details (the 1967 Ford, the Tote Road location, the Passagassawakeag River, the Toad’s End area). The account reads as a sincere retrospective memoir, but without the witness’s name, without independent interviews of the other witnesses, and without any contemporaneous documentation, the case cannot achieve corroborated status. The desensitization the witness describes — sightings becoming “routine” to the point where the group brought additional spectators — is either evidence of a genuine prolonged phenomenon or evidence of a well-developed narrative. Both interpretations are consistent with the text.
The Tote Road case is a genuinely interesting account of sustained anomalous observation with an unusual physical-artifact component. Its fundamental limitation is that it exists only as an anonymous, uninvestigated retrospective narrative. The power-line association pattern and the coat return incident are distinctive features that set it apart from generic NL reports, but the absence of named witnesses (beyond Woodrow), formal investigation, or preserved physical evidence keeps it firmly in Insufficient Data territory.
