Russell County, Kentucky is a strange place. Situated along the route of the Cumberland Parkway and mostly known to non-locals for its proximity to the shores of Lake Cumberland, Russell County, which is made up of the small communities of Russell Springs and Jamestown, lies almost perfectly in the middle ground between the infamously phenomenal city of Somerset, in Pulaski County, and the strange-on-its-own-merit town of Columbia, Kentucky, in Adair County. Tales of murder, conspiracy, and, of course, the supernatural and paranormal, are not uncommon to the area and one needn’t look far for sightings of sasquatch, stories of the appearance of ghostly apparitions, and needless to say, reports of unknown, unexplained objects and craft in the skies over RC.



In this episode we’re joined by Nightowl researcher and investigator, as well as Jim’s and Ben’s daughter, Addison Slavey, in taking a look into the National UFO Reporting Center’s 13 listed sightings for Russell County. From massive fiery orange orbs observed by multiple witnesses, to an RC resident startled awake in the middle of the night to find an egg shaped craft hovering in the sky outside their window, we’ll explore just what awaits in the south central Kentucky atmosphere. Keep an eye on the sky, a finger on the map, and the car on the road as you join MIK for UFOs Over Russell County: A Microcosm of Global Mystery in a Small Kentucky Town!



‘Midnight in Kentucky (ft. The Appalachian Numerologist),’ the MIK theme, written and performed by B. Silas.



Shownotes:



-MIK on Substack

Midnight in Kentucky

MIK shines a light on unexplained phenomena, high strangeness, true crime, the weird, the macabre, and the otherworldly throughout and around the Bluegrass State.

By Benjamin Silas Foster

-The Cryptonaut Podcast

-NUFORC Sightings Map



https://nuforc.org/map/



-NUFORC Reports for Russell County, Kentucky



https://nuforc.org/subndx/?lat=37.0561788&lon=-85.0885667



-Carlos Díaz: The UFO with the Glowing Molten Skin



https://reveil.blog/carlos-diaz-the-ufo-with-the-glowing-molten-skin



-Midnight in Kentucky: Russell County Sheriff’s Deputy Faces Down Flying Saucer

-Midnight in Kentucky: In Conversation with James Bunch

-CRAZY EVENT!!! Kentucky POLICE UFO SHOCKING Encounter 2016! Deputy Sherriff TALKS!

-Midnight in Kentucky: In Conversation with Daniel Wilson

-Mama’s eBay



https://ebay.io/m/JJpRF4



-B. Silas on SoundCloud



https://on.soundcloud.com/AFZdL1U3vBM53FUM45



-Ransom Letter Publishing Link Tree



https://linktr.ee/ransomletterpublishing

Russell County, Kentucky is a strange place. Situated along the route of the Cumberland Parkway and mostly known to non-locals for its proximity to the shores of Lake Cumberland, Russell County, which is made up of the small communities of Russell Springs and Jamestown, lies almost perfectly in the middle ground between the infamously phenomenal city of Somerset, in Pulaski County, and the strange-on-its-own-merit town of Columbia, Kentucky, in Adair County. Tales of murder, conspiracy, and, of course, the supernatural and paranormal, are not uncommon to the area and one needn’t look far for sightings of sasquatch, stories of the appearance of ghostly apparitions, and needless to say, reports of unknown, unexplained objects and craft in the skies over RC.

Countless times over the years after revealing myself as someone with an interest in the phenomenal, some resident of the Russell County, (which also happens to be my own beloved hometown, as well as base of operations for Ransom Letter Publishing and the Midnight in Kentucky podcast) will slowly saunter over to me, voice low, and most often begin regaling me of their experience by saying, ‘I know you probably won’t believe me,’ or ‘I know this sounds crazy, but…’ Most usually I will tell them that I absolutely believe them and that no, I don’t think that they’re crazy. In fact, I sometimes add, these types of things are so common that I can give you three of the most often seen types of unidentified objects zipping over the heads of Russell Countians.

According to the National UFO Reporting Center, or NUFORC, where all of the sightings we will be looking at this evening are documented, the majority of the 13 sightings in and around RC and Jamestown can be classified as balls of light, or orbs, with triangular shaped crafted taking a close second, and flashing strange lights bringing up the third largest grouping. There are a variety of craft in the skies over south central Kentucky aside from these big three, however. Some of them only seen once and others witnessed multiple times.

We would like to deeply thank NUFORC for keeping record of these sightings, as well as Nightowl Addison Slavey for doing the leg work and research on the reports into which we are about to dive.

The first six documented accounts for Russell County on the incredibly impressive Sightings Map feature on NUFORC’s website (which you can find here) may not necessarily be the most intense from an outsider perspective, but, when looking at the details, do seem to connect with further sightings around the area, and the world, in interesting ways. This first group of reports range from the years 2000 to 2011. I will list the full NUFORC case files, available online, below, and then we’ll analyze these encounters together.

• #1

Occurred: 2000-11-12 03:00 Local - Approximate

Reported: 2002-02-09 20:46 Pacific

Duration: 2 mins

No of observers: 1

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Formation

Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

A tight formation of three crafts that zipped across the sky but stopped for a minute and then flew off again. The dog was barking loud on the front porch at some wild coyotes howling off in the background, so I stepped outside to listen to them crying in the backwoods. I lit up a cig and looked up and noticed off towards the north-western sky there was three something zipping across the sky in a tight pattern, then as I cleared my eyes by blinking a few times I noticed it stopped and seemed to pulse with lights a couple blinks and zip gone. and that’s it, it reminded me of a triangle formation but seems to rotate.

