Southwestern Illinois, January 5, 2000, approximately 4:00 AM — Police officers from multiple departments track a football-field-sized triangular craft with visible windows and red underside lights across a thirty-mile corridor passing within two miles of Scott Air Force Base. MUFON investigation by David B. Marler.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTING REPORT
2000: Illinois Triangle UFO Sighting
In the predawn darkness of January 5, 2000, something the size of a football field drifted across the southwestern Illinois sky at low altitude, tracked by multiple police officers from at least four departments who maintained radio contact with each other throughout the event — and who independently produced sketches of a massive, structured, triangular or elongated craft with brilliant white lights and rows of windows, passing within two miles of Scott Air Force Base. The first witness, miniature golf course owner Melvern Noll of Highland, Illinois, observed the object at close enough range to describe two floors of rectangular windows radiating intense white light, a large number of dim red lights on the bottom, and an exterior he judged to be black or dark gray — comparable in size to “a two-story house” or a football field. Officers Ed Barton of Lebanon, Craig Stevens of Millstadt, David Martin of Shiloh, and others tracked the object on a northeast-to-southwest heading, each producing detailed sketches that corroborated the structured, multi-light configuration. The case was investigated by David B. Marler, Illinois State Director of MUFON, and became one of the most widely reported American UFO cases of the early twenty-first century — and one of the strongest multi-witness, multi-jurisdictional law enforcement UFO observations on record.
Date: January 5, 2000
Sighting Time: Approximately 4:00 AM through 4:30+ AM
Day/Night: Night (predawn)
Location: Multiple towns across southwestern Illinois: Highland, Lebanon, Summerfield, Shiloh, Millstadt, Dupo — St. Clair and Madison Counties (approximately 24 miles east of St. Louis, Missouri)
Urban or Rural: Mixed — small-town urban and rural
No. of Entity(‘s): None observed
Entity Type: N/A
Entity Description: N/A
Hynek Classification: CE-I (Close Encounter I) Visual sighting of an unidentified object at close range — structural detail, windows, and surface features observed at estimated 500-foot altitude and half-mile distance
Duration: Approximately 30+ minutes across all witness observations (individual sighting durations varied)
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of Object(s): Massive structured craft variously described as triangular, arrowhead-shaped, or elongated rectangular. Melvern Noll described it as comparable to a football field in length and “very tall,” with two floors of rectangular windows radiating intense white light toward the rear, a large number of dim red lights on the bottom, and a black or dark gray exterior. Police officer sketches showed a triangular or chevron planform with multiple bright white lights. The object appeared to have a series of “windows” on the back with vertical lines or bars.
Shape of Object(s): Triangular / arrowhead / elongated rectangular (varied slightly by witness vantage point)
Size of Object(s): Estimated as comparable to a football field in length; described as “very tall”; described as comparable to “a two-story house”
Color of Object(s): Black or dark gray exterior; brilliant white lights from windows; dim red lights on underside
Distance to Object(s): Estimated half-mile at closest approach (Noll); officers observed from varying distances within their respective jurisdictions
Height & Speed: Estimated approximately 500 feet altitude (Noll). Speed described as slow — much slower than conventional aircraft — with the object observed to slow further as it passed near Noll’s position before regaining speed. Capable of moving at “fantastic” speed when departing witnesses.
Number of Witnesses: Multiple — at minimum: Melvern Noll (Highland, civilian), Officer Ed Barton (Lebanon PD), Officer Craig Stevens (Millstadt PD), Officer David Martin (Shiloh PD), Steven Wonnacott (civilian). Additional unnamed witnesses from multiple departments.
