Disturbing Tales of Battles and Stand-Offs with Apparent Invaders from Another World

It is safe to say that the majority of UFO and alien encounters – cases of alien abduction aside – unfold from a distance, with brief sightings of strange aerial objects or even bizarre-looking humanoids from afar. Furthermore, these sightings are, by and large, peaceful and without incident. There are, though, some encounters that go beyond even alien abduction and certainly beyond sightings of strange lights in the distance. These encounters have descended into armed stand-offs between the respective witnesses and otherworldly creatures. What makes some of these incidents even more remarkable and fascinating is that they bleed heavily into other areas of interest, such as cryptid creatures and the world of the supernatural.  

Without a doubt, one of the strangest and most terrifying of these encounters occurred in the summer of 1981 in Rome, Ohio, over several months. Fortean investigator Dennis Pilichis documented the bizarre events in his book Night Siege: The Northern Ohio UFO-Creature Invasion, witnessing many of the strange incidents himself. These strange events were a fascinating blend of UFOs, aliens, Bigfoot-type creatures, and even hints of the supernatural. By the time Pilichis arrived at the Ohio farm, the owner, Robert, along with his family, had been subject to the bizarre goings-on for several months.

Although no one realized it at the time, the strange events actually began early in 1981 when the family found a dead deer on their land, its body shredded by something with sharp claw-like hands. However, it was several months later, in May, when the disturbing happenings began to truly unfold. At the time, a group of Amish men approached Robert and asked for permission to chop wood from the woodland around his farm, something that Robert agreed to. With them, they brought their workhorses, as well as several large bags of horse feed, which they left at the site where they were working each night. One morning, however, when they arrived to continue their work, they discovered each of the bags completely ripped open, as if by a wild animal in a frenzied attack.

The following day, Robert clearly heard several gunshots coming from where the Amish men were working. He waited for the group to leave at the end of the day, at which point he noticed them carrying out the dead body of one of their horses, its body ravaged with claw-like gashes. Robert approached them to ask what had happened. However, the men didn’t wish to speak and said simply that they had been “shooting at snakes!” The group continued to work at the site for several more days (a new horse in place) before they suddenly left the area without warning, leaving behind all of their equipment. They eventually returned for it around a month later, but they refused to speak about what they had encountered and why they had left so suddenly.

By this time, it was June 1981, and work that had been started the previous winter on a gas line on Robert’s land was due to be completed. As one of the workers on the project was clearing land in the woods where the pipeline was due to be placed, they came across a 40-foot square patch of land that was completely and utterly barren, almost unnaturally so, with no grass, vegetation, or even rocks being present. Even stranger, the worker discovered four holes the size of a 50-gallon drum in the ground within the parameters of the circle. Despite the strangeness of the patch of land, the worker continued with the laying of the pipeline right through the barren patch. Whether coincidence or not, shortly after this, things began to turn decidedly disturbing for Robert and his family.

The first of these unsettling events unfolded on the morning of June 15th when Robert discovered that four of his ducks and one of his chickens were missing. He found their ripped-up carcasses several hours later in the nearby woodland. Each of the ducks had had their heads completely bitten or torn off. In fact, the more Robert studied the bloody remains, the more he had the distinct feeling that they had been killed more for pleasure than for food. Even more concerning was the impression of a claw-like hand or foot on the ground beside the dead birds. Although the discovery profoundly shook him, he kept the incident to himself and didn’t tell his family. Only days later, though, Robert’s 16-year-old son would find himself at the center of these ever-stranger events.

On the night in question, late in the evening, the teenager woke and began screaming in terror. Everyone else in the house immediately rushed to his bedroom and found the young boy agitated and in a state of shock. When they had managed to calm him, he offered that he had awoke to see a strange face of a bizarre “creature” looking straight at him through his bedroom window. Although they believed he definitely thought he had seen something, his parents suggested he had likely suffered an intense nightmare, eventually convincing the young boy of this. Robert, though, knew better.

