by UFO History Buff & Author, Charles Lear
On the morning of April 17, 1966, two sheriff deputies, Dale Spaur and Wilbur “Barney” Neff, chased a UFO from Portage County, Ohio, for 86 miles all the way into Pennsylvania. They chased the object at speeds ranging from 80 mph to 105 mph. According to them, there were times when the object actually stopped and waited for them to catch up to it. Other law enforcement officers witnessed the object after being alerted by radio communications between the deputies and their dispatcher. According to Project Blue Book Director Hector Quintanilla, the officers chased the planet Venus. Spaur stuck to the story that they had chased a physical object as others went silent, and he ended up losing his job and his family. A case that is remarkably similar is reported to have occurred in June of that year, and the officer who reported it also seems to have suffered for speaking out, but to a lesser extent than Spaur.
There is an article (page 3 of the pdf) by Bob Lindsey in the October 27, 1977, Richmond, Virginia, Times Dispatch headlined “UFO Sighting Changed Stevens’ Life.” Under the headline, there is a quote from William L. Stevens Jr.: “I often stop and wonder if you’re better off when you see something like that, to keep your mouth shut.” Read more