Mike Conley's Tales of the Weird: Who was piloting this odd craft?

On the morning of Aug. 25, 1952, a Kansas man who was on his way to work at the local radio station suddenly found himself on the highway to the unexplained.
In 1952, William Squyres was a musician and staff member of radio station KOAM in the town of Pittsburg, Kan. At around 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 25, 1952, Squyres was driving from his home in Frontenac, Kan. to his job at the radio station. On that lonely early morning drive, he happened to spot an object hovering low over the ground in a heavily wooded area about seven miles northeast of Pittsburg.
"My hair rose straight up on the back of my head," he said later of his sighting.
In his report, Squyres described the object as looking like two turtle shells that had been placed together edge to edge. Along the rim where the two halves joined, he noticed a series of small propellers 6 to 12 inches in diameter projecting outward all around the object. These propellers were turning at a high speed, according to a Web site's account.
Squyres later estimated that the object was about 75 feet long, 45 feet wide and 25 feet high. It was also rocking slightly back and forth as it hovered over a field near the highway. The UFO had a dull aluminum color. Squyres said he could also see several windows across the top and extending down to the rim of the object. And through those windows, he could see a strange bluish light and some kind of activity going on inside the craft. But he was unable to make out exactly what was happening inside the UFO.
But Squyres did see something startling in another window that was near the front of the weird craft. He reported that he could plainly see the head and shoulders of a single man, sitting motionless, and facing the forward edge of the object.
"I definitely saw a human being through the window," Squyres later reported.
He turned off the motor of his car and got out to get a closer look. He could also hear a steady throbbing sound. As he got within 100 feet of the UFO, it suddenly rose straight up into the air and out of sight, making a sound like a "a covey of a hundred quail taking off." It also disturbed the surrounding vegetation as it flew out of sight.
In his report, Squyres said he was convinced that the object he witnessed was "piloted by humans, and not some men from Mars." He and some officials from his radio station later returned to the scene and they verified that the vegetation did appear to be disturbed. A subsequent investigation by Air Force officials confirmed these findings. Project Blue Book, the Air Force's official, in-depth investigation into the UFO phenomenon, stated that Squyres was a good and reliable witness.
Squyres might have gotten a look at some top-secret craft that had been developed by our government. Or perhaps, those were not really humans inside the UFO after all.
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One of my previous Tales of the Weird columns dealt with a strange story about frightening sounds in the woods at night. A reader who came across that column shared her own story with me about what she's hearing just outside her home. This woman lives in an isolated area between Lake Lure and Rutherfordton.
"I got home from work tonight at around 7 and it's pitch black out of course," reads her e-mailed account. "I get out of my car and hear this loud, low-pitched whooping sound coming from the woods. It did not sound that far away. I've heard and can identify bear sounds, mountain lion sounds, bobcat, wolf, coyote, etc. I have never heard anything like this before. It made my hair stand up on the back of my neck – very primal."
The woman goes on to say that she went to get her horse in its barn and the weird sound continued all the while.
"In fact, the barn chores took about half an hour and that low-pitched whooping sounded like it was getting closer," she writes. "I sort of got the willies. Whatever was whooping sounded big. I was glad to get into the house. My horse was a little spooky tonight too although my four dogs didn't seem to bothered by it which is highly unusual since they take guarding the barn and house pretty seriously. How odd."
In a later email, this woman tells me there's always something interesting going on in the woods near her house. But she has always known what was happening out there. This sound is a different story.

Contact Mike Conley at 652-3313, ext. 3422 or e-mail nconley@mcdowellnews.com.