Century Maine - Lost and Abandoned Sites: January 2015

EDIT: The site I linked to (The Black Vault) has been redesigned so my links are currently broken. I've not yet sorted through their new interface to find what it is that I need.

F-89 Scorpion Interceptor. Ca 1957

This isn't really a place/abandonment so much as it was a series of events whose only remaining Project Bluebook - a product of the heightened security concerns of the Cold War era. The "series of events" that I'm referring to aren't "sightings" but the reports taken as a part of this project. A guy named John Greenewald spent years sending hundreds of FOIA requests to the USAF regarding 'sightings' of unidentified flying objects. These were collected by the Air Force as a matter of national security considering the rapidly accelerating capabilities of the Soviets at the time. People would report 'sightings' of unidentified flying objects to the Air Force and their requests would be routed by mail, or rudimentary electronic messaging, to Ohio and the Air Force would send investigators or even jet interceptors out to investigate. He got nearly 13,000 records back, and according to news reports seven hundred were determined to be "unidentified" while many were classified as weather balloons, ball lightning, and even reflections of birds.

The results of his search have been archived online at The Black Vault as part of their Project Bluebook collection. The results are about as searchable as Google Newspapers -- which is to say that they're generally legible but aren't perfect. Also, each of these is a scan of a paper record from anywhere from 64-47 years ago. So you don't have to do all the searching by yourself, I've linked directly to Maine related files (in PDF) and have provided a short summary for each. But for now, here are the highlights.

Fryeburg Academy Student Reports the Starship Enterprise to the Air Force

The best of all of these is perhaps when a 17 year old male from Fryeburg reported an object that was fluorescent blue and "looked like the starship "Enterprise" on the television show "Star Trek" except it had wings." The Air Force would send a form in response to a report, or in some cases an investigator. In this case they sent a form, and the guy who reported the thing even drew pictures that include the bridge and the deflector dish. To the credit of the Air Force, it is noted on the official report up front that the guy changed his story about how long he was observing the "object."

It's more or less admitted up front by the perpetrators that the sighting was a hoax. Their enclosed letter (in shitty cursive) read the following:

My name is [redacted] roommate. I am very interested in UFOs and my viewpoints are pretty scientific. My roommate saw something that defies explanation. [Redacted] who yesterday saw a sceptic (sic) now believes there is something up there. He and I are both sane and reliable people and in no way perpetrating a hoax. We are both willing to give you any information that you may need or want and are inviting you to send a man up that we can talk to and tell him what we saw.

In response to this report, the Air Force sent the standard "117" form. These were the drawings included on the form when it was sent back...

This is definitely a relic of the 1960s because Jean Luc Picard wouldn't approve of such a waste of time.

The Social Pages Say Millinocket has the biggest balls of all.


Scully's morning face.

This one is worthy of Mulder and Scully (since Warner Bros is more forgiving than Fox, all I dare to give you is Jim Carrey with Gillian Anderson's hair.)

Sometimes dirt gets vaporized as a product of a cloud-to-ground lightning strike that isn't sufficiently charged to be immediately visible. Ball lightning is formed as part of an electrochecmical reaction that attracts charged particles up the path of the lightning strike. At least according to the Daily Mail , which happens to be the only source of information I could find on ball lightning outside of Wikipedia and the Geocities page of someone who could stand some time apart from his short-wave radio.

One of the more mysterious Project Bluebook records related to Maine is about a ball lightning sighting in 1964 in Millinocket. This is a transcription of both the letters from the observers to the Air Force:

They held hands and he told me that they were so scared that he almost went through the car windshield. They described the ball of fire as being almost 2 1/2 feet in diameter. They describe the ball as bouncing when it came towards them and when it left it seemed to fly or flow away. I am interested in as much information about objects similar to this description. Would you please forward as much information as possible to the above address?

