Sample article from the October 2000 Star Beacon

UFO activity on the rise again in western Colorado

Report by Davina Ryszka

Evening of May 28, 2000

Two boys, aged 12 and 13, were camped out in sleeping bags on a trampoline in a backyard in Delta, Colo. It was approximately 10:30 to 11:00 p.m., when they observed overhead what they at first thought was a shooting star. But when it stopped and went backwards very quickly, they knew it was something different. They said it went back and forth and traveled in many directions before it just disappeared. It was a white, steady light, with no tail, that moved rapidly. There was no sound.

Approximately second week in June

A man residing in Delta, Colo., was watching the rising moon and, suddenly to his surprise, three bright stars/lights appeared around the moon. A short time later, when he looked back at the moon, they were no longer there.

May 4, 2000

A man who lives in the Garnet Mesa area of Delta, Colo., observed a cluster of lights going toward Grand Junction, flying over the Grand Mesa. The time was between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. He said that there was quite a large number of them, and because they were moving so fast, he was unable to even count them. Each one had a single white light, which would slowly and totally go out before it came back on in a slow, alternating manner.

He also mentioned that the night before he had observed two bright white lights over by the Grand Mesa, and the night before that he had observed a large, lighted object, where two rows of lights could be seen. There was no sound.

September 7, 2000

A man living on the east edge of Delta, Colo., observed two sets of lights, one hovering over Delta, the other up toward Cedaredge. The time was near 11:30 p.m. The lights were arranged in a triangle fashion. Each object was identical and each had red, white, blue and yellow lights. He counted a total of seven lights on each object, with one side of the triangle having an extra light. He said they were in midair a long time and he felt they were quite high, but it was hard to determine approximate altitude. During this time he observed a jet plane fly over and it appeared to be higher than the lights. There was no sound.

First week in September

Around 2 a.m., a woman in west Delta woke up in the night and happened to look out a north-facing window. To her surprise, she watched a fast-moving bright red steady light going north toward the Grand Mesa and the airport which is also in the direction. The light appeared about the size of a dime held at arm's length. It moved rapidly, but in a zigzag-like movement, from left to right (from side to side), as it moved in a direct path to the north. There was no sound.

Sept. 20 or 21, 2000

On Wednesday or Thursday ( I didn't get the exact date), a possible similar light as the above report was observed by a resident of north Delta. This individual lives near the airport and aircraft fly by regularly over their area when approaching to land, and they know what most aircraft look like day and night. It was dark, between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., and the witness described seeing a large bright steady red light that at first he thought was a plane coming in for a landing, but the direction and angle of flight were quite different from the normal approach. The light disappeared behind the hill and trees, but before it did, he noticed that this red round light seemed to have a transparent or white light surrounding it, like a sphere. He said it is hard to describe, but that's what it looked like to him. There was no sound.

Sept. 20, 2000 On Wednesday morning, a balloon was seen from Salt Lake City to Durango, Colo., in the daytime sky. Apparently it was a NASA probe, supposedly very large and very high up in the atmosphere, with a pay load of 5,000-7,000 pounds, and was launched out of New Mexico. A witness called me and said she had first seen it before the sun came up, at approximately 7 a.m., and she continued to watch it throughout the morning. The object stayed in one place and appeared to be translucent white, and had vertical projections hanging down from it (see sketch). The object was seen and reported across western Colorado and an "explanation" was given on the local evening news.

Some witnesses in the Cortez, Colo., area observed red jets flying around it. They also watched the object explode and some things fell out of the middle of it, one of which looked like a parachute. And then after school on Friday, my daughter, who attends the Delta elementary school, heard that a girl in another class had something fall into her family's backyard that was orange. They think it came from the probe. I watched the balloon until 2 or 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, which means it was in the sky for about seven hours without moving too far. I went into the house and 10 minutes later went back out and it was gone. I was upset because I would like to have seen where it went and how. Its departure or coming down happened rapidly.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following e-mail letter from a witness came to Davina after the NASA probe sighting: "I spoke with my wife after I wrote you the last e-mail. She left the house about 3:30 p.m. and the object appeared to follow her back to Cortez. When they were near Lewis, Colo., the object appeared to explode and come down at a slow, sharp angle. That would have made the time about 4:00 p.m. My nine-year-old son related that there was something coming out of the center of the object, like a parachute. I did notice something like a gondola when I viewed through the binoculars. During the entire observation, we sighted red small jets on several occasions in the vicinity of the object. I have seen weather balloons before, and this looked nothing like what I have seen. It is possible it is some kind of atmospheric research balloon, but I have to say, it must be incredibly large." (From Steve Lewis in Dove Creek, Colo.)

UFO investigator Davina Ryszka may be reached by e-mail at nightsky25@juno.com, or by calling 970/874-8679.

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