An Army Reserve UH-1H ('Huey') out of Columbus, commanded by Capt. Lawrence Coyne (19 years flying) with Lt. Arrigo Jezzi and Sgts. Robert Yanacsek and John Healey, was near Charles Mill Lake at ~11 pm when a red light closed on a collision course. Coyne dove; the object stopped above them: a gray, cigar-shaped metallic body ~50–60 ft long with a red nose light, white tail light and a green 'beam' that swept up through the cockpit and bathed it in green. The crew then found the helicopter climbing (from ~1,700 to ~3,500 ft reported) with the collective down, and the radio went silent. Ground witnesses (a family on the road below) later described the same object and the green light. Jennie Zeidman's CUFOS timeline analysis puts the object in view for at least ~5 minutes. Philip Klass proposed an Orionid fireball plus pilot error. The crew won the 1974 National Enquirer 'Blue Ribbon' prize. The user-supplied Wikipedia URL no longer resolves (404).
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Notes
| Claim |
Record |
Tag |
| Four-man Army Reserve crew; a red light on a collision course; evasive dive |
Crew statements; Army reporting |
crew report |
| A cigar-shaped metallic object with a green beam flooding the cockpit |
Crew |
object description |
| Helicopter climbed ~1,800 ft with the collective down (anomalous lift) |
Crew; Zeidman |
anomalous lift |
| Independent ground witnesses (a family on the road) |
Zeidman interviews (located ~1978) |
ground witnesses |
| ≥5 min continuous observation rules out a meteor |
Zeidman timeline |
duration |
| Orionid fireball + operator error |
Klass (phone interviews only, per critics) |
Klass |
Verified 2026-09-27 (Patrick Gross, citing the official report): cruising at 2,500 ft; Coyne began a power descent to 1,700 ft; after the encounter the altimeter read ~3,500 ft with a 1,000 ft/min climb in progress, and the magnetic compass was rotating ~4 times per minute. Ground witnesses: reported in the same sources; their identities were not rechecked.