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UFO or time slip?


LeBombette

Skilled Investigator
When I was a kid, I was at my Stepmom and Dad's house way out in the country in rural Middle Tennessee (near the Alabama state line). Their house sat high on top of a hill and the driveway was super long, dirt and crazy dangerous on a bicycle or ATV. The driveway also extended back beyond the house to a barn that sat back in the woods. The section of the driveway to the barn was quite shady and covered by trees, but as soon as you got to the main drive there were no trees and the area was quite bare. One day me (about age 12 or 13), my little sister (about 5) and our cousin (about 9) were riding bikes. It was a bright sunny day and not wanting to kill ourselves on the driveway we would ride back to the barn and back around behind the house avoiding the steep hill.
It was kind of blinding to come out of the trees into the sun every time we came out from the barn to the main drive. One time me and my cousin had sort of left my little sis behind. We were riding hard and when we came out of the tree-lined area we both screeched to a gravel-flying halt blinded by the sunlight. Once I got my senses and my bike upright I shaded my eyes and squinted toward the sky...I barely caught a glimpse of what I can only describe as the body of an old WWII era plane. In my twelve year old mind it looked like the main body of a WWII cargo plane. I couldn't see wings, tail or nose. I could only see the sun gleaming off one section and the rest seemed somehow blurred. The metal I could see clearly seemed like shiny riveted metal....and then it was gone. My cousin saw the same thing, although I don't know if he remembers it. At the time we just assumed it was a plane. Later, other things would make it a bit more mysterious. My Stepmother's sister lived down the hill in the "holla" and they raised beagles. They had a big outdoor kennel with about 20 or so dogs. All day long and into the next day the dogs were going crazy. So much so that my Dad even went down the hill to check on them to be sure they were okay. By the way, in the country you don't pay much attention to barking Beagles unless they are really causing a stir. Across a field, about 100 yards away from my Step-Aunt's house was a cabin that they rented out. At the time there was this old fella there...kind of the local drunk. He lived alone and drank a lot. Sometime in the middle of the early morning hours (maybe 2 or 3 a.m.) the morning after we saw the "plane" he supposedly witnessed a UFO. He claimed that a UFO had landed in the field by his house. Apparently he called the police and it made it in the papers. Most people just made fun of him...after all he was the local drunk. However, my Dad and my Step-Uncle went down there shortly after and said they saw a burned ring in the field. I didn't witness it...I had already went back to my Mom's house by the time the "sighting" happened. Only later did I start to put together what me and my cousin saw, the dogs and the man's sighting...whether any of it was connected, who knows? I don't know what I saw and I don't know what the neighbor saw...can't say anything definite about it except the whole thing is a bit weird. One day I hope to dig up those old articles and witnesses and figure out if there was anything to what the old man claimed to have witnessed.
 
So why do you think a "time slip" may have had something to do with these incidents? Were there any other signs besides the vague WW2 aircraft?
 
Dear LeBombette regarding the aeroplane you saw: can you remember if it made a noise? if so what kind (jet or propeller)
can you remember the configaration i.e did it have one engine or two or even four?
could you guess an approximate size e.g small, medium or large.
Did the aircraft have any distinct markings or colours? and or what colour was it?

I think that with a bit of effort it could be possible to indentify, even though I know you did not see the wings, tail or nose.

I would be happy to try and help identify a possible match if you wish.

Also I would need to know an approximate year and more precise location (e.g closest town or landmark) because there are now quite a few Airports near "Middle Tennessee (near the Alabama state line)."*
I could check when they were built and exclude any that did not exist at the time of your sighting.



*hairports.jpg
 
So why do you think a "time slip" may have had something to do with these incidents? Were there any other signs besides the vague WW2 aircraft?

I was thinking a "time slip" like getting a glimpse of a brief moment or thing from the past...its a vague term but I don't know how else to put it and I only refer to my experience as that...basically, that would write off everything else that happened as weird coincidence. There was a WWII POW lumber camp around the area...not sure though if there were any cargo planes utilized nearby. :/
 
Dear LeBombette regarding the aeroplane you saw: can you remember if it made a noise? if so what kind (jet or propeller)
can you remember the configaration i.e did it have one engine or two or even four?
could you guess an approximate size e.g small, medium or large.
Did the aircraft have any distinct markings or colours? and or what colour was it?

I think that with a bit of effort it could be possible to indentify, even though I know you did not see the wings, tail or nose.

I would be happy to try and help identify a possible match if you wish.

Also I would need to know an approximate year and more precise location (e.g closest town or landmark) because there are now quite a few Airports near "Middle Tennessee (near the Alabama state line)."*
I could check when they were built and exclude any that did not exist at the time of your sighting.



