Norwood Ohio Searchlight 1949 Incident

NORWOOD, OHIO SEARCHLIGHT INCIDENT - 1949 ACTUAL PHOTO OF OBJECT IN NORWOOD SEARCHLIGHTSDONALD R. BURGER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SEVERAL SEARCHLIGHTS NEAR NORWOOD, OHIO. HE WATCHED AS THE SPINNING SEARCHLIGHTS SCANNED THE SKIES FOR ANYTHING AND ANYONE THAT OFFICIALS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT, BUT CERTAINLY NOT UFO'S. HE KEPT METICULOUS, HOUR-BY-HOUR LOGS OF HIS HEAVENLY SIGHTINGS.

He began his UFO sightings in 1949, sightings, ten of them, that wouldn't stop until 1950. The first sightings happened in the summer when the Jitney Carnival was going full blast. Hundreds of carnival goers watched wide eyed, as a glowing UFO hovered silently above them, glowing from bright to dull. Three newspapers, The Cincinnati Post, The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Times carried stories with screaming headlines the next day.

The Burger logs stated that the UFO's would always appear after 11:00 PM, and leave at 6:30 AM. Once, Burger even moved his searchlights away from the UFO's to see if they contributed to the glow of the objects, they didn't. The UFO's remained glowing at the same level.

Actual Norwood Light

During the Norwood festival, Managing Editor Robert Linn, of the Cincinnati Post, and Reverend Gregory Miller were certain that Burger's lights had found UFO's and reported it to military intelligence at Wright Field, near Akron, Ohio.The military chose to overlook the sightings this was something Linn and Miller couldn't understand. The people of Norwood, Ohio are probably still wondering, too.BETWEEN THE DATES OF AUGUST 19 OF 1949 AND MARCH 10 OF 1950, AN ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE WAVE OF UFO SIGHTINGS WERE LOGGED IN THE NORWOOD, OHIO AREA. THESE VISUAL SIGHTINGS WERE OF AN ODD, OFTEN STATIONARY OBJECT WHICH WAS WITNESSED BY MANY GROUND OBSERVERS. THE NORWOOD SEARCHLIGHT INCIDENT WAS LOGGED IN DETAIL BY SEARCHLIGHT OPERATOR DONALD R. BERGER, AND IS A MAINSTAY OF UFOLOGY.

Photographs ">It is often said that a sighting's credibility is based upon the reputation of its witnesses. This case was reported by members of the clergy, scientists, police and military officials, as well as civilians. On October 23, 1949 Norwood Police sergeant Leo Davidson took photographs of the unknown objects, and Reverend Gregory Miller took 2 reels of 25 foot motion picture film.

An Explanation Given:

Some press reports minimized the sighting reports as nothing more than searchlight reflections from the cloud cover. Several churches and at least one theatre were operating searchlights on the first night of the reports. However, sightings were made all night long until daybreak, and it is very unlikely that the searchlights were operating the entire time. One official from the weather bureau made a report of an early morning sighting of "two objects" that appeared to be weather ceiling balloons, but they were motionless, despite winds up to 32 mph.

The Berger Logs:

REFUTING THE SEARCHLIGHT EXPLANATIONS, BERGER EXPLAINED THAT EVEN WHEN HE REMOVED THE SEARCHLIGHT FROM THE SKY, THE BRIGHTLY LIT OBJECT WAS STILL VISIBLE. BERGER WOULD INTRUST HIS LOGS TO REVEREND MILLER FOR FIVE YEARS. AT THAT TIME, HE GAVE THEM TO UFO RESEARCHER LEO STRINGFIELD. THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE NORWOOD UFO HAVE A VERY SIMILAR LOOK TO THE ONES TAKEN DURING THE COLARES ISLAND INCIDENT

"Definite Object":

Robert Linn, who was managing editor of the Cincinnati Post, along with Reverend Miller, both stated that Berger's searchlight had accidently found a "definite object, and the light only enhanced its view from the ground. They reported this to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Although many reports were made of the unusual objects, Project Grudge would not investigate the case, either from lack of funds or lack of interest.