Several days later, on the evening of June 25th, the entire family heard the sudden agitated and anxious sounds of their ducks outside. Robert, along with his sons, went outside to investigate. Robert located his ducks with his flashlight and then began sweeping the beam around the yard. Then, it illuminated the shape of some kind of black form with “two big glowing red eyes!” At that point, one of the boys aimed his flashlight at the creature, and Robert opened fire, squeezing off a single shot. A moment later, the creature let out a bizarre scream and ran off into the darkness, continuing to scream as it did, a scream that Robert later described as switching between a bizarre high-pitched whine and a low-pitched moan. He also stated that the creature was at least eight feet tall, and perhaps most unsettling of all, when it scurried away, it did so on two legs and not on all fours. Needless to say, the entire family remained awake for most of the night in case the creature returned. Although it didn’t do so that night, the following evening, the unnerving events continued.

It was around 2 am in the early hours of June 27th when the family dog certainly started barking frantically, dragging Robert’s attention away from the television. He immediately reached for his flashlight and went to the back door. As soon as he opened it, he could see the dog pressed against the lawnmower, clearly frightened and attempting to conceal itself. He moved the beam of the flashlight in front of him. Then, he could see a form that he likened to a gorilla standing in the yard. Once more, Robert could make out the glowing red eyes, and even worse, they were looking straight back at him. He also became aware of a “snorting and growling” sound that seemed to be coming from the creature. The more he looked at this monstrous shadowy figure, the more he realized it was much taller than eight feet, standing closer to 12 feet in height. Perhaps worse of all, though, were the fang-like teeth showing in its mouth.

Confronted with such a sight, Robert felt waves of fear washing over him. In fact, he later stated that he was in such a state that he feared he might have a heart attack. He immediately turned around and headed back inside, calling out to his sons as he did so. He retrieved his shotgun, all the while listening to the creature’s movements outside. By the time his sons reached the living room and Robert had opened the front door, they could all hear bizarre screaming sounds as the mysterious beast ran back into the night. Robert told his sons to get in their pick-up truck. No sooner were all three inside the vehicle than Robert was speeding off in pursuit of the curious creature. Only moments later, they spotted it near the woodland that surrounded the farm. Robert immediately floored the gas pedal towards it. They would, though, lose sight of the creature around half a mile down the road.

At this point, Robert realized they were close to their neighbor’s property. He drove to the neighbor’s house and, despite it being so late in the evening, knocked on the door to enquire if they had seen anything strange or out of the ordinary recently. They said they hadn’t, and after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Robert and the boys were back in their truck on their way home. Robert drove slowly, though, and each of the side windows was wound down as they all scanned their moving surroundings in case they spotted the bizarre figure once more. Then, with no warning and for no apparent reason, the truck’s engine suddenly faltered. As his two sons kept watch, Robert went out to investigate. The tank was almost full of petrol, and the truck’s electrics still worked (the headlights remained on, for example), so he was at a total loss as to what had caused the engine to fail.

As this was happening, the trio saw another vehicle heading down the road – another of their neighbors. When they spotted Robert, they slowed down and offered assistance, which Robert gladly accepted. As they worked to get the engine started, Robert told the neighbor of the truly strange and disturbing events that had taken over their lives. Then, the sound of something walking in the trees and long grass at the side of the road brought both men to full attention. They remained silent for several moments, but no further sounds came.

It was at this point when the neighbor offered his own family had undergone a similar mystifying encounter. He stated that his sons had recently decided to camp out in the yard one evening. After several hours, though, late into the night, they suddenly came bursting into the house, claiming there had been something outside their tent that had made “ungodly growling” noises. The boys and their father contemplated if a bear had wandered onto their land temporarily, but whatever it was, the boys now refused to go outside the house at night.

As the men were speaking, Robert made several attempts to restart the truck. Then, for no reason Robert could determine, it suddenly started up as if there had never been a problem. They bid goodbye to their neighbor and set off back home. However, all three of them were now fully alert and remained so throughout the night. The strange events, though, were just getting started.

