Portage County UFO Chase: Night Police Radios Lit Up

Header Image
BASED ON STORIES READ TODAY: Chance of a WOO event today 0% - Chance of an Alien Invasion today 0%

A Saucer Rises in Ohio


On April 17, 1966, at 5:07 AM, Portage County, Ohio, Deputies Dale Spaur and Wilbur Neff were checking a suspicious car parked on Route 224 near Ravenna. The vehicle, marked with a strange emblem reading “Seven Steps to Hell,” was abandoned. As they investigated, a low hum filled the air. Turning, they saw a 40-foot, saucer-shaped object rise from the woods, bathing them in warm, white light. Described as a “melted ice cream cone,” it hovered silently, then moved east. Spaur radioed dispatch, his voice tense, reporting the sighting. The chase was on.

The deputies jumped into their cruiser, hitting speeds of 100 mph as the UFO glided ahead, its metallic surface gleaming in the predawn light. Radio chatter exploded, with officers across Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania reporting the object. The pursuit, lasting 86 miles, crossed into Pennsylvania, a high-speed dance with the unknown.

Radio Chaos and Witnesses


Spaur’s radio crackled with urgency, broadcasting to the 39.58 MHz frequency shared by Ohio sheriffs’ offices. “It’s moving faster than us, like it knows we’re here,” he said, as the object paused at a wrong turn, then resumed its path. Officer Wayne Huston, parked near East Palestine, Ohio, joined the chase after seeing the UFO, estimating it at 800 feet altitude, silent and cone-shaped. In Conway, Pennsylvania, Officer Frank Panzanella watched it hover, joined by Spaur, Neff, and Huston. Civilians, including a milkman, reported similar sightings, and Mantua Police Chief Gerald Buchert snapped photos of the object.

The radio logs, later obtained by NICAP, captured the officers’ shock. “If I’m sick, so are these other three patrolmen,” Panzanella told dispatch, dismissing skepticism. A United Airlines flight passed 1,000 feet below, confirming the object wasn’t a plane. The chase ended at 6:15 AM as daylight broke and the UFO shot straight up, vanishing.

Project Blue Book’s Dismissal


The U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigated, with Major Hector Quintanilla labeling the UFO a “satellite, confused with Venus.” Officers and astronomer J. Allen Hynek, Blue Book’s consultant, rejected this, noting Venus was visible separately. Ohio Congressman William Stanton pressured the Pentagon to reopen the case, but Quintanilla’s taped interviews with Spaur and Neff grew heated, and the Venus explanation stood. Hynek later wrote the UFO couldn’t be Venus, calling the dismissal absurd. The officers faced ridicule, with Spaur labeled “Saucer Spaur” in the press.

The explanation fueled conspiracy theories. Was Blue Book covering up an alien craft or a secret military test? The abandoned car’s eerie emblem, never traced, added to the mystery, suggesting a staged event or something darker.

A Deputy’s Downfall


Dale Spaur’s life unraveled post-chase. Mocked by locals and the media, he faced harassment and resigned from the sheriff’s department. His marriage collapsed, and he lived in hiding, blaming the UFO for his breakdown. “If I could change one thing, it’d be the night we chased that damn saucer,” he told a reporter in 1966. Neff and Huston also quit, retreating from public scrutiny. The photos by Buchert, showing a bright, rounded object, remain debated, with some calling them overexposed stars, others evidence of a craft. Spaur’s suffering, like Falkville’s Jeff Greenhaw, hints at a cost for witnessing the unknown.

A Timeline of the Chase


The Portage County UFO chase unfolded as follows:

  • April 17, 1966, 5:07 AM: Spaur and Neff spot a glowing saucer rising near Route 224, Ohio, near an abandoned car.
  • 5:10 AM: Spaur radios dispatch, beginning an 86-mile chase at speeds up to 100 mph.
  • 5:30 AM: Officer Huston joins the pursuit near East Palestine, seeing the cone-shaped UFO.
  • 5:50 AM: In Conway, Pennsylvania, Panzanella joins Spaur, Neff, and Huston, watching the hovering object.
  • 5:58 AM: A United Airlines flight passes below the UFO, confirming it’s not a plane.
  • 6:15 AM: The UFO shoots straight up and vanishes as daylight breaks; Buchert’s photos emerge.
  • April 22, 1966: Project Blue Book calls it Venus/satellite, sparking controversy.
  • August 2025: The chase remains a UFO legend, with radio logs and photos fueling debate.

Theories of the Unknown


The Portage UFO defies logic. Was it an extraterrestrial craft, scouting rural Ohio? A military prototype, tested in secret, with the “Seven Steps to Hell” car as a decoy? Or a mass hallucination, amplified by 1966’s UFO flap? The object’s ability to pause, turn, and outpace cruisers suggests intelligence, not Venus. Radio chatter, heard across two states, and Buchert’s photos challenge the official dismissal. Some speculate an interdimensional rift, others a government cover-up. The abandoned car’s emblem hints at an occult ritual or staged event, yet no answers surface.

A Legacy of Pursuit


The 1966 chase, immortalized in *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*, remains a cornerstone of UFO lore. Spaur’s ruined life echoes the personal toll of such encounters, like Falkville’s Greenhaw. The radio logs, buzzing with officers’ voices, capture a night when the unknown invaded Ohio’s backroads. Was it alien, military, or something beyond? The saucer’s light faded, but its mystery endures, haunting those who hear the crackle of that fateful broadcast.

What Do You Think?


The Portage County UFO chase stirs questions that linger like Ohio’s dawn mist. Do you believe Spaur and Neff chased an alien craft, or was it a military test gone rogue? Could the radio chatter hide a deeper truth? If you were in their cruiser, would you floor it or turn back? Share your thoughts and experiences on X.com @THEODDWOO or Reddit r/ODDWOO.

THE THiNG STANDING BEHiND YOU SAID YOU WOULD ENJOY THE STORIES BELOW ツ