by Charles Lear
As one looks into UFO history, there are cases that turn up again and again in books, blogs, magazines, newspapers, and documentaries. These are the “classic cases” and they’re classics because they still intrigue those who come across them. A case known as the “Coyne Incident” is one of those, and it has all the elements that make a good case: multiple credible witnesses, an official report, extensive investigation, and contemporary news coverage.
According to the report, on October 18, 1973, four men with the U.S. Army Reserve took off from Port Columbus, Ohio, in a UH-1H helicopter at around 10:30 p.m. headed for Cleveland Hopkins airport. In command and at the controls in the right front seat was 36-year-old Capt. Lawrence J. Coyne. At the controls in the left front seat was 26-year-old 1st Lt. Arrigo Jezzi. Sitting behind them were 35-year-old Sergeant John Healey and 23-year-old Sergeant Robert Yanacsek. They were flying at an altitude of 2500 feet above sea level, 1300 feet above the ground over farmland with an elevation of 1200 feet. It was a clear night lit by a quarter moon.
At around 11:00 p.m., they were over Charles Mill Lake near Mansfield, Ohio, when Healy spotted a red light to the west moving south. Shortly thereafter, Yanacsek spotted a red light on the southeast horizon that he thought might be a tower beacon or airplane wing light. Then the light turned and moved rapidly towards the helicopter.
Worried about an impact, Coyne made a powered descent of 500 feet per minute and radioed the National Guard tower in Mansfield to find out if they had an aircraft in the area. After getting an initial response, radio contact was lost.
One of the most sensational abduction cases of the 1970s, the Pascagoula Incident remains unsolved to this day. On October 11, 1973 two co-workers out fishing claimed to have been taken by three strange looking aliens into their spaceship, examined and released. The two men attempted to report their encounter to a nearby military base who referred them to the local sheriff. Thinking that the two men could be caught in a lie that would expose a hoax the sheriff left the men together in a room with a hidden microphone after his initial interviews. Much to the surprise of law enforcement, the men did not reveal a hoax but instead had a conversation that just reinforced their claims. The story spread from local media to international wire services and was investigated by Dr. J. Allen Hynek and others. Detractors note that nearby security cameras should have seen the craft the men described but other witnesses have reported seeing the craft on the same night.