Anyone who’s known me for even the slightest bit of time knows that if there’s one thing I’m adamant about, it’s the existence of extraterrestrial life.
In my humble opinion, it’s completely outlandish and downright foolish to think that we’re alone in the universe. While we may not have concrete proof of aliens yet, my tinfoil hat likes to believe that we’ll get a confirmation in my lifetime.
However, despite such adamancy on my end, I don’t blindly believe every single claim made or label every UFO report or sighting as real. After all, it’s remarkably easy to fake both. A creative mind can weave a believable tale, and basic photographic trickery can make a convincing flying saucer image. I’m sure that I could achieve the former if I put my mind to it. The latter less so; I’m certain it would look like trash. Then again, that would be par for the course with most UFO pictures, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, I bring this up because it’s time for us to head back into the realm of extraterrestrials and to do something a little bit different.
You see, in this blog’s life, I’ve covered a lot of weird alien sightings, and I don’t mean traditionally weird. I mean things that are just purely outlandish. I’m talking about stories of aliens that resemble metallic flowers, telepathic brains, beer cans, an “arboreal abomination” (that’s still a wickedly awesome name), multi-colored pyramid, penguins, tree stumps, a giant slug, a cloud, and aliens that apparently carjacked two drunk guys in Idaho.
Today, I want to ease off the weirdness. I know that’s really uncharacteristic of me, but I think it’s healthy if we don’t examine an absurd alien sighting. Instead, I want to look at one that’s just a really tall extraterrestrial. For those who think there won’t be an annual helping of “what kind of alien is this,” don’t worry; there’s a really weird alien sighting planned for near the end of the month. As it stands, though, I want to focus on a more traditional alien sighting.
Hailing from the great state of Indiana, home to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway and more colloquially known as the “Middle Finger of the South,” today’s Decemystery story is The 8-Foot-Tall Alien of Fort Wayne! Come along, dear reader; it’s time to head to the land of the Hoosiers and see if extraterrestrial life walks among us!
At the Crossroads of America and the Intergalactic Crossroads of the Milky Way
This story comes from the National UFO Reporting Center—or NUFORC. If that acronym looks familiar, it’s because I covered numerous reports from there last year. We’ll be visiting it more throughout the month, though how many times is going to depend on how long some of these write-ups take. Hopefully, it’s not as long as the last two!
Anyway, as stated earlier, this story took place in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which has a population of 267,927 as of 2022. The person who sent in the report opted to remain anonymous—something that I believe people choose to do when they send a report to NUFORC. As such, I’ll refer to the eyewitness as Ian.
Ian sent his report in on September 7, 2024—a mere twelve days prior to when I started this write-up. However, his sighting occurred on September 16, 2023, so there’s a nearly year-long gap between when his experience happened and when he told NUFORC about it. Interestingly, this isn’t an abnormality when it comes to reports sent to NUFORC. More on that later, though.
At 11:30 p.m. Eastern time (23:30 for my 24-hour time readers), Ian was out for a walk at an unnamed park. Out of curiosity, I decided to look up how many parks are in Fort Wayne; there are 89 of them. If you’re wondering why this is important, I’ve read and heard a fair number of UFO sightings—and alien encounters—that happened in or near a park. It’s probably anecdotal, but I thought it was worth bringing up.
That said, the exact reason for Ian’s late-night venture outdoors wasn’t given. But, hey, who said there needed to be one? According to Time and Date, the evening of September 16 was mostly cloudy but a pleasantly chilly 57 degrees Fahrenheit (13.8 degrees Celsius). Just throw on a nice coat and enjoy the outdoors as you take in the crisp, late-summer air!
And that’s what Ian presumably did. Though his exact path wasn’t given, he did say that he crossed a bridge that connected the dirt trail to the park from the dreaded land known as “Not the Park.”
After traversing his very own Bridge on the River Kwai, Ian decided to “under a set of stairs” beneath the bridge to rest for a bit—and by a bit, Ian meant “maybe half an hour.” Why, exactly, Ian opted to sit below a bridge for so long isn’t stated, but I’ll save this for when the story’s done. It ties into something much bigger.
Once he felt reinvigorated after his half-hour respite, Ian resumed his walk. It’s here that he mentioned he “walked the dirt trail to the park.” If I had to guess, I’d say that Ian went through a wooded area because if not, then a few upcoming details make absolutely no sense without the population of Fort Wayne having eyesight that would make Stevie Wonder blush.