The entire family had planned to go out to attend a show on the evening of June 28th. However, due to the recent events, they opted to remain home and keep watch over the property, and their concerns were proven well-founded during the evening as they spotted the dark, shadowy figure moving around in the trees at the edge of their land. Only now, there was not only one, but several – all moving around as if sizing up the property and the family. For reasons largely unknown to themselves, in part because of a sudden surge of anger at the curious events, Robert and both of his sons picked up their guns and ventured outside – the youngest son driving a tractor, with Robert and the eldest son walking, one on each side - stopping in the field near the trees where the menacing figures were moving.  

From their position, they could see that at least one of the creatures was holding a dark blue light of some kind. They immediately aimed their weapons at the light. However, before any of them could pull the trigger, it suddenly went out as if anticipating their intention. As soon as the light went out, multiple pairs of glowing red eyes were suddenly visible in the trees. Without speaking a word to each other, all three of them raised their weapons once more and opened fire. The barrage was prolonged, lasting for several moments, using two full boxes of ammunition.

After bringing the assault to a halt, the three of them could see that one of the figures appeared to be lying on the ground a short distance away, close to the pond. They opened fire once more. This time, though, in response to the gunfire, they could see the multiple pairs of red eyes moving lower to the ground as if those they belonged to were taking cover. Then, one of the pairs of eyes began to move. It was heading in the direction of their target. They each looked on in shock as it appeared one of the figures grabbed the creature on the ground before taking them both into the pond, where they now took cover. They quickly flashed the beams of their flashlights across the water, but neither of the figures was visible. Realizing their guns were of minimal use to them (in that they didn’t appear deadly for the creatures), they decided to head back to the house. Once there, they reloaded their weapons and ventured onto the roof, where they could keep watch for the night.

It was around this time – just after the pond incident – that investigator Dennis Pilichis arrived at the property. He sensed straight away that there was an authenticity to the family’s claims. He could see, for example, ladders propped against the wall to access the roof, not to mention the makeshift sniper’s nests on the roof itself. There were also multiple spent shell cases scattered around the property, and perhaps most amazing of all were the several footprints he found in the fields around the house, which Pilichis described as “large, circular footprints with three toe-like extensions!” After examining the positioning of these footprints, Pilichis estimated that whatever made them likely had a six-foot stride. He also noticed another bizarre and quite surreal detail. The footprints would continue so far before stopping and disappearing and then reappearing again a short distance ahead, seemingly suggestive of the figure leaping or even somehow transporting themselves several feet ahead.

After speaking with the family and examining as many details of the incidents as he could, he determined that the family was not dealing with one set of strange entities but two. He offered that the dark, shadowy figures who sometimes held the dark blue lights and the creatures with the glowing red eyes were two separate but somehow connected entities. During his investigations over several weeks, he would eventually see these entities for himself. He further noted how the figures with the blue lights often appeared to have a “soft white glow” around them, writing that “these strange light sources and mysterious black forms are a common thread among many UFO/creature encounters!”

One particular evening, not long after Pilichis arrived at the farm, he and his team, along with the family, witnessed a thought-provoking incident that perhaps further suggested UFO activity was connected to the strange events the family was experiencing. From the roof, as they kept watch over the woods, the entire group witnessed the trees suddenly light up “as bright as day” in a “pure and clear white color!” This light remained for around five minutes before suddenly disappearing.

Another evening of bizarre encounters unfolded on June 29th, with the events resulting in two official police reports of the strange goings-on. Two calls were placed to the police – one at 5 pm and one at 11 pm – with a search of the property by a responding team revealing several huge footprints as well as “various ground disturbance” – in other words, someone – or something – had definitely been on the farm on the night in question. Only two nights later, the intensity of the events increased even more.

