by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear
In 1981, there was a highly strange report out of Ohio that involved UFOs, Bigfoot-type creatures, and “black forms,” all of which reportedly besieged a family in Ohio during the months of June and July. Reports of Bigfoot-type creatures and UFOs being seen in the same area at or near the same time are not all that unusual, particularly in the area around Chestnut Ridge in next-door Pennsylvania, focused on by researcher Stan Gordon. However, questions remain about the Ohio case, and unfortunately, the main investigator passed away in 2022. Also, the main witness has never been identified, so following up on the story is difficult.
The case was investigated by Dennis Pilichis who wrote about it in a booklet he self-published in 1982, titled Night Siege: The Northern Ohio UFO-Creature Invasion. It has a forward by Berthold Schwartz MD, who was a psychiatrist with a long-time interest in paranormal subjects, was a frequent contributor to Flying Saucer Review, and wrote about what was one of Stan Gordon’s strangest Bigfoot/UFO encounter cases in the July 1974 issue.
Night Siege SphereIn his introduction, Pilichis tells the reader that Night Siege is the result of four months of investigation and that the data collected includes “extensive interviews” and “on site recordings” captured on cassette tape, and photos of “ground effects and footprints of various kinds.” He says there were “more than 15” witnesses and that he and researchers who were assisting him “have also seen the strange lights, the actual creatures and related phenomena.” He insists that what he presents in the booklet is true and “totally consistent” with events in other areas of the U.S., but explains they “get very little ‘public attention’ with many details only known to researchers through private distribution.”
Pilichis describes “the scene” as he first came upon it, saying he saw “two ladders up against the family house” as well as coats, a flashlight, and coffee cups up on the roof. He describes the yard as being “covered with spent shot gun shells” and says the family was highly agitated and stressed. He says he introduced himself to the family as a “local person” who was “interested in the strange goings on” and that he did not mention UFOs, Bigfoot, or aliens, or that he investigated such things.
He closes his intro saying that with this report and previous data “it is obvious there is a very disturbing pattern, and linkage of paranormal ufo/bigfoot activity taking place all over the United States.”
According to Pilichis, the activity began about a year previous with a deer being found in the woods with its side cut open by what seemed to have been claws. This was followed by shots being heard where a group of Amish workers were cutting wood on the property of the main witness, called “Robert S.” According to Pilichis, as the Amish workers brought out a horse with its side cut open (claw marks dug one and a half inches deep are described), they refused to discuss it and said they had been shooting snakes. He says they didn’t return for their equipment for “at least a month.”
The first of the creature encounters involving Robert S. is described under the heading “THE ENCOUNTER OF JUNE 25th 1981.” According to Pilichis, Robert S. and two of his sons noticed their ducks acting up and saw a black form on all fours with glowing red eyes going after them. As one of the boys shone a light at the creature’s eyes, “Robert shot it with a 4-10 shot gun single shot.” The creature is said to have screamed and gone “‘Flying’ down the field in a westerly direction.”
Another encounter is described under the heading “THE ENCOUNTER OF JUNE 26TH 1981.” Robert is said to have seen a creature about 30 feet away and to have used his flashlight to get a good look at its face and chest. This creature is described as being like a gorilla, nine-and-a-half feet tall, black, with self-luminous glowing red eyes the size of a hardball, one-and-a-half inch fangs, and teeth like a shark’s.
According to Pilichis, Robert ran back to the house, told his boys to get their pants on as he grabbed the same gun, and then went with the boys to his truck. Pilichis says they chased the creature but lost it at the wood line. Then, as they headed back to the house, the truck reportedly died for no apparent reason, though the headlights stayed on. According to Pilichis, they eventually got it started, went back to the house, and kept watch all night.
If the next section is to be believed, under the heading “THE ENCOUNTER OF JUNE 28TH 1981,” things took a dramatic turn as the family saw multiple “black forms,” one of which is said to have been waving a blue light back and forth, as well as multiple sets of glowing eyes. According to Pilichis, the family “opened up with their guns” and went through “two boxes of 12 guage [sic] mag shells.” One creature is said to have been hit and fallen to the ground, and when two more sets of eyes approached, the family is said to have “opened up” again, sending whatever was behind the eyes running, one to the east and one to the west. Pilichis tells the reader that, at this point, the family felt they were under siege, ran back to the house, and for the rest of the night, occasionally saw “forms running on the woodline [sic].”
Piichis says he went into the fields with Roberts and his family and found three-toed footprints in a field that the creature that was reportedly shot reportedly ran through. This was apparently on July 1, as this is when casts of two footprints shown in photos are said to have been made.
Prior to Pilichis, on June 29, officers from the Ashtabula Sheriff Department came out at 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., and Pilichis includes transcripts of the police reports. They sum up what was told to the officers, and the first report describes them finding prints, but being told by the Game Warden that “nothing could be done unless a clear print could be obtained.”
Night Siege CreatureThe next account, under the heading “ENCOUNTERS THE NIGHT OF JULY 1ST 1981,” is where the UFOs come into the story. According to Piilchis, the family had been keeping nightly watches on the roof, and on the night of July 1, two family members saw “four objects/lights” shaped like “huge oil tanks, somewhat square and box-like,” along the wood line that were changing color from blue to yellow to “something that looked like black.” One of them is said to have shone a white light onto the ground that lit the area up like it was day.
Pilichis says screams like that of a woman were heard, the lights went out, the “forms” were then seen running near the tree line, and there was more shooting as before, but this time, the “forms” screamed. He says a bright light appeared over the cornfield across the street and one family member said he felt the light from it hit him in the head. According to Pilchis, this person felt like he was losing consciousness as he almost fell off the roof and had “a headache for the rest of the day.” The light is said to have gone out after another person up there shot at it.
Another light, described as “something like a red hot coal but bigger in size,” is said to have landed in a tree. According to Pilichis, when this light was shot at, “it jumped down a branch” and turned into something like an owl, and as the shooting continued, it fell onto the ground, “got up and ran to the down to the woodline [sic] on all fours.”
The last object, described as “smaller in size” and “shaped like a cigar box” with blue lights around it and a brighter red one in the middle, is said to have flown over the house at 200 feet. “The father” (Robert S.?”) is said to have “had one of his sons brace his feet” and then to have shot, aiming at the red light. According to Pilichis, the man hit it, and as he heard what sounded like a bullet hitting glass, it went out.
Next week: Pilichis and other investigators witness some of the strangeness first-hand, and some recent thoughts on the validity of the report from researchers profiled in the Small Town Monsters Mysteries and Monsters episode “Sasquatch Night Siege.”