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The first reports to come in suggesting that something might be going on locally were from Stanton, Missouri in October 1977. The witnesses described seeing orange red lights skimming the treetops, descending and then coming up again. Reports dribbled in for a few months, then in April of 1978 Margaret Watts, Editor of the Elsberry Democrat Newspaper, called the UFO Study Group of Greater St. Louis and reported similar lights as well as mutilations in Elsberry.I became involved in June 1978 when several of us traveled to Elsberry to take reports and see what was going on. Little did I know that I would spend almost three months making the120 mile round trip, four times a week, to record the events.
It was Sunday, June 25th, about 6:30 PM when a fellow investigator called and suggested we (myself and my husband) join him for an excursion to Elsberry. We left home about 8:00pm. I was driving and for no obvious reason, I was nervous. We stopped for gas at Old Monroe on Highway 79. The others went in for snacks and I waited in the car. I was looking east toward the river down an access road to Cuivre River Conservation area when I noticed an orange-red light dart between some trees lining the road. Not being familiar with the area I had no idea if what I saw or if it should be there. I watched as several more seemed to follow the first. The others came back with snacks and we started off again. As we got closer to Elsberry I saw more of these lights rising and descending around the river.
We got to Elsberry but had no idea where the reported mutilations had occurred nor where the UFOs had been seen. We decided to drive west on Highway B and just look around. I was still nervous it was like I had an ice cube in my stomach. We pulled onto a gravel road and drove about a quarter mile in. (I later learned that this was the sight of the first reported mutilation.) We all got out of the car and looked around not really knowing what we were looking for.My husband had brought a camera and tripod with him but I asked him not to set it up, things didn’t feel good to me, I was afraid we were going to have to make a hasty exit and packing up the equipment would be a hindrance. This was a bad decision I have never forgiven myself for.
After a while we noticed an orange colored round light in the southern sky. We were looking toward St. Louis and my companions said we must be seeing air traffic from St. Louis Lambert Airport but I was not convinced, the light looked too close. It would rise, skirt the treetops for some undetermined distance and then drop down. It would then rise, travel in the opposite direction and descend. We watched these maneuvers for almost an hour. My companions became complacent believing they were seeing nothing but airplanes but I didn't think so.
I was continually looking at the fields which surrounded us and the sky. We were probably there a half hour or more when I noticed what I thought was a planet in the northern sky. Had that been there before? Then I realized it was moving toward us. As it approached it began to descend. It passed over the fields directly east of our position and as it passed by, the cattle in the fields began to bawl. It was a symphony of cattle, a cacophony of sound moving like falling dominoes as the object passed over the animals. It was about 500 feet east of us and about 100 feet high as silhouetted against the trees. It was the size of a mid-sized American car. The exterior glowed orange red in color and had "windows" showing a yellow light from inside. There was no discernible sound. Then, as if on cue, two (not one) orange spheres rose from the south above the trees that we had been watching all evening. They were going to rendezvous! Just at that moment we heard a car coming toward us on the gravel road. It was the farm owner’s kid and friends. They stopped in front of my car and yelled: "Hey, did you see that? We're gonna find them!" I backed up the car and never got to see what happened to the three UFOs. This was the first night of many.