Letter #1. 1964. Sender Redacted

I have known my [redacted] has address an unidentified object no body has ever seen. This was on May 24th, 1964 approximately 9pm on the Millinocket Lake Rd vicinity of [unintelligible] lake. Another man were driving in a car towarde (sic) Millinocket lake and all of a sudden a ball of fire appeared on the side of the road it stood almost five minutes they got out of the car to get a better view of the fireball. Upon nother it was a fire ball then he became very frightened and ran back to the car. And this time the fire ball seem to follow then back to the car. The car would not start and they remain in it. And this the fire ball came within 5 or 6 feet of the car then moved off on another direction over.

Letter # 2. 1964. Sender also redacted.

This is one of the few genuinely spooky records because it has all the classic trappings of an X-filesian story right down to the car not starting. All that it's missing is David Duchovny's nose and a stopped watch.

Soviet Flyby over Presque Isle, or General Electric AN/FPS-8 malfunction?

Only about 5% of the 13,000 records is still considered to refer to an "unknown." An "unknown" status is a pretty big deal considering the Air Force told people they saw the star Arcturus four different times despite wildly differing descriptions, and that they even told a dentist that a series of lights he saw happened to be the reflection of birds. But this particular sighting is the perfect example of why Project Bluebook and its pursuit of little green men was seen as critical to national security.
This particular incident has two slightly contradictory reports attached to it. They both tell of a large radar contact picked up by the radar site in Caswell resulting in a sortie of two F-89D Scorpions from the 528th Air Defense Group of the 57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron garrisoned at Presque Isle having been dispatched to 18,000' and 25,000' to look for the object after it had been identified by air-intercept radar. The first report identifies the incident as an equipment malfunction, while the second report includes details about interceptors and their loss of the object at 4,000 yards. A detail that was absent from the first report....

Caswell AFS - Radomes.org

The object was painted by air-intercept radar at Caswell and was also on the radar scopes of the F-89 pilots. Radar contact was held but no visual contact was made. According to the handy play by play provided by the USAF, the interceptors had crossed the path of the object and were about to converge on its stern quarter when the object simply went 'off the side' of their radar scopes when they were 4,000 yards away. Both ground and air radar observers had estimated the object was moving at over 500 knots (926 km/h or 575.39 mph.)

It's worth noting that the top speed of the MiG-15 was 1,000 km/h. On the other hand, it's also worth noting that Caswell's low altitude gap filler radar site in Bridgewater picked up nothing, and that Caswell had two brand new GE Radar units installed earlier in 1957. Regardless, this 'incident' was determined to have been 'unknown' making it pretty rare.

This isn't the only time that Caswell/Limestone show up in this collection of reports -- in 1958, observers at Caswell AFS spotted an object near their facility and requested a B52 from Dow AFB who was on a training mission at the time check it out. The pilot said the oblong object was motionless, while the tail gunner observed "rapid movement" with "erratic changes." It was seen from the air and the sky, but could not be picked up on radar. The final detail that makes the secondary Caswell 'incident' worth remembering is that the tail gunner's search radar died within seconds of spotting the object, as did the B52's intercom system.

The entire collection:

Below is every single Project Bluebook record in PDF from Mr Greenewald's "The Black Vault." I've also provided a summary for each.

