The 7 Most Bizarre UFO Stories To Ever Come Out Of Greater Cleveland

It was October 18, 1973, when four men sat on an Army Reserve helicopter. The group was traveling from Columbus to Cleveland, and though Halloween was right around the corner, they probably weren't expecting a scare. However, they noticed a strange red light on the horizon, appearing to be on a collision course with the copter. They lowered their altitude, and as they approached they noted that the craft was cigar shaped and metallic, and it cast a green pyramid-shaped beam of light from its underside. As the light passed over the helicopter. the compass began spinning rapidly and the altimeter reported that their copter had climbed, though it had maintained a steady altitude throughout the encounter.

It was early July, and many eyes were on the skies during the spectacular firework displays commemorating the Fourth of July. However, between flashes, locals noticed other odd lights moving in unison at higher altitudes. Between June 25 and July 4, 2011, many reports and videos of unusual lights in the sky surfaced. Some were debunked as Chinese lanterns, but the lights following each other in an "L" shape (witnessed on the Fourth of July in the Old Brooklyn area) still can't be explained.

It's hard not to be mesmerized by the skies over gorgeous Amherst, Ohio. This charming community can easily capture the imagination, but locals never expected that it would be the site of a UFO sighting. In 2013, locals spotted a diamond-shaped craft hovering about 100 feet above the ground. Pilots saw nothing on their radar, so locals were left scratching their heads.

Dale Spaur, Portage County Deputy Sheriff, and his partner Wilbur Neff were working night shift on April 17, 1966, when their lives changed forever. It all began at the side of State Route 224 near Atwater. At 5 a.m., Spaur noticed a glowing craft rise from the nearby forest. The men described it as being shaped like an ice cream cone, and after contacting dispatch, the men followed it. They drove into the rising sun, reaching speeds of over 100 mph. They were eventually joined by another police cruiser, and when the chase reached the Pennsylvania border, Officer Frank Panzanella joined them as they stopped for gas. The four officers watched the UFO dart higher into the clouds and disappear after an 86-mile chase. Dale Spaur, in particular, suffered much ridicule, and after losing weight, losing his job, and losing his family, he decided to move to West Virginia. He returned to Ohio after an accident in the coal mines, and he even eventually offered a bit of consulting on Stephen Spielberg’s movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.. Though photos exist of the incident, they have never been released to the public.

While on his way home from Lenten services, Arthur and Eva Schindler witnessed a strange craft in the sky. The pair thought it was a star, but it sure didn't move like one. As crazy as it seems, another local reported a similar encounter. Steve Horosz was on break at work when he witnessed a huge dish with yellow lights, and atop that was what seemed to be a castle. The craft, he explained, could project blue and white beams. He saw the object again several months later and called the police, but by the time they arrived the object was too far to identify. It did not, however, show up on the radar at Oberlin Air Traffic Control Center.

For years, locals have noticed strange objects in the sky over Lake Erie. The lights, which are colored and often appear at night, behave in unusual ways. Most often, they are described as being red and fiery, and they will frequently fly together in a pattern to create a triangle shape. In June of 2013, at least six witnesses in Cleveland Heights reported seeing rust-colored orbs flying in a triangular formation.

It was January, and the world was blinded by rapidly falling snow. Despite the weather, a Chardon resident could see one bright object glowing above the treeline. It floated for several moments, making no sound before two more joined it. They hung around for only moments before they headed north, leaving the 64-year-old librarian scratching her head.