Ann Hall • special to marcoislandflorida.com

MUFON has released its long-awaited report on UFO sightings near the Isles of Capri.

"I have posted the video of the Isles of Capri UFO Case No. 24444 on our YouTube account this week," wrote Morgan Beall, Mutual Unidentified Flying Object Network Southwest Florida state section director.

"I did mute the voices for privacy purposes and replaced them with background music," said Beall.

For the past six months, numerous witnesses have told MUFON of strange objects hovering in the sky at night in and around the Isles of Capri.

Beall has been plowing through these reports, speaking with witnesses, analyzing drawings, photographs, and videos of the objects seen by witnesses from Capri and nearby areas.

Beall's records show that some reports date as far back as the 1950s.

No answers

To date, there are no conclusive answers as to what people are seeing. During the course of the observations, however, some have reported the UFOs appear to come up from the water at times.

Some witnesses report also seeing them disappear as if they drop down into the bay. When a UFO is seen coming up from, or disappearing down into the water, it is referred to as an Unidentified Submerged Object (USO).

As strange as this might sound, there are records of such happenings all around the world. Some of the reports date back as far as June 18, 1845.

These reports are documented on MUFON's YouTube account.

Even Christopher Columbus mentioned this phenomenon in his journals in the late 1400s. There are many reports similar to those from Capri documented in Southern California.

In fact, the area around Santa Catalina Island has become known as a "hot spot" for UFOs and USOs.

One witness' account on Aug. 7 in Toronto is very similar to those here on Capri.

Accounts of sightings over Oregon, Nevada, Ohio and Hawaii are also consistent with accounts provided by residents of Capri, Marco Island and Naples.

For those of you who might be interested in researching Capri Case No. 24444, and others, you might find it worth your while to visit youtube.com/watch?v=qpAKbyAEMQ0. (see video below)

I would not normally suggest a YouTube viewing, but because this one was actually prepared from eyewitnesses here, and because I have personally witnessed the UFOs and possibly one USO, seen the video footage, and still photographs for the Capri case, I feel comfortable that what Beall has provided is accurate.

It is one of the most fascinating areas of study you could encounter.

- Contact Ann Hall at ahall7911@comcast.net.