Mysterious Sphere Floats Above 1949 Norwood
For a few years after World War II, Americans could buy surplus military equipment for a song. And so it was that Father Gregory Miller, pastor of Norwood, Ohio's Church of Saints Peter & Paul, bought a military searchlight to pump up excitement for the parish's August 1949 "Jitney Carnival," featuring, as musical attractions, the Sensational Keys and the Three Milos. Operating the searchlight was a University of Cincinnati ROTC student named Donald R. Berger.
As Berger swept the skies on the evening of 19 August 1949, his searchlight beam passed across a circular object in the skies. He called Father Miller to look and they, as well as other witnesses, watched the apparently large circular object illuminated by the searchlight.
That night, reports of aerial "Balls of Fire" originated all over the region. The next day, the Cincinnati Post alluded to multiple observations, including one by trained observers:
"'One of our men who was working last night saw them,' a Weather Bureau official said. 'He said they looked like two weather ceiling balloons but they weren't moving. There was a wind of 25 to 32 miles an hour, so if they'd been balloons they would have moved.'"
Pastor Miller must have loaned out his searchlight, or let ROTC Sgt. Berger borrow it, because Berger reported similar appearances of the large sphere throughout September at St. Gertrude Church in Madeira, Ohio, and while testing the searchlight in Milford. Berger and the searchlight were back at Sts. Peter & Paul (today it is known as Holy Trinity Church) on 23 October 1949. UFO investigator Leonard Stringfied reported on that evening's activity in his book, Inside Saucer Post . . . 3-0 Blue:
"The most eventful night, according to Berger's log and according to the testimony of others was October 23, 1949. Again the point of observation was the church grounds, this time about 50 persons witnessing the phenomenon. Using a telescope, William Winkler, a businessman, said he observed one of the two groups of five smaller objects leave the parent object describing them as 'triangular'. Rev. Miller and his brother, Rev. Cletus Miller, agreed they were shaped 'like the apex of Indian arrow heads'. When I interviewed Robert Linn, Managing Editor of the Post, he admitted that he saw the searchlight beam 'bounce off some definite object' but said the smaller objects were 'something like bits of paper'. However, Linn was concerned enough to join Rev. Miller in reporting the incident to Intelligence at Wright-Patterson AFB. From another source I learned that the Cincinnati Enquirer was called about the Norwood object and while they did not publish the story of the night's activities, they did admit receiving reports of unidentified lights in the sky - and beyond the vicinity of Norwood!"
That night, Sgt. Leo Davidson of the Norwood Police Department filmed motion pictures of the object of three 25 foot rolls of film. Sgt. Davidson told Stringfield that he saw the smaller objects as well:
"'They were visibly the size of pinheads but they didn't have the intensity to register clearly on the film'. He pointed out, however, that to the naked eye, he and all others present saw two groups of five small objects leaving the parent object, each, with halos, brighter than the searchlight beam. Said Davidson, 'we watched each group fade out of view'."
Sightings of the searchlight object continued through the spring of 1950. On 6 April 1950, the Cincinnati Post published a front-page story about the Norwood phenomenon with the headline: "What Glows On Here, Norwood Muses". Post city editor Harry Mayo briefly summarized the sightings, but added that two University of Cincinnati scientists had also seen the mysterious sphere - Dare A. Wells, professor of physics, and Paul Herget, professor of astronomy and director of the Cincinnati Observatory. According to Mayo:
"Said Dr. Well, 'In my opinion it's an optical illusion.' Said Prof. Herget, 'It's not a fake. I believe it may be caused by the illumination of gas in the atmosphere.'"
According to Stringfield, Dr. Wells and others calculated that the sphere may have been 10,000 feet in diameter. Harry Mayo recorded the conjecture of witness William Winkler, president of the Winkler Offset Color Service in Norwood:
"'It's not a flying saucer. Maybe it's a base for flying saucers."
Stringfield, Father Miller, Mayo and Post reporter Leo Hirtl took part in a special 1952 "saucer program" on Cincinnati television station WCPO. On that evening, Father Miller had a WCPO technician screen Spt. Davidson's movies for Stringfield. Around the same time, Harry Mayo pitched a story to Time and Life magazines and sent along some exceptional still photographs, also taken by Spt. Davidson, that showed the large object and its bevy of smaller lights. The story was never used and the photos never returned. The movie film has not been seen since the 1952 television show.
