1965: UFO Lands in Cherry Creek, NY

(Last Updated On: March 13, 2021)

THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: August 19, 1965

Sighting Time: 8:20 PM

Day/Night: Night

Location: Cherry Creek, New York

Urban or Rural: -Urban

Entity Type:

Entity Description:

Hynek Classification: CE-III (Close Encounter III) Close observation with animate beings associated with the object.

Duration: 40 mins

No. of Object(s):  1

Size of Object(s): 50 feet long and approximately 20 feet thick

Distance to Object(s): a fourth of a mile

Shape of Object(s): elliptical, football-shaped

Color of Object(s): metallic

Number of Witnesses: Multiple

Source: NICAP (National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon), ‘Strange Effects from UFOs’, by Donald Keyhoe and Gordon Lore

Summary/Description: Sixteen year old Harold Butcher was milking the cows in his father’s barn in Cherry Creek, N.Y. Harold heard one of the bulls outside make a noise “like I have never heard come from an animal before.” Simultaneously he saw a metallic-looking, football-shaped UFO about 50 feet long and approximately 20 feet thick hovering just above the trees an estimated 450 feet from the barn. 

Full Report

Cherry Creek, New York, August 19, 1965

A curious landing report, in New York state on Aug. 19, 1965, has been thoroughly checked by NICAP, state police, and a five-man AF team. This sighting, which occurred on the William Butcher dairy farm near Cherry Creek, N.Y., involved three members of the Butcher family and a fourth witness. Here is their report:

At 8:20 PM, Harold Butcher, 16, was operating a milking machine in a dairy barn housing 17 cows. A portable radio on the wall was turned to a newscast, when a sudden static-like interference drowned it out.

Then the tractor which ran the milking machine abruptly stopped. A moment later, a Holstein bull secured outside began to bellow and pull at a steel bar to which it was chained.

Young Butcher ran to a window and saw a large elliptical object near the ground, a fourth of a mile away. A reddish vapor could be seen underneath, and he heard a steady beep-beep sound. The UFO was on the ground only a few seconds, then it shot straight up, disappearing in low clouds.

When the other witnesses came out, after Harold Butcher phoned the house, they noticed a strange odor, also a greenish glow in the clouds where the UFO had vanished. Meantime, it was found that the bull had bent the steel bar in his efforts to get loose.

Half an hour later, when the strange craft reappeared, circling the area, Mrs. Butcher called the State police. Two troopers investigated, notified the AF. Next day, Capt. James Dorsey, Operations Officer, 4621st AF Group, arrived with four AF technicians.

When they examined the ground, an odd, purplish liquid substance was discovered at several places. Small unexplained marks, two inches wide and two inches apart, also were found, along with patches of singed grass and foliage.

After the AF team left, NICAP member Jeffrey Gow obtained samples of the purplish substance and singed foliage, and samples were studied by the Kawecki Chemical Co., whose president is a NICAP adviser.

Spectrographic analysis showed the main elements of the liquid to be aluminum, iron and silicon. Some phosphorous was found in the weed samples, which the analyst said might cause a phosphate smell, explaining the odor.

On the night following the Cherry Creek incident, State Trooper Richard Ward, a few miles from this area, watched an object with eight circular lights in line flying twice as fast as a jet. It emitted a faint, unfamiliar, purring sound.

Dr. Fred C. Fair and John Maxwell, of NICAP New York Subcommittee No. 2, carefully checked the Cherry Creek site and questioned the witnesses.

On the basis of present evidence, they believe the report is genuine. Dr. Fair has confirmed that two state troopers who investigated also seem to be convinced.

Animal Reaction Feature:

A 3-year-old Holstein bull was secured to a steel bar outside of a dairy barn containing 17 cows. About 8:20 PM, Harold Butcher, 16, was operating the milking machine when the radio had static-like interference and the tractor motor running the milking machine cut off.

The bull made a noise “like I have never heard come from an animal before.”

Harold looked out the window at the bull, which was trying to get lose, and he saw an elliptical object nearing the ground with a “beep-beep” sound about a quarter of a mile away (1320 feet). After hovering briefly on or near the ground, the object shot up into low clouds.

As the object rose, the noise pitch increased to a level approximating a sonic boom. The cows produced only one can of milk that evening rather than the normal 2 ½ cans. Later examination of the bar to which the bull was secured found it bent.

Joan Woodward, Animal Reaction Specialist:

The object was metallic-looking, football shaped, and estimated to be 50 feet long and 20 feet thick. A reddish vapor was emitted from the bottom area and when the object rose, the red vapor shot toward the ground and bounced back toward the object.

The clouds had a greenish glow where the object had vanished.

At 9 PM, the object was seen again by several people at the farm. It now had a glowing yellow vapor trail.

The clouds still appeared to have a green glow. State police were called and investigated and the Air Force investigated. This incident involved EM effects. A tractor motor shut down, the barn radio and house radio had static-like interference, but a telephone between the barn and house apparently worked.

Physical traces included an odor, ground marks, a purple liquid, and grass bent over and singed.

Physiological effects included Harold and his younger sister having upset stomachs, and the cows giving less than normal amounts of milk.

The U.F.O. Investigator (NICAP), Vol. III, No. 4, August-September 1965, page 7:

Landing Probed by NICAP, AF

Sources:

Hall, Richard H., 2001, The UFO Evidence, Vol. II, Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press, pages 57-58; Keyhoe, Donald E., and Gordon I. R. Lore, Jr., 1969, Strange Effects from UFOs, Washington, D.C., NICAP, pages 42-44; The U.F.O. Investigator (NICAP), Vol. III, No. 4, August-September 1965, p. 7.

Preliminary Report – UFOI

Account from Strange Effects From UFOs

Account from UFO Evidence II – Hall

MISC-PBB1 624 – 640 – Dan Wilson