Special Features/Characteristics: Massive structured craft with visible windows, multiple floors, and surface detail at close range; tracked across multiple municipal jurisdictions with police radio coordination; flight path passed within approximately 2 miles of Scott Air Force Base (home of U.S. Transportation Command); no sound, odor, or emission reported (Noll); object appeared to slow when passing near ground witnesses; multiple independent police sketches produced showing consistent structural features; intense media coverage continued for weeks; object appeared to be capable of hovering and variable-speed flight including very slow and very fast movement
Source: David B. Marler, Illinois State Director, MUFON (MUFON Journal No. 383, March 2000); police dispatch recordings; Wayne County Press; multiple media outlets; documentary “The Edge of Reality: Illinois UFO, January 5, 2000”
Case Status: Unexplained
Summary/Description: In the early morning hours of January 5, 2000, a massive triangular or elongated craft — estimated as football-field-sized with visible windows, two floors, and dim red underside lights — was tracked across southwestern Illinois by multiple police officers maintaining radio contact across jurisdictions. The first witness, Melvern Noll of Highland, observed the craft at approximately half a mile and 500 feet altitude, describing structural detail including two rows of rectangular windows. Officers Ed Barton (Lebanon), Craig Stevens (Millstadt), David Martin (Shiloh), and others independently sketched the object, producing consistent depictions of a structured, multi-light triangular craft. The flight path passed within two miles of Scott Air Force Base. No sound was reported. The case was investigated by MUFON Illinois State Director David Marler and remains one of the strongest multi-witness law enforcement UFO cases in the American record.
Related Cases: Carlyle Lake Abduction (October 28, 1999) — same southern Illinois corridor, two months prior | Wayne City Car Chase (August 4, 1963) — earlier southern Illinois CE-II
Detailed Report
The Illinois Triangle of January 5, 2000, is one of the most thoroughly documented multi-witness UFO events in American history. The case is distinguished by the quality and number of its witnesses — primarily on-duty police officers who tracked the object across multiple jurisdictions while maintaining radio contact — and by the extensive investigation conducted by David B. Marler, then Illinois State Director for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON). Marler’s investigation, published in MUFON Journal No. 383 (March 2000), produced detailed witness interviews, independent officer sketches, and dispatch tape recordings that collectively document a massive structured craft traversing approximately thirty miles of southwestern Illinois airspace at low altitude and variable speed.
The first witness was Melvern Noll, owner of a miniature golf course in Highland, Illinois (Madison County), approximately twenty-four miles east of St. Louis. At approximately 4:00 AM on Wednesday, January 5, Noll was returning from a delivery run and stopped to check his business. He initially noticed a “bright star” in the northeast sky, dismissed it, and entered the building. Upon returning to his truck, he noticed the light again — this time moving in his direction. Within minutes, Noll realized the light was part of a much larger object. He described it as rectangular in shape, comparable in size to a football field, and “very tall.” Along its side ran a series of rectangular windows on two visible floors, radiating intense white light. The windows appeared to be positioned toward the rear of the object. At close range, Noll observed a large number of dim red lights on the bottom and judged the exterior color to be black or dark gray. His initial description was “like a two-story house” in the sky. He reported no sound, odor, or emission. The object appeared to slow as it passed closest to his position — estimated at approximately half a mile and 500 feet altitude — before regaining speed on a northeast-to-southwest heading. Noll also noticed “windows” on the back of the object with vertical lines or bars.
Noll contacted the Highland Police Department, which in turn contacted the Lebanon Police Department to the southwest — in the object’s apparent direction of travel. Officer Ed Barton of Lebanon was the next to observe the object, producing a detailed sketch showing a structured craft with multiple lights. As the object continued southwest, officers from Shiloh (David Martin), Millstadt (Craig Stevens), and other departments observed and reported it, maintaining radio contact and coordinating observations in real time. Each officer produced independent sketches that showed consistent features: a triangular or chevron-shaped planform with prominent white lights and structural detail.
The object’s flight path passed within approximately two miles of Scott Air Force Base, home of the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) and the Air Mobility Command — a major military installation with radar coverage. Whether Scott AFB tracked the object on radar has never been publicly confirmed or denied.
Civilian witness Steven Wonnacott also observed the object. Additional unnamed witnesses were documented. The police dispatch tapes were preserved and have been publicly aired, confirming the real-time coordination between departments.
The case generated intense media coverage that continued for weeks, including coverage by the St. Louis Riverfront Times, which published photographs of the key witnesses. A documentary, “The Edge of Reality: Illinois UFO, January 5, 2000,” was produced featuring reconstruction footage and witness interviews. David Marler subsequently authored the book Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation (2013), which places the Illinois Triangle within the broader pattern of triangular UAP reports.
