Subj: APwv 07/24 W.Va.Briefs

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) -- Sand Branch Road residents, state police
and professional UFO watchers say they have no explanation for
bright white lights that moved across the nighttime sky, converged,
and then disappeared behind a mountain.
"It looked like two big headlights for a while," is how Gina
Mahaffey described Wednesday morning's phenomenon. "Then it
appeared to be one, and it moved.
"It didn't move constantly. It moved a little bit then would
stop, and then it would move a little bit more."
Mahaffey's husband, Allen, noticed the lights while taking an
early morning swim and notified police. Trooper John Ferda, who was
dispatched to the scene, admitted he was startled when the call
didn't turn out to be a crackpot case.
"I definitely saw it but I have no idea what it was," the
trooper said Wednesday. "It looked like three flashlights real
close together and it appeared to be moving. Well, it did move,
from left to right."
Other troopers and a Raleigh County deputy also observed the
lights.
Robert Gribble of the National UFO Reporting Center, a private
scientific agency in Washington state, said earthly reasons can
explain most sightings.
"Usually they turn out to be just plane lights ... or objects
that turn out to be other types of aircraft," Gribble said. "But
it would be very difficult to come up with an explanation for
something like (Mrs. Mahaffey's description)."
=END STORY=ParaNet rates this case S3/P4 on the newly-adopted Hynek Scale (see library file S-P.TXT)


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