UFO Profile: The Baker Family Encounter (AKA: The Mellen Wisconsin UFO Sighting of 1975)
Located within Ashland County, the second-largest county in the state of Wisconsin by total area (the largest being Marathon County), sits the small picturesque city known as Mellen. Founded in 1886, the city was originally known by the name of Iron City after being purchased by the Wisconsin Central Railroad from landowner Samuel O’Grady Bennett. Bennett coined the original name while under his ownership and it remained as such until 1888 when it was formally changed to Mellen. The name was chosen in honor of William Solon Mellen, the general manager of the Wisconsin Central Railroad in 1886.
Sitting nearly smack dab in the middle between the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Copper Falls State Park, and Caroline Lake State Natural Area, the city of Mellen finds itself amongst some of the best natural scenery within the entire state. Along with its close proximity to both national and state forests and parks, the little city also finds itself separated completely in half by the 74mi long Bad River which cuts through the area as it winds its way all the way up to Lake Superior. To put it simply, if you were to hear someone from Wisconsin say they were headed “Up North” for the weekend, this is usually the type of place they would be going. Deep in the thick of it and away from the hustle and bustle of bigger areas.
While primarily known for its miles of hiking trails, breathtaking views of natural waterfalls, deep woods camping sites, and for being a designated stop on the North Country Scenic Trail (a 4,600-mile trail that stretches across eight states), the city of Mellen is without a doubt a nature lovers paradise. But as with most locations in the Midwest, there is much more to the picturesque city of Mellen than meets the eye. The little city with a population of only 730+ residents also has within its borders a rich history of strange and unusual legends, bizarre encounters with unknown creatures, and peculiar sightings of unexplained things both in the sky and on the ground. Mellen, as you will soon find out, proves without a doubt that appearances can be deceiving and that just below a location’s Mayberry surface typically rests a plethora of X-Files cases just ripe for the picking.
The following strange tale takes place over the course of two days, March 13-14, 1975.
The time was 9 p.m. and the Baker family was beginning to wind down for the night. The six-member family, which consisted of Phil Baker (father), Shirley Baker (mother), Montgomery (16), Jane (15), John (12) and Jeff (11), all settled into their respected roles and went about ensuring everything was completed before calling it a night. Mrs. Baker fiddled with some seed packets while Mr. Baker watched an episode of Harry O on the TV. The boys tended to their evening chores inside while Jane was tasked with taking the two family cats out to the garage where they would stay until morning. It was during this routine task that the first member of the Baker family would take notice of something unfamiliar within their designated family bubble and would kick off the chain of events that happened next.
As Jane was making her way from the house towards the garage, the family cats each tucked snuggly under one arm, she caught sight of something odd sitting in the middle of the road. All actions up until that instant ceased and the young girl stood frozen in her path, just staring dead ahead at the strange object standing motionless before her. The thing, which Jane would later describe as a “weird object making funny noises,” was actually a silver-looking disc that emitted a silverish-white glow, was covered around the middle by a string of red and green-looking lights, and was making loud “high-toned” noises. As the girl stood still, the cats grew restless, and soon she was pulled out of her frozen state and continued on with her task. As she did this though, she made sure to keep an eye on the strange craft sitting in the road in front of her home.
After the cats were safely locked in the garage, Jane peaked back out around the door to see if the strange silver object was still there. Seeing that it had not moved and remained in the same location making the same noises and flashing the same red and green lights, the startled teen ran back towards her home and frantically yelled for her father. Sensing the urgency in his daughter’s cries, Phil Baker jumped up from the sofa and ran out onto the small porch in his socks. There he met Jane who instantly yelled, “Dad! There is something in the road!”
Immediately taking notice of what his daughter was worked up over, Mr. Baker reentered his home, hurriedly put on his shoes and coat, and quickly headed back outside to figure out what was going on. Three of his children, Jane, John, and Jeff followed closely behind him. Mrs. Baker and Montgomery stayed behind and instead ran up to the second level of the home and viewed the object from above out of one of the home’s windows.
As the four-member family team headed towards the unsettling object, the strange silvery white-colored light was beginning to dim. The red and green lights which had once been flashing around the outside of the craft had also ceased to function, but in their absence, a new action had begun. A strange banging sound began to emanate from the craft, but what was odd about it was that it didn’t seem mechanical or structured in nature. This noise, it was said, closely resembled the kind of sound made by a person banging a hammer against metal, and to make the situation even more unsettling, the sound was reported as coming from inside the craft, as if some thing was in there actively making it.
Realizing that what they were moving towards could be dangerous, Mr. Baker told his three children to stay put and made it known that he alone would move closer to the object. Fearing for her father’s safety, Jane urged Mr. Baker to not get any closer, but when he refused to stop and instead continued forward, the young girl made the decision to run back into the home and grab her mother for assistance. When Mr. Baker was only within a few hundred feet of the strange craft, Mrs. Baker ran out of the doorway and pleaded for him to come back inside. Understanding the gravity of the situation and the potential danger that he may face, Mr. Baker moved back from the object, gathered up his sons, and headed back inside.
