1964: UFO frightens boy and cow

THINK ABOUTIT UFO SIGHTING REPORT

Date: May 19, 1964

Sighting Time: 7:30 a.m.

Day/Night: Day

Location: Hubbard, Oregon

Urban or Rural: -rural

Entity Type:  None Seen (The witness only observed the craft and its landing gear, no occupants were reported).

Entity Description:  N/A.

Hynek Classification: CE-II (Close Encounter II) Observation of an object in close proximity to the witness, where physical traces (impression, burn, medical effect, etc.) are left or (electrical effect, heat) are felt

Duration:  Several Minutes (Based on the sequence of letting the cow out, observing the craft, hearing the beep, and watching the ascent).

No. of Object(s): 1

Size of Object(s): four feet high

Distance to Object(s):   Sitting in middle of wheat field (The witness was close enough to see “four shiny legs” and notice the “soft beep” and “gas fumes”).

Shape of Object(s): square object

Color of Object(s): silver-colored

Number of Witnesses: Single

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

Summary/Description: Young Michael J. Bizon had gone outside his home in Hubbard, Oregon, to let the cow out of her stall. The cow seemed very nervous, and “was bucking all the way.” Then he saw a square object about four feet high. The silver-colored UFO was sitting in the middle of a wheat field. It had four shiny legs. The object rose, slowly at first, and then “shot up just like a rocket.” A flattened area with three spots was found in the wheat field.

Full Report

Sketch by Deputy Sheriff Davidson of UFO described by witness Michael J. Bizon.

Landed UFO Frightens Boy, Cow

Young Michael J. Bizon had gone outside his home in Hubbard, Oregon, to let the cow out of her stall. His mother, Mrs. Leonard M. Bizon, was inside the house. The time was about 7:30 a.m., May 19, 1964.

“I went to put the cow out in the field,” Mike told a local newspaper reporter. “Usually she can’t wait to get out there. . . . She was crosswise in the stanchion and seemed very nervous. .. . She was bucking all the way.”

Then he saw a square object about four feet high. The silver-colored UFO was sitting in the middle of a wheat field. It had four shiny legs.

“It started with a soft beep and started to go up,” the boy told Marion County Deputy Sheriff Shirlie H. Davidson, who sent his official report to NICAP. “It went up slow until it got to about the height of a telephone pole. Then it shot up just like a rocket. . . .”

Mike said the UFO emitted a smell like gas fumes as it rose. He then ran into the house. Mrs. Bizon said her son “had been very frightened and half crying when he made the report to her.”

At about this time, Ray Mortenson, the Bizons’ carpenter, arrived on the scene. He went with the boy to the wheat field and they found a spot where the wheat had been flattened out.

“I would say the area was between three and four feet across,” the carpenter stated, “with the wheat being pushed out in a flower-shaped pattern.”

After being notified of the incident, Officer Davidson also arrived on the scene and saw the flattened area.

“The grain appeared to have been pushed down by some object,” Davidson wrote in his report. “Three particular spots were noted. These were spaced about 36 inches apart. . . .”

Later, an officer from Adair Air Force Base also inspected the site, but NICAP is unaware of any Air Force comment on the case.

Scientific Analysis: Traces and Landing Mechanics

The Hubbard, Oregon incident is a significant CE-II case due to the precise physical evidence recorded by Marion County Deputy Sheriff Shirlie H. Davidson and corroborating witnesses. Unlike many high-strangeness reports that rely solely on fleeting visual data, this event left measurable imprints in a wheat field that allow for a basic mechanical reconstruction of the craft.

• The Flower-Shaped Pattern: Carpenter Ray Mortenson described an area three to four feet across where the wheat was flattened in a distinct “flower-shaped pattern”. This suggests a localized downward force combined with a potential centrifugal or rotational air displacement as the object descended, rather than a simple static weight.

• Tripod Landing Configuration: Officer Davidson noted three specific flattened spots spaced exactly 36 inches apart. This triangular footprint is a recurring motif in UFO landing reports and implies a tripod landing gear system designed for stability on uneven rural terrain.

• Olfactory and Propulsion Indicators: Michael Bizon’s report of a “soft beep” followed by a smell like “gas fumes” provides a rare acoustic and olfactory profile. While the smell of sulfur or ozone is more common in UAP encounters, the “gas fumes” description may indicate a chemical byproduct of the propulsion system used during the high-acceleration phase when the object “shot up just like a rocket”.

• Comparison to Socorro: The 36-inch spacing and the presence of four “shiny legs” bear striking similarities to the Socorro incident which occurred just weeks earlier in April 1964. Both cases involve small, structured craft performing rapid vertical takeoffs from rural landing sites, suggesting a possible technological consistency during the 1964 wave.

Researcher’s Note: The Air Force and the 1964 Wave

The Hubbard, Oregon case occurred during a significant uptick in high-quality UFO reports across the United States. While an officer from Adair Air Force Base did inspect the Bizon property, the lack of an official public comment is characteristic of the Air Force’s Project Blue Book operations during this era. Typically, when faced with physical landing traces and multiple credible witnesses, official investigations would either classify the event as “Unidentified” or attempt to explain it away as a localized meteorological event or a hoax.

However, the corroboration between Deputy Sheriff Davidson, the carpenter Ray Mortenson, and the young witness Michael Bizon makes a “hoax” explanation difficult to sustain. The presence of animal reaction—the nervous cow bucking in its stall—is a frequently reported “pre-sighting” indicator that suggests a physical presence was detected by animals before it was visible to humans. This case remains a compelling CE-II because the physical evidence (the 36-inch tripod spacing) perfectly matches the visual testimony of the “four shiny legs”.

The Hubbard sighting stands as a vital piece of the 1964 UFO puzzle. It reinforces the pattern of small, metallic craft performing rural landings and high-velocity departures that characterized the mid-1960s wave. By documenting the flower-shaped pattern and the specific olfactory details, this archive preserves a moment of “high strangeness” that continues to challenge conventional explanations. As researchers look back from 2026, cases like this—supported by law enforcement documentation—provide the foundational data needed to understand the long-term history of UAP activity on our planet.