On the evening of July 1st, the two members of the family on the roof of the main house noticed four strange, evenly spaced spherical lights hovering a short distance above the trees at the edge of their land. They watched as the lights changed colors, from red to blue to yellow. Then, though, they changed to a color that they had not seen before and therefore struggled to describe, offering that it was most similar to black. Things turned even stranger when a beam of white light came from one of the spheres. As soon as it hit the ground, the entire area lit up brightly. Then, a chilling scream rang out once more. After several moments, the lights suddenly went out, and a moment after that, the pair could see the black, shadowy forms moving around close to the edge of the trees. The pair immediately raised their guns and opened fire, noting that with each shot, a scream rang out from the woodland.

This stand-off continued throughout the night, with the creatures with the red eyes appearing deep in the trees and remaining there for the duration. By contrast, the dark, shadowy figures appeared to intentionally approach the edge of the trees, almost as if they were trying to create some kind of distraction. In fact, during one of these episodes, with the shadowy entities right at the edge of the woodland, the figures with the glowing red eyes made their way to the vegetation at the side of the barn. The two men on the roof noticed their approach and opened fire on them. As they expected, the strange beings ran back into the trees, screaming as they did so. As strange and unsettling as these events undoubtedly were, however, one incident during the night was particularly disturbing – and perplexing.

At some point during the middle of the night, with the dark creatures and glowing-eyed entities still seemingly watching them from the trees, the two men on the roof noticed their horse standing in the middle of the field – only they knew it couldn’t be their horse, as their horse was secured in the barn. Pilichis later wrote that “They knew something was wrong, and even though it was their horse, it was not their horse!” Certain that whatever they were looking at wasn’t their horse, the pair opened fire. The bullets hit their target. However, instead of dropping to the ground, the “horse” began to scream. Then it began to growl. Then, right before their eyes it morphed into one of the dark creatures and ran and took cover in the trees, screaming as it did so. The pair had the realization that not only could these creatures seemingly change their form, but they were also attempting to lure them from the roof.

By 3:30 am, all of the members of the family and Pilichis’s investigative team were on the roof looking out over the fields and trees. Out of nowhere, a strange glowing object suddenly appeared a short distance away, hovering just above one of the fields close to the house. All on the roof watched the craft, clearly fascinated by it. Then, the youngest son claimed that a beam of light had come from the object and hit him and caused him to fall. Just prior to him making this claim, he had indeed fallen forward, with another member of the family having to catch him and steady his balance. Whatever had happened, the young boy suffered from an intense headache for the next 24 hours. The bizarre and unsettling events of that night, though, were still not over.

At around 4:30 am, around an hour after the glowing object appeared hovering over the field, a second object that looked similar to a “red-hot coal” began descending into the nearby trees, landing in one of the clearings. Once more, the family raised their weapons, aimed them at the object, and opened fire. As the bullets hit their target, the object rose slightly and then changed its shape. As it fell back to the ground, it became some kind of “animal-like creature, something like an owl!” As this was happening, the family continued to fire their weapons. Then, all on the rooftop looked on in complete shock as the creature “got up and ran down the woodline on all fours!” They waited several moments before venturing down from the roof and toward the area where the object had turned into something else. Once there, they discovered an impression that looked “like something heavy had fallen” to the ground there.

The night’s strange activity finished with one more peculiar event. As the family and investigative team were exploring the ground, a box-shaped object passed overhead, approximately 200 feet above them. The witnesses looked up and could see a red light on the underside of the craft with a blue light around it. Robert raised his weapon and fired in the direction of the object. They all heard a sound like breaking glass, and at the same time, the red light went out, suggesting that Robert’s shot had been on target. The object then moved off into the distance and disappeared out of sight.

The evening of July 3rd would bring with it further strange events. As usual, Robert and his family were positioned on the rooftop, keeping watch over the woodland when a “strange fog” suddenly appeared out of nowhere and closed in on them. However, although they couldn’t explain how or why, this fog appeared to be contained only to the main house and area around it and was so thick the family couldn’t see past several feet. The following day, Pilichis examined the fields around the house and discovered further strange footprints, some of which appeared to have five toes, suggesting a third type of creature. Even stranger, around these five-toed footprints, the grass appeared to “swirl” around in an anticlockwise direction, something that Pilichis could not even begin to suggest an explanation for.