NUFORC Note: Date is approximate. PD

• #2

Occurred: 2001-03-22 06:00 Local

Reported: 2001-03-23 00:00 Pacific

Duration: 3 min.

No of observers: 2

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Triangle

Characteristics: Aura or haze around object

Triangular hoops of fire. It was three hoops of blue fire that formed a triangle which zipped across the sky very slowly.

NUFORC Note: This is the only data provided for the sighting. PD

• #3

Occurred: 2008-04-23 11:09 Local - Approximate

Reported: 2008-04-22 21:41 Pacific

Duration: 8 min

No of observers: 2

Location: Jamestown, KY, USA

Shape: Triangle

Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams, Aircraft nearby

UFO over Lake Cumberland. My Wife and I saw a Triangle shaped UFO. it had a couple of lights, I think three. It was over lake Cumberland coming towards Clifty Creek Rd. which is in Russell County just south of Jamestown, Ky. I was at the new water tower off Clifty Creek which is the highest point in Russell County. The UFO just hovered and moved at times toward town then hoovered again and then vanished. This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that here in my 17 years. Not sure if the lights were a beam or not, however there was a small twin plain which did fly over about 20 min. prior. Poss. landing at Jamestown Airport. I hope this helps.

• #4

Occurred: 2008-07-21 20:00 Local

Reported: 2008-07-21 18:25 Pacific

Duration: -6 hours CST

No of observers: 1

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Flash

Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

Two objects fly through Kentucky. Looked like Shooting Stars side by side. It looked like two balls of fire like a shooting star but a horizontal fly by about 800 feet above as two close together objects glowing like fire.

• #5

Occurred: 2011-07-02 22:30 Local

Reported: 2011-07-02 22:32 Pacific

Duration: 10 minutes

No of observers: 3

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Light

Characteristics: Lights on object

Two WHITE DOTS in a line when bright then dim while moving north. We was shooting off fireworks for our 4th of July at home in the front yard, and just noticed two very bright stars in a line, and with-in minuets they dimmed to about the same brightness to the stars around them and started to move to the north (from the southern part of the sky) Then just vanished in almost a wave effect like light bending till objects totally faded into the black sky.

• #6

Occurred: 2011-09-22 13:15 Local

Reported: 2011-09-22 00:30 Pacific

Duration: 10 Minutes

No of observers: 1

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Flash

Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

A strange 5 to 6 second pulse of light streaked across Kentucky’s view towards the north-east. I was taking the trash out and happen to look up and seen a flash like a aircraft so I didn’t pay too much mind to it, I wheeled out my trash and set it beside the road and thought to look up again and noticed the flash again but almost in the same spot, the flashes was just it alone and ever 5 or 6 seconds, far more delay then aircraft, so I thought I would report it. It’s probably a UARS satellite, but who knows? I sure don’t! I watched it for a good 8 - 10 minutes as it moved out of sight far to the north-east moving north to north-east.

• -

Within these first six reports we find the three most represented UFO types in Russell County lain out pretty consistently. Three of these cases being instances of triangular shaped craft, two of the cases having the witnesses reporting a duo of orb like craft, and one of the reports seemingly documenting strange flashes of light in daytime skies. In this final instance, documented in Report #6, if what the witness describes is anything like the myriad of strange flashing lights that have been seen over the Cumberland Parkway in Russell County, witnessed by ourselves here at MIK on multiple occasions, it would be fascinating to see them during the day as the wide majority of the sightings are at night. We have dubbed these strange flashes of light, appropriately enough, and indicative of our immense professionalism; ‘Flashers.’

Taking a further look at this initial group of six sightings, you may have noticed that in all but two instances the witnesses reported an ‘aura or haze’ around the objects. Could this be a force field of some kind? A form of cloaking? Residue from faster than light travel or from phasing in from another universe or alternate reality? The truth is, we don’t know, but this recurring detail can be seen constantly repeating throughout, not only the above cases, but the majority of the overall reports, with only 3 total encounters of the 13 not featuring the characteristic.

Descriptions like ‘balls of fire,’ and ‘glowing like fire,’ are interesting as well. This description is another recurring characteristic that will come up repeatedly in the reports below. Additionally, dates around the summer solstice to the Fourth of July are always noteworthy. Various UFOlogists and paranormal investigators have documented this time of year as having heightened phenomenal activity of all kinds, especially UFO sightings. In fact, Report #5 almost perfectly mirrors another report we received personally at MIK in 2022, from Taylor County, Kentucky, which occurred in the middle of a regional UFO flap from around the time of the Summer Solstice up to the middle of July of that year.

Finally, in Report #1, the witness mentions his dog barking at wild coyotes in the distance, an interesting detail, and one that will, oddly enough, come up again, almost verbatim, in one of the final cases we’ll be exploring this evening. Strangely, animal reactions, especially that of dogs, are another recurring factor in the RC encounters, with four of the 13 reports featuring animal reactions of some kind, and three of those being dogs. The following report is perhaps the strangest case of the 13 involving a dog seemingly being affected by something unexplained in the skies.

• #7

Occurred: 2012-03-06 00:20 Local

Reported: 2012-03-05 23:23 Pacific

Duration: 3 minutes

No of observers: 1

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Egg

Characteristics: Lights on object, Left a trail, Changed Color, Electrical or magnetic effects

An old music box started playing that has not been wound up in years.