1951 | Presque Isle - An airman saw Venus change color thanks to atmospheric refraction and had to fill out a 17 page form. This one also includes (accidentally, I believe) some information related to Bell Labs personnel and another "sighting."
1952 | Presque Isle - Weather observers as "PRESSUREISLE AFB" reported a circular orange object with four green lights observed via theolodite. It was determined to either be a "Moby Dick" weather balloon or Jupiter. Interesting to note in this one that correspondence refers to "Presque Isle AFB" and "Limestone AFB."
1954 | Pittsfield - A witness described a saucer, complete with dome, the sound of bees, and a whirlwind/cooling effect beneath it. The report is light on details, presumably because the claim is too perfect to be anything other than imaginative.
1955 | Augusta - A large, humming, blue/green spherical object was spotted from the ground and local radar. Investigating officer noted that the duration was 'long' for a meteorite and that it was probably a meteor.
1955 | Bear Island - The Air Force facility at Charleston was doing some training with high altitude flares, which made some people in the Cranberry Isles think they saw a UFO.
1955 | Brownville - A pulpwood truck driver and a schoolboy reported a round object was reported that changed colors as it changed altitude. An interceptor was sent up and passes were made, they were unable to find anything and were ordered back due to fuel status...after all this it was determined to be Arcturus.
1955 | Charleston - A military person at Charleston AFS spotted an orange object that would dart back and forth in a straight line for about seven minutes. The first draft of the report (at the end) stated that the story was that it was a weather balloon. It is corrected to note insufficient data upon which to draw a conclusion.
1955 | Lincolnville - Object "60 feet long and wide in rear. Flashing green, no sound" was determined to be a meteorite.
1955 | Old Town - "No particular shape. Reddish orange. Fog and Overcast." Somebody called the Air Force on the sun.
1955 | Old Town - A glowing, red object was spotted that floated downward and disappeared. Strategic Air Command verified the object was a flare.
1956 | Medway - A black, pear shaped object 'emitting blue and yellow flame' was spotted for a few seconds by a sporting camp owner/pilot from Portage as well as three other persons.
1956 | Mexico - There's something strange in your neighborhood, who're you gonna call? Susan Collins, apparently. In 1956 someone had stated that a green orb had left a 'marking' on her children's swing set and decided to contact Margaret Chase Smith. The 'marking' was a manufacturers decal. The flashes of light that the person saw was from deer poachers. The air force classified the reporting person as "completely unreliable" and decided (perhaps rightfully so) that the reports were based on hallucinations.
1956 | Pittsfield - A retired woolen mill worker saw Venus for the first time, apparently.
1956 | Presque Isle - Military radar detected an object at 4000 yards, roughly the size of two planes. Nothing could be seen with the naked eye and the incident was classified as an equipment malfunction.
1956 | Presque Isle - This appears to be a more detailed version of the above report. Unlike other incidents designated as 'probably aircraft', this report includes a statement that it was picked up on airborne radar...and the interceptors' radar lost contact at 4000 yards. It was tracked for three minutes and was clocked at 500 knots, which is nearly Mach 1. This report concludes that it was likely caused by an aircraft, however an attached letter indicates that since the pilots scope and the ground operators scope reported two different sets of conditions that it was likely an equipment malfunction. This one also inludes a document that none of the others have, placing it in the 'unknown' category.
1956 | Waldoboro - A cigar shaped object with lights does what cigar shaped objects with lights on them do. Acted like an airplane and disappeared. Classified by official report as probable aircraft.
1957 | Houlton - A B52 pilot saw a meteor about 10 miles S/W of Houlton. I know the report says "Hutton", but Hutton doesn't exist and people still think Bangor is Banger.
1957 | Livermore Falls - A small, round, red and white object that moved at a high rate of speed and then disappeared was reported and investigated. Official report states "cannot properly evaluate. However, probably an aircraft."
1957 | Presque Isle - A round, white object zig zagged through the sky before disappearing into the clouds. Determined to be a balloon.
1957 | South Portland - Two B47 crews spotted an object at high altitude that kept a 'true' course and did not have trails. It was concluded that these crews saw Sputnik.
1958 | Bath (Caswell) AFS - A B52 pilot reported a multicolored stationary object 20k feet above his position, his tailgunner reported that the object was actually moving quite a bit. It was painted by AC&W radar and still classified as "aurora" even though the report states that the tail gunner's radar and intercom system had ceased to function within seconds of the sighting. No 'intercept' was made because the B52 had better things to do.
1958 | Belfast - An amber light is spotted from the ground. Investigators declare this a star that's being affected by dense fog (Arcturus to be specific), but the eyewitness account states that the light was bright enough to light up a rock wall. Brunswick NAS reported nothing. Dow AFB called the FBI, who knew nothing as well....
1959 | Greenville - A dime size disc with a red streak was reported and determined to have been a balloon whose streak was a solar reflection. Official report notes that "Radar coverage in the area is good, but no contact was made."
1959 | Loring AFB - Another actually weird one. Folks from Ft Fairfield, a trailer park in Presque Isle, Air Police from Loring AFB and the Presque Isle PD all reported a "flying saucer" that couldn't be found once F-102's from VT got to the area. Radar contact made at Loring and Caswell....classified as a balloon.
1959 | North Turner - An elaborate description of a saucer with revolving blue lights, photos included. However, not photos of anything remotely related to a saucer with revolving blue lights.