These events continued, with Pilichis and a colleague, Williard McIntyre, finding themselves confronted by one of the shadowy entities one July evening. On the night in question, the two men were walking near the edge of the field, investigating the trees before returning to the main house. However, out of nowhere, a “glowing form” stepped out of the woods. The family saw the figure from their position on the rooftop and opened fire on it immediately. It fell to the ground a short distance ahead of Pilichis and McIntyre. The two men, along with other members of the family, ran over to where the figure had dropped. However, upon arriving, although there was a definite impression in the vegetation where the figure had fallen, the figure itself was no longer there. Even more remarkable, a makeshift path was visible in the long grass leading away from them, suggesting that whatever the shadowy figure was, it had seemingly dragged itself through the vegetation and back into the woods.

The two investigators decided to throw a rock into the trees in an attempt to locate where the creature might be. However, several moments after they had done so, the rock came hurtling back toward them, landing only a short distance from where the group was standing. At this point, the group also noted the now familiar pairs of glowing red eyes appearing in the trees. They were seemingly heading to the same point, most likely where the figure had dragged itself. A little shaken by the whole affair, the family and investigators returned to the house and watched over the woodland for the rest of the night from the rooftop. The pairs of red eyes moved constantly throughout the trees, and every now and then, one of the shadowy figures would emerge out of the woodland to the edge of the field, remaining there for several moments before returning into the shadows once more.

As bizarre as the events were at this small farm in Rome, Ohio, as part of his investigation, Pilichis learned of other strange and concerning encounters from other locations in the same area. In nearby Rock Creek, for example, near midnight one Friday night in July 1981, a young man was taking a shortcut along an old railroad as he made his way home after visiting his grandmother. Although the tracks themselves had been removed years previously, the path of the railroad remained, providing easy access between the two locations. As he was walking, the young man began hearing strange grunting sounds coming from the trees at each side of the track. To begin with, he tried to ignore the strange sounds. However, when he heard them coming directly from behind him, he instinctively turned around to confront whatever was approaching. He wasn’t at all ready for the sight that confronted him.

There in front of him, no more than 20 feet away, was a “big black ugly hairy creature” that was around nine feet tall and had the overall appearance of an “overgrown gorilla with long arms hanging below the waist, and real long legs!” The creature was so large and appeared so strong that the young man quickly reasoned that the rifle he was carrying would be of little to no use to him and declined to attempt to fire at the bizarre beast. He did, though, turn and run as fast as he could. As he did, he could clearly hear the creature following him. He recalled it was not running but rather walking at an increased “heavy” pace. He continued to run for several moments before he was forced to stop briefly to catch his breath. When he stopped, although the creature was still making grunting sounds, it had also stopped.

The witness reasoned with himself that if the creature had wished to attack him, it would have done so then. With this in mind, instead of running once more, he turned to face the mysterious beast. It was standing there around 15 feet from him but was showing no signs of advancing on him. It made a grunting sound toward the witness, however, which caused him to turn and run once more. Once more, the creature began to follow, still walking fast instead of running. By pure chance, the witness happened past a “pathway” carved into the cornfield at the side of the railroad (made by himself and other locals by riding their bikes through the fields many times). He turned onto this makeshift path and ran down it as quickly as he could. When he stopped and looked back, he could see that the creature had continued past the pathway and was carrying on down the old railroad. We might question whether the creature simply decided to break off the pursuit or whether it was bound by laws and reasons we don’t understand to remain along the railroad.

Whatever the truth might be, the same witness had another bizarre encounter with this beast-like entity. After telling several of his friends of the strange incident, they all returned to the old railroad several days later to see if the curious creature returned. And, much to their surprise, it did. After having only been there for several minutes, each of them could hear the strange grunting and heavy breathing sounds coming from the woodlands around them. Before they realized what was happening, the beastly creature appeared a short distance ahead of them on the old track. One of the boys was so panicked by its sudden appearance that before he realized what he had done, he raised his gun and fired at it. It fell to the ground and remained there for several moments before dragging itself back to its feet. It then ran back into the trees, a blood-curdling scream coming from it as it did so.

