T h e--C o y n e--H e l i c o p t e r--C a s e--R e v i s i t e d
by Thomas Wertman
Terry Hamilton and myself decided we should reopen what is commonly termed as the Coyne Case. For those not familiar with the case it involved a U.S. Army Reserve helicopter’s close encounter with a UFO over Richland County, Ohio at approximately 11:02 PM on October 18, 1973. Why feature this case over so many other major events that have occurred in Ohio? The answers very simple. Our conference was to be held in Ashland, Ohio which is lies adjacent to Richland County. Moreover, this case ranks among the most high profile events in Ufology. Through the use of articles in local newspapers we hoped to generate reports from individuals who witnessed the event.
Initial articles printed in the Mansfield News Journal and the Ashland Times-Gazette drew approximately seven reports from the Richland County region. Those reports consisted of individuals seeing: an orange ball of light hovering then nearly colliding with a helicopter over Mansfield’s Westbrook Country Club, two red lights followed by a green light, lighting up a helicopter near Lexington, Ohio, a dark craft hovering at night near Crestline Ohio, and a daylight sighting of a brightly lit object hovering over a body of water near Shelby, Ohio. While these reports were interesting the best was yet to come.
Conference presenters Peter Robbins and Jennifer Stein arrived in Ashland early Friday afternoon and volunteered to help set up the facility. Polk Fire Department offered us the use of additional chairs so we made a road trip seven miles north of Ashland to their facility. It was during a tour of the firehouse when fireman Tom Smith said he witnessed the Coyne encounter. He and twenty-plus friends were enjoying the evening at location just south of Ashland when they heard the thumping of the helicopter blades. In the distance they could see the object with the helicopter, then the object leaving and departing to the west. Robbins, Stein, and I all looked at each other in disbelief. Here was a witness helping us load chairs for our conference. What is the chance of that happening, or better yet, contact with a crewman?
Four to five years ago I was conducting one my first library UFO presentations when an individual in the audience asked me if I was familiar with the Coyne case. After a brief 5-minute explanation, I asked if that answered his question. His response “That was the way it happened” caught me by surprise. Needless to say he didn’t get a chance to leave the room without identifying who he was. He identified himself as John Healey, retired from the Cleveland Police department and U.S. Army Reserves. Healey was one of the four crewmen onboard Army 15444! Healey stated after the event the helicopter became a Hanger Queen, “It never did fly right”. “There were always issues, compass, radio”. When asked if the military had issues with him discussing the event he stated “Not as long as I describe them the way they occurred”. As Healey departed I hoped for the opportunity to sit down event with either him or the other two living crewmen. Col. Coyne passed away in 1998; Arrigo Jezzi and Robert Yanacsek had seemed to drift off into obscurity.
Those that know me have seen my dogged determination. Once fixated I don’t like to give up researching a subject. Just after the Ashland conference, I located a potential address for Yanacsek. Coincidentally it was near Aaron Clark with whom I share the title of co-director of the Cleveland Ufology Project. Clark volunteered to swing by the address on his way home from work, then call me with the results. Minutes seemed like hours before Clark’s call. Yanacsek had invited him in and was very willing to discuss the event. He was curious about why this particular event was so interesting to ufologists. I figured I would answer that question when I talked to him in person the following Sunday.
My mind kept creating list after list of potential questions to ask Yanacsek. In the end I decided to walk Yanacsek through the PowerPoint program I presented at the Ashland conference minus the prepared text. Graphics only were going to be used to minimize not only prompting of the witness, but the crew’s perspective of events from the cockpit. The source of my information was primarily the Center of UFO Studies book titled “A Helicopter-UFO Encounter over Ohio” by Jennie Zeidman. The book provides an excellent foundation for the case, yet from an investigators point of view created a number of additional questions.
Sunday arrived and Yanacsek was just as described by Clark. Retired as an Army reservist Yanacsek prefers to stay busy with his employer for the past 40 plus years at Pitney Bowes. As we began the walkthrough Yanacsek stated he appreciated the professionalism and respect given to all participants and the subject. As expected, Yanacsek had lost contact with the other crew members years ago, but by the expression on his face each slide brought back memories of them and the event. The first of many was a photograph of the Capt. Coyne and an unidentified individual standing in front of a Huey UH1-H. Yanacsek stated he was the unidentified individual. They were assigned to the 316th Army reserve unit which had six medevac helicopters stationed at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Crews were not assigned a set helicopter; instead helicopter assignments were based on availability.
October 18th, 1973 the crew was sent to Columbus to undergo routine medical examinations. Yanacsek stated he was an exception since he recently had one performed. The Huey UH1-H began the return trip at approximately 10:30 pm; cruising speed was 90 knots, altitude 2,500 feet above sea level. Just south of Mansfield, Yanacsek observed a red non-flashing light to the southeast. The light appeared to be at a similar altitude and pacing the helicopter. Shortly thereafter Yanacsek notified Coyne the light had turned to an apparent intersecting course with the helicopter. Coyne took control from Jezzi and put the helicopter into an initial descent of 500 fpm to get below the object. Per Yanacsek the red light appeared to be brighter than an aircraft landing light and moving at a high rate of speed. Coyne attempted to contact Mansfield Lahm Airport and verify the position of a military aircraft in the region. After initial contact the radio went dead, and further attempts to contact nearby Mansfield were unsuccessful.
