The United States government acknowledged the unknown this year.In the past few months, Congress has held hearings to discuss UAP-Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, also called UFOs. Both sides of the political aisle shared an interest in figuring out what the unknown objects are and if they pose a threat to our national security.In Oklahoma, the topic has been studied for decades. The hearings in Congress got bipartisan interest, with former military pilots and government personnel bearing witness under oath.»I’ve had police officers, sheriff’s deputies, off the record that have shared some stories with me,» said Marilyn Hudson, an author and UFO report researcher.Hudson lives in Stroud and has written several books on the topic. She’s interviewed people all over the state, including law enforcement, local government staff, and working-class people who claim to have seen something unexplainable.»East of Stroud, near the county line with nearby Creek County. They could actually see the sky through this area here,» Hudson said.They’re not proof, but they help illustrate the sightings. Each of Hudson’s sketches goes with an eye-witness she has talked to herself.»I had accounts from about four different people that all worked for the highway department or turnpikes,» Hudson said.One was described by different witnesses between 1990 and 2010, but according to Hudson, they all saw the same thing while they were working on a stretch of roadway between OKC and Tulsa.»They saw this huge triangular object that blacked out the stars, and it was absolutely silent. Highway Patrol and police go shooting through with sirens blazing, and they’re chasing whatever it is that’s been seen,» Hudson said.The declassified government program called «Project Blue Book» was an Air Force project that investigated UFO reports between 1947 and 1969. Hudson spent countless hours combing through the digital case files, focusing on reports in Oklahoma during that time frame.There are almost 800 cases.»That object would usually not just appear over Oklahoma and disappear. It came out of the airspace of a neighboring state,» Hudson said.Hudson said complete strangers were seeing things in the sky at the same time, according to Project Blue Book.»This is an actual Blue Book file from the Tulsa area in 1966. It may not look like much at first, but when you dig into this, there’s this picture of what the witness saw,» Hudson said.The witness was a member of the Oklahoma Civil Air Patrol. During the Project Blue Book years, an OKC man was on a mission to study UFO sightings. The Oklahoma Historical Society said the man, Hayden Hewes, spent years investigating what locals were seeing in the Oklahoma sky.»He had friends on the police force that would let him know when someone would report a UFO, so he was just documenting,» said Larry O’Dell, a historian with the Oklahoma State Historical Society.Hewes didn’t stop there. In the late 1950s, he created the International UFO Bureau in OKC.The group was made up of all kinds of people, including scientists, astronomers and even staff at universities.»He had members of his bureau all over the world, not just in the United States,» O’Dell said.The Historical Society said Hewes was very busy in the 1960s.»In 1965, Oklahoma had a huge UFO report outbreak, starting in south Oklahoma and going up through Tulsa and OKC,» O’Dell said.Some experts in the scientific community said there are more earthly explanations to check off the list before alien spacecraft.»I’m never going to say the technology can’t exist, but we don’t know of any technology that could do that,» said Wayne Harris-Wyrick, former planetarium director for Science Museum Oklahoma.Harris-Wyrick was the planetarium director at the OKC Science Museum for 40 years and he’s heard his fair share of UFO stories from visitors. He said most of the time, there’s an explanation, such as comets, meteors, satellites and even weather balloons.He said parts of satellites or old spacecraft can reenter Earth’s orbit, too.»All of those things can be startling if you don’t know what they are. If you’re an avid watcher of the sky and you know what’s going on, you can identify those things, but the average person, they won’t be able to,» Harris-Wyrick said.KOCO 5 reached out to the National Weather Service of Norman to see if they’ve ever seen anything unexplained on their radars. They said, «While we do on rare occasions see something unusual on radar, it’s almost always explained pretty quickly and easily. And people do occasionally contact us asking about something in the sky, but it’s so rare and we don’t keep any records of those interactions.»Looking at the topic from an astronomy background, Harris-Wyrick said scientists are slow to believe unknown objects in the sky are UAPs or something not from Earth.»They’re not against studying that, it’s just, what they’re against is – the assumption that because you see something and you don’t know what it is, that automatically assumes it’s an alien craft,» Harris-Wyrick said.KOCO 5 contacted the Oklahoma City Police Department and they said they don’t have any records on UFOs and did not want to comment.Declassified Project Blue Book files on Oklahoma can be found here.
OKLAHOMA CITY —
The United States government acknowledged the unknown this year.