I was asleep and awoke by an old music box that has not been wound up in over a year and my 1 year old Yorkie started yapping like something was hurting her which lasted a little longer than a minute, I looked around and then went to the window and looked up out my western view window of the sky and seen the full moon and mars little red light shining and just a bit under mars was a glimmering egg shape thing that I thought was a star but then traced across the sky and was gone. It’s very weird and hard to go back to sleep now so I thought I would report it.

• -

This report is one of the most fascinating I have read in a long time. I can almost see it playing out on a movie screen. Some real Close Encounters type shit.

I say none of that to lessen or degrade the impact of this particular encounter or its effects on the witness. I am sure this was a terrifying ordeal and one that undoubtedly still lingers in the recesses of the mind. If the person that experienced this happens to be reading or listening I would love to speak with you.

As I mentioned above, animal reactions are a characteristic that occurs often in encounters with the phenomenal and could be suggestive of a more substantial event. During the heyday of investigations at Skinwalker Ranch in Utah, an area teeming with paranormal occurrences, dogs were supposedly employed as ‘bio-sensors.’ Essentially being used as warning signals against incoming events, as they would grow nervous and begin barking in the face of high strangeness, much the same way the witness’ Yorkie reacted to whatever was hovering in the skies outside. Conjoined with the activation of a music box, which the witness says had not been wound in at least a year, these details make up what I would call a ‘Profound Encounter,’ and could perhaps indicate an abduction type scenario.

The year 2012 overall seems to have been a time of heightened UFO activity in and around Russell County with four of our thirteen reports coming from this year. The first being the case we just discussed and the later three all being reported on the same day in November. We’ll read these three cases together and then get into the details.

• #8

Occurred: 2012-11-18 17:45 Local

Reported: 2012-11-18 18:20 Pacific

Duration: 2 minutes

No of observers: 2

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Disk

Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

Red flame saucer over Kentucky. It was red. A disc or saucer shape. Spinning. Was visible for around two minutes. Picture was taken. Only one. Observer is completely sane.

• #9

Occurred: 2012-11-18 19:15 Local

Reported: 2012-11-19 21:32 Pacific

Duration: 10 minutes

No of observers: 2

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Fireball

Characteristics: Aura or haze around object

Ascending Orange fireball- like circle with a glow trailing it

I observed an orange colored, fireball-like, light which appeared to have a glow trailing it, like something on fire in the sky. It appeared to be circular & moving at a somewhat moderate speed. There wasn’t any sound. I was in my vehicle in a parking lot as it appeared to have just floated up from behind some apt. buildings. I was picking up my child from his father apt. as he also witnessed it. We watched as it continued moving upward then just faded into the sky. I photographed it with my phone before it completely disappeared. It was dark outside & essentially a clear sky.

• #10

Occurred: 2012-11-18 19:20 Local

Reported: 2012-11-19 09:55 Pacific

Duration: 2 minutes

No of observers: 2

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Fireball

Characteristics: Aura or haze around object

Orange fireball passes directly overhead in southern KY

At approximately 7:15pm on 11/18/12 we observed in the sky a ball of fire moving from the north to the south. I came almost directly overhead, maybe 800 to 1000 feet off the ground. I first thought it was an airplane on fire as it was moving toward the local airport. As it came overhead you could see that there was no structure on fire but just this huge ball of fire moving silently through the sky. As it went on to the south it appeared to veer to the right moving westward and continued until it went out of sight over the horizon. This thing cast an immense glow and you could see the flames jumping and flickering. You would expect to hear something as you would with any other craft passing overhead but it was silent. My ex-wife who is an RN witnessed this also. She spotted it first. I am a college graduate and am mostly skeptical of any UFO reports. This was truly unexplainable.

• -

In my opinion these preceding three reports are some of the most valid and well documented of the thirteen we are investigating tonight. With seemingly three separate individuals describing an almost identical object, it can almost certainly be said that something which the witnesses could not explain was present in the Russell County atmosphere on the evening of November 18th, 2012. This is not to mention the various characteristics of these three reports that are shared with further high-profile and profound events from around the area and the world.

All three reports describe the object as an orange color, like fire. This description brings to mind the multitude of sightings across time and the globe in which witnesses have echoed this exact account. Further, this depiction of the craft makes me think of two distinctive cases, one of them here in RC, much less documented and well known, while the other is one of the most prominent UFO contact cases of all time.

In Report #8 the witness describes the object as a ‘Red flame saucer over Kentucky,’ which immediately brought to mind the photos Carlos Diaz, supposedly taken just outside of Mexico City in the early 80s.

Diaz’s story is a strange and complex one, involving multiple encounters, numerous photos of large alien craft, and supposed interactions with the object’s occupants themselves. I am hoping to one day do a deep dive into Carlos’ story myself, but in the meantime, if you are interested in reading more, you can check out this excellent breakdown of Diaz’s experiences here at Reveil blog. As you can see above, the witness from Report #8, who described the object they were seeing over RC as a red flaming saucer, could just as well have been describing these photos, taken almost 2,000 miles away, two decades before.

As impressive as these photos are, and as much as they match the description from Report #8, there is another event, which happened right here at home, in which the witnesses had a close encounter with an object that appeared almost exactly the same as the above case, and the photos of Carlos Diaz. In the early hours of a late summer morning in 2007, Russell County deputy sheriff James Bunch received a call from dispatch regarding the glow of a possible structure fire. When James and his partner reached the source of the luminescence they were startled to find a massive, saucer shaped object, which James said had a color of orange, molten lava, hovering low over a private residence.

