UFO investigator shares stories, research at the Ritzville Library

Peter Davenport has investigated UFO cases for over 50 years. He shared his knowledge and research with residents during a presentation at the Ritzville Public Library on June 30.

Davenport is the Director of the National UFO Reporting Center, located in Harrington.

Established in 1974 by former firefighter Robert Gribble, the organization operates a hotline where people can report UFO sightings and alien activity in their area. Gribble appointed Davenport as the organization’s director in 1994.

Davenport’s lifelong interest in UFOs began after an incident from his childhood in 1954.

One evening, he was at a drive-in movie theater at the St. Louis Municipal Airport with his family when he noticed people were leaving their vehicles.

Davenport said he looked out the window of his family’s Studebaker and noticed an aircraft in the sky. He described the aircraft as being as “bright as the sun and shaped like the CBS eye logo.”

Davenport said the aircraft accelerated into the sky and over the horizon before it disappeared from his view.

After he graduated high school, Davenport investigated his first UFO case in his hometown.

The local newspaper assigned him to cover a UFO sighting and he met with two police officers who witnessed the incident.

Over the years, Davenport has witnessed several potential UFO events. He also provides lectures of his research and appears on numerous radio programs, including “Coast to Coast AM” with George Noory.

Davenport said statements submitted to the Reporting Center are not always valid. He said the U.S. military may have advanced aircraft in the area that could account for potential UFO sightings.

He also does not believe the military would test the aircraft near populated areas, which is where most reports are generated.

Davenport said over the years, he established criteria for selecting a report to investigate.

He explained a UFO case needs to be a dramatic event with multiple, independent witnesses. He added witnesses should be able to provide similar descriptions of the event, even if they were miles apart from each other.

Another criteria is objective photographic and video evidence of the event. He added there needs to be an investigation report associated with the incident.

Davenport provided different examples of potential UFO sightings recorded throughout history.

One example he provided was the NASA Technical Report TR R-277 published in 1968.

Davenport explained the U.S. government commissioned Barbara M. Middlehurst to research 500 years worth of notes from astronomers of unusual events seen on the lunar surface.

He said Middlehurst found 6,000 references to unusual events in the notes.

Davenport said there are ancient cave paintings depicting flying discs and people wearing items like belt buckles, which did not exist at the time.

He presented several known cases of UFO activity, including the Phoenix Lights case in 1997.

Davenport said hundreds of witnesses observed several triangular objects in the skies above Phoenix in an event lasting approximately two hours. He provided hand-written and audio reports from people who witnessed the event in nearby cities.

Davenport said he was contacted by an airman from Luke Air Force Base, 20 miles west of Phoenix.

The airman explained U.S. Air Force deployed two F-15 fighter aircraft and one of the planes intercepted the object. He said the pilot’s radar instruments went to white noise and he had to be helped out of his cockpit when he landed.

Davenport also provided examples of cases that occurred in Washington. One example was recorded in the Tacoma Daily Ledger newspaper in 1893.

Davenport explained a group of traveler fishermen left Tacoma for an island on the Puget Sound on July 1.

During the trip, the fishermen were woken by “intense sound and bright lights.” When they looked, the men saw an object, shaped like a cigar tube, hovering over the water.

He noted one of the men approached the object and was hit with a bolt of light that knocked him unconscious.

Davenport described another incident, this time in LaCrosse in 1994.

He explained a mother and her six children were driving north on Zaring Cutoff Road when they saw lights and three delta-shaped aircraft pass in front of the vehicle.

The mother contacted Davenport with the description of the event. She also submitted two sets of drawings of the aircraft, one from her and the other from her oldest daughter.

Davenport also discussed an abduction case in the Cascade Mountains on Feb. 25, 1999. He said 14 witnesses reported a disc-shaped object lifting an elk off the ground.

The object bumped into a tree before and turned 360 degrees before it disappeared into the sky.

Forestry employees later found a dead elk within a few miles of where the incident took place. Davenport said it was not confirmed it was the same elk.

In addition to investigating UFO cases, Davenport said he wants to further developments in UFO investigation.

In 2004, Davenport said he wrote a proposal to use of multi-static passive radar to detect UFOs in a near-Earth environment in real time.

He published the proposal to the Mutual UFO Network’s website.

Davenport said he will continue to run the National UFO Reporting Center’s hotline.

People who have seen a UFO or want to learn more about the cases can visit the National UFO Reporting Center’s website at http://www.nuforc.org/.

Anyone can use to the online reporting form to notify the center of a UFO incident.

They can also call 206-722-3000 if the report has happened within the last week.

Davenport said the UFO Reporting Center allows people to submit reports anonymously.