Area UFO sighting under investigation

Local law enforcement officials are investigating several reports from individuals claiming to have observed an unidentified flying object hovering in various locations across Barron County.

According to Barron County Sheriff Tom Richie, the dispatch center received numerous calls from individuals at approximately 10 p.m. Monday reporting a possible UFO. Barron County deputies on duty that night reportedly observed the object.

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Kristina Hauser, 20, of Chetek, was traveling with her family near the Rice Lake airport at about 9:40 p.m. when they saw the object. Hauser explained that the object, which initially appeared yellow, was flying toward Rice Lake and was dipping very low and moved very fast, heading back and forth across the road. She stated the object was hovering around their car for about a mile before it headed back to the airport.

Hauser also reported that after she was dropped off in Rice Lake, her family witnessed the object again on the way back to Chetek, hovering about 20 feet above their vehicle. They described it to her as a triangular or teardrop-shaped object with purple and blue lights. They could hear no sound coming from the object, and a red laser like light was shining on one end of it to the ground. The object followed their vehicle another four miles before it just disappeared.

Hauser's father, Glen, also spoke with various local police officers who had gotten calls on the object as well. While working at Wal-Mart, Kristina also spoke with a Rice Lake police officer who had talked with local hospitals and the Federal Aviation Administration. All confirmed helicopters were grounded and there did not appear to be any air traffic in the area.

"By the way it moved, having no sound, and th way it looked, I knew it was not from this planet," said Julie Hauser, Kristina's mother. "It was the scariest thing."

In a brief interview, Rice Lake Air Center Manager Jerry Stites explained that there were employees of the airport in the Rice Lake area who observed what appeared to be aircraft landing between 9-9:30 p.m., but no employees were at the airport when the sightings were reported. After reviewing security tapes, Stites added that to their knowledge, no planes landed at the air center Monday night. The helicopter at the airport also remained grounded until about 3 a.m. He added that he monitored the aviation radio until abut 9 p.m., and there was no activity in the vicinity, but explained that did not mean there were no aircraft landing.

Calls to Cumberland Memorial Hospital and Sacred Heart in Eau Claire confirmed there were no airport runs to the Barron or Rice Lake area. Information on helicopter runs from Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake, Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, and Luther Midlefort Northland were not available at press time. - zwire