Researcher’s Notes
The Illinois Triangle — Southern Illinois 2000 and the Multi-Jurisdictional Police Tracking Case
- Classification Correction: The existing page listed this case as NL (Nocturnal Light). This is incorrect. Melvern Noll observed the object at an estimated half-mile distance and 500 feet altitude — close enough to describe two floors of rectangular windows, dim red underside lights, surface color (black or dark gray), vertical bars in the rear windows, and overall shape and size comparable to a football field. Multiple police officers produced independent sketches showing structured surface detail. This is unambiguously a CE-I (Close Encounter I) — a visual sighting of an unidentified object at close range with structural detail clearly observed. The NL classification is corrected to CE-I.
- Source Chain Assessment: The source chain is among the strongest in the Illinois archive. The investigation was conducted by David B. Marler, then Illinois State Director of MUFON — a named, credentialed investigator who would go on to become one of the leading researchers on triangular UAP. The primary witnesses include multiple named, on-duty police officers from at least four departments (Lebanon, Millstadt, Shiloh, and others) who were observing in an official capacity and maintaining documented radio contact. Police dispatch tapes were preserved and publicly aired. Independent sketches by multiple officers show consistent structural detail. The civilian witnesses (Noll, Wonnacott) are named and were interviewed in depth. Media coverage from the Riverfront Times, AP, and other outlets provides additional documentation. The only significant gap is the absence of confirmed radar data from Scott AFB.
- Scott Air Force Base Proximity: The object’s flight path passing within approximately two miles of Scott Air Force Base is the case’s most strategically significant detail. Scott AFB houses USTRANSCOM and the Air Mobility Command — responsible for global military airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation. The base maintains comprehensive radar coverage. Whether the object was tracked on military radar, whether any scramble or alert was initiated, and whether any after-action report was generated remain unknown. The military has never publicly addressed the Illinois Triangle sighting. This silence — combined with the documented police tracking and the proximity to a major military installation — constitutes an unresolved institutional question independent of the object’s identification.
- Pattern Context — Triangular UAP: The Illinois Triangle is one of the most prominent cases in the growing catalog of triangular UAP reports that accelerated in the 1990s and 2000s. The Belgian Triangle wave (1989–1990), which also involved police and military witnesses tracking a massive triangular craft at low altitude, is the closest structural parallel. The Illinois case shares several key features with the Belgian cases: enormous size, silent or near-silent operation, slow variable-speed flight capability including hovering, visible structural detail (lights, windows, surface features), and observation by trained law enforcement personnel. David Marler’s subsequent book-length study, Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation, places both clusters within a broader pattern. The geographic concentration in the southern Illinois corridor — including the Carlyle Lake CE-IV two months earlier and the Wayne City CE-II from 1963 — may or may not be significant, but the proximity to Scott AFB provides a consistent strategic-interest thread across these cases.
The Illinois Triangle remains one of the strongest multi-witness, multi-jurisdictional law enforcement UFO cases in the American record. The combination of named police officer witnesses, independent corroborating sketches, preserved dispatch tapes, and a thorough MUFON investigation places it in the first rank of documented UAP events. The only determination consistent with the available evidence is Unexplained.
Media
ABOVE: Artistic reconstruction of Illinois UFO
Sketch of object by Officer Barton; Lebanon, Illinois Police Department
Sketch of rear of object, by Officer Stevens; Millstadt, Illinois Police Department
POLICE REPORT SKETCH, Officer Martin; Shiloh, Illinois Police Department
RECONSTRUCTION: The UFO passes Millstadt, Illinois police officer Craig Stevens at approximately 4:28am. (Video Frame from “The Edge of Reality: Illinois UFO, January 5, 2000”)
Witnesses to the Illinois sighting. Top row: Police Officer Craig Stevens (left), and Officer Ed Barton. Bottom row: Melvern Noll (left), and Steven Wonnacott. (source: The Riverfront Times, St. Louis)