The duo watched the object for around ten minutes, in which James says no noise could be heard from anything, let alone the usually incredibly loud insects of the time and season, before the UFO shot up all at once with tremendous speed and disappeared into the early morning Kentucky sky. When Bunch returned to the scene of the encounter the next day, he was greeted by the homeowner, who, when asked about his own safety and the object James and his partner had seen over his home less than 24 hours before, the man replied: “It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time.” You can listen to our deep dive of this case here, and our interview with James here, as well as James telling his story on popular UFO podcast Third Phase of the Moon here.

This case has always made me wonder, with the high volume of reports of both UFOs and other high strangeness in this area, if perhaps someone, somewhere, such as this elderly man, in his out of the way, backroads home, isn’t calling out to something and drawing it in? James’ encounter is far from the only instance of having a profound experience with the otherworldly in or around Russell County. Synchronistically enough, one of the most high profile instances of an alleged alien abduction happened only miles from RC. Can you take a guess as to what the witnesses said awaited their gaze through the window of their ‘67 Chevy Nova? The fiery orange glow of a molten colored saucer.

In Report #10, the witness says, ‘I first thought it was an airplane on fire as it was moving toward the local airport.’ This is the EXACT same statement Mona Stafford would use of what she first believed the object to be, that trailed, and eventually captured, herself, Louise Parker, and Elaine Thomas in Stanford, Kentucky on their way home to the small town of Liberty, in January of 1976. The ‘Abduction of the Stanford Three’ would become one of the most infamous incidents in early UFOlogical history. Liberty is less than 30 minutes from Russell County.

In the instance of Reports #8-10, it would seem as though the group of individual witnesses who made these reports, from their own distinct vantage points, observed something with the appearance of glowing like fire, make its way through the atmosphere and over the horizon line of Russell County. I would, of course, be delighted to speak to the witnesses who reported these events, or anyone else who may have also seen this object, or objects, whose story may have gone untold. It goes without saying that I would also love to see the two individual photos taken by the witnesses in Reports #8 and #9.

• #11

Occurred: 2013-10-12 23:00 Local (11:00)

Reported: 2013-10-13 17:29 Pacific

Duration: N/A

No of observers: 8

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Light

Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Emitted other objects, Emitted beams, Changed Color, Electrical or magnetic effects, Animals reacted

There is no other explanation than a UFO. A ball of light has hovered over the top of trees for two nights in a row. One will come down then sometimes a second will also come down. they have some kind of red and orange ball of light coming down out of them. The one will hover for a while then take off into the sky in zigzags or circles then come back down to the tops of the trees. We have this recorded but sometimes the phone just stops working while recording. Also dogs and coyotes were howling from miles away all at one time

• #12

Occurred: 2015-12-14 19:00 Local

Reported: 2015-12-14 19:13 Pacific

Duration: 5 minutes

No of observers: 2

Location: Russell Springs, KY, USA

Shape: Light

Characteristics: Aircraft nearby

Strange lights seen in Russell county

A friend and I were taking a walk together with my dog and we were talking about how we didn’t get to see the Geminid meteor shower and while talking about it we looked up and noticed objects looking like stars but brighter and they numbered to be prolly 40 or 50 of them. What was even stranger was that some of them traveled in the shape of a triangle. They were all traveling from east to west and were moving without producing any noise at all. Also noticed that they were trying to stay in the clouds like they were trying to stay hidden. That’s what really freaked me out. I know this sounds insane but this makes 5 times I’ve seen something I couldn’t explain in my lifetime and every time it happened I had a witness with me. Once it was in broad daylight and it was a UFO and I told everybody and no one believed me until it came out in the newspaper. What I saw tonight was different.

• #13

Occurred: 2022-02-01 17:10 Local

Reported: 2022-02-01 19:03 Pacific

Duration: Roughly 45 seconds

No of observers: 1

Location: Jamestown, KY, USA

Location details: Hwy 379

Shape: Other

Characteristics: Left a trail, Aircraft nearby

Flat shaped object.

Unsure if it was just a play on lighting. This was in daylight and the object appeared to be extremely large and black. Other aircraft were in the distance. I recorded the sighting on my iPhone while driving home.

• -

Unfortunately, the one and only photo offered from any of our reports this evening seems to show a classic misidentification. In our final case, Report #13, the witness says they are unsure if what they saw was just a play on lighting, and looking at the photo that accompanies, it becomes obvious, for myself at least, that this sighting is just that. What I believe is shown in the witness’ photo is an emulsion stream from a conventional aircraft caught in the right light to mistake it for a physical object. Of course, I absolutely could be wrong. Regardless of the explanation for this report, the witness is greatly appreciated and it is important to try and report any strange sightings that may take place overhead so that misidentifications can be better identified and understood.

Reports #11 and #12, offer strangeness of a different substance, however. In Report #11 we are once again privy to a glowing ball of fiery orange light, seemingly emerging from a larger craft, which hovered over the tree tops for two consecutive nights, and perhaps more. This report also returns us to that odd detail present in Report #1, of the barking of wild coyotes and dogs in the distance when the objects are present. As previously mentioned, this kind of animal reaction is suggestive of a more substantial experience, and could be indicative of a variety of weirdness in the mind of the imaginative investigator.

Perhaps I myself would be more skeptical of the description of the sighting in Report #12, had I not seen something similar myself while stargazing in the city limits of Russell Springs in the late winter of 2020. Dozens of tiny star-like objects gliding silently through the high atmosphere above, barely noticeable until you pick out one and give it focus. The characteristic of the craft attempting to hide within the clouds is consistent with my own sighting too, as well as those of weather expert, Russell Countian, and UFO experiencer Daniel Wilson, whose interview with MIK you can listen to here.

