Columbia, Missouri: Glowing oval hovers by a trailer, scorched trees and ground marks
At 12:30 a.m. on June 28, 1973, James G. Richards and his daughter saw light beams and a glowing oval object outside their trailer in Columbia, Missouri; broken limbs, scorched leaves and ground impressions were later found.
Background
At 12:30 a.m. on June 28, 1973, University of Missouri animal care technician James G. Richards, 41, and his daughter Vanea, 16, heard a loud thrashing sound outside their house trailer in Columbia, Missouri. Richards saw two bright silver-white light beams about 50 feet away, then a glowing oval form 12–15 feet across that lit up the area, while trees moved as if in a wind; the sound stopped when the oval appeared. His large guard dogs lay very still near the corner of the trailer closest to the object. The oval moved to about 200 feet away, showing a blue band and an orange glow around its edge, returned near its original position and disappeared by growing smaller before police arrived at 1:45 a.m. Later searches found broken tree limbs, damaged foliage, scorched leaves up to 35 feet high and ground impressions up to 2 feet deep. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.