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41 this the hard way. The ordeal began just before dawn on April 17, 1966, when deputies Dale Spaur and Wilbur Neff were alerted by their local station to be on the lookout for a UFO that was reportedly heading in their direction. Moments later, the officers were shocked to see a 50-foot wide, metallic saucer-shaped object with a dome on top. They could hear no noise except for a soft hum. The object glowed brightly and sent down a powerful beam of light. Said Spaur, “I had never seen anything this bright before in my life.” The officers radioed to their superiors that they had the UFO in sight. The dispatcher told them to keep the object in view while he sent another squad car with camera equipment. At that point, the UFO began to move east toward Pennsylvania. Officers Spaur and Neff followed the object. Soon, they were racing along at more than 90 miles per hour. Incredibly, whenever they fell behind the UFO, it appeared to slow down and wait for them. Mean- while, other officers had also sighted the object and joined the chase. The UFO continued to play a cat-and-mouse game with the police officers, eventually leading them nearly 90 miles away. At this point, the officers were running low on gas and had to give up the chase. They notified Pittsburgh Airport, who said that they had picked the object up on radar, though this was later denied. Meanwhile, news reporters had been monitoring police transmis- sions and knew about the whole encounter. So, when deputies Spaur and Neff returned to their station, the reporters were already wait- ing. The encounter became front-page news. The Air Force sent Blue Book officers to investigate. They concluded that the officers had only been chasing the planet Venus! The explanation caused public out- rage. A judge and former congressman called the explanation “ridicu- lous.” Ohio Congressman William Stanton said, “The Air Force has failed in its responsibility.” Even Project Blue Book consultant J. Allen Hynek disagreed with the Air Force’s explanation. Unfortunately, deputies Spaur and Neff were ridiculed mercilessly, and both eventually lost their jobs. Says Spaur, “If I could change all The Sighting That Changed the World