*hairports.jpg

Imagine looking at something through a thick cloud cover and only seeing a portion of it through a small break in the clouds...this is what it was like except there wasn't thick cloud cover, maybe just some isolated clouds. I could only see something like the main part of the body, no markings and no windows or anything like that - just metal. This is just a model airplane, but the look was very similar to this. Very shiny and I can remember seeing the rivets and sections of metal but no other detail. There was no sound as what made me notice was the glint off the metal that nearly blinded me and almost caused me to wreck my bicycle. My feeling at the time was that it was medium...like a cargo plane of the 1930's or 40's (my reference was probably like the Temple of Doom!). One of the neighbors had a small personal plane and often flew over the house on the weekends so I was used to seeing his plane in the sky and would have judged it by that...so in comparison to his plane it was large, but certainly not as big as a modern day passenger plane. The year was somewhere between 1987 and 89...I think closer to 1989, but I'm fuzzy on that since my Dad and Stepmom moved around a lot and it all kind of runs together. My Dad has passed away now and I wish I had talked to him about it because I do remember he was quite weirded out by the dogs and the neighbor's sighting - he probably would've remembered things that I don't. I might bring it up to my Stepmom, but I doubt she'll remember. The area is called West Point. It is between the towns of Lawrenceburg and Loretto, TN. At the time, there was a small, regional airport fairly close, but the nearest large airports were in Nashville, TN- about 2 hours away and Huntsville, AL - about 90 minutes away. I think the article about the neighbor's sighting probably appeared in the Lawrence County Advocate.
 
I was thinking a "time slip" like getting a glimpse of a brief moment or thing from the past...its a vague term but I don't know how else to put it and I only refer to my experience as that...basically, that would write off everything else that happened as weird coincidence. There was a WWII POW lumber camp around the area...not sure though if there were any cargo planes utilized nearby.
Interesting. So when you observed this object you say the ends were "blurred". Can you be more specific about this? For example do you mean blurred as in it appeared through an opening in some mist or clouds? Or do you mean it was a clear sky and the object itself appeared to be translucent and distorted on the ends? Also, how far away do you think you were from the object?
 
Interesting. So when you observed this object you say the ends were "blurred". Can you be more specific about this? For example do you mean blurred as in it appeared through an opening in some mist or clouds? Or do you mean it was a clear sky and the object itself appeared to be translucent and distorted on the ends? Also, how far away do you think you were from the object?

I wish I could be more specific but, at the time I was just sort of like, "oh, that's odd" and then on to riding my bike. If I saw it today I hope I would be more observant, but I'm known for my weird experiences and just sort of shrugging them off...like the time I was attacked by a monk seal, but I digress. ;) Maybe I can try to draw it sometime and post a pic of that, the UFO, not the monk seal. ;)
The closest description I can give you is that it appeared like something would through an opening in the clouds, except there were no clouds...this makes no sense...but, like there was an invisible cloud cover. It was not translucent in any way or really distorted on the ends, except for in the way you would see something through an opening in the clouds. I cannot say how far away it was except to compare it to our neighbor's plane. It seemed to be flying just a little bit higher than he usually did and he flew something like a little Cessna and always flew fairly low.
 
The closest description I can give you is that it appeared like something would through an opening in the clouds, except there were no clouds...this makes no sense...but, like there was an invisible cloud cover. It was not translucent in any way or really distorted on the ends, except for in the way you would see something through an opening in the clouds. I cannot say how far away it was except to compare it to our neighbor's plane. It seemed to be flying just a little bit higher than he usually did and he flew something like a little Cessna and always flew fairly low.
Thanks for sharing, but there's just too little information here to draw any conclusions. Something else that is a bit odd is that you say you could tell it was riveted metal. Obviously the rivets themselves wouldn't be visible unless you were close up. So are you saying that the skin seemed to be made of metallic panels, presumably riveted, or could you actually make out individual rivets? Also, did you see any windows? Here's a picture of a DC-3 for comparison:

dc3.jpg

In the above picture you can see what look like riveted metallic panels.
DC-3s were a very common aircraft and I believe there a few that survive even today.
 
Thanks for sharing, but there's just too little information here to draw any conclusions. Something else that is a bit odd is that you say you could tell it was riveted metal. Obviously the rivets themselves wouldn't be visible unless you were close up. So are you saying that the skin seemed to be made of metallic panels, presumably riveted, or could you actually make out individual rivets? Also, did you see any windows? Here's a picture of a DC-3 for comparison:

dc3.jpg

In the above picture you can see what look like riveted metallic panels.
DC-3s were a very common aircraft and I believe there a few that survive even today.
The whole thing to me is odd. I don't know if I put in the rivets in my mind because it looked to me like metallic panels and my mind filled in the blanks. As you said I shouldn't have been able to see the actual rivets and maybe I didn't - could be my mind just supposed those? I did not see any windows.
I certainly, don't expect anyone to be able to give me an answer I was just hoping to hear some ideas. Certainly, sharing it has made me think more about it and perhaps I made myself believe it was like an old cargo plane to somehow make sense of it. It's difficult to trust what I think I saw because I was about 12 and I only began to think of how weird it was many years later. The few things that I'm quite sure of are 1. It was a very shiny metal, 2. it did not make a sound, 3. I could not see the entire object, 4. The dogs went crazy at around the same time and throughout to the following day, 5. the neighbor had a UFO sighting in the early morning hours. I'm not saying the neighbor's sighting was real or had anything to do with it or the dogs either. Basically, I've always thought it was a really weird thing that happened and that's about it - I don't lay awake at night wondering about it or anything like that. I saw something weird, don't know what it was and if someone can explain it then great and if not I won't loose any sleep over it. Thanks for taking the time to read about and share ideas about my experience. :)
 
The whole thing to me is odd. 1. It was a very shiny metal, 2. it did not make a sound, 3. I could not see the entire object, 4. The dogs went crazy at around the same time and throughout to the following day, 5. the neighbor had a UFO sighting in the early morning hours ... I saw something weird, don't know what it was and if someone can explain it then great and if not I won't loose any sleep over it. Thanks for taking the time to read about and share ideas about my experience. :)
No problem. I think I may have figured out a possible mundane explanation. That's not to say that it definitely wasn't something out of the ordinary, but assuming you actually saw something and it wasn't just your imagination playing tricks on you, the old temperature inversion situation is plausible. You probably already know about them, but for the sake of those who don't, they're a situation with layers of cold and warm air that can reflect light from objects in the distance in such a way that they appear to be someplace they're not.

For example, if there was an airport some distance away with one of those shiny DC-3 like aircraft sitting on the tarmac, it is conceivable that the hot air rising from the airfield runways was trapped under a cold upper layer that reflected the image of the aircraft sitting on the tarmac, giving this temporary blurred out effect of a partial silent shiny aircraft up in the sky. It's also possible that the image was reflected off an aircraft some distance away that was already in flight, so no airstrip is actually needed, and it also explains the silence. Given the very short duration of the sighting and your hazy memory, this seems to be the most logical explanation.

UFO sightings ( sightings of alien craft ) are definitive observations of alien craft, meaning that there is no doubt in the observers mind that it was some sort of craft with a configuration and performance unmatched by current technology within our known global civilization. The thing you saw is what NARCAP would call a UAP ( unidentified aerial phenomenon ) rather than a UFO.
 
I've vaguely heard of this phenomenon, but can't claim to understand the science behind it. I'm not a UFO or UAP buff for that matter. What would be "some distance away"? I'm not opposed to this being an explanation, but this was a very rural location so what might be the maximum distance this temperature inversion could reflect light from an object?
 
I've vaguely heard of this phenomenon, but can't claim to understand the science behind it. I'm not a UFO or UAP buff for that matter. What would be "some distance away"? I'm not opposed to this being an explanation, but this was a very rural location so what might be the maximum distance this temperature inversion could reflect light from an object?

A temperature inversion can lens and reflect things from miles away causing a mirage, plus like I was saying, it could also have been an aircraft in flight and not necessarily at an airport. Or it could have been some other thing that was constructed of shiny metallic panels like a bus, transport trailer, camper, train, solar panel array, corrugated steel roof, even a water tower. If you never saw the cockpit or tail or wings, it could be any of those things to name a few: Three examples below:

BambiA_1.jpg
silver_ext.jpg
4617964790_6563275304.jpg

If you believe it couldn't have been such a thing then you need to provide details that would give you reason to rule it out. However since you are unable to do that, and you don't know what it was, there is insufficient reason to think it was anything paranormal or out of this world.
 
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I think your explanation is definitely a possibility and I'll file it away as a real possibility and I appreciate it. However, there's other strangeness that occurred that day that this does not explain. Plus, I know this type of thinking is difficult for some, but honestly I don't mind if I never have an explanation...its okay with me if it just remains another weird experience in my life. I never meant to imply that I thought it was a UFO or anything else. My title of the post was just a couple of the possibilities I've bandied about, but honestly I'm not wedded to any theory. I just thought it would be cool to hear others thoughts on it and posting it did make me think a little more methodically about the events of that day. This is something I have only shared with a couple of friends, family members and you guys here and that's as far as it will go...it is just something I experienced that was weird that may or may not have a logical explanation and I will probably never figure it out and that is okay. Although I might just have to try and dig up some info about the neighbor's sighting since all this talk about that day has made me curiouser and curiouser about it. Thanks for the feedback! :)
about-image-correct.jpg
 
I think there is a chance that you saw this:
Untitled.jpg


The plane in the picture above is a Ford Tri Motor (the same type as in the temple of doom), it is silver, shiny and most importantly was being flown by a mr Al Chaney* on a "nation wide" tour between 1985-1993**