Ultimately, these 13 reports offer a good glimpse into the kind of UFO activity present in the skies over Russell County and the surrounding areas, but are far from a complete list of the sightings in the region. In this weird baker’s dozen we can begin to see how a small Kentucky town becomes a microcosm for a much more global mystery, and hopefully start to understand how every small town harbors oddness of its own. For more, be sure to check out the MIK backlog and stay tuned for future installments in which we’ll explore more high strangeness from around RC and surrounding counties. Happy World UFO Day from Midnight in Kentucky and Ransom Letter Publishing!

Chock full of paranormal goodness and just in time for the arrival of the extensively awaited and highly debated ‘UFO files,’ the first ever long form solo show in MIK history is coming at you this evening, Nightowls, as we delve into part two of The Weird Report: State of the Strangeness ‘26! On this episode we will, of course, be taking a deep dive into the recent release of just over 160 documents, photos, and videos, from multiple government agencies, profiling just what the-powers-that-be may know (or not know) regarding unexplained aerial phenomena. Before that, however, we’ll be taking a look at two recent UFO sightings that may not only tie in the Easter 2026 prophecy of Christopher Bledsoe, which we talked about at length on part one, but also with the ongoing disappearance and deaths of multiple scientists and whistleblowers around the US. We’ll hear Matt Gaetz talk about being briefed on a human/alien hybrid breeding program, as well as Ross Coulthard on being privy to a highly protected ‘portal’ in the middle of a national forest somewhere in America, before bringing it back to Kentucky to discuss the sighting of a ‘red minotaur’ by twin siblings in Louisville and an invisible Sasquatch along Green River! All this weirdness, and so much more, tonight on Midnight in Kentucky proudly presents: The Weird Report: State of the Strangeness ‘26, part two!

‘Midnight in Kentucky (ft. The Appalachian Numerologist),’ the MIK theme, and ‘Hey BBL Drizzy’ written and performed by B. Silas.

Additional music provided by Truckstop Dave.

Shownotes:

-Chris Bledsoe- Shawn Ryan Show #165

-Bledsoe Said So on YouTube

https://youtube.com/@bledsoesaidsoprojects?si=Ktzqyx1evl4QnQmp

-Kacey Musgraves UFO Video.

-UFO cluster spotted over mysterious base tied to missing Air Force Scientist

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ufo-cluster-spotted-over-mysterious-base-tied-to-missing-air-force-scientist/ar-AA21bJSt

-Sightings of Meteors Surge, and Scientists Aren’t Sure Why

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/science/march-fireballs-meteors-astronomy.html

-UFO files spanning decades are released by Defense Department

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/08/g-s1-121186/ufo-files-released-defense-department

-The War Department UFO Files

https://www.war.gov/ufo/

-Official UFO Files Released | Breakdown and Reactions on Somewhere in the Skies with Ryan Sprague

-Eric Weinstein on UFOs, Epstein, and Anti-Gravity

-UFO FILES SHOCKER: NASA Astronauts Saw ‘GHOSTLY ALIENS’ On Apollo 17 Moon Mission? Big Reveal

-Pentagon releases video of a UFO resembling an eight-pointed star on NewsNation

-WATCH ALL of the UFO Videos Released by the Pentagon

-8 of the 46 UFO videos sought by Congress appear in upcoming documentary ahead of their official release

https://nypost.com/2026/05/09/us-news/eight-of-the-46-ufo-vids-sought-by-congress-appear-in-new-doc-ahead-of-their-official-release/

-That Would Be Rad: S6 E8: 11+ US Scientists Dead or Missing- Coincidence or Conspiracy

-Father of 11th dead or missing scientist rejects suspicions about her death | NewsNation Live

-Would-be UFO whistleblower died of accidental drug overdose after agreeing to testify to Congress

https://nypost.com/2026/04/25/us-news/would-be-ufo-whistleblower-matthew-james-sullivan-died-of-accidental-drug-overdose/

-David Grusch finds Missing Scientist Case Concerning Producer Says on Elizabeth Vargas Investigates

-UAP Whistleblower David Grusch on Non-Human Biologics and Craft on Judicial Watch

-Missing General Neil McCasland ran UFO program and was going to be a hostile witness before Congress on Red Panda Koala

-UFO advocates are being hit with Havana Syndrome style attacks according to David Grusch

-Matt Gaetz reveals he was briefed on secret alien breeding program on The Hill

-Michael Herrera - US Marine Encounters UFO Black Ops Human Trafficking Operation | SRS #66 (Part 1)

-Matt Gaetz: “I had someone [...] briefing me on the locations of hybrid breeding programs

https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1s8zdkb/matt_gaetz_i_had_someone_briefing_me_on_the/

-Ross Coulthart Q&A: UFOs, Nuclear Bases, Iran War & Portals | Reality Check

-HUGE ‘RED MINOTAUR’ ENCOUNTERED Near Louisville, Kentucky: Brother and Sister See the Same Entity Differently

https://phantomsandmonsters.com/post/huge-red-minotaur-encountered-near-louisville-kentucky-brother-and-sister-see-th?fbclid=IwdGRjcARuxbBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEewgLm4k_Py_jiqoHaXp5OhBOUqOXLvwpyfbydAeeHO1MimcRBhgikpT94Lx8_aem_K_N9WFvOJqxr_YBnxETAFQ#google_vignette