As the object continued on an apparent collision course, Coyne increased the descent to 2,000 fpm. Healey who had positioned himself between the pilot seats pointed out to Coyne their altitude was 1,700 feet above sea level. The difference between seal level and ground level of the region is approximately 1,100 feet. In reality the helicopter was only 600 feet above the ground! Coyne stated the object stopped and positioned itself in front and above the helicopter. Yanacsek stated except for the red light on the leading edge and white on the trailing, the oval shaped object was completely dark and blocked out the evening stars.
Yanacsek believed the object was close enough to potentially make contact with the rotor blades. Even though the crew could be in eminent danger, Yanacsek felt a surreal calm come over his body. At this point Coyne reported an intense green light flaring and engulfing the cockpit for 10-12 seconds. Yanacsek, seated behind Coyne saw things differently and believed the light to be white. His reasoning, the UH1-H cockpit was nicknamed “the greenhouse” due to tinting of the windows. He thought the light may have changed colors due to the green tinting. It should be noted due to the size of the object, its nearness to the helicopter, and position of the witnesses, each had a different perspective of the object because of their limited angle of view.
Yanacsek didn’t remember any turbulence or even the helicopters ascent to 3,800 feet. Only the object left heading to the west, then turned northwest disappearing past the horizon. After the encounter, Coyne maintained their heading of 030. He said they were unable to contact Mansfield which was seven miles away. What did concern Yanacsek was a red master warning light on the control panel. A secondary warning light indicated the helicopter had 20 minutes of remaining fuel. Per Jezzi the helicopter landed at Cleveland-Hopkins with nine gallons to fuel remaining. At five gallons, the helicopter can no longer draw fuel. Per my calculations they were three minutes from dropping from the sky.
After landing, Yanacsek stated Cleveland-Hopkins wanted to know what unidentified craft had just landed. Yanacsek realized besides nearly running out of fuel, they never had permission to land. This is where I found some discrepancies from Zeidman’s book. Zeidman documented after the encounter Army 15444 was able to contact Akron-Canton Airport and Cleveland-Hopkins. On the other hand, Yanacsek said they were out of contact with both Mansfield and Cleveland-Hopkins after the encounter. Per Yanacsek, the radio and mechanical issues continued after the event. His comments were reinforced by a conversation with Healey. To quote Healey, he stated Army 15444 “became a hanger queen”.
Yanacsek remembers talking to someone, possibly Zeidman, about his experiences. He was also interviewed along with Coyne by Dr. J. Allen Hynek. I’ve obtained a copy of the interview conducted in a local restaurant. Of all the crew Coyne was the most vocal about the event. In 1978 he presented the crew’s experience at a United Nations Special Political Committee. I asked both Yanacsek and Healey if the military objected to their speaking on the event. The answer I received from both was not as long as they state the events the way their occurred.
One of the questions I had for Yanacsek was did he have any unusual dreams after the encounter. My question was prompted by a comment in Zeidman’s book. Coyne reported the Army Surgeons General office contacted him in regards to possibly having unusual dreams after the encounter. Coyne reported out of body experiences, the same with Healey. Yanacsek stated Coyne contacted him and asked if he had any unusual dreams. Yanacsek did not realize the question was prompted by the Pentagon. The Pentagon wanted to know if any or all crewmen had experiences. Coyne and Healey did, Yanacsek and Jezzi did not.
Yanacsek never knew what eventually happened to the helicopter. I informed him 15444 was sent to Columbia as part of joint effort with the United States against drug trafficking. A newspaper report from March 2009 indicated the helicopter had crashed, killing all four Columbian Army personnel. Reason for the crash was under investigation, but believed due to rebel fire.
I obtained US government reports which described operations involving approximately 33 helicopters donated to the Columbian Army and Police. The report for March 2009 lists 10,920 hectares of coca plants sprayed with herbicides, and eradication aircraft involved in three hostile fire incidents, resulting in four impacts, with no downed aircraft or casualties. A second report submitted the same date and time documents a single helicopter going down with four causalities. Could that be Army 15444? The dates of the crash do not match with the helicopters’ ID numbers nor anything related to Army 15444. In my opinion at least two helicopters went down in March of 2009.
Do inaccurate casualty reports, hectares of jungle foliage being sprayed with herbicides, and discrepancies in government reporting sound familiar? The helicopter can be tracked to its assignment to a Columbian registry number. The reason the helicopter was removed from an international registry was attributed a Chinese newspaper article listing the helicopter’s tail number.
This is one of my two favorite cases occurring in Ohio. I can’t thank Robert Yanacsek enough for letting me relive the events through his eyes, John Healey for his brief but pointed comments about the ‘hanger queen’, and Jennie Zeidman for her overall research of the encounter. My research is hardly over, it’s just beginning. Since I began this article I’ve discovered additional ground witnesses to the event. What did the crew and local witnesses see? To borrow from TV Dragnet’s Joe Friday’s “just the facts”: they had a red light approach from the southeast, position itself above the helicopter at close range, engulf Army 15444 in a bright light, the light turn off, and the object disappear over the horizon.
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