Police Helicopter Encounters UFO

The April issue of the HUFON UFO Report also carries a brief description of what sounds like an important UFO case. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, two police officers piloting a helicopter encountered a glowing pear-shaped UFO the size of a basketball which literally flew in circles around the helicopter, which was flying at speeds of up to 100 mph. According to the account the UFO was first sighted close to the ground and resembled a bonfire. Officer Kenny Graham shone a 1.5 million candlepower spotlight on the light and it slowly floated up to the helicopter's height (500 ft) where it hovered for several seconds. "Then it took off at a speed I've never seen before", Graham reported. The UFO made two huge counter-clockwise loops and then approached the helicopter from its rear. As Graham pushed the helicopter speed over 100 mph the UFO shot past and then instantly climbed hundreds of feet into the air. Then the UFO descended and flew near the helicopter before emitting three baseball-sized fireballs from out of its middle towards the helicopter. The fireballs fizzled into nothing. As the helicopter banked away the UFO disappeared. Intriguingly two police officers on the ground also saw the UFO although only one saw the three fireballs. Officer Joe Smolenski tried to chase the UFO in his patrol car but soon gave up ! The encounter occurred at 12.30 am in the morning over the General Electric Appliance Park (hmmm). Curiously security staff at the Park only saw the police helicopter, not the UFO. In addition nothing turned up on radar at the local airport. Pilot Graham (39) had been flying for 11 years whilst his co-pilot Kenny Downs (also 39) had been flying for 5 years. Rick Lasher of the National Weather Service dismissed the possibility that the helicopter had encountered a "lightning ball" or a meteorological fireball. It had been snowing earlier in the evening but this stopped at 7:48. Temperatures were in the 20s, the solid cloud cover was beginning to disperse and no thunder or electric storms were reported. A university professor ruled out a meteorite whilst a professor of mechanical engineering ruled out any known aircraft. Instead he suggested that possibly the pilots may have misconstrued reflections created by the snow and heavy atmospheric conditions. Well, if the facts were as reported this would really be a cracking case. However, The Crop Watcher's international fame and influence extends so far that we actually have two subscribers in Louisville - Erik and Mary Albrektson - who have kindly sent us the following information recalled from their local press reports:
"About 3 days after the enclosed article appeared, a local couple contacted the paper and informed them that, somewhat to their embarrassment, they were responsible for the incident. It seems that this young couple had a fairly long and well established history of constructing small hot air balloons from balsa wood and plastic dry cleaner bags. They would assemble these items, place several small birthday cake candles inside, and launch a homemade hot air balloon. A rather odd hobby perhaps, but nevertheless a hobby that was confirmed by neighbours. They reside in the immediate vicinity of the incident. They reported that on the evening of the 'dogfight' they had launched one of these balloons and then watched in amazement as a police 'copter flew into the area and appeared to 'investigate' the balloon. They saw the copter direct a high-intensity searchlight onto the balloon, circle around and then fly off into the night. They did not think the incident particularly newsworthy until they learned of the UFO report some time later. The police officers have refused to back down from their story that they saw something other than a small hot air balloon. The entire affair totally disappeared from the papers with the publication of the 2nd story. The impression was left that the police department and particularly the officers involved were extremely embarrassed and wanted to distance themselves from it ASAP."
Well ! What an astonishing revelation. Is it really possible that two "veteran" pilots could really be fooled into believing that they had fought a "dog-fight" with a small lighted laundry bag ? If so this would extend the boundaries of professional fallibility right off the end of the scale. But let's examine the report to see if we can see if the facts agree with the explanation. To begin with the pilot's description of the way the UFO slowly floated upwards as he shone his searchlight on it fits very well with a small lighted balloon. We might speculate that on reaching 500 feet the balloon would be caught inside the horizontal cork-screw vortex that surrounds all aircraft as they move through the air - this vortex would presumably suck the balloon through two large loops, thus giving the impression that the helicopter was being chased. After such violent movement the balloon might have simply collapsed, thus accounting for the UFO's rapid disappearance. In short the hot air balloon makes an excellent explanation. But what about the 3 tiny fireballs ? And would such a flimsy contraption remain fully-lighted when being swirled around at 100 mph ? We will keep you informed on this one. Thanks are due to Erik and Mary for their kind help.