A series of unusual events unfolded on December 14, 1994, in Trumbull County, Ohio.

Just after midnight on a late Fall night, a series of calls was received by 911 operators. These reports all involved one thing- reports of low-flying UFOs. The majority of these calls were heard by dispatcher Roy Anne Rudolph.

Reports mostly related a fairly fast moving, unknown object / lights that seemed to be descending. Naturally at first, 911 operators thought the callers were seeing a balloon, plane, helicopter, or other everyday object.

But, because of the extraordinary number of calls, Rudolph decided to notify the policemen of Liberty Township. The first police unit contacted thought that the reports were probably nothing to worry about, and that a plane was probably flying low.

Sergeant Toby Meloro was the first officer on the scene, as he proceeded down Samson Drive to check out the lights. He was informed by a man on the street that the lights were moving south.

As Meloro continued southerly on Samson Drive, suddenly his cruiser went dead. As he attempted to restart his vehicle, it was engulfed by a bright light from above.

Startled and frightened, he exited his vehicle, and stood outside looking up at a giant object, circular in shape, and intensely bright in the center section.

After about thirty seconds, the giant object moved away. One the most striking things about Meloro’s sighting was that he heard not a sound from the UFO.

After the object had moved out of sight, the police cruiser’s functions returned to normal. Trying to understand what he had just seen, he took off in pursuit of the UFO.

Meloro was unable to keep pace with the UFO. He called dispatch, informing them what he had seen, and gave the object’s direction of flight.

Soon, this information was related to all active law enforcement units in the area, and reports of the object’s direction were used to triangulate the object, and enable units to move to its location.

Dispatcher Rudolph later stated that at least 14-15 officers had seen the UFO. Their reports of the object and its movements were openly discussed among the officers on the police radio.

Police dispatch, with reports of the UFO spreading to adjacent communities, called the local airport FAA control tower, and asked if they had anything unusual on their radar. Control tower stated that they had nothing unusual on their scope, which covered a 60 mile diameter around Youngstown.

Researcher Kenny Young did an in-depth study of the Trumbull County sightings. His requests for Freedom of Information Act documents regarding the case was denied. He interviewed officers involved in the case, and was confident that they were telling the truth.

Lieutenant James Baker, of the Brookfield Township Police Department, was one of the officers monitoring the fantastic calls, and decided to have a look for himself. He climbed up an abandoned radar tower in the area to get an optimum look at the object.

As he reached the top of the tower, he was shocked at what he saw – not one, but three UFOs. The three objects were in a triangle pattern, with the middle object slightly higher than the two on the side.

Also, Baker stated that the object changed colors in unison – red, yellow, blue, and green. He reported his observation to the other patrolmen on duty.

Astronomers have tried to explain the sightings as simple stars that appeared low in the sky, and appear to change colors.

Of course, this does not explain the malfunction of police vehicles, lights engulfing them, or objects moving across the landscape being chased by policemen.

Some have theorized that the object seen by the policemen of Trumbull County was a top-secret craft from the Youngstown Air Reserve Base.

However, Captain John Keytack, from the base, stated that there were no planes, experimental or otherwise, flying that night.

The policemen of Ohio have spoken often about what they saw on December 14, 1994 – Police cars that inexplicably stalled, light beams engulfing their vehicles, one or more structured craft of a nature never seen before or since.

The 1994 sightings of Trumbull County have never been adequately explained by conventional flying objects.

(B J Booth)