2018 OHIO MUFON CONFERENCE




Linda Miller Costa and Cheryl Costa





A dual presentation by Cheryl and Linda Costa describing their statistical research on UFO’s was fascinating. This study encompassed sightings of UFOs in the United States of America between the years 2001-2015. The databases used for the study were from two sources, i.e. MUFON and NUFOC (National UFO Center0. Various aspects (E.G. frequency, distribution and shapes) were discussed. Charts were presented of sightings by month, state, county, day of the week. Data are presented on states and even counties. They focused on Ohio statistics for our benefit. Ohio is currently number 9 in frequency of sightings. It is interesting that states bordering the Great Lakes have more sightings than other states. We have seen reports published by other researchers that UFOs tend to concentrate along the 37 parallel. Cheryl says their data show that this is ‘baloney’. They noted ‘fireballs’ of all sizes are decreasing. They believe these are dimensional probes. Many UFO shapes were described. Linda Costa said "The Truth is in the Shapes!" And there is a wide diversity which indicates there is quite a variety of species and builders. Egg-shapes and teardrop-shapes and Saturn-shapes sightings are increasing. This indicates to Cheryl and Linda that, “There is a new player (species) on the field.” All data can be found in their 359 page book “UFO Sightings Desk Reference United States of America 2001-2015” published in 2017. This is an excellent reference for serious UFO Researchers.

Cheryl Costa is an upstate New York resident and a NY native, who saw her first UFO at age twelve. A military veteran, she’s a retired Information Security professional from the Aerospace Industry.
She’s been a speaker at the International UFO Congress IUFOC and at the MUFON Symposium.
Cheryl writes the wildly popular UFO column “New York Skies” for SyracuseNewTimes.com. Besides being a journalist she’s also a published playwright. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Empire State College in Entertainment Writing.

She is the author of "UFO Sightings Desk Reference - United States of America 2001-2015". The first book of its kind, the "UFO Sightings Desk Reference: United States of America 2001-2015" presents data and analysis for 100,000+ sightings of unidentified flying objects reported by individuals during the first 15 years of the 21st century.

The book is organized into beginning narrative sections including analysis of UFO sightings, frequently asked questions, and how to use this book, followed by the data. Charts, tables, and maps are presented of summary data for the entire US and individual chapters for all 50 states (down to the county level) plus the District of Columbia. Aimed at the serious UFO researcher, this comprehensive volume is also of value to academic and public libraries, news organizations, and anyone who is interested in what is flying in the skies over their heads where they live.




Jeff Wilson




Jeff returned this year (since his last presentation in 2013) to update us on his crop circle research and current projects. He described the tell-tail indicators of an authentic crop circle. These include increased radiation, elongated nodes in plants, and electromagnetic effects (changes in volt readings).

He discussed an interesting event which occurred in Dale, Indiana on June 14, 1964. An 18- year-old young man (Charlie Englebrecht) was home alone. His parents were visiting a neighbor. Suddenly all the lights went out, whereupon he witnessed a basketball size ball-of-light about 3’ to 4’ above the ground. After he stepped out of the house something prevented him from getting closer to the object. All metal objects in the yard moved toward the object (lawn mower etc.). When the ball-of-light took off it left a circle. There was a smell of sulfur (“like a zillion matches”). When his parents came home they smelled sulfur and noted Charlie appeared sunburned. He later had other physical effects like loss of weight and appetite. The cows produced more milk and the chickens more eggs. The plants were also affected.

A Bluebook investigator (William Powers) was there within 24 hours. Powers was a private contractor for Bluebook located at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. He collected grass, soils and an unusual stone found in the center of the circle. All of this physical evidence and information has vanished. Powers explained the event by saying Charlie saw a burning sheet of paper soaked in coal oil. NICAP also investigated the case a day after Bluebook, but has no record of it. Other witnesses came forth after Charlie’s story came out. They reported that they observed balls-of-light in Indiana over the years, dating as far back as the 1880s.

Ohio’s Rob Mercer, who stumbled on Bluebook files at a garage sale, found slides of crop circles. Some slides showed crop circles which came from a South Dakota formation which had 27 circles to it. This could be dated to 1965. Project Blue Book’s conclusion was they were due to “dust devils”.