-Young Witness Says BIGFOOT CLOAKED in Sunlight Along Kentucky’s Green River! ‘GLIMMER MAN’ Effect?

https://phantomsandmonsters.com/post/young-witness-says-bigfoot-cloaked-in-sunlight-along-kentuckys-green-river-glimm?fbclid=IwZnRzaARzOCFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeJvT3qdubadvthbmofRbtxcBSc0IJg8Jw1P6bmigOUNwZ_vLzwjeimLM7KFI_aem_o04M7ZncPFBihwA74qjpww#google_vignette

-Ransom Letter Publishing on Linktree

https://linktr.ee/ransomletterpublishing?fbclid=IwRlRTSAQ94EhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe3TBi29_xAHSaC1YrdHeIR7i9ERolN2YaGR4TpMqxV-Nyu7yl7zaAXCMkl7Y_aem_9ZhnBUZTrBc5VQZZ3i2LJQ

-B. Silas on SoundCloud

https://on.soundcloud.com/SrELmM3ToykSo0qKSC

-Truckstop Dave on Jamendo

https://www.jamendo.com/artist/349109/truckstopdave

Nightowls of all times, places, spaces, and ages, the full moon has risen once again and you are listening to The Midnight in Kentucky Weird Report! On tonight’s special report, State of the Strangeness ‘26, you’ll hear our takes on some of the biggest stories on high strangeness of the year! On this edition, We delve into several developing stories centering around UFO disclosure, unexplained disappearances, and the true nature of ‘the phenomenon’. First, we’ll take a look at the ongoing profoundly strange experiences of Chris Bledsoe and the Bledsoe family, as well as Chris’ inexplicably accurate prophecy for Easter 2026, given to him by ‘The Lady’ all the way back in 2012. Then, we’ll be taking it back to one of the biggest stories of the past few years, The Epstein Files, and how Eric Weinstein believes we will see a major connection in the files, UFOs, and atomic weapons. From there, we venture into the muddy water of DC to discuss Trump’s vow to release ‘the alien files,’ JD Vance’s belief that the occupants of UFOs are demonic, and reports that the war in Iran is some kind of Armageddon ritual. Our friends, the mystery drones, return for a flyby visit, as personnel at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana report mass incursions of unknown arial craft over the facility in early March. Finally, we’ll discuss the troubling disappearance of General Neil McCasland, as well as up to eight scientists, and science adjacent experts, with deep connections to anti-gravity and UFOs. Easter UFO prophecies, elite conspiracies, sacrificial wartime apocalypse rituals, mystery drones, and unexplained disappearances, all tonight, on MIK’s The Weird Report: State of the Strangeness ‘26!

‘Midnight in Kentucky (ft. The Appalachian Numerologist),’ the MIK theme, written and performed by B. Silas. Additional music provided by Truckstop Dave.

Shownotes:

-The What Cast #504- Chris Bledsoe and Predictions for 2026

-Chris Bledsoe- Shawn Ryan Show #165

-When the Sphinx Sees Red: The Easter 2026 Prophecy

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/wakeupcall/2026/04/when-the-sphinx-sees-red-the-easter-2026-prophecy/

-Chris Bledsoe Explains What will Happen in April 2026

-Eric Weinstein on UFOs, Epstein, and anti gravity

-Relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and members of the Rothschild family (Deleted Wiki Entry)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_between_Jeffrey_Epstein_and_members_of_the_Rothschild_family

-Michael Herrera - US Marine Encounters UFO Black Ops Human Trafficking Operation | SRS #66 (Part 1)

-Cryptonaut Podcast #403: Hell on Ice Part 1: Antarctic Abominations

-Matthew Livelsberger Had Theory About Mystery Drones: Alleged Manifesto

https://www.newsweek.com/matthew-livelsberger-had-theory-about-mystery-drones-alleged-manifesto-2009560

-”Existential Threat To Human Life” Eric Weinstein On Iran, Epstein, UFOs & More

-JD Vance says aliens are ‘demons’ and details obsession with UFOs

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/30/jd-vance-alien-ufo-are-demons

-Commentary: The Confederacy, QAnon and the Cult of the Shining City

[Post Production Update: this article was taken offline 24 hours after I viewed it.]

https://www.100daysinappalachia.com/2020/08/commentary-the-confederacy-qanon-and-the-cult-of-the-shining-city/

-US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/us-israel-iran-war-christian-rhetoric

-New details on drone that shut down Louisiana Air Force base

-The 911 Call From McCasland’s Wife Reporting His Disappearance

-Somewhere in the Skies: More Missing People and Murders Connected To General McCasland

Forty-nine years ago this morning there was ‘quite a bit of snow on the ground’ but the roads and skies were clear near Prospect, Kentucky, as Lee Parrish started home from his girlfriend Kathy Johnson’s house. A trip that usually took him no longer than a cigarette and couple songs on the radio of his 1970 Jeepster, would this time cost Lee forty-five terrifying minutes, and a detour into somewhere wholly beyond all of our known understanding. Though visitations from the otherworldly could be considered commonplace in the Commonwealth, the taking of Lee Parish in the early hours of January 27th, 1977, by a trio of sentient ‘shapes,’ stands out as something altogether stranger than many of the myriad of reported ethereal encounters around the state.

