This will be the first of multiple blogs exploring the Coast to Coast Drone/Isaac/CARET enigma.
The Coast to Coast Drone/Isaac/CARET saga started on May 6th, 2007. “Chad” took 6 photos on his cell phone and posted them on coasttocoastam.com of a drone/craft in the area around Bakersfield, California. The incident occurred on May 6 and he waited 4 days to post them. The craft had 5 arms. One arm was significantly longer than the others. Chad said he was on a walk with his wife in April when he first noticed the craft. His wife took pictures with her cell phone. He and a neighbor went looking for it a few days later. His friend took pictures from directly under the craft.
He described the movement of the craft as silent and smooth. It moved very slowly at first but was gone in