Report Summary	"16 year old Ronald Johnson was tending the sheep, accompanies by his dog, when the sighting happened. What he suddenly saw was a mushroom shaped object, illuminated by multicolored lights over its entire surface and hovering 25 yards away, within a [5 feet [footnote 1]] from the ground. Its diameter was about [8 feet[footnote 2]]. The glow from the object was such that Ronald could see no details, and [the object] was making a sound "like an old washing machine which vibrates". Then it brighted at the base and took off. The witness reportedly became temporarily blind... [The witness got his family to come out and see the object] now high in the sky and over a full moon in size. It vanished into the distance. The three witnesses went around the house to the site of the near landing and were surprised... to observe a glowing ring in the ground. The texture of the soil... "felt strange, like a slick crust, as if the soil was crystallized." And Mrs. Johnson noticed that her fingers went numb, as if a local anesthetic had been applied.... "The next day the ring was still clearly visible, with a dry and "crusty" appearance. The inside and outside of the ring were damp from recent rains, but the ring itself was perfectly dry. Thirty two days later... snow had fallen and was melting both inside and outside the ring, but the one foot ring was perfectly white.... "[Phillips wrote] 'We removed snow from one section of the ring and introduced water into the exposed ring area; the soil would not permit the water to pass through the surface. This was most remarkable, as there had been several inches of rain and snow.' "Phillips removed a sample from the ring and observed that it contained a high concentration of whitish material. The soil under the ring was dry to a depth of at least one foot... "Thorough analyses of the soil have been made, showing no significant difference between the inside and the outside of the ring... "[The whitish substance was forwarded to] a biological laboratory in France, where it was examined under the microscope... [it was resolved into fibers which] were vegetal in nature and belonged to an organism of the order of Actinomycetales, which is an intermediate organism between bacteria and fungus... family actiniomycete, genus Nocardia... [and is] often found together with a fungus of the order Basidomycetes, which may flouresce under certain conditions... one possible interpretation is that high energy stiumulation triggered the spectacular growth of the Nocardia and of an existing fungus, and caused the latter to flouresce... "There were striking effects on the witness... First, he suffered from strong eye irritation; his eyes were red and watery. Then... headaches and nightmares... lasting about 1 week."
Hynek Classification	CE II
Original Vallee Classification	Type Ia
Current Vallee Classification	CE2
Minimum Distance	25 yards
Object Appearance	A preliminary computer graphics rendering of the object. If you have a browser which can play MPEG animations, the above image is a link to an animation, currently of just the hovering phase of the sighting. If you need a player, have a look at our recommendations...
Object Behavior	Hovered, then departed
Physical Effect	Ring of altered ground material left behind. Apparent stimulation of growth of bacteria and fungus.
Medical Effect	Eye irritation in witness.
Comments / Conclusion	One of the most famous ground trace cases, this is currently being reexamined by the original investigator, who is also working with the author to create a realistic animation with the verification of its accuracy by the witness.

Footnotes

1. According to a personal communication from Ted Phillips, Vallee's reference to 2 feet has been found to be incorrect; based on a witness reinterview; the altitude was on the order of 5 feet.

2. According to a personal communication from Ted Phillips, Vallee's reference to 9 feet has been found to be incorrect; based on a witness reinterview; the altitude was on the order of 8 feet.