When the Baker family were all safely back indoors, Mr. Baker quickly picked up the phone and called the local Undersheriff, George Ree, for help in dealing with the situation at hand. Strangely enough though, as Mr. Baker was talking with Mr. Ree and bringing him up to speed on what was currently sitting in front of their home, a large boom similar to that of an explosion was heard by every member of the six-person family. Jane, assuming that the sound had something to do with the object out front, ran to the window to have a look. Grabbing the curtains in her hands, Jane tossed fabric aside and pressed her hands and face up to the glass, but she was met with nothing but darkness. The object was gone.
Even though the strange silver object was no longer present at the Baker property, Undersheriff Ree still made a trip out to the property to see what all the commotion was about, and to see if any evidence was possibly left behind. While nothing substantial was found to prove that a craft had been there, the description given by all members of the Baker family were consistent with one another, it was Undersheriff Ree’s belief that the family was telling the truth. Something had been present outside of their home, and it was something that no one in the family had ever seen before.
The official description given by Mr. Baker, the one member of the family who was closest to the object, is as follows. The object was silver in color and had a line of flashing red and bluish-green lights running around it. Judging by the size of the snowbanks alongside the road where the object was resting, it was believed by Mr. Baker that the craft was roughly six feet high and had a diameter of around twelve feet. The overall appearance was said to look similar to the profile of a turtle. A square-like shape with rounded corners was present in the middle and was emanating a dull yellow-white light. It was believed that this shape was an open hatch of some sort. Mr. Baker stated that if he were to have moved closer at the time of the encounter, he believes he could have seen inside the hatch, but he removed himself from the area before he was able to do so. No noticeable legs were seen under the object. It was estimated by the family that the object was in front of their home for no more than ten minutes.
After talking with the family and taking the report, and because no evidence was found at the scene, Undersheriff Ree had no real need to remain at the Baker home. Bidding the family a good night, Ree got into his patrol car and drove roughly two miles to the Ashland and Iron County line in order to meet up with some other deputies from around the area. During their moment of collective downtime, the group of law enforcement officials chatted about their day, talked about what was happening in their respective counties, and discussed their individual experiences while working that night. For the most part, it was a standard night, except of course for the Baker family incident.
With the lawmen all together, George Ree attempted to explain the situation he had been called out to investigate. Other men in the group offered their input and provided their theories as to what could have occurred, but nothing really seemed to fit the profile exactly. With nothing concrete to go off of, the best answer any of the men could come up with was that the object might have really been a real UFO, and while it was all around strange, at least it was gone and nobody would really have to deal with it again. At least that’s what they thought until lights appeared in the sky above them, and it wasn’t just one light either, but multiple lights. The UFO it seemed had come back, and this time it brought friends.
Up in the sky above Ashland and Iron County, the group of lawmen watched as three strange lights moved through the darkness. Two of the objects appeared similar in color and size, while the third object was noted as being bigger and brighter than the others. This object, Ree states, moved faster than the others, changed colors, and even stopped in midair, hovering in place while the three other objects moved towards it. Eventually, the objects began to move so quickly around the area and in such a bizarre way that the police radio channel began to go wild with calls and transmissions from other officers checking to see if anyone else had seen what they were seeing. It essentially became an open channel to verify that you weren’t crazy and that there actually was something unexplained flying around in the sky.
Later, when talking about the strange incident, George Ree is quoted as saying; “We saw one object come from the south going in a northerly direction. There was a second one, and it was a little lower than the first. We watched these two for maybe half an hour. Then a third one came from the north going south, and that was the lowest one of all. We could see different colored lights on it. That one stayed in the air for approximately ten or fifteen minutes, just moving, sort of doing a jig, going up and down, making a big ‘U’ and going up and down again.
We had two more cars on U.S. 2 in the northern part of Ashland County and I was transmitting to the deputies in that location. Two deputies were watching from a fire tower on Birch Hill and another, Drolson, was northwest of them on Lake Superior when one of these objects we were watching took off at a very high rate of speed. I radioed to Drolson and told him, ‘It’s going your way,’ and all of a sudden he said, ‘I see it coming-’ and then his radio went blank.”
The deputy on Lake Superior who was radioed by Ree, Peter Drolson, who was twenty-four years old at the time of the incident, stated later in an interview about that night that he felt he was going to be the only one in the area who would not get a chance to see the strange lights that everyone on the radio was talking about. Sitting in his vehicle along the edge of the lake, the young deputy listened intently as his fellow officers made note of where the objects were and where they appeared to be moving. For the most part, they all appeared to avoid the area in which he was located, but when Ree urgently called for him to be on the lookout as one of the objects was coming his way, Drolson knew he had to get a good look.
