File 115 · 17 April 1966
Portage County chase
Ravenna to Conway, Ohio, United States
Opened 9/4/2026
Ledger illustration of the file — not a photograph of the object. Ledger illustration of the report. Ohio night road. — Night Ledger illustration of the file
Standing
Unidentified
On the public record, and still open. A claim, paper, or film — not a finding that it was ours, and not a finding that it was not.
What was claimed
Deputy Dale Spaur and others chased a lighted object across Ohio into Pennsylvania at speeds over 100 mph. The case reached Congress.
What is on the record
This file is a working record — a report, not a verdict. Official paper, if any, is linked where we have it.
In the early hours, Portage County Deputy Dale Spaur and companion Wilbur Neff, checking an abandoned car, saw a lighted object rise from woods and take station over the road. They pursued it, joined by other officers, across the state line. Radio traffic describes a low, bright craft that they could not close. At Conway, Pennsylvania, Officer Frank Panzanella watched it climb away as dawn came.
Hynek’s swamp-gas remark from another Michigan case that spring had already soured the press. Spaur’s career suffered. The chase log is long, multi-jurisdiction, and still ugly to read.
Could this have been ours?
The known sky, that night.
Satellites were already up. The station was not. Starlink was not.
Always
Venus and the bright planets
A fixed brilliant point. Does not streak. Does not hover over a street then leave. Often the first misread light in a rural report.
Always
Aircraft, balloons, meteors
Landing lights, flares, lanterns, reentries, fireballs. They are on the known sky. They do not close a file by themselves — they are what a serious look has to hold the claim against.
Orbit · Space — the desks for lights that are already named.
Sources
Paper on this file
Official or public documents that belong with this case — not a verdict.
Related files
Same craft, same place, same years. A neighbor in the catalogue — not a conclusion.
Same craft · Same country · 10 September 2026, night
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KLAS aired a viewer video of sparkling lights hovering in the Las Vegas night sky on 10 September.
Same craft · Same country · 6 September 2026, noon
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Same craft · Same country · September 5, 2026, shortly before sunset
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Same craft · Same country · August 2026
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A lake-country report described a large multi-light object that hovered, then dropped behind the trees.
Same craft · Same country · August 2026
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Valley posts described pale lights hovering on the desert edge of the city, away from the Strip.
Same craft · Same country · August 2026
Cluster of six orange lights, Fresno
Fresno, California · United States
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A valley-city report described six solid orange lights clustered over Fresno, not aircraft strobes.