After finishing the TV show they were watching together and feeding her dog, Lee Parrish left Kathy’s house around 1 AM on that cold Thursday morning. At approximately 1:05AM, driving west on Highway 329 and around four miles short of his intended turn onto US 42, Lee suddenly noticed an object hovering 100 feet over the treeline in front of him, 100 to 200 feet off the road. Lee would later say he felt the object had ‘just appeared,’ as he hadn’t seen it come from anywhere, and had become aware of it all at once. He described the object as a ‘perfect rectangle,’ around forty feet long and ten feet high.

Lee said the rectangle was the ‘color of the setting sun’ but much brighter. So bright, in fact, it hurt to look at it, but something compelled him to keep the craft in his gaze, even after his eyes began to burn. Within fifteen seconds of sighting the object his Jeepster’s radio died. Lee had become very frightened then, and wanted to leave the area, but his vehicle continued on toward the object ahead despite him no longer being in control. He would later state he didn’t know how the Jeepster had stayed on the road as he was no longer driving.

Lee continued to be pulled toward the craft, unable to look away, until he said he was directly underneath the object. Suddenly the rectangle shot up and into the January night, first Lee said, ‘with the speed of a jet,’ and then at a much higher acceleration to the northeast, and finally out of sight. The craft had remained absolutely silent throughout.

Arriving home, Lee’s mother met him at the door and immediately asked him;

“What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Quickly finding a mirror, Lee discovered the whites of his eyes to be absolutely bloodshot.

The clock too presented Lee with something he could not explain. His mother had noted the time of Lee’s arrival home at 1:45 AM. This meant there was around forty minutes after he had first laid eyes on the strange object that he could not account for. The pain in his eyes would last through the night making it difficult for Lee to sleep.

The following day, Lee’s mother, concerned for her son, contacted Lawrence Allison, a local hypnotist who had a history of working with UFO witnesses to recover details of their sightings. It is unclear just how Lee’s mother would have known of Allison, or the details of his work, but perhaps it is because she herself had been privy to several sightings of unidentified craft throughout her life. The most profound occurrence was an instance of a ‘nocturnal light’ appearing behind the Parrish home which made a noise ‘like a sewing machine going full throttle.’ Regardless, Lawrence, with permission from Lee and his mother, would go on to contact UFO investigators Carla Rueckert and Don Elkins to assist in speaking with Lee and documenting his case.

Lee, along with Kathy, met Don, Carla, and Lawrence, at Allison’s home that evening. Carla would go on to document the entirety of the incident in APRO Bulletin, Vol. 25 No. 7 (Jan. 1977) noting that Lee was:

“19 [years old], a high school graduate, employed by his family’s firm, Parrish Supply, as a truck driver and all-around worker. He is a husky six-footer with a quiet, polite manner. He seemed to us to be of average intelligence, a common-sense type who was genuinely bothered about what had happened to him. His appearance was very neat, his dress casual.”

Initially apprehensive about being placed under hypnosis, Lee eventually relented, genuinely wishing to know what happened to him, after being assured that he could come out of the hypnotic state at any time he chose and would not be ‘tricked’ by Lawrence, as he had seen a hypnotist do at a party. Allison spent around forty minutes relaxing Lee into the hypnotic state. Slowly the hypnotist regressed him through various childhood ages and experiences before bringing Lee to the night of the encounter. Lawrence told the hypnotised Lee to speak without prompting and to tell the story as it had happened to him. For an hour and a half Lee recounted what had occurred during those lost forty minutes as the investigators took notes.

Initially Lee had believed the rectangular craft to be a fire on the horizon, but almost immediately rejected the idea, becoming very afraid and repeating over and over:

“What is it?”

It was at this point that Parrish claims he was no longer driving his vehicle though it seemed he was still moving toward the object. It is unclear whether Lee was driving the vehicle forward, unaware, while in the trance-like state the object had induced, if the object was pulling him forward by some power of its own, or if the craft had moved to hover over Lee’s Jeepster unbeknownst to the driver.

“It’s not moving,” he was now repeating in an ever more frightened and confused tone.

Without warning the object changed color. It quickly flashed to black, then to white. Lee felt something in his eyes which rendered him unable to see. When his sight returned he found himself inside of an all-white room with self-illuminating walls possessing no knowledge of how he came to be there. Lee says the room was, by his best guess, around 20 feet wide by 20 feet high, and appeared to be much larger than the craft itself would have been capable of containing. Standing before him were three entities which, though absolutely not human, Lee instinctively believed to be sentient.

Directly in front of him, in the middle of the room, ‘watching him,’ was ‘the white one.’ The being stood around the same height as Lee, about six foot, with a blocky, solid body, and a head that was square on the sides and flat in the front, sloping toward the body at a 45 degree angle. The being had arms, but didn’t move them, remaining stationary throughout Lee’s experience. The entirety of the entity’s body glowed. Lee instinctively felt that it was the ‘ruler’ of the other two beings at its sides.

To Lee’s right was ‘the red one,’ a rectangular box-like entity that he said reminded him of a Coke machine. This being was slightly shorter than Lee, with a single ‘arm’ or ‘probe’ protruding from its body, without any hand or other appendage. He said he felt like the little Coke machine was somewhat afraid of him and that he didn’t particularly fear it in retrospect.

To Lee’s left, was the one who had filled him with absolute dread. ‘The black one.’ A gigantic ‘slab,’ the height of which reached almost to the top of the room. Lee described the being as:

“an army silhouette target, jug-shaped, with a relatively small head.”

The head was featureless and the slab’s overall surface was rough in places and smooth in others, with a single ‘arm’ at its front, completely of the roughened texture, from which sprang no kind of hand in the traditional sense, but a single jointed ‘appendage.’