Incidentally, when Pilichis performed background checks on the witness, he found that he was widely respected in his community and not someone who was likely to become involved in some kind of hoax. Furthermore, perhaps adding further credibility to the young man’s account was that several people who lived in properties that were positioned along the old railroad had also heard strange high-pitched sounds coming from the woods near the tracks. Investigators explored the old track for themselves and were amazed to find several three-toed impressions in different locations.

The events at the rural farm in Rome, Ohio, continued for the duration of the summer, stretching into late 1981, before suddenly coming to a stop. While these truly mysterious events remain unexplained, there are several intriguing details to consider, not least just who the strange creatures that terrorized the family for such a prolonged period might have been. We might recall that Pilcher believed that there were at least two different creatures behind the encounters (and perhaps even a third when we factor in the five-toed footprint impression the team discovered).

It is also interesting to recall the night the family was on the roof and witnessed the figures with glowing red eyes appearing at the side of the house as if attempting to create a distraction. Although it isn’t said outright, the descriptions of these figures with the red eyes are very similar to those of Bigfoot creatures. We should also consider that many UFO researchers have offered that there appears to be a definite connection between UFO sightings and encounters of Bigfoot, with UFO hotspots also being home to multiple reports of the elusive creature. One such researcher was John Keel, who offered that the intelligence behind UFOs could very well “send out” Bigfoot creatures by way of creating a distraction. Was Keel perhaps closer to the truth than even he might have thought and was this the case here?

It is further interesting to note these menacing creatures’ apparent ability to change their form (we might recall it morphing into the family’s horse in an attempt to lure them into the field). With that in mind, might we also consider that the dark shadowy figures and the creatures with the glowing red eyes were the same entity manifested in two different ways? It is certainly a possibility – one that adds yet another layer to these already nuanced events.  

There is at least one other incident on record that shares some remarkable similarities to the events in Rome, Ohio, in the summer of 1981. Although it didn’t happen over weeks, a very similar encounter unfolded almost three decades earlier in Kentucky. At around 8 pm on the evening of August 21st, 1955, the Sutton family were entertaining their guests, the Taylor family, who had traveled from Pennsylvania, in their out-of-the-way farmhouse around eight miles from the small town of Hopkinsville. One of the Taylor family, Billy Ray, had left the house to fetch water from a well a short distance away. As he did so, he noticed a strange looking glowing object in the sky that appeared to be “on fire” with “all the colors of the rainbow!” He continued to watch as the object descended, eventually landing just behind some nearby trees.

At this point, Bill Ray rushed back to the main house, immediately blurring out that he had seen a “flying saucer” to the Suttons and his wife, June. After looking up at Billy Ray for several moments, those in the house simply went back to their chatter, used to Billy Ray’s strange sense of humor. However, when the family dog began to bark frantically, suggesting that something was outside, they immediately ventured onto the porch to investigate, letting the dog out in the process. Instead of speeding into the trees to see what was approaching, however, the dog crawled under the house, clearly frightened. All returned inside and shut the door, each venturing to the windows of the house to peer outside into the dark night. As they did so, the frightened whines of the dog beneath them were clearly audible. Eventually, Billy Ray and the Suttons’ eldest son, Lucky, decided to go outside to investigate further.

Several moments after stepping outside, Lucky noticed a strange, green, glowing object heading in their direction. He called out, alerting the others to the strange, glowing presence. As it got closer to the property, all could tell that the glowing form was a “small humanoid figure!” They watched as the figure continued its slow, steady approach. Then, it suddenly became aware of the family watching it. It immediately threw its arms high into the air and burst toward the house with great speed. A moment later, Lucky and Billy Ray raised their guns and opened fire. Although almost all of the shots hit their target, all the bullets achieved was “flipping” the creature over. It quickly got back to its feet and ran off back into the woodland.

