Coyne Helicopter Incident
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Evidence quality · 6 components
Behavioral anomalousness · 4 components
TL;DR
A US Army Reserve UH-1H helicopter was lifted from 1,700 to 3,500 feet against the crew's dive inputs during a green-beam encounter near Mansfield, Ohio on October 18, 1973 - with the anomalous altitude gain independently corroborated by instruments, all four crew members, and five civilian ground witnesses from two separate vehicles who watched the helicopter ascend while the object hovered above it.
Confirmed
- ✓All four Army Reserve helicopter crew members independently confirmed the encounter and the helicopter's anomalous ascent from 1,700 to 3,500 feet despite dive-configured collective and cyclic controls
- ✓Five civilian ground witnesses from two separate vehicles independently observed both the helicopter and the unknown object from below, confirming the hover phase
- ✓Both UHF and VHF radios failed simultaneously during the encounter and resumed normal operation afterward
- ✓Captain Coyne and Dr. J. Allen Hynek presented the case to the United Nations Special Political Committee in November 1978
Unresolved
- ?Whether the helicopter's altitude gain was caused directly by the object or by inadvertent crew control input under stress
- ?No physical material or trace evidence was recovered from the encounter area
- ?The specific mechanism of the directed green beam illuminating the cockpit has not been identified
Strongest mundane explanation
A meteor or bolide on initial approach combined with an inadvertent collective-up input by the crew under stress causing the altitude gain - though this explanation is directly contradicted by the five civilian ground witnesses who observed a sustained hover phase rather than a ballistic trajectory, and by the fact that meteors cannot halt in mid-air, emit directional beams, or maintain a stationary position above an aircraft for the duration described.
An Army Reserve helicopter crew of four, commanded by Captain Lawrence Coyne, encountered a large metallic craft near Mansfield, Ohio while flying from Columbus to Cleveland. The object approached on what appeared to be a direct collision course. When Coyne pushed the helicopter into a dive, the object halted and bathed the helicopter in a green beam of light. Despite Coyne's dive inputs, the helicopter was subsequently observed by multiple independent ground witnesses to ascend from approximately 1,700 feet to 3,500 feet without crew input. The encounter was corroborated by five independent ground witnesses who observed both the helicopter and the unknown object. The case received a formal United Nations briefing in 1978.
Key Facts
- ›Date: October 18, 1973, approximately 11:02 PM EDT
- ›Location: Approximately 11 miles southwest of Mansfield, Ohio, at ~1,700 feet altitude
- ›Aircraft: U.S. Army Reserve UH-1H Huey helicopter, tail number 68-15444
- ›Crew: Capt. Lawrence Coyne (commander), Lt. Arrigo Jezzi (co-pilot), Sgt. Robert Yanasek (crew chief), Sgt. John Healey (medic)
- ›Object described as cigar-shaped, metallic, approximately 60 feet long, with red, white, and green lights
- ›Object approached at estimated 600 knots on apparent collision course from the east
- ›Coyne pushed collective down for emergency dive; radio communications failed on both UHF and VHF simultaneously
- ›Object halted above the helicopter and bathed it in a green beam of light from a forward spotlight
- ›Despite dive inputs on the cyclic and collective, the helicopter ascended from 1,700 to 3,500 feet
- ›All four crew members independently confirmed the object and anomalous ascent
- ›Five independent civilian ground witnesses in two separate vehicles observed both the helicopter and the object from below
- ›The case was presented to the United Nations Special Political Committee in 1978 by Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Capt. Coyne
- ›CUFOS and MUFON both conducted investigations; no prosaic explanation was found