Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 13 Blinking, not believing, he stood and squinted into the summer gloaming. His heart rate jumped, and gooseflesh rose on his fore- arms, sending a shiver down his spine. His jaw went slack, and his mind raced as he stared south, baffled by four massive black rectan- gular objects, each with red lights on them. He fumbled for his phone, knowing that nobody would ever believe this if he didn't have photos to prove it. The flying rectangles seemed to move with leisurely indifference to the inhabitants below. He thought that if this were some secret military craft, they were doing a miserably poor job of keeping their secrets. The things were massive—easily as big as a pair of Greyhound buses welded together. He held up his iPhone, snapping dozens of photos, disappointed by how different they looked from what he saw with his eyes. He decided to try and take a video. His heart was pounding now as he re- alized that the endless summer song of the crickets and other insects had vanished. Is this really happening? Am I dreaming? He glanced at the iPhone, dutifully recording twelve red blobs that could have been anything, then returned his gaze to the objects. After forty-five seconds of video, the strange objects began to fade, as if they were a special effect in a low-budget movie. As they did, Russel experienced an odd mixture of relief and disappointment. Within seconds, the rectangles had faded out completely and were gone. He came back to reality as he heard the crickets resume their songs, soon followed by the other night insects and critters. He shook his head and stared down at his phone, wondering what had just happened, feeling as if he had just passed through a seminal moment in his life, after which nothing would ever be the same. Perhaps it's the nature of Big Sky country, or maybe it's our dark, clear night skies that draw more pairs of eyes upward. Whatever the reason, the fact is that Montanans report more UFO sightings than 98% of the other states in the country. We're second only to Washing- ton State, just to the west. There is no government database of UFO sightings, nor official statistics. The National UFO reporting center, or NUFORC, is a volunteer organization that has been collecting UFO reports contin- uously since 1974. Often at a loss for what else to do, law enforcement agencies will sometimes refer callers reporting UFOs to NUFORC, who will catalog and publish their report in a database. While the data may be of questionable merit since anyone can report anything they choose, a quick perusal makes it clear that most of the reports are from people who genuinely believe that they saw something unexplained in the sky. People often submit diagrams, drawings, and photographs with their descriptions. While the reports are varied, certain types of phenomena seem to come in waves, such as black triangular objects or cylindrical "flying saucers." It's from this database that Montana wins the curious title of sec- ond-most-reported UFO sightings in the country. According to the by CHRIS MUHLENFELD illustrations by ROBERT RATH AUGUST 18, 2019, 9:38 PM. HAMILTON, MT. R USSELL MILLS STRETCHED OUT ON AN ADIRONDACK CHAIR ON HIS BACK DECK TO ENJOY THE LAST OF ANOTHER PERFECT LATE SUMMER MONTANA DAY. The air was a brisk but pleasant sixty-five degrees, and the first of the stars were twinkling hopefully in the vault of heaven above. As he gazed up at the stars, something to his right on the southern horizon caught his eye, and he turned to look.

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