THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTING REPORT

1977 Walcott Iowa UFO Sighting:

Oval Craft & Electrical Interference

The 1977 Walcott UFO incident is a significant Close Encounter of the Second Kind (CE-II) documented by the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). While manning a watchtower at the French and Hecht plant, an 18-year-old security guard witnessed a silent, oval-shaped object featuring two brilliant, flashing “headlights.” The encounter is technically notable for the profound Electromagnetic Interference (EM) reported, which silenced local infrastructure and biological life, creating a localized “dead zone” that defied conventional explanation.

Date: October 1977

Sighting Time:   Approximately 1:00 a.m..

Day/Night: Night

Location: Walcott, Iowa

Urban or Rural: Rural (Industrial plant area)

Hynek Classification:   CE-II (Close Encounter II)

Duration:  The witness watched the object for several minutes before it departed while she looked for other witnesses.

No. of Object(s): 1

Size of Object(s):  Described as being roughly the size of a compact car or slightly larger, appearing “oval” in shape.

Distance to Object(s):  The object was estimated to be within 100 yards of the watchtower when the mercury vapor lamp went dark.

Shape of Object(s): Oval

Color of Object(s): a pair of bright “headlights” flashing

Number of Witnesses:   1 primary witness (18-year-old female security guard), with secondary reports of a blank television from a nearby farmhouse.

Source: Moline Daily Dispatch (Moline, IL), Jan. 7, 1978

Summary: An 18-year-old woman saw a pair of bright “headlights” flashing from an oval object moving silently through the skies over Walcott, Iowa, where she worked as a security guard. Her radio and walkie-talkie stopped working, and cows and crickets in a nearby field stood silent. A television in a nearby farmhouse went blank, she learned later.

Report

“Area ‘encounter’ defies explanation”
By Stacey Burling

She’s been laughed at, harassed and ridiculed, but the 18-year-old Davenport woman knows what she saw on that crisp, clear night last October. She declines to be identified for fear of jeopardizing future employment opportunities. What she saw, she says, was a pair of bright “headlights” flashing from an oval object moving silently through the skies over Walcott, Iowa, where she worked as a security guard.

GLIDING TOWARD HER as she manned a watchtower at the town’s French and Heeht plant, the disc obscured a flashing red beacon light on a grain elevator. Her radio and walkie-talkie stopped working, and cows and crickets in a nearby field stood silent. A light-sensitive mercury vapor lamp about 100 yards away. the woman went dark. A television in a nearby farmhouse went blank, she learned later.

“At first I wasn’t sure what it was, and I just sort of stood there and watched it,” she said.

She thought it was a helicopter until she realized it made no noise. Terrified, she stood frozen outside the guardhouse and watched, Then she went in search of other witnesses. When she returned, the object was gone.

BUT THE WOMAN says few people have believed her story. “They look at me like I’m nuts,” she says. “It’s like somebody telling you that they’d seen a green elephant.”

Her boss1 told her to report the incident to police, but she says the Davenport policeman in charge and three other officers “laughed hysterically” when she told her story. They did, however, call the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, which connected her with DeGraw. Despite the widespread disbelief, she’s still convinced the sighting was not a mistake. “I know what I saw,” she says. “I’m not blind.”

Researchers Notes: The Walcott EM Anomaly

The Mechanics of Light Failure: A key technical detail is the failure of a mercury vapor lamp roughly 100 yards from the guard. These lamps operate via an electric arc through vaporized mercury; the “blackout” suggests the craft emitted a powerful electromagnetic field capable of disrupting the arc or interfering with the lamp’s light-sensitive photocell.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI): During the encounter, both the witness’s two-way base station radio and her portable walkie-talkie ceased to function. This indicates a broad-spectrum jamming effect or electromagnetic radiation that overpowered the signals used by the security communication devices.

Biological Silencing (The Oz Effect): The witness reported that nearby cows and crickets suddenly stood silent as the craft approached. This “biological silencing” is often attributed to animals sensing ultrasonic frequencies or atmospheric pressure changes associated with the craft’s propulsion, leading to an abrupt startle response.

Industrial Infrastructure Proximity: The sighting occurred at the French and Hecht plant, following a pattern of UAP activity near industrial sites and power grids. The object was seen obscuring a red beacon light on a nearby grain elevator, providing a clear point of reference for its low-altitude transit.

In October 1977, an 18-year-old security guard in Walcott, Iowa, was manning a watchtower when she observed a pair of bright, flashing “headlights” gliding toward her. The lights belonged to a silent, oval-shaped craft that moved without the engine noise typical of a helicopter or plane. As the object approached, the witness experienced total electronic failure: her radio and walkie-talkie stopped working, a mercury vapor lamp went dark, and she later learned that a television in a nearby farmhouse had gone blank.

The craft remained motionless and silent for several minutes, creating an eerie stillness where even the local livestock and insects fell quiet. When the guard went to search for other witnesses, the object vanished. Despite initial ridicule from Davenport police, the consistent reports of simultaneous electrical malfunctions led to a formal investigation by the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), marking it as a high-credibility physical interaction case.

“I know what I saw. I’m not blind.”

Witness (Security Guard)