During his trek down the dirt trail, Ian saw “a flying object through the trees.” He said that it “looked circular” and sported a grey color scheme with red, white, and green lights on its edges. I’m guessing that when Ian said it was circular, he meant that it was a flying saucer, but I digress. If you’re wondering how on Earth a UFO was flying through a forest without being seen, that’s another thing we’re going to discuss later.
Ian watched the strange aircraft, which he said “looked like it was about to land.” I’ll just assume there was enough room for a UFO to land in this park—or wherever Ian was.
Now, here’s where things go from “standard UFO sighting” to avant-garde levels of baffling. Out of nowhere, Ian mentioned that he saw an “alien,” which he described as being 8 feet tall (243 centimeters). However, much to my disappointment, this is all he provided in the way of descriptives, only that it was an “alien.”
Despite that letdown of galactic proportions, I should note that in Ian’s report, he put quotation marks around the word alien, though he never elaborated on why. That said, I have a few guesses as to why, but I don’t want to get sidetracked, so let’s continue with the story.
Ian said that the alien was walking in front of him “along the trail” as it headed toward the UFO—or where it was going to land. He also said that it was roughly 100 feet (30 meters) from him. Ian also noted that the alien didn’t appear to notice him. One has to wonder how aliens managed to achieve interstellar travel when they can’t hear someone trailing them.
Okay, in the interest of fairness, it’s possible the alien’s mind was elsewhere. After all, none of us know the motives of these beings. Though with how quiet these places are at around midnight (remember, Ian was under the bridge for half an hour), you’d think the faintest crunch or any other out-of-place sound Ian could have made would alert this creature.
Oh well, whatever. After discerning the distance between himself and the alien, Ian decided that the best course of action was to turn his phone’s flashlight off “because it was completely dark.” No, that isn’t me making a joke. Here’s what Ian said:
I had my flashlight on on my phone so I turned it off because it was completely dark.
I’m pretty sure that Ian meant that it became completely dark after he turned his phone’s flashlight off. As bizarre of a move as this may sound, I’m guessing he was afraid that the light would alert the alien to his presence. If that’s the case, then I understand; I’ve heard many stories where aliens are telepathic, can induce paralysis, and have a plethora of other powers. Odds are, if an alien wanted, it could kill us with its brain.
That said, cell phone flashlights aren’t that powerful. They wouldn’t attract the attention of something that’s 100 feet away, so I have no idea why Ian decided to turn the flashlight off, especially when his next action was to look at the alien for, and I quote, “maybe less than 5 seconds.” After this, Ian did what most would do upon laying eyes on an extraterrestrial; he ran away. And no, I have no idea how he saw the alien when, in the previous sentence, he said it was “completely dark.”
Also, for those wondering, Ian didn’t use his phone to take a picture of the alien. Admittedly, that might’ve been for the better. A cell phone camera’s flash is a lot more powerful than its base flashlight.
Anyway, Ian ran to the “backside of the park.” I am ashamed to admit that I had to look up what the “backside of a park” was because this was the first time in my life I had ever heard that term used. To my lack of surprise, it’s the opposite of the park. I really need to get out more.
As Ian caught his breath, he claimed he could still see the lights “inside of the park through a thicker set of trees,” despite being on or near “the first road outside of the park.” I should note that this is—as far as I can tell—the only indicator that Ian was never in a wooded area, and I have no idea how far into it he was. He never specified how long it took him to run away.
Now, if this had been all there was to Ian’s sighting, it would be odd. Seeing an 8-foot-tall alien is certainly bizarre, but so is the assortment of extraterrestrials I mentioned in the intro. However, things are about to get far weirder for a few reasons.
Picking up where we left off, Ian claimed that he saw “one couple” exit the park—presumably as he was catching his breath. He said they “seemed suspicious” but didn’t think they had seen the UFO or alien because “they were acting casual.” I went back and forth on whether I wanted to address this claim now or wait until the theories section. Ultimately, I decided that it would be best if I do it now because it’s one of the reasons I wanted to cover this story.
