BS3
Abominable Showman
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2021
- Messages
- 1,857
In the early hours of October 3, 1958 the crew of a Monon RR freight train in rural Indiana reported a group of UFOs - large, elliptical lights, which occasionally varied in colour and brightness - pacing, and occasionally passing over, their train, for over an hour. The usual optical illusions seem to be ruled out by the movement of the objects around and over the train during the sighting but...who knows.
This is one that, like Levelland the year before, I've always classed as 'puzzling' given its duration and the apparent interaction of the whatever-it-was with the train on which the witnesses were travelling. Though you'll find it in a few compendiums of 1950s cases it didn't get investigated by the Air Force (there is a Blue Book file, but it's mainly clippings or correspondence) or much newspaper publicity. Maybe another one hinting at a yet-to-be-described plasma phenomenon?
There is a reasonable summary of the morning's events on the website of the Monroe County History Center here. The railway line itself is now closed and lifted, but from the account given a couple of locations can be identified: the crossroads called "Wasco" is presumably Owasco, and the train was travelling south through Kirklin.
Problems? I suppose the main one is the usual issue of the case coming through a single investigator (Frank Edwards, in this case) but James McDonald, who rated the case quite highly, was able to reinterview three out of five of the traincrew and couldn't find any issue with their accounts.
1958-era Monon freight train added below, for reference.
This is one that, like Levelland the year before, I've always classed as 'puzzling' given its duration and the apparent interaction of the whatever-it-was with the train on which the witnesses were travelling. Though you'll find it in a few compendiums of 1950s cases it didn't get investigated by the Air Force (there is a Blue Book file, but it's mainly clippings or correspondence) or much newspaper publicity. Maybe another one hinting at a yet-to-be-described plasma phenomenon?
There is a reasonable summary of the morning's events on the website of the Monroe County History Center here. The railway line itself is now closed and lifted, but from the account given a couple of locations can be identified: the crossroads called "Wasco" is presumably Owasco, and the train was travelling south through Kirklin.
Problems? I suppose the main one is the usual issue of the case coming through a single investigator (Frank Edwards, in this case) but James McDonald, who rated the case quite highly, was able to reinterview three out of five of the traincrew and couldn't find any issue with their accounts.
1958-era Monon freight train added below, for reference.
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