By Ann Hall - Capri Connection

On April 8, I shared with you the unusual viewings that my husband and I had over Johnson’s Bay for three consecutive nights. Afterward, we discovered that we were not the only ones to see the bright white ball of light.

It appeared out of nowhere and then sat silently about 150 feet above the water and mangroves on March 27-29 from 10 PM until the wee hours of the morning.

Morgan Beall of Fort Myers, state section director with the Mutual UFO Network, also known as MUFON, received this story and came to the Isles of Capri to investigate.

After speaking with Isles of Capri Fire-Rescue Chief Emilio Rodriguez and some of his staff, he quickly learned that they had also witnessed the event and others like it in past months and years.

Beall interviewed Mike Castellano, owner of Capri Fish House, located on Johnson’s Bay next to the fire station.

Castellano and some of his workers shared that they, too, had seen the phenomena more than once.

Several residents on the isles called to say they saw something strange that fit the description of the light.

In the meantime, on April 20 at around 9:22 p.m., workers from the Capri Fish House called Beall to report seeing the same light in the same area again, but at a further distance.

When the light appeared, so did a group of jet aircraft, according to the witnesses. The jets seemed to react or pursue the light, which disappeared before the aircraft reached its position, only to reappear in a different location, the witnesses explained to Beall.

The same jet aircraft redirected toward the light, and the object disappeared again, but did not return, they told Beall.

We were returning from the airport ourselves at about that same time after picking up family arriving from California on a late flight.

As we pulled into Capri, we, too, saw a strange white, motionless and silent white light, similar to the one seen in March, but in a different location and a bit reddish. Beall and his partner were dispatched to the scene to investigate.

By the time they arrived at 11:15 PM, the light was gone.

Beall is interviewing witnesses in hopes of building a case file of testimonies before taking his research to the next level. He will be checking with experts in astronomy as well as with the military to try and determine if what we saw was explainable.

On average, there are over 70,000 reports that come into research organizations around the world every year. The reports climb at an incredible rate annually. About 10 percent are unexplainable, according to MUFON.

The group was founded in 1969 as a non-profit corporation that utilizes volunteers to resolve the scientific enigma known collectively as UFOs.

When alerted, the state or local director assigns one or more field investigators in the vicinity to conduct personal interviews with the witnesses and collect written and picture-form data to prepare a case report for review by experts in the field for analysis.

Investigators are highly trained to gather information.

There are 10 things you should do if you see a UFO, according to UFO expert Michael Curta.

You should:

• Remain calm;

• Be objective;

• Use a camcorder or camera to record what you see;

• Tape record or write down all of the details of what you see to include date, time, distance;

• Ask other witnesses to record their viewings;

• Refrain from disturbing any trace left behind if a UFO hits the ground;

• Judge the distance the object appears from where you stood;

• Note and record any movement;

• Should you encounter any danger, protect yourself, and

• Immediately report the event to a UFO research organization.

MUFON is the largest and has investigators in all 50 states and around the world.

In our area, call Beall in Fort Myers at 940-0433 or e-mail him at morgan.fl.mufon@gmail.com.

You should also go to mufon.com and fill out a report.

— Reach Ann Hall at ahall7911@comcast.net.