I’ll say right now that Ian didn’t offer an iota of detail about their appearance, gender, what made them look suspicious, how far they were from him, or anything else that could help. Heck, he doesn’t even say why he thought they were a couple; they could be siblings, friends, or extended family members.
That said, the first thing that sprang to mind when I read this was, “Were they the Men in Black?” Then I realized that if they were, they would’ve gone over to Ian and probably said some vague yet threatening stuff before leaving in a 70-year-old car that nobody ever bothers to take notice of.
Seriously, why is it that the Men in Black are never easily spotted when they stick out like a sore thumb in every place that isn’t a federal government building? Oh well, I digress; let’s continue Ian’s report, which the written portion is nearly done.
Ian rounds off his story by saying that not only does he believe the couple didn’t see the UFO or alien, but that he doesn’t think anyone saw the UFO or alien. Now, I can understand the latter of those two. If it was walking the trail that Ian was on, I’m adamant that anyone who saw Ian running away would have taken the hint and left the trail. Heck, they would’ve likely run after him while screaming, “What’s wrong!?” Unless, of course, Ian opted to leave it out (for whatever reason).
There are several other details that further compound the strangeness of this case. I know that at the start of this write-up, I said that I wanted to cover an alien encounter story that was less absurd than the numerous other ones I’ve done in the past. I stand by this not being that strange when it comes to the alien itself; its only abnormality is that it’s tall. All of the oddness comes from the UFO itself.
You see, the NUFORC report has a bunch of information laid out before the written report from Ian himself. This includes when the sighting took place, the size of the UFO, the number of people who saw the UFO, how long the sighting lasted, and various other details. It’s those details that make everything we just went over enter a new level of weirdness.
For starters, I can’t understand how nobody spotted the UFO. Earlier, I said we’d get to how this thing wasn’t seen by anyone. The answer is that there’s no way this thing went unnoticed. According to Ian’s report, he estimated its size to be “100 yards.” That’s 300 feet, or 91.3 meters. Given that Ian said the UFO was circular, I’m guessing it was 300 feet around. Also, dear God! That thing was gigantic!
I know that some people claim UFOs can vanish or cloak, but how does someone not notice a 300-foot-round aircraft slowly fly over a wooded area? A Boeing 747 is 250 feet (76.2 meters) in length. While those produce a lot more noise than a UFO (which are typically said to be quiet), my point is that they can easily be seen because they’re gargantuan.
On top of that, Ian claimed that the UFO landed. In Ian’s report, he mentioned that the alien was “going [in] the direction the flying object was landing.” However, prior to that, he only said that it looked like it was going to land. So, I’m not sure if it appeared like it was going to land at first and then did, if Ian’s wording is just poor, or if I’m illiterate.
Whatever the case may be, if this thing was going to land, there is absolutely no way it would have gone unnoticed. I mean, come on, the thing had a bunch of lights on its rim like it belonged in an early-to-mid-2000s Need For Speed game. It isn’t being missed by anyone whose eyesight is above 20/2,000.
To further compound things, Ian estimated that the UFO was only going 10 miles per hour (16 kilometers per hour). By comparison, the average human runs around 8 miles per hour (12 kilometers per hour). Yeah, needless to say, the aliens weren’t breaking any interstellar speed limits.
Speed limits aside, Ian also noted that the “angle of elevation” was 70 degrees. Look, I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but if this thing was that high up, Ian’s statement that there was “a flying object through the trees” makes no sense unless the UFO was crashing into the Earth. If that were the case, then he would be dead because I doubt UFOs are designed to not explode upon impact.
The only way Ian’s claim works is if he meant that it was flying above the trees, which I hope is what he meant. Otherwise, this UFO is the first one of its kind to be capable of clipping through solid matter, like a video game that’s missing its collision detection.
To top things off, the crowning bit of confusion and absolute weirdness is the duration that Ian gave in his report. According to him, this took place over the course of 2 hours. No, I didn’t make a typo there. The first nine words of this section have a hyperlink to Ian’s NUFORC report.
This simply does not make any sense based on what Ian said. We know that he spent 30 minutes beneath a bridge, resting, but the other 90 minutes are unknown. If I had to guess, I’d say that he put the amount of time he’d been out walking instead of how long his encounter with the UFO and alien lasted. That would explain why he spent so long under the bridge.
