Browsing through the MUFON site a few days ago I noticed
that they have an interactive map displaying UFO sightings based on their
location. Curious as to if there was anything of interest in the Fresno area
besides the typical out of focus man made aircraft that are prolific on
YouTube. So you can imagine my school girl-esque excitement (shut up) when I
came across a sighting that occurred in October of 2011 near the intersection
of Highway 41 and Avenue 12 in Madera County. The sighting not only included multiple
strange craft in the air, but some sort of craft was also seen on the ground.
The report states that a mother and her two teenage sons
were driving north on Highway 41 in Madera County just north of Fresno on the
night of October 5, 2011 at around 10:30 pm. As they neared the intersection of
Hwy. 41 and Ave. 12 one of her sons noticed multiple (he estimated around 10)
"fuzzy white orbs" flying erratically in the night sky just east of
the intersection, zooming in and around the clouds. All three watched the
lights for until they stopped at the intersection and made a left
turn onto Ave. 12 headed west toward the Madera Ranchos. It seems the boys
convinced their mother to turn back around to the intersection to see if they
could get a better view of the objects in question.
Upon stopping at the intersection, the mother then made a
left turn back onto Hwy. 41 and headed north again. They were still watching
the lights in the clouds (I'm assuming the mother was driving half slow and
craning her neck to see cause that's how I always do it when I see something
strange in the sky) when, just past Ave. 12, they passed a barn on the eastern
side of Hwy. 41 and noticed a large triangle shaped object in the fields
surrounding the barn. The object was described as being rather large and with its
"tip" pointed up. Also there were white blinking lights on each of
its vertices.
I'm assuming at this point the three witnesses were spooked
by whatever they saw on the ground as the report then states the mother turned
the vehicle around and drove home (wherever that may be). I know that stretch
of road and there aren't that many spots near Ave. 12 to make a safe u-turn, so
whatever they saw scared them enough to make a quick u-turn on a busy highway.
That was it for the report. Nothing was said if there was a
follow up interview done, if soil samples were taken near the barn, etc.
To be honest this one is just plain weird. I know that
stretch of road, having driven it hundreds of times, and that barn is quite
familiar given its high visibility from the highway. The lights in the sky
could be debunked as spotlights circling around and reflecting off the clouds,
but I'm not sure on that. The report states that the witnesses describe the
objects as having a "star like center". If you've ever seen a
spotlight you know it looks nothing like that. And what of the strange
triangular object that was seen on the ground? I've read dozens if not hundreds
of UFO cases over the years and never heard anything similar to that being
described. It just seems "odd". That and with the addition of the
strange lights seen in the sky it's just hard to say.
To sum it up I'm a bit lost on this one as to whether what
the witnesses really saw was something strange or just something regular that
was mistaken for something else. I'm hoping that someone else saw something,
sees this article, and can elaborate on what was seen. Otherwise we may never
know what was seen on that October night.
Link to the original report can be found here. Images courtesy of Google Earth.