The dark entity slowly moved toward Lee and touched him on his left side and back, producing an intense pain and terror as well as a vibrating sensation. Lee described the feeling as both ‘cold and burning at the same time.’ Parrish exhibited an abject terror when recounting being touched by the entity during the regression session, more than once horrifically exclaiming:

“No! No! Not the black one!”

Though he had felt that the red entity had been afraid of him, it too moved forward to touch him twice, first on the right shoulder, and then on his head, near the right temple, in his hair line. Though Lee said this hurt, and ‘stung like a needle,’ the pain wore off quickly and did not elicit the terrified response that being touched by the black entity had. After it had touched Lee’s head it backed away from him slowly, leaving him with the impression that ‘its job was done.’

It was then that the red one either merged with the white one, or moved behind it where Lee could no longer see it. The white being began making a rhythmic scraping sound that Lee described as similar to that of someone using sandpaper or brushing their teeth. The black entity too began moving back slowly toward the white until the two had either merged, or the white being had moved behind the black, leaving only the colossal slab standing in front of Lee. Though he had felt quite cold throughout the encounter, Lee now had the sensation of a sudden warmth.

Without warning the black slab simply disappeared, vanishing in front of him and leaving him alone in the room. Throughout the experience, Lee says he had the sensation of rocking back and forth, like ‘a boat on the water,’ but felt distinctly ‘heavier’ following the disappearance of the entities. Suddenly he was in his Jeepster with no memory of the transition between his time in the room and being back in the vehicle.

“There’s the pond!” he’d said, seemingly recognizing the familiar sight of the only body of water on Highway 329.

Under hypnosis, Lee went on to recount getting home and his mother asking him about the condition of his eyes, which had still been hurting when he and Kathy had arrived at Allison’s house for the meeting that evening. Both Kathy Johnson and Lee’s mother had confirmed the time of Lee’s leaving Kathy’s house at 1 AM, and his arrival at the Parrish home at 1:45, respectively.

After being roused from the hypnotic state, Elkins and Reuckert continued to drill into the details with Parrish, asking him to further elaborate on just what had happened to his vehicle during the event and how he had boarded and exited the craft. After briefly giving it some thought, Lee explained he believed the Jeepster had been ‘caught’ just like a ‘mouse in a mouse trap,’ as the vehicle had moved underneath the object. The vehicle according to Lee was, ‘not on the ship but not on the ground,’ suspended by some unknown power the craft possessed over it.

Lee was then ‘transformed’ out of the Jeep and into the white room. When the encounter had ended, Lee said he was returned to the vehicle in the same manner which was still suspended in mid-air underneath the object, before finding himself back on the road again watching the craft depart upward into the cold Kentucky sky.

The cigarette Lee had been smoking at the time of his taking had completely vanished.

The Jeepsters radio rang to life as soon as the unexplained object had moved out of Lee’s sight. He felt that ‘they’ had possessed extensive control of both himself and his Jeepster until the craft had left completely. The day following the encounter the vehicle’s electrical systems had failed and were seemingly going to require extensive work.

Though Lee never used the word ‘telepathy,’ Reuckert noted in her APRO report that it seemed clear that the beings had communicated with Lee in some way and that this may have been related to the control Lee had believed the craft and/or the beings had over him and his vehicle. When the investigators had asked him why he thought they had taken him, Lee responded that they were doing a physical examination and checking his ‘chemical makeup.’ According to him, the entities were interested in, ‘the way that he was Lee.’

Lee told investigators that he had had a general interest in UFOs throughout his life and that he’d read a book on them when he’d been in high school. He also explained that he had been interested in psychic phenomena and had experienced some odd goings on he felt may be related. The only example Lee was able to give when asked to elaborate on these experiences, however, was a time in which he had willed an outside light to turn on despite it being unplugged. Kathy confirmed she had been witness to this.

He also revealed that he had seen several other UFOs before the encounter in the early hours of the 27th, and that he now felt ‘they’ were ‘coming for him.’ Lee expressed that he thought they would have taken him before, but believed they wanted him alone, and that he had not been on the occasions of the previous sightings. He was almost certain that they would one day return for him again.

Dr. Burton Monroe, a Zoology consultant for APRO, based in Anchorage, Kentucky, added another interesting piece to the mysterious puzzle. Dr. Monroe reported to Reuckert that on the evening prior to Parrish’s abduction, January 26th, a neighbor had heard her children screaming, and running to the window, had seen a large white disc with a dome on top outside her home. This sighting occurred around 10:30 PM, just two and a half hours before the beginning of Lee’s experience, and only around four miles from the site of the abduction.

Wrapping up her finalized report on the taking of Lee Parish for the October ‘77 edition of Flying Saucer Review, Reuckert wrote:

“It is our feeling that, due to the obvious sincerity of Lee and the unusual nature of his experience, this sighting is worth a good deal of study.”

It is unfortunate that, despite Reuckert’s recommendation, and Lee’s own fear that the beings would eventually return for him, no follow-up interview with Parrish or additional investigation into the strange circumstance of his abduction would ever be released publicly.

If you have any information on this case, the current whereabouts of Lee Parrish, or you have witnessed something anomalous, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on social media or at:

MidnightinKentuckypodcast@gmail.com

or

Ransomletterpublishing@gmail.com

We would love to hear your experience!

‘Til the next moon rises, Nightowls-

Goodnight!

Shownotes:

-1977, January 26: Slabs and Blocks

-Abduction by Machine Like Beings

-Truckstop Dave on Jamendo

-Ransom Letter Publishing