If that isn’t the case, though, then Ian spent two hours trailing an 8-foot-tall alien through the woods, eventually ran out of them at breakneck speed with no light source, and could somehow still see the lights of the UFO while nobody else did. Unless the couple he saw also spotted it but opted not to ask Ian the totally normal and not in any way crazy question, “Hey, did you see that 300-foot-round flying saucer going through the trees?”
At the same time, and to be perfectly fair, it’s well within the realm of reason to assume that Ian was paranoid due to them looking suspicious. How, exactly, they came across like that is something I wish I knew. If I had to guess, it’s because they were acting casual. If that’s the case, they’re the most easygoing humans on Earth because they didn’t care about the trees being laid waste to by the filming of Independence Day 3 a few paces east of them.
The only other detail that’s worth mentioning is that Ian said there weren’t any observers. I’m guessing he thought that meant “additional observers.” Otherwise, Ian may need to work on his self-esteem because not counting himself as an eyewitness is pretty cold.
With that, though, Ian’s absolutely wild tale comes to an end. When I went into this, I wanted one thing and one thing only: An alien encounter that wasn’t completely unbelievable. To my delight, I do believe I got that; Ian’s encounter with the alien is far from the most bewildering one I’ve ever read. However, in exchange, I had to sacrifice the believability of the UFO that it was going to ride shotgun in. Ah, life; you have to give a little to get a little.
Anyway, now that the story itself is done, it’s time to journey to the theories. Unlike the past two Decemystery entries, there aren’t many for us to go over. On the bright side, that means there’s less work for me to do, which means I can move on to other stories sooner. So come along, let’s speculate on what Ian might have seen that night!
Theories
1. A hallucination
I considered not including this theory because I don’t know Ian’s mental state, nor do I know if he’s an avid drug user or prone to sleep deprivation. However, given the lack of anyone claiming to have seen the 300-foot-round UFO, I’ll be damned if I don’t speculate that Ian wasn’t seeing things.
Alas, speculating is all I can do. I have no idea who Ian is, so I can’t play “Armchair Medical Professional.” This means I can’t guess what caused him to see a ginormous flying saucer in the woods, along with an 8-foot-tall extraterrestrial of unknown appearance. What a bummer.
If I had to take a wild guess, I’d say sleep deprivation is the most likely culprit. I’ve dealt with it in the past, and while I’ve never suffered from a full-blown hallucination because of it, I have had moments where I swore I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Maybe those qualify as hallucinations; I don’t know.
Anyway, my point is that if Ian was lucid enough not to go on the offensive or do anything reckless (aside from turning his cell phone’s flashlight off), I wouldn’t wager on him being mentally ill or under the effects of a hallucinogen. Is it still possible? Yeah, of course. Is it probable? Eh, not in my eyes.
In short, this theory’s not likely, but it has a bit going for it. If nothing else, it perfectly explains the story’s most glaring flaws with ease.
2. A hoax
In the intro to this write-up, I mentioned how easy it is to fake a UFO report. This theory is centered around that, and I’d like to touch upon that a bit (since I didn’t do it last year).
As far as I know, NUFORC can and sometimes will attempt to get in contact with the person who sends the report. This is usually done to try and get additional details so they can fill in some blanks. However, this is only done if you give permission to be contacted by an investigator. At least, I believe that’s the case; I checked the form you fill out when you’re filing a report, and one box you can check is “I would like to be contacted by an investigator.”
The reason I bring this up is the form itself doesn’t appear to have many measures to stop someone from sending in a fake report. While being required to send in your contact information would undoubtedly deter a lot of eyewitnesses from sharing their experience (or experiences), I could easily put together a story that could get posted there. Something like, “I was hiking near the Adirondack Mountains when I saw some strange lights in the sky circling a mountain peak before shooting off into the sky.”
Because of that, it would stand to reason that Ian could have done this. However, the question then becomes why he did it. As is often the case—at least, in my eyes—I don’t really see one. Mainly because NUFORC doesn’t allow for comments, responses, or anything of that kind (unless you have an investigator contact you).
The most likely answer would be that Ian wanted to prove to someone, likely a friend or family member, that NUFORC would post anything.
If that were the case, then it would make perfect sense. NUFORC is a prominent UFO website and research center, so making up an absurd story and emailing it would undoubtedly prove a point. However, much like the existence of extraterrestrial life, there’s no proof to back up this idea. I’d say this is a pity, but I find it more amusing.
