1988-11-30 - Hickory Plains, AR - Unknown

UFO encounter or high-tech military aircraft?

Nov. 3, 2000 I just talked to a man who told me about an amazing encounter he had with what sounds like a UFO, or at least a military craft sporting impossible technology.

Here's his account: In November or December of 1988, a man, who I will identify as Mike (not his real name), was driving along Hwy. 38 in rural eastern Arkansas between the towns of Hickory Plains and DesArc. He was on his way to join buddies for duck hunting. As he was driving on a deserted stretch of highway about 4:30 a.m., he became aware of an intense white light shining above the woods about a half mile in the distance. There was a farm field between the road and the woods. An object appeared to be moving along the timberline at a slow speed, perhaps 5 mph. The object was dark, and he couldn't discern its shape. It emitted an intense white light that lit up the ground. "It was the most intense light I had ever seen then or since, " he said. Mike slowed his speed so he could look more closely. His thought at the time was that it was a military aircraft from the Little Rock Air Force base at Jacksonville, about 30 miles away. The pilot of the craft seemed to be moving along the edge of the woods looking for something. It was about 100 feet off the ground, about 20 feet higher than the trees. Mike's impression was that it was military personnel goofing off and shining a spotlight looking for deer. He rolled his window down to listen, but he could not hear the characteristic sound of a helicopter engine or a noise of any sort. "I think I'm gonna' get a good look at this," Mike recalled telling himself. He stopped his pickup truck even with the object. As he watched, the object started moving generally in his direction, which made him nervous. It slowly gained altitude as it moved to a point about a quarter mile in front of his truck and about 2,000 to 3,000 feet in the air. It abruptly made an impossible turn and accelerated and disappeared all "in the blink of an eye." He also described it's acceleration like "a shooting star." He turned to look back behind him, but the object was not visible. He heard no sound of any kind. He said his impression was, "Whoa, now that's weird!" He drove on to meet his buddies and told them the story, but he was met with disbelief. I questioned Mike about missing time. He stated that he was 15 minutes late joining his friends. He estimated the sighting only lasted 5 minutes. He noted that he has driven the road many times and can't account for the lost 10 minutes. Mike has only told the story to five or six people in 12 years. He continued, for a while, to believe that it was a military craft, but Mike eventually acknowledged that it could have been something that was not manmade. (Mike is relatively high up in an educational institution and is concerned about his name being used.) ((name deleted)) Little Rock, Arkansas ((e-address deleted))

((NUFORC Note: We express our gratitude to the gentleman who submitted this report. PD))