"The Night We Chased that Damn Thing. That Saucer."

The Portage County Close Encounter

By: Heather N. Gibson

The Air Force Concluded:"misinterpretations of conventional objects and natural phenomena."

This is a close encounter of the tragic kind. It was April 17,1966 5 a.m. in the morning near Ravenna, Ohio, officers Dale Spaur and Wilbur Neff were investigating an abandoned car. The car which remains unidentified had a triangle shaped insignia on the side with a lighting bolt through it. Along with the insignia was the motto "Seven Steps to Hell." This logo however similar to is not to be confused with the 7th Army insignia which has an A with stepped sides. The contents of the car have been described as radio equipment.

Officer Spaur noticed something rising out of the woods behind them. The UFO was so bright he could not look directly at it. When officer Neff finally noticed the object it was directly over them and so bright he was afraid he might catch on fire.

The pair ran to their patrol car for safety. When the object began to move away they radioed headquarters. Sergeant Schoenfelt told them to pursue the object. The officers chased the object across the state line into Pennsylvannia. On the way officer H. Wayne Houston of East Palestine, Ohio joined the chase. The following is an exert from his police report:

(It) was very bright and about 25 to 30 feet in diameter.

By the time officer Panzenella came on the scene Spaur and Neff's car was running out of gas. The officers pulled over to refuel and call the Air Force. The UFO stopped too in mid-air and waited. The Air Force responded quickly and began to scramble air craft to intercept the UFO. Officer Panzenella describes what happened next:

The object then moved out...and went straight up real fast to about 3,500 feet...(it) continued to go upward until it got as small as a ball-point pen.... We all four watched the object shoot straight up and disappear....

"I've seen Venus many times, but I've never seen Venus 50 ft. above a road and moving from side to side like this was." Sheriff Ross Dustman

Police Chief Gerald Buchert photographed the object from his front yard. He was ordered by the Air Force not to release the photo. Those who have seen the photo say the UFO looks like two saucers facing each other. Buchert described it as," round when I looked straight up at it, but when it moved to the left--I feel like an idiot saying this--it looked like a saucer, like two tablesaucers put together."

The encounter didn't end with the disappearance of the UFO. The policemen who chased the UFO became the victims of the press and criticism from their peers and neighbors. The conclusion the Air Force reached didn't ease the pressure any.

The Air Force report concluded that the officers had seen a satellite at first, and then had chased the planet Venus for some forty-odd miles. The NICAP also filed a report which was later handed to the Condon Committee who chose to leave it out of their final report.

Because so many civilians were monitoring police communications, the department codenamed the UFO, Floyd. Spaur repeated his Close Encounter alone one night. He radioed headquarters, "Floyd is here with me." He then refused to even look at the object because of the pressure exerted from the public. Finally, Floyd left, but the damage was done.

Buchert and Neff refuse to speak of their Close Encounter, although Buchert has shown the photo to some journalist. Panzenella tired of the relentless harassment over the phone finally had his disconnected. Houston resigned from the police department. He then moved to Seattle and started going by the name Harold. He now drives a bus. Spaur was thrown into jail for allegedly assaulting his wife. He then tuned in his badge and now paints for a living. He was quoted as saying:

" If I could change all that I have done in my life. I would change just one thing. And that would be the night we chased that damn thing. That Saucer."