Of course, no crop circle presentation is complete without the discussion of the “Doug and Dave” proclamation in England. Doug and Dave claimed they started making them in 1976. Jeff clearly showed crop circles appeared before that year. There were examples of 27 circles with complex geometry prior to “Doug and Dave”. This also disputed the claim by crop circle investigators that complex geometry evolved over time. It did not.

Jeff noted there is a marked decrease in crop circle formations in the last 5 years with only one reported in North America (Quebec).

Jeffrey Wilson, M.Sc., Director and co-founder of the Independent Crop Circle Researchers' Association (ICCRA) has been investigating crop circles that have been reported in the United States since 1996, and has visited well over 100 during the last twelve years. He was an early member of the Center for Crop Circle Studies (CCCS), in both the UK and USA branches before both organizations went defunct. He has been a contributor of USA crop circle reports to the Crop Circle Connector website since 1996. He was a frequent contributor to Crop Circle News until that website closed. His crop circle research has been covered by numerous newspapers across the USA, he is frequently interviewed on Linda Howe’s Earthfiles website, he's been a guest on various national and local TV networks, as well as national and local radio programs including Coast to Coast A.M. with George Noory.
Wilson received a Master's Degree in General Science from Eastern Michigan University located in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he taught both Physics and Astronomy classes, and helped operate and maintain Sherzer Observatory on a volunteer basis. He has also designed and taught an online Astronomy class for the OMNIBUS Master's Degree program at Schoolcraft College (jointly with Madonna University) in Livonia, Michigan.
Wilson wanted to write his Master's thesis on crop circles but couldn't get any academics to sponsor it. Instead he received a grant for his thesis from NASA under the Michigan Space Grant Consortium to analyze and map geologic reflectivity data from NASA’s Lunar Prospector Mission. Wilson now works as an analyst in private industry.

Wilson currently serves as a volunteer board member of the Friends of the Serpent Mound as the Director of Special Events and Projects. He is also a contributing member of the Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology, and Landscape Studies, a certified volunteer for the Ohio Historical Society, and a member of the Serpent Mound Chapter of the American Society of Dowsers.



Jeff Wilson's Web Site - The Independent Crop Circle Researchers' Association (ICCRA)



William Konkolesky






Bill’s, often subtle, humorous, description of his abduction experiences had us chuckling. Members of his family on his mother’s side have also been abducted. He has: seen UFOs many times, has been on board a UFO, observed a variety of nonhumans. He has had premonitions, out-of-body experiences, poltergeist activity, ghosts, and experienced time anomalies.

Some specific abduction events were presented. His first recollection of interaction with ET was when he was two years old. A ‘gray’ was standing at the end of his crib. After a while it just walked out of his room. As a 7 year old he saw a black circle appearing in the ceiling. In his conscious memory he saw a black hose coming out of it and swiping around. He wound up with a scar on his arm. The next day a white mist rolled through his yard. A ‘gray’ came through and asked (telepathically): “Are you okay.” He said, “I am fine.”

Bill decided he would go through a regression at the home of Shirley and George Coyne. As he was going through this he found the room got brighter, he couldn’t focus and felt he was in white space. A voice said, “Keep away from the negative. We’ll be coming year after year.” After it was over. George thought Bill was out of ear shot when he told his wife that there were 3 grays there all during the regression. These were just a few of the experiences he described. For more, I recommend you purchase his book “Experiencer Raised in Two Worlds”. It’s a good read.


Bill Konkolesky is State Director of the Michigan Chapter of the Mutual UFO Network. He regularly delivers lectures on the UFO phenomenon in the Detroit Metro area and has also appeared on television, on radio, and in print, sharing his knowledge of and personal accounts with the UFO phenomenon. Konkolesky is a lifelong experiencer on an ongoing journey of discovery, trying to make some sense of the strange events that have happened to him.

"I live a normal life occasionally interrupted by unusual events".

"My very first memory, all the way back to age two, is of the night in 1973 when I was visited by a strange little man with giant gleaming eyes. This would be only the first of many encounters with very real beings of this kind I would have over the years. Some of these events were terrifying to the extreme. Added to this were the out-of-body experiences and psychic premonitions I was experiencing while growing up in a house that, on top of everything else, was also filled with ghost activity."

Bill's story is ongoing and on this return visit to our conference, he brought us up to date on his experiences since his last presentation in 2016.

"I am an experiencer."



His book: "Experiencer - Raised In Two Worlds"

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