After acknowledging Ree over the radio, Deputy Drolson stepped out of his vehicle and looked into the sky. Within minutes the entire area around him lit up in a brilliant light. Drolson is quoted as saying; “Everything got so bright I could’ve read a newspaper. I could see my shadow on the ground.” As the light quickly enveloped everything around him, Drolson yelled into his radio to report exactly what was happening. Strangely enough though, none of the other officers were able to hear him clearly due to an unknown interference taking over the signal. At best his fellow officers were only able to make out bits and pieces of words and sentences intermingled between moments of static and unexplained noises.
In a moment that felt like forever to the young man, but in reality, was only a few seconds, the light which had turned the darkness around him into daylight moved towards the other side of the road and then took off yet again in an impressive burst of speed. The faint glow could be seen moving away until it eventually fell behind the trees and was visible to the officer no more. Drolson said of this moment, "It sounded like a big gust of wind coming through the woods. I was talking on the radio the whole time but they only heard a part of my transmission. They heard me talking, then a whoosh, and then me talking again.”
With the strange object now gone from the area, the radio transmission returned to normal. Officers from around the two counties reported their locations to be clear and that no other lights appeared to be present. For hours the sky was watched and nothing of interest was seen above them. But then around midnight, a fourth light appeared in the darkness. This one though didn’t really move like the others and for the most part, just sort of hung around in the sky as if keeping an eye on things below. Knowing that there was nothing any of them could do and since the object didn’t seem to be doing anything itself, the officers packed it up and headed back to the station to end their night, still no closer to figuring out what any of them had witnessed.
The next morning, on March 14, the Baker family was waking up to begin their day. Still concerned and somewhat in shock by what they all had seen, fifteen-year-old Jane decided that she was going to look around the area to see if she was able to find any proof herself that something strange did in fact rest in front of their home. As she walked towards the road and looked around, the young girl nonchalantly glanced towards a swampy area that was located not too far from the Baker family property. At that moment, the teenage witness once again froze in her tracks just like she had the night before. For there, in the swamp, was the evidence she so desperately hoped to find. Only this time though, the strange object was not on the ground, but rather it was hovering in the air over the trees.
Keeping her eyes locked on the object, Jane began moving back towards the family home. She was determined to figure out what this thing was, but due to the cold Wisconsin morning, she first needed to grab her coat. When back inside, the young girl quickly put on her jacket and grabbed the family dog to come with her. The object, which was still hovering motionless in the sky, looked exactly the same as the one witnessed by the entire Baker family the night before. The only difference though was that none of the lights were on, and none of the strange noises were able to be heard. At least that is, no one with human ears could hear the sounds.
As Jane and the dog made their way towards the swampy area, the loyal canine suddenly became agitated. Putting a hard stop on moving forward, the panicked pooch let out a loud yelp, placed its head down towards the ground, and began pawing at its ears. The object it seemed was still making noises, only this time they were so high-pitched that only the dog was able to hear them, and they caused such distress in the animal, that Jane was forced to pick it up and carry it back inside the home.
Once inside, the now skittish dog took off to hide somewhere in the house. Wanting to take care of her pet, but also wanting to see the object, Jane made the decision to venture back outside and head towards the swamp area alone. Problem was though that when she came back, the object was gone. No sound was heard and no evidence was left. It was as if it simply vanished into thin air. If she hadn’t of seen it herself, she never would have believed it was even there. Disappointed, Jane headed back inside to tell her family what she had seen. Understandably concerned that the object may come back at a later time, the Baker family watched the area in hopes of spotting it again rather than be caught off guard. But the objects it seemed were done with both the Baker family and the city of Mellen, as they were never seen again.
After the events of March 13th and 14th began to spread through the city, newspapers from around the area started to report the story. So intriguing and mysterious were the accounts given by both the Baker family as well as all the lawmen involved with the sighting, that eventually, a representative of the Center for UFO Studies (a research group founded by J. Allen Hynek in 1973) arrived in Ashland County to both interview, research, and categorize the entire experience. While no clear explanation could be determined for what the witnesses had seen, it was of the researcher’s opinion that the Mellen UFO Sighting should receive the official classification of CE-II. A classification which is better known as, a Close Encounter of the Second Kind.
While the Mellen UFO Sighting of 1975 remains a little known drop in the gigantic bucket of UFO sightings from the 1970s, it is worth noting that the event did shine front and center for a little while in the public consciousness. So intriguing was the event that Leonard Nimoy’s show ‘In Search Of…’ made the brilliant decision to include the sighting (S1, E21) in the show’s excellent first season in 1977. Included amongst other episodes which focus on Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, the Loch Ness Monster, and Ghosts, we feel there is no better way to preserve this moment of not only strange Fortean history, but also bizarre Wisconsin history as well.
-The Pine Barrens Institute
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“…many people were in their homes enjoying what they thought was just a normal evening. But when they ran outside to see what was the matter, and heard the ever-growing roar steadily moving closer towards them, they also caught sight of a strange object both rotating and moving through the sky above the trees.”