Additionally, this could explain the report’s lackluster grammar. It’s possible that the hoaxer wanted to mock UFO enthusiasts by portraying them as illiterate—if not outright stupid.
At the same time, though, I wouldn’t say that Ian did a very good job. To me, the end result struck me more as someone who wanted to write out their report without giving a second thought to how formally written it was or how well it was edited. It was kind of like a rushed text message.
Of course, it’s possible that Ian’s first language isn’t English—or that he was in a rush to send his report in. Both are plausible in their own right, but I lean heavily toward the latter because I don’t believe NUFORC translates reports sent in languages that aren’t English.
Ultimately, this theory has the same faults as it normally does, but I can definitely see why people would be quick to latch onto it in this case. People love to prove points, and I would say that in the long run, Ian would have proved his.
3. Aliens
Given that a was UFO seen, I’m going to assume there was more than one alien. I doubt our interstellar friends are using self-flying UFOs to come and pick them up after a night out on the town in their inconspicuous disguises.
“How do you do, fellow Earthlings?” asks the 8-foot-tall human with eyes the size of dinner plates, grey skin, and arms that are longer than Henry Kissinger’s list of war crimes.
This theory is self-explanatory, but it has little going for it. This is mainly because Ian—for one reason or another—never took any pictures of what he saw. He also provided details that were baffling at best, like a “flying object” going through the trees that was 300 feet round.
No, I won’t let go of that. The thing was the size of a circle made of three blue whales circling each other!
Anyway, despite the ridiculous details, there is one thing that could explain it. You see, Ian submitted his report nearly a year to the day after his experience. It’s possible that his memory was fuzzy, and he grossly overestimated the size of not only the UFO but the alien itself.
Then again, the alien being 8 feet tall isn’t outlandish. There are numerous “species” of aliens that have been reported throughout time, and plenty of them (such as the infamous Reptilians and Draconians) are said to be tall. Some put them at 8 feet tall, while others put them at over 10 feet tall. So, honestly, I don’t think that the alien Ian saw was anything unbelievable. It’s strictly the UFO.
As for why Ian would have waited nearly a year to send in his report, that’s harder to answer. It’s possible that he didn’t know of NUFORC and had heard about it from a friend. Alternatively, he may have caught wind of it while on the Internet. It’s also possible Ian thought he would be laughed at.
An equally as likely, if somewhat odd, possibility is that Ian simply waited of his own volition. As wild as this may seem, it’s not unheard of. Some people choose to wait years or even decades to report their UFO sightings. This can be seen in three stories I covered last year: The 1965 Brooklyn Cylindrical UFO Sighting, which had its report submitted in 2002.
The second was The 1968 Omaha Domed Disk Sighting, which had its report sent in 2005. I recommend reading it if you want to read what it’s like when I nearly lose my cool while covering a mystery.
The third, and easily the weirdest, was The Light with a Thousand Voices, which finally saw the light of day in 2007 (I promise to never make a joke like that for as long as I remember the promise).
It’s also possible that Ian believed the couple he saw were the Men in Black, and he thought that if he sent in his report, he or a loved one would be hurt. This wouldn’t shock me, given the legendary status everyone’s favorite dapperly-dressed UFOlogy group holds, but there’s one issue: Ian didn’t describe the couple.
Allow me to elaborate. As far as I’m aware, there are no reports of a Woman in Black. There are plenty of women in black in the realm of the paranormal, but I’ve never heard of one accompanying the Men in Black during one of their totally-not-terrifying visits to a UFO researcher or eyewitness.
Now, granted, there are decades upon decades of Men in Black sightings. It’s possible there have been instances of female agents (assuming they are agents and not extraterrestrials themselves) who have paid people a visit, but I can’t name one off the top of my head. The only instance I know of a female agent is in Men in Black: International. Does anyone remember that movie? I never saw it, but I heard it wasn’t that good.
Anyway, assuming that the couple were two men dressed in black suits, I would wager that Ian was paranoid, so he waited until he felt safe—or mustered up the courage to send his report in. God willing, he wasn’t visited by anyone scary.
Overall, I’d say that this theory depends heavily on how much you’re willing to overlook the UFO’s size, why you think Ian waited to submit his story, and if you believe in aliens. I think I’ve made my stance clear, so let’s move on to the next theory.
