The Burlington, Vermont UFO Encounter
July 2, 1907 - Burlington, Vermont, USA
On the morning of July 2, 1907, residents of Burlington, Vermont, witnessed an extraordinary aerial phenomenon that local newspapers described as a "remarkable celestial phenomenon." Viewed through a modern lens, the incident has many of the characteristics associated with a close UFO encounter. What makes the case especially compelling is the credibility of its witnesses, who included Roman Catholic Bishop John S. Michaud and former Vermont Governor Urban A. Woodbury, along with several other respected members of the community.
At approximately 11:00 a.m., Bishop Michaud was on College Street when he noticed a strange object hovering above the city. Standing roughly 300 feet west of it, he observed what he described as a dark, torpedo-shaped object suspended motionless in the air about 50 feet above the rooftops of the nearest buildings.
From his vantage point, Michaud estimated the object to be about six feet long and eight inches in diameter. He described it as appearing alive with electrical energy. According to his account, the object seemed to crackle with electricity, displaying "tongues of fire" that periodically burst from openings in its surface. These fiery emissions resembled red-hot unburnished copper, while the entire object was enveloped by a dim halo of light approximately 20 feet in diameter.
Michaud was not alone in witnessing the phenomenon. Alvaro Adsit, who was standing outside his business at the corner of College and Mechanic Streets, also observed the object. Another witness, identified only as a young man looking from a window in The Strong Theater Building, reported seeing the same craft. A fourth observer believed the object had struck the center of College Street before bouncing back into the air, although investigators found no physical damage to the roadway.
After remaining stationary for a time, the object suddenly began moving slowly southward, eventually disappearing from Michaud's view beyond Dolan Brothers' Store. As it moved away, he noticed that its outer surface appeared to be rupturing, with brilliant red flames shooting through the openings.
Moments later came a tremendous explosion.
Michaud later recalled that his first thought was that an explosion had occurred in the upper portion of the Hall Furniture Store. Despite the tremendous concussion, he reported no smell of smoke or explosives, no lingering odor of any kind, and no structural damage attributable to the blast.
Former Governor Urban A. Woodbury experienced the explosion from another location. His immediate reaction was to assume that a nearby building had exploded, and he instinctively turned, expecting to see bricks and debris flying through the air.
The only reported casualty was a horse standing in front of the Standard Coal & Ice Company office. Witnesses believed the animal had been struck by lightning when it collapsed onto the street. Newspapers initially reported the horse as dead, but after several men removed it from its wagon harness, it regained its footing and recovered.
One of the most valuable aspects of the case is Bishop Michaud's careful description of the weather. He noted that the sky directly overhead was completely clear, although an angry-looking cumulonimbus cloud was approaching from the northwest. Approximately 20 minutes after the incident, a heavy rainstorm began and continued for about half an hour. Curiously, despite the approaching storm and the enormous explosion, Michaud emphasized that there were no additional flashes of lightning or sounds of thunder during the rainfall.
The event left a lasting impression on him. Writing about it four weeks later, Michaud said that the image of the object and the tremendous concussion remained vividly fixed in his memory. He remarked that the crashing sound still rang in his ears and expressed the hope that he would never again witness such a phenomenon at such close range.
The Burlington object itself was unusually small compared with many classic UFO reports. Based on Michaud's size estimates, it measured only about six feet in length, leading some modern UFO researchers to speculate that it may have been the equivalent of a remote-controlled drone or another type of pilotless craft rather than a large manned vehicle. Similar reports of small, maneuverable aerial objects have appeared in numerous UFO cases throughout the twentieth century.
Another intriguing aspect of the incident is the object's apparent disappearance immediately after the loud explosion. Despite the violent sound, no debris, impact crater, fire, or other physical evidence was ever discovered. This has led some researchers to speculate that the explosion may not have been the destruction of the object but instead the result of its propulsion system, perhaps producing a sonic or energetic effect as it accelerated away from Burlington.
Equally noteworthy is Michaud's detailed description of the object's unusual electrical appearance. He observed a craft that seemed to radiate energy, surrounded by a broad luminous halo while displaying intermittent electrical discharges and fiery emissions from its surface. Combined with the multiple independent witnesses, the careful observations of a highly respected bishop, the corroborating testimony of a former governor, and the absence of any conventional explanation, the Burlington, Vermont, encounter of July 2, 1907, remains one of the most intriguing and well-documented early UFO cases in North America.