Alternate Perceptions Magazine, August 2026
A Northern Ohio UFO Casebook - Conclusion
By: Rick Hilberg
1994
In late August and early September of 1994, Lorain and Erie counties residents were spotting all kinds of unusual things in the night sky. From having read numerous press reports at the time as well as having talked with persons who were close to the scene, I have to say that it's hard to put a handle on these cases as they have elements of being seemingly genuine UFOs as well as possible astronomical and/or aircraft.
The first series of reports began late on the 29th of August. The following account is from staffer Christine Reichert of the Lorain Journal in the paper's August 31st edition:
A Berlin Heights teenager said she was frightened when she saw an unidentified flying object with blinking lights hovering around her home for almost three hours before it finally disappeared early yesterday morning (August 30th).
The girl said she also heard a loud wind-like noise but didn't see any wind rustling the trees.
An Erie County sheriff's deputy was called to the home, and he, too, saw the mysterious lights.
This was the latest in a long string of UFO sightings in Erie County in recent years, most centered near Perkins Township. The majority of the reports come in the summer.
"It scared me," said Carmen Utter, 15, the daughter of Kerry and Bob Utter, of Berlin Heights.
Carmen said she first saw the UFO just before heading to bed about 10:30 p.m. Monday (the 29th). She continued to see the object off and on until early yesterday morning.
"It was pretty big, bigger than an airplane; about the same size as a blimp," she said.
"I was looking out my window. I just thought it was a star moving. I went and saw lights going around - they were green, red and white. I was sitting watching for a while," Carmen said.
"I tried to get my mom and dad to look at it, but they wouldn’t," she said. However, as the UFO continued to blink and hover and move, her family joined her and then reported the sighting to the Erie County Sheriff's Department.
Carmen said she took out her binoculars and watched the UFO for some time.
"I saw lights going around in circles," she said, adding it appeared to operate similar to a lighthouse beacon.
"It was there until 12:30 a.m. It was sitting in the sky, it wasn't moving or anything, "Carmen said. "It seemed right across the road, above the trees."
At one time, she said the red and green lights stopped blinking and suddenly bright white lights formed a cross.
At one point, Carmen said she and her father went outside and watched the object hover overhead.
"It was just sitting there. It wasn't moving. It was just sitting in the sky, like it was anxious for me to go to bed," Carmen said. "My dad was looking at it. When he was looking at it, all the lights went off and then it flew over our house really fast. The lights flickered back on when it was going over."
In addition, to the Utter family seeing the object, the sheriff's deputy responding to the call saw the brightly lighted object. Deputy Jeff Hippley said it appeared to be stationary over the eastern end of Oxford Township, about two miles in the air, according to his report.
The deputy continued to periodically check on the object, which appeared to move away due west" at a very, very slow rate, before losing sight of it at 1:07 a.m. yesterday, " according to the report.
"The only thing I could see was lights in the sky. It reminded me of a blimp, " he said. (End of newspaper account.)
Now here's where a possible aircraft comes into the picture, although it may not do too much to explain sightings on the 29th and 30th. The following "blimp" sighting from September 1st is by Ben Gleisser of the Lorain Journal in the paper's September 3rd edition:
"On Monday night, a Berlin Heights teenager and an Erie County sheriff's deputy saw a bright object hovering in the sky. On Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, a posse of Amherst and Vermilion UFO hunters followed an object heading east across the sky.
While flying saucer aficionados were chasing E. T.'s, three Lorain County sheriff's deputies were busy calling area police departments Thursday around 1:00 a.m. and telling dispatchers to disregard UFO reports because a blimp was passing overhead.
"Our three deputies confirmed that the object was a blimp moving in a west to east southeast direction toward Akron," said sheriff's Captain Joe Bell. "They looked up in the night sky and saw a shape they identified as being a blimp. Blimps have a definite shape."
That opinion was shared by South Amherst resident Pearl Phillips, who watched a bright, glowing object over her house.
"It was no UFO, " said Ms. Phillips. "Its shape was like Goodyear Blimp and lit up on the side were the words 'Channel 94' or 'Channel 96,' but I remember the word 'channel.' You could see the cross on the bottom like that girl in Berlin Heights described it. But that was on the gondola, and you could hear the motor. When it passed over, my friend and I laughed. Right away we knew it wasn't a UFO. " (End of newspaper story.)
Okay, now we have an even bigger mystery here. Not just a possible UFO, but a phantom blimp. To me it makes no sense for an advertising aircraft to cruise around in the sky in the dead of night when very few people are awake to see its message. Who would pay good money for that kind of publicity?
On the evening of September 24th, Mr. And Mrs. "R" of Berea were enjoying the pleasant late summer weather on their back yard patio.
At 6:10 p.m. they both caught sight of a round, slivery-blue ball heading due east almost directly overhead. The silent something was moving at what could only be judged as a fairly high rate of speed, as its size and altitude were unknown. After being in sight for approximately 12 seconds it simply disappeared in the clear, cloudless evening sky.
The witnesses at first thought that the object may have been a toy balloon, but no debris was seen to fall when it "disappeared," and the wind was blowing from the northwest at an estimated 8 mph at the time, eliminating the balloon theory.