4. A case of misidentification
Cases of misidentification are a dime a dozen. Whether it be due to an optical illusion, poor eyesight, being tired, or any number of factors, people are prone to mistaking things. That’s more than a little true in the case of UFOs. It’s common for eyewitnesses to mistake lights on a plane, drones, and the planets Venus and Jupiter for alien spacecraft. Heck, when I was younger, I got excited when I saw flashing lights. Unfortunately, my mother burst my bubble by telling me it was a plane.
One of these days, I’ll see a UFO. It’ll only take me leaving my room to do so!
Anyway, on to the theory. In this case, the culprit may have been the age-old nemesis of all UFO enthusiasts: swamp gas!
It’s not uncommon for people to mistake swamp gas for UFOs. However, I don’t know if swamp gas clouds are known for being 300 feet round. Google’s AI mentions that the clouds can reach “up to 20 miles [32 kilometers] across in certain situations,” but I don’t put enough trust in AI to consider it a viable source. That said, it does note that clouds of that size aren’t found in natural swamps but rather where there’s a heavy industrial presence. Given that this was in a park, I doubt that’s the case.
That aside, I also don’t know if the park Ian was in was a swamp or wetland. Granted, I don’t know a whole lot about swamp gas, but if there wasn’t anything around that could create the cloud, I doubt this would be the culprit.
However, if Ian were in a wetland of some kind, and there was swamp gas, it might explain the alien. You see, swamp gas is capable of causing hallucinations. This is primarily thanks to methane and hydrogen sulfide, both of which can cause hallucinations on their own. Put them together, though, and I assume you get super hallucinations. The keyword is “assume”; I’m the furthest thing from a scientist.
Anyway, it’s possible that Ian found himself seeing things. If this were the case, it very well may have saved his life since swamp gas can kill you. As for why this wasn’t in the first theory, that’s because I wanted to confine this possibility to one theory, and you don’t need to hallucinate to see a swamp gas cloud.
That said, this assumes Ian was in an area where swamp gas had formed. If he wasn’t, then this theory goes right out the window like someone who has buyer’s remorse. It also assumes that I’m not getting any information wrong, like swamp gas being capable of being a 300-foot-round circle.
There’s also the matter of how swamp gas smells like rotting eggs. If it were the culprit, you could identify it based on the abhorrent stench that would accompany it. Given Ian didn’t make a note of any smell, this wasn’t a case of it. Unless, of course, Ian forgot to mention it (or outright forgot about the smell).
The only other explanations I can think of are that Ian saw a massive fog cloud and some sort of animal that was walking upright. The former is extremely possible in my eyes, especially since it was the dead of night. Fog is also capable of glowing, though I don’t know how common it is (or how bright it is). This is typically achieved through streetlights and moonlight. Given Ian mentioned he ran to “the first road outside of the park,” it’s possible he was really close, and the fog was glowing as a result of a streetlight.
Unfortunately, I don’t know if fog moves at the rate Ian mentioned. Time and Date says that the wind was only 3 miles per hour (4.8 kilometers per hour), so it wasn’t a particularly windy evening. Then again, I don’t know how powerful of a gust is needed to clear up the fog. I figured it’d only go away when the local angry spirits got their vengeance on Antonio Bay.
As for the alien being an animal, it’s impossible for me to guess what it was since Ian provided no details on its appearance. Sadly, I don’t know the local wildlife in Fort Wayne, and I have no interest in going around trying to find which animals can reach 8 feet tall when they stand upright. The closest two I can think of are a deer or bear, but I’m confident that Ian would have recognized them. It’s not like they’re critically endangered animals. Deer and bears are two of the most iconic animals on Earth.
To round things off, I thought this theory would be nonsense at first. It wasn’t until I started writing it that I remembered swamp gas existed and that I went, “Huh, that’s actually plausible.” So, I’d say it’s a decent enough bet. However, I’m going off of what little I know. If I got any details wrong—primarily in regards to swamp gas and the chemistry surrounding it (seriously, I suck at chemistry), let me know in the comments. I’d prefer not to make the same mistake in the future. For now, on to the meme theories!