Perplexed, the two men began back inside the house. As they did, they noticed another “goblin creature” staring into the property through a side window. Once more, both men unleashed several shots from their weapons, and once more, despite hitting the creature square on, it was merely stunned as opposed to wounded. Like the first creature, it quickly recovered from the shots and ran off into the shadows of the trees. Realizing there was more than one of these strange creatures near the property, Billy Ray, with Lucky covering him, headed toward the back door. After only a step or two, however, a claw reached down from above and grabbed his hair. There above them, on the roof, was one of the goblin-like creatures, its silver-like suit now evident. Lucky raised his gun and fired. The bullet made a “metallic ping” upon impacting the creature, which simply “floated” to the ground and vanished into the night.

As the two men made their way back to the house, they noticed several green glows moving around in the woodland. They quickly noticed another of the creatures in one of the nearby trees and yet another on the roof of another building nearby. Each time the two men opened fire on the creatures, and each time they simply walked away unscathed. Then, all of a sudden, it appeared the strange, menacing beings simply disappeared.  Taking their chance, the two men quickly ushered their respective families into their vehicles and screeched away from the property towards Hopkinsville police station.  It was around 11 pm by the time the two cars arrived at the station. The families rushed inside, insisting that they needed help and that they had been fighting strange creatures for hours.    

Despite the strangeness of the story, the police agreed to send several officers with the family back to the property so they could investigate. It was clear from the state of sheer panic the two families were in that, whatever it was, they had certainly seen something. Upon arriving at the property and investigating the area for themselves, while one officer believed he saw a “strange glowing” in the woods, none of the officers saw the strange creatures for themselves. They were, though, concerned enough to contact nearby Fort Campbell for military assistance. The military arrived and carried out a significant sweep of the area but found nothing. Eventually, the police and the military left the two families to return to the farmhouse. A short time later, the menacing creatures did likewise. The two terrified families spent the next several hours engaged with the mysterious entities before, at around 5 am, they simply disappeared once more, this time for good. By the time a report appeared in the Kentucky New Era newspaper the following day, the small and once quiet farmhouse became the focus of UFO and paranormal investigators across America.

As we might imagine, with this increased focus came increased scrutiny. This scrutiny resulted in both the Sutton and Taylor families beginning to pull back from any publicity, tired of the ridicule and accusations of orchestrating a hoax. In their book Close Encounter At Kelly, Isabel Davis and Ted Bloecher documented how Billy Ray took the brunt of the accusations of the incident being a hoax, largely for no other reason than he saw the “spaceship” land in the woods before the battle unfolded. What perhaps aided these suspicions was that Billy Ray, unlike the other witnesses, was more than happy to speak to anyone who would listen of the events that August evening. Whether or not Billy Ray was simply happy to speak of the incidents or whether he did indeed see an opportunity to benefit financially from the bizarre events, accusations of a hoax fall on shaky ground when we consider the events that followed and continued for several hours – events that were witnessed by multiple people.

There have been many suggestions put forward to explain the bizarre events that evening. Perhaps one of the most intriguing is that the family was attacked not by invaders from another world but by “an aggressive pair of local Great Horned Owls!” This explanation remained seemingly valid for some time, with proponents of it offering how the appearance of this breed of owl matched almost exactly the descriptions given by the Sutton and Taylor families. However, in his book Unexplained, Jerome Clark confronted this apparent explanation. He highlighted, for example, that the witnesses had recalled the sound they heard when firing their weapons at the creatures “resembling bullets striking a metal bucket” – certainly not the sound they would make striking an owl.

Clarke also highlighted how investigators had discovered an “odd luminous patch” near the fence where one of the creatures had been shot. A similar substance was also found along the pathway in the direction the creature had fled. Ultimately, Clark offered that “(investigations) by police, Air Force officers from nearby Fort Campbell, and civilian ufologists found no evidence of a hoax!”

The incident remains of interest to UFO and paranormal investigators and researchers today over half a century later. Could it really be that the “goblin-like creatures” that terrorized the two families on the farm in rural Kentucky were the same creatures, albeit in a different form, as those who unleashed several weeks of terror on the family at their rural farm in Ohio two and a half decades later?

