Abduction by UFO in Iowa City

     "The dog began barking so suddenly, and so loudly, that I jumped and practically swallowed my tongue," reports Steve. "I ran to the window to look out and see what was the matter. I saw Fudge leaping into the air and barking, but I couldn't see what he was barking at. Finally I opened the patio doors and stepped out into the backyard, trying to get his attention. No dice; the dog just kept yapping and howling at the sky. And then, all of a sudden, he stopped. Fudge looked worried then, and slinked over to cower at my legs. I tried to console him, but then I had cause for worry."

     What Steve saw next was truly extraordinary, even amongst UFO sighting reports, which can often be lackluster. Descending from the clouds was a rotating circular object, perhaps forty or fifty feet in diameter. It glowed faintly, but at the edge, a ring of bright white and an occasional blue or red glow pulsed. Steve guesses the craft hovered within one hundred feet just above his house. Motionless with awe, he heard no sound as the UFO approached, but now that it was close and stationary, he could hear a faint, pulsing hum. He recalls that the glow underneath the spinning disc brightened, and his head filled with static, "That sort of noise you hear when you're too close to a television, but far louder and worse."

     At this point he broke out of his stupor and charged inside the house.

     "I remember the kitchen lights had been on, and that I had been listening to KCCK on the radio. But it was utterly dark, and all I could hear from the radio was that same whining in my head. I fumbled around in the kitchen drawers for what seemed like forever until I found one of those little disposable cameras. By the time I got back to the patio, the object was gone, and the noise in my head was fading. The lights went back on in the kitchen and jazz poured out of the radio again."

     But Fudge was missing. Steve counts it unlikely that the dog could have gotten out of the backyard by itself, as it is surrounded by a six-feet high wooden privacy fence. Nor since that night has Fudge turned up in the Animal Shelter. Steve's only conclusion is that his dog was abducted by aliens.

     "I don't know what they would want with a dog. Maybe they're doing research on him right now. Who knows? Maybe they need a pet, too."