1960 | Charleston - Three objects were reported as bright flashes, one of which appeared to come from the ground. It was determined that Mars refracted as it came into view.
1960 | Dexter - Someone reported a round object with a tail...
1961 | Presque Isle - This is 22 pages of various sightings from the Presque Isle area. Mostly meteors, and you find that the USAF couldn't spell Sputnik. One particularly interesting incident (on page 17) tells of an object sighted by Vermont State Troopers and Bangor Police Department who radioed Charleston AFS for radar confirmation.
1961 | Union - A meteor is sighted....and recognized as a meteor. Nothing spooky about this one.
1962 | Wells - A meteor and its trail are spotted. An odd detail about this one is that the observer's dogs reacted quite negatively to the object.
1963 | Loring AFB - A B52 pilot saw a small object cross the path of Sagittarius. Largely an incomplete record as the report notes "further report to be submitted"
1964 | Millinocket - actually spooky - A ball of fire appeared on the side of the road and hovered there. Observers exited the vehicle, but got scared and returned. Upon their return the car wouldn't start and the ball 'flowed' away.
1965 | Bangor - Several objects were spotted above the fairgrounds. "Water assisted" take off training was going on at Dow AFB at the time and the Air Force intelligence report concludes that these were aircraft.
1965 | Northeast Harbor - A flashing white and red light was spotted that moved away from observers and disappeared. Like the incident in Belfast in 1958, the Air Force classified this object as the star, Arcturus.
1965 | Sabbatus - An object in the sky was blinking and traversed the horizon. Instead of calling a congress person, this person wrote a letter to NASA complete with a (somewhat humorous) diagram. NASA wrote them back saying it was insufficient.
1966 | Brunswick - Brunswick NAS reported an object '15 feet thick' and circular with colored flashing lights around it. The official report concluded that this object was the planet Jupiter.
1966 | Brunswick - A round object with intense light was spotted by a student and an individual employed at Brunswick NAS. The object was determined to be possible meteor.
1966 | Kittery - A local saw a helicopter, called the Air Force and then never bothered to fill out the necessary forms.
1966 | Newcastle - Several lights in the sky that interacted with a plane from Dow AFB was explained by the USAF as "Reflections from birds."
1966 | Portland - While unloading a truck someone looked up and happened to see a satellite go across the sky.
1967 | Cutler - An observer sighted an orange object that made a whining sound and dropped lights from its bottom. The report is short since the investigation apparently wasn't conducted to regulations.
1968 | Boothbay - A rotating object with a sharp white/yellow center and a fuzzy green/blue outer edge was spotted and tracked by a sixteen year old for two hours one night. Despite having no attributes in common with the incidents in Belfast and Northeast harbor, this object was determined by the Air Force to be the star, Arcturus.
1968 | Cape Neddick - Someone saw a plane. But it was close to the shipyard so the government's report is 22 pages.
Unspecified Date | Fryeburg - Captain Kirk went up th'fayuh. Someone reported an object that was fluorescent blue and looked like the starship "Enterprise" on the television show "Star Trek" except it had wings. There are even pictures on the form sent by the Air Force.