There are many other examples on record of apparent battles between people and entities from another world. We have examined before, for example, the claims of John Edmonds at Stardust Ranch. Although many caution that the claims should be treated with a pinch of salt, he claimed to have faced a similar prolonged stand-off to the family in Rome, Ohio, with creatures he claimed were from another dimension attempting to gain access to his property, as well as abducting himself and his wife. Edmonds claimed he fought back against these abductions, killing several of these creatures before they dematerialized into the own dimension.

Although the circumstances and details are different to our previous encounters, the events surrounding Benedito Campos and Silvia Marie from Brazil are worth exploring here. It is another account that I relay in the From Deep Within The Archives Of UFO Insight: History’s Most Bizaare, Outlandish, And Controversial UFO And Alien Encounters, and took place during one of the most active UFO waves Brazil has ever seen. The incident unfolded in the small town of Mosqueiro on the evening of October 29th, 1977. At around 6 pm on the evening in question, Benedito Campos and his wife, Silvia Marie, were sitting in their living room when the pair spotted a strange, oval object appear in the sky through their window. As it moved, a green laser-type beam came from the underside of the object and stretched to the ground. Several moments later, with the pair still watching, the laser beam was fired in their direction. Before they realized what was happening, the beam had pierced the window without breaking the glass, striking Silvia, causing her to go into some kind of strange frozen-like trance.

Benedito went straight to his wife’s side and was so focused on attending to her that he failed to notice the two strange entities who had entered their home. Each of these strange creatures carried something in their hands. One of them pointed this device at Silvia and another green laser emerged from it, once more striking her square on. Although he didn’t realize it at the time, Benedito was screaming out loud for help. Several moments later, the pair’s neighbor rushed into the house carrying his gun. Upon his arrival, the two creatures scampered, leaving the husband and wife and their neighbor alone. After gathering themselves, the neighbor helped Benedito carry Silvia the short distance to his house. She eventually came out of the trance-like state and regained control of her limbs. She was, however, in a sheer state of panic about the bizarre events.

Eventually, Silvia calmed down, and all three of them thought the high strangeness of the evening was over. However, when they saw the strange object appear in the skies once more, they realized this was not to be the case. Once more, the object headed in their direction, and once more, it sent a green laser beam that went straight through the window. This time, it struck Benedito. Like his wife previously, he was immediately paralyzed. The craft then took off into the distance and disappeared. A short time later, Benedito regained the use of his limbs. The incident remains unexplained almost half a century later.

What is interesting to note here is that the encounter occurred around the same time that Brazil was undergoing one of the strangest, most intense UFO waves in its history. Lasting from the late summer of 1977 and stretching into 1978, the wave, sometimes referred to as the Colares Islands incident, not only saw hundreds of residents witness these mysterious aerial vehicles but also saw similar attacks on people, just like that experienced by Benedito and Maria. Furthermore, some of these attacks would prove to be fatal. A 45-year-old woman, for example, who witnessed a UFO which then shone a beam of light towards her would pass away only eight hours later. A similar fate awaited a fisherman who encountered one of the strange orb-like objects while on the water. Of course, whether these incidents are connected to the events experienced by Benedito and Maria remains open to debate.

As we can see, then, battles and stand-offs with otherworldly entities, as well as UFOs seemingly targeting and attacking people, while not as prevalent as sightings of strange objects, happen more than we might think. We might ask if these seemingly aggressive entities are the same as those behind other UFO sightings and even alien abductions, or whether they are a separate race, one whose appearances here are seemingly much more sporadic although persistent. Might we expect another similar stand-off-type incident to be reported in the future, for example? Or have the entities behind such attacks met an untimely end, perhaps by a secretive government department who dealt with them behind the scenes, or even by another race of extraterrestrials who have taken such actions for their own unknown ends? Such accounts only serve to enrich not only the UFO mystery but enigmas across the paranormal spectrum. For now, all we can do is wait and see if another, similar stand-off with otherworldly creatures unfolds.