The Portage County UFO Chase
- By
Marcus Lowth
- February 17, 2019
- October 6, 2021
- 18 min read
- Expert Opinion
- 3
- Posted in
- UFOs, Close Encounters
Although the bizarre UFO incident of April 1966 began in Portage County, Ohio, it would end over the state border in Pennsylvania covering over 80 miles. Furthermore, what began with one police car with two officers pursuing an unknown, low-flying object quickly turned into multiple police cars who would join the chase at various places along the route.
An image of a UFO blended into a still from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind
What’s more, like many of the Project Blue Book investigations, despite the abundance of evidence and witnesses available, the official findings were dismissive and, to some, preposterous. That the UFO was merely a rogue satellite or even the planet Venus, was bordering on insulting to t...
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Marcus Lowth
Marcus Lowth is a writer with a love for UFOs, aliens, and the Ancient Astronaut Theory, to the paranormal, general conspiracies, and unsolved mysteries. He has been writing and researching with over 20 years of experience.
Marcus has been Editor-in-Chief for several years due to his excellent knowledge in these fields. Marcus also regularly appears as an expert on radio talk shows including Troubled Minds and Unexplained Radio discussing these topics.
You can contact Marcus via email.
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3 Comments
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As one of the eyewitnesses, I still to this day am amazed that there is any controversy at all. The so-called ‘UFO’ was easily idenifiable in less than a second. No kidding. I and most of the other witnesses did exactly that There is nothing ‘UFO’ about the object in question. In fact, it is so common around here I have been in that spotlight on multiple nights. Of the many witnesses, the only ones not considering it ho-hum were the UFO groupies who wanted to believe. When I tell you what it is, you’ll slap your forehead and say, “Duh, of course”. Hint #1: Fewer people get accepted into this ‘UFO’ corps than get accepted as an astronaut. Hint #2: They waited until a very foggy night to make this trip but they picked a night without enough fog to be totally unseen. Hint #3: Where in western Pennsylvania could something that large seem to disappear? Eastern Ohio also has multiple places it could seem to disappear, which is where it originated that night. Hint #4: Of course the officers saw it again. Spend much time outdoors around here and you’ll see it over and over. Answer to the commenter above: According to locals, officers checking the abandoned car were doing so as part of response to a burglary a few hours earlier at St Joseph’s Catholic Church nearby; nothing military.
Very interesting. Although the chase was immortalized in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, I had never heard of all the other sightings around this time. I also read one time that Dale Spaur saw the UFO again at a later date. And wasn’t there some military connection with the abandoned car that they were investigating before the UFO sighting?
Yeah, he did – I think they codenamed it “Floyd”. As for the car, not sure on that one, although it crossed my mind and I had read a comment similar to yours of such a connection. It would certainly another layer to the case 🙂