On the evening of August 19, 1965, one of the most intriguing physical-trace UFO cases investigated by Project Blue Book occurred on the Carr farm near Cherry Creek in Chautauqua County, New York. The incident began around 8:20 p.m. when 16-year-old Harold Butcher, while milking cows in the main barn, heard an unusual high-pitched screeching sound coming from a bull tethered outside. Looking out the east window, he observed a large, shiny, silver-colored, football-shaped object hovering just above treetop level approximately 450 feet away. The object had sharply defined edges, vertical seams, and parallel lines of large dots along its side, and it emitted a reddish vapor or glow underneath.
Harold watched the object descend closer to the ground, then suddenly shoot straight upward into the clouds within seconds. During the sighting, his portable radio was overwhelmed by static, and the engine of a nearby tractor stalled. When the object was near the ground, a steady beeping sound was audible. After it departed, a strange oily odor lingered in the area. The next day, Harold discovered a purplish, oily liquid on the grass in the landing zone that stained his hands and felt like drying glue. He also found patches of singed grass and cut a sod sample containing the unknown substance for analysis. The bull had bent the steel bar it was tethered to in an apparent attempt to flee.
New York State Police troopers E.J. Haas and P.M. Neilson arrived shortly after 9 p.m. on August 19 and inspected the site with flashlights but found nothing unusual that night. The State Police contacted the U.S. Air Force, and on August 20 a five-man investigative team led by Captain James A. Dorsey from the 4621st Air Force Group at Niagara Falls Municipal Airport arrived. They interviewed the Butcher family and neighbors, examined the landing area, and took the soil and grass samples back for laboratory analysis. The Air Force team did not bring radiation detection equipment.
NICAP investigators, including Walter Shaw, conducted a thorough on-site probe, interviewing witnesses, mapping the area, and collecting additional samples of singed vegetation. Laboratory analysis by consulting chemical engineer Henry C. Kawecki confirmed the purplish liquid was unlike any known substance, with unusual properties. Other area residents reported related sightings on the same night and in the following days, including lights and objects in the sky.
Project Blue Book officially investigated the case and, despite the detailed witness testimony, physical traces, electromagnetic effects, and animal reaction, could find no conventional explanation. The case was listed as “unidentified,” one of only 701 such cases out of more than 12,000 in the entire Project Blue Book files. The Air Force noted the sequence of events appeared dubious but acknowledged there was no concrete prosaic explanation.
The Cherry Creek incident remains one of the best-documented physical-trace cases of the 1960s, combining multiple credible witnesses, instrument effects, and laboratory-analyzed residues. It continues to be cited in UFO research as an example of a landing with tangible evidence that defied explanation by military investigators.
