25 Years ago today-A scary UFO encounter:
From the files of UFO researcher Stan Gordon
This is a review of this classic event which he posted on the
25th anniversary of the case: October 25, 1998.

October 25, 1973
Fayette County, PA

Twenty five years ago, I was directing the Westmoreland County UFO Study 
Group based in Greensburg. I had started this volunteer research group in 
1970, and I had established a good relationship with law enforcement and the 
news media in western Pennsylvania. Then in 1973 a major UFO wave broke out 
across the country, and hundreds of sightings were being reported in the 
Keystone state. Then to make the situation even stranger, sightings of 
Bigfoot-like creatures began to be reported over a multi-county area in both 
western and eastern Pennsylvania. These reports continued for several months 
then began to slow down.

Interestingly, the media and police agencies for the most part took the 
reports seriously, And our UFO Hotline number was literally deluged with 
reports and questions. While some police agencies were investigating some 
incidents, they were commonly referring the reports to our group to 
investigate, and in some cases our teams were assisting the agency involved.

I had set up a communications center in my home, and we were radio 
dispatching investigators to the sites as reports were coming in. We were 
conducting this research around our regular jobs, but in many cases, we had 
teams on site within minutes to hours after a UFO or creature sighting was 
reported. But it was one case which occurred, that made myself and my 
associates aware, that there were some aspects of the UFO and Bigfoot 
mystery that are even stranger than were first apparent.

As I have stated since this event, most unexplained UFO sightings are not 
reported with Bigfoot encounters. And most sightings of Bigfoot have no 
association with UFO reports. But here in PA we investigated a few cases, 
where both were seen at the same time. In other cases, A UFO would be 
reported in an area, and soon Bigfoot reports would come from that area, or 
vise versa. What association there exists between the two anomalies if any, 
remains open to speculation. I must stress, these cases are historically 
rare, but some are well documented. It was my position as an investigator to 
gather the data, and present the information, not hide the facts that were 
uncovered because it would cause controversy from both Cryptozoologists and 
UFOlogists who have their theories as to what these phenomena represent.

Briefly, on the night of October 25, 1973, My UFO Hotline was active with 
UFO reports from around the state. About 10:30 P.M. that evening, I received 
a call from state trooper from the Uniontown barracks concerning an incident 
which he had just returned from investigating. One of those involved, was 
put on the phone for me to interview. At about 9 P.M. about 15 people 
observed a very large red spherical object hovering low in the sky which 
began to descend towards a pasture. The witness and two boys proceeded up 
the field and observed a white dome shaped object on the ground that 
illuminated the area, and was making a loud whirring sound. It was estimated 
at about 100 feet in diameter. They were about 250 feet from the object, and 
about 75 feet from a fence line. Walking along the fence line were two tall 
figures, 7 to 9 feet tall, covered with hair, and arms hanging down past the 
knees, and displaying glowing green eyes.

The creatures were fired upon, first tracers were shot overhead, then live 
ammo was used. The largest of the two creatures turned towards the other 
almost touching it, and at the same time the object in the field 
disappeared, and the sound stopped. The creatures slowly walked towards the 
woods. One boy had already ran home, the other two left the field, went to 
the farmhouse and moved the family members to a neighbor's home, and called 
the state police. When the trooper arrived he and the main witness went to 
the site, and where the object had landed there was a glowing area, that 
according to the trooper was about 150 feet in diameter. He said he could 
read a newspaper from the amount of light that it was emitting. The farm 
animals refused to go into the area. The witness we talked with has always 
stated that before they left the field, the largest of the two creatures was 
seen in the woods about 10 feet from them, and he shot at it and it struck 
the fence that stood between them.

Later that night our team arrived in the area. Radiation levels normal, 
glowing area now gone, but animals still wouldn't go near the spot. Strange 
events began to occur during the early morning hours in this dark secluded 
location. A farmhouse several hundred feet from us was seen by some in the 
party to suddenly light up like daylight for several seconds. A bull in the 
field and a dog seemed unconcerned about us, and were looking into the 
woods. The main witness, a rather large individual while being questioned, 
suddenly begins to growl, throwing his father and my assistant George Lutz 
towards the ground. The man ran into the field growling like an animal and 
emitting screams, one which was near inhuman. His own dog approaches him as 
to attack, then runs off whimpering. The man suddenly collapses onto the 
ground. Then two of my team members begin to complain that they are having 
trouble breathing. Suddenly the air is filled with a strong odor that can 
best be described as rotten eggs.

The man as he came out of what appeared to be an almost trance-like state, 
began talking about visions he saw about the end of the world, etc. Not 
knowing what could happen next we helped each other back to our vehicles. It 
was apparent that professional help was required in this case, and eminent 
psychiatrist Berthold E. Schwarz was contacted. Dr. Schwarz traveled to PA 
at his own expense and interviewed all of those involved including the 
eyewitnesses and state trooper. There is much
more detail to this case, and I spent years following the life of the 
principal involved. There were many para-normal events which reportedly 
occured in the years following this episode. And many years later in a 
follow up interview, an MIB event associated with the case was revealed.

For a more detailed account of the case see Dr. Schwarz's article "Berserk" 
in Flying Saucer Review, Volume 20, Number 1 (January-February, 1974, or "An 
Encounter in Fayette County" in True Tales of the Unknown, Vol.II, published 
by Bantam Books, November, 1989.

This was a well documented event involving numerous individuals who had no 
interest in the unusual. But it seems that the circumstances of this case 
affected many of those who were involved.