In the past few months, Congress has held hearings to discuss UAP-Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, also called UFOs. Both sides of the political aisle shared an interest in figuring out what the unknown objects are and if they pose a threat to our national security.
In Oklahoma, the topic has been studied for decades. The hearings in Congress got bipartisan interest, with former military pilots and government personnel bearing witness under oath.
«I’ve had police officers, sheriff’s deputies, off the record that have shared some stories with me,» said Marilyn Hudson, an author and UFO report researcher.
Hudson lives in Stroud and has written several books on the topic. She’s interviewed people all over the state, including law enforcement, local government staff, and working-class people who claim to have seen something unexplainable.
«East of Stroud, near the county line with nearby Creek County. They could actually see the sky through this area here,» Hudson said.
They’re not proof, but they help illustrate the sightings. Each of Hudson’s sketches goes with an eye-witness she has talked to herself.
«I had accounts from about four different people that all worked for the highway department or turnpikes,» Hudson said.
One was described by different witnesses between 1990 and 2010, but according to Hudson, they all saw the same thing while they were working on a stretch of roadway between OKC and Tulsa.
«They saw this huge triangular object that blacked out the stars, and it was absolutely silent. Highway Patrol and police go shooting through with sirens blazing, and they’re chasing whatever it is that’s been seen,» Hudson said.
The declassified government program called «Project Blue Book» was an Air Force project that investigated UFO reports between 1947 and 1969. Hudson spent countless hours combing through the digital case files, focusing on reports in Oklahoma during that time frame.
There are almost 800 cases.
«That object would usually not just appear over Oklahoma and disappear. It came out of the airspace of a neighboring state,» Hudson said.
Hudson said complete strangers were seeing things in the sky at the same time, according to Project Blue Book.
«This is an actual Blue Book file from the Tulsa area in 1966. It may not look like much at first, but when you dig into this, there’s this picture of what the witness saw,» Hudson said.
The witness was a member of the Oklahoma Civil Air Patrol.
During the Project Blue Book years, an OKC man was on a mission to study UFO sightings. The Oklahoma Historical Society said the man, Hayden Hewes, spent years investigating what locals were seeing in the Oklahoma sky.
«He had friends on the police force that would let him know when someone would report a UFO, so he was just documenting,» said Larry O’Dell, a historian with the Oklahoma State Historical Society.
Hewes didn’t stop there. In the late 1950s, he created the International UFO Bureau in OKC.
The group was made up of all kinds of people, including scientists, astronomers and even staff at universities.
«He had members of his bureau all over the world, not just in the United States,» O’Dell said.
The Historical Society said Hewes was very busy in the 1960s.
«In 1965, Oklahoma had a huge UFO report outbreak, starting in south Oklahoma and going up through Tulsa and OKC,» O’Dell said.
Some experts in the scientific community said there are more earthly explanations to check off the list before alien spacecraft.
«I’m never going to say the technology can’t exist, but we don’t know of any technology that could do that,» said Wayne Harris-Wyrick, former planetarium director for Science Museum Oklahoma.
Harris-Wyrick was the planetarium director at the OKC Science Museum for 40 years and he’s heard his fair share of UFO stories from visitors. He said most of the time, there’s an explanation, such as comets, meteors, satellites and even weather balloons.
He said parts of satellites or old spacecraft can reenter Earth’s orbit, too.
«All of those things can be startling if you don’t know what they are. If you’re an avid watcher of the sky and you know what’s going on, you can identify those things, but the average person, they won’t be able to,» Harris-Wyrick said.
KOCO 5 reached out to the National Weather Service of Norman to see if they’ve ever seen anything unexplained on their radars. They said, «While we do on rare occasions see something unusual on radar, it’s almost always explained pretty quickly and easily. And people do occasionally contact us asking about something in the sky, but it’s so rare and we don’t keep any records of those interactions.»
Looking at the topic from an astronomy background, Harris-Wyrick said scientists are slow to believe unknown objects in the sky are UAPs or something not from Earth.
«They’re not against studying that, it’s just, what they’re against is – the assumption that because you see something and you don’t know what it is, that automatically assumes it’s an alien craft,» Harris-Wyrick said.
KOCO 5 contacted the Oklahoma City Police Department and they said they don’t have any records on UFOs and did not want to comment.
Declassified Project Blue Book files on Oklahoma can be found here.
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