"Chaney's goal is to visit the 48 continental states***"

"When Chaney completes his mission -- flying the triple-engine plane in all 48 contiguous states -- he says he will retire his TriMotor to a museum, too. But he figures that time is about 26 states and at least four years of flying away."(1989)

Articles here:

*An Airborne Bus A Vintage Airplane Produced By Henry Ford Will Take To Broward Skies On Saturday. - Sun Sentinel
**'Flying Museum' Lands In Lake Pilot's Claims About Plane May Be A Little High - Orlando Sentinel
***Tin Goose Keeps Flying Well Past Retirement Age - Orlando Sentinel

P.S I am intrigued about you being attacked by a monk seal, was it on land?
 
That's cool...I would probably be more excited if I could prove that I saw Mr. Al Chaney's plane rather than a UFO or anything else. What an awesome "mission" he undertook!
It was in the ocean and it wasn't an "attack" - although at the time I thought it was. Basically, I was out snorkeling in Hawaii (the big island) in a very "only the locals know about it place" and we were hunting for an old sunken ship. We were out pretty far and the depth was about 50 ft. or so - my husband did a free-dive down to get a closer look at what we thought was the wreck and I was treading water watching him with my face down in the water. Then I felt something brush against me and I didn't pay much attention, just thought it was a fish, then I started thinking it felt big so I looked up and right beside me with her face about a foot from mine was a monk seal! Well, this particular place we were had some warning posters around on land about recent monk seal attacks - it's basically like being bitten by a dog. So instantly my mind flashed to these gruesome pics of people bitten by monk seals. So I scream, freak out and start swimming away like Jaws is after me. Of course the monk seal just laughed at my futile attempts to get away and promptly started swimming behind me and hurling its body onto my back. Monk seals are quite large and this one was a female (which grow larger than the males) but was fairly young so I would guestimate she was about 6 ft long and probably 300 or more pounds. My fear was that she was going to drown me or bite my face off! ;)
Monachus_schauinslandi.jpg

Long story short, after a long saga of both my husband and I trying to get away from her we made it back to shore. The area where we were was an old dock used to load sugar on barges so there was a concrete dock with steps...after we got out she actually hurled herself out of the water and on to the dock. Luckily about that time some locals turned up and explained that this particular seal was very lonely and had a habit of "playing" with people. We relaxed then and eventually got back in, but stayed in the shallower water and let her swim around with us. Unfortunately, monk seals are very endangered and we could've actually been fined for our contact with her. So, I call it an "attack" as a joke...I consider myself very lucky that she chose to play with us that day. :)
 
I think your explanation is definitely a possibility and I'll file it away as a real possibility and I appreciate it. However, there's other strangeness that occurred that day that this does not explain ... Thanks for the feedback! :)
While I'm the first to look for a mundane explanation, I'm also the first to admit that strange things do happen, and I've had several of them over the years. Whatever they are I think they make our lives richer and discussing them is something I always enjoy. So I must thank you for that opportunity. Personally, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a believer in UFOs ( alien craft ). But time slips are something I tend to have reservations about because of how much it would complicate the universe to incorporate that into any given model. However that being said, I've experienced something sometimes described as a dimensional portal, which makes everything equally complicated, so who knows? When it comes to these things all I know is that the first order of business is to try to find a mundane explanation. I think the fact that both you and your cousin saw the same thing means there was some sort of objective phenomenon and that it wasn't just in your imaginations. Your perspective on it is also very balanced. It's safe to say that we've once again proven the skeptics wrong when they say that UFO believers are the first to simply jump to the conclusion, OMG aliens ;) !

On a completely unrelated note, here's a bit of synchronicity. Last night I had a dream that I was talking with a cat with a big Cheshire grin, and this morning I check the posts and what do I see?
 
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... My fear was that she was going to drown me or bite my face off! ... Luckily about that time some locals turned up and explained that this particular seal was very lonely and had a habit of "playing" with people ...
Wild animals are still wild animals, and it's definitely a wiser idea to stay away from anything that outclasses you in size,
regardless of how friendly they might seem. Here's a video of something as "harmless as a deer" ...


I'm sure you've already seen the pilot whale .video ...

 
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Oh, yes I definitely have respect for wild animals...evidenced by the fact I screamed my head off and swam faster than Michael Phelps to get away from that monk seal. ;) The whale video is really something amazing. I think the whale was playing, but the lady could've died regardless. That was something that scared me with the monk seal because she would wrap her fins (which are very strong) around my leg and I could feel that I would not be able to get away if she wanted to take me under. We were in deep water at the first so we were really at her mercy. As an aside, a couple of guys got majorly fined for photographing and interacting with the "friendly" monk seal a few weeks after our experience.
 
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