5. Interdimensional shenanigans
Because I’m incapable of going one write-up without including the idea of interdimensional beings, this theory posits that Ian saw interdimensional travelers doing whatever it is they do on Earth. This is the truth, but I’m under an NDA and, therefore, cannot explain how I know this. Just know it involves every unsold copy of that video game, Concord.
Boy, that dates this write-up.
6. An intergalactic designated driver
Don’t drink and operate a flying saucer, folks. You may end up like those poor saps who crashed in Roswell back in 1947.
My Take
This is one of those cases where I feel torn. Part of me believes that this was a hoax, another part of me thinks it was swamp gas, and the third part believes it was aliens.
The part of me that believes it to have been a hoax thinks that way because of the sheer number of issues with the whole thing—and it’s solely because of the UFO’s size. I’ve already gone over my thoughts on this, so I won’t linger on it.
I will admit that there is certainly a solid chance it was a hoax. While I may have been hesitant to go that far last year with a lot of NUFORC stories, this one is so mind-boggling that it’s hard for me not to question how the whole of Fort Wayne wasn’t looking at this thing as it came in for its landing.
Then there’s the alien itself. I have to question how no other people saw this thing walking. From the sounds of it, Ian was close to the entrance. Surely, if there was an 8-foot-tall extraterrestrial walking around near the entrance to a park, people would see it—even if it was at night. It’s not like this was in rural America; it was in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The second-largest city in the entire state!
In the case of swamp gas, I think there’s an extremely sound argument to be made there. Many UFO reports have been explained away as swamp gas, and I can definitely see this being another case. However, I wish I had a better understanding of how large naturally made swamp gas clouds can be. Only having an AI answer to run off of isn’t the best feeling in the world, especially when I try my best to do my own research and not resort to things like that.
If it is possible for them to be as large as what Ian saw, then the alien being a hallucination would make sense. However, I’ve also read that exposure to swamp gas can cause other effects, such as various neurological problems and loss of consciousness. I have to wonder how long Ian was in the park before he was exposed to this and how long it would take for the swamp gas to have an adverse effect on him.
As for this having been fog and a misidentified animal, I’m doubtful on both fronts. I firmly believe that Ian would have been able to discern both, especially the latter. If it had been a bear standing upright, I think he would have thought it was a Bigfoot, not an extraterrestrial.
That leaves the possibility that Ian did see a UFO and alien. I’ve already stated that I’m an ardent believer in extraterrestrials, but I find myself struggling to believe that nobody else saw this.
I had hoped that there might have been more to this story online—maybe there was someone who called in about the UFO—but all I got were news articles from various years, including one about a Reddit post from 2014. So, as far as I can tell, Ian was either right when he said that he didn’t believe anyone else saw it, or those who claimed they saw it weren’t taken seriously.
There was also a Reddit post from March 20, 2024. The first response mentioned how Fort Wayne has “lots of military tech [and] defense manufacturers like Raytheon.” This would explain the sighting if Ian had seen the UFO in the sky and not barreling through the forest at 10 miles per hour without flattening it like how Mario flattens Goombas.
I digress, though. If I had to settle on one theory, I’d say that the swamp gas theory is the most plausible. Even though I’m iffy about the size of the thing, I’m willing to concede that Ian misremembered the size.
That said, I’m more than willing to hear anyone out. If Ian or someone else from Fort Wayne finds this post and is able to shed additional light on this case—or can provide more details—leave a comment. I would be happy to reexamine it (even if it was a bit of a pain to write).
Conclusion
As I just said, this was a pain to write. I don’t know why, but I felt like I hit a point of burnout. I think it’s because this year’s Decemystery write-ups have been far longer than I ever anticipated them to be. Usually, write-ups this long are few and far between. However, three times in a row, I’ve had them be over twice as long as I anticipated. That’s made me really self-conscious because I worry nobody will want to read something that’s so long.
Oh well, whatever; there’s no use in dwelling on things when I still have 29 write-ups to do. God willing, all of them won’t be this long. If they are, then I’m reevaluating how much my writing style has changed since I had that dual-action brain fog going on.
Anyway, I’m curious to know what you think Ian saw! Do you believe it was aliens? Swamp gas? A hoax? Or do you think there was something else at play here that I overlooked because I’m the antithesis of Sherlock Holmes? Let me know in that funny little thing called the comments; it would make me very happy. And as always, stay happy, stay healthy, and thank you for reading!
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