August 19, 1965 — Cherry Creek, NY
8:20–9:00 p.m. Harold Butcher, 16, is milking the cows in his father’s barn in Cherry Creek, New York, and listening to radio station WKBW. Just outside, a 3-year old bull is tied by its nose to a metal pipe. Harold hears the bull make a noise “like I have never heard come from an animal before.” Looking out the window, he sees the animal is bending the pipe. Simultaneously, he sees a metallic-looking, football-shaped UFO about 50 feet long and approximately 20 feet thick hovering just above the trees an estimated 450 feet from the barn. Slowly, the object descends behind a maple tree, emitting a red vapor from around its edges and a “beep-beep” sound. Meanwhile, the radio is emitting static, even though WKBW usually has a clear signal. Harold calls the house on an intercom, then runs outside. As he approaches the bull, the UFO rises and moves behind some clouds “as fast as a snap of my fingers” emitting red vapor toward the ground, then bounces back to the ship as it hovers about 10 feet in the air. The noise also increases to a level approximating a sonic boom as it goes up. As the UFO disappears, the clouds turn green. Inside, the boy’s mother, Mrs. William Butcher, notes that there is “definite interference” in her radio reception. Harold’s brother, Robert, also goes outside and the two boys see that the UFO has reappeared, this time hovering over a pine grove. It ascends again, emitting the red vapor and turning the clouds green. Others in the house include William Butcher Jr. and Kathleen Brougham, a friend. They do not see the object. It returns twice at 8:45 and 9:00 p.m., finally disappearing to the southwest. Trooper E. J. Haas and a fellow officer arrive on the scene shortly thereafter. As they all walk out to inspect the area of the initial sighting, they notice a pungent odor. Harold and the young daughter suffer from upset stomachs. Mrs. Butcher says the cows produce only one can of milk that evening, as opposed to their usual two and a half cans. Harold discovers a purple, oily smelling liquid and gives a sample of it to the state police, who turn it over to Capt. James A. Dorsey and five others from Niagara Falls Air Force Base [now Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station], who come to investigate the report the following afternoon. When NICAP investigator Jeffrey Gow arrives on the scene, he notices the foot-tall grass in the area “seemed to be bent over in long curved sweeps.” Radar targets are picked up between 8:00–8:30 p.m. by an AN/FPS-6 Long Range Height Finder Radar of the 763rd Radar Squadron at Lockport Air Force Station [now closed] near Shawnee, New York. The target is sighted near the upper limit of the radar. [Eberhart]
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Sources:
“Landing Probed by NICAP, AF,” UFO Investigator 3, no. 4 (July/Aug. 1965): 7;
“The Cherry Creek Incident,” APRO Bulletin, Nov./Dec. 1965, p. 7;
A. Schopick, A Study of Secondary Effects, Summer 1966, pp. 178–184;
J Allen Hynek, The Hynek UFO Report, pp. 170–172;
John G. Fuller, Incident at Exeter, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1966, pp. 32-35;
Ted Phillips, Physical Traces Associated With UFO Sightings (Center For UFO Studies, July 1975), Case #210, p.37;
Robert A. Galganski, “Incident at Cherry Creek,” IUR 21, no. 3 (Fall 1996): 3– 12, 27–29;
Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, Volume II, pp. 57-58;
Brad Sparks, Blue Book Unknowns Catalogue, Case 1628, p. 307;
Randle, Levelland, 2021, pp. 118–124;
NICAP, “Close Encounter Has Radar Evidence”;
NICAP, “Cherry Creek (Butcher) Trace Case”;
Center for UFO Studies, [case documents];
“Harold Butcher talks about witnessing a UFO landing near a dairy farm in Cherry Creek, 1965,” Eyes on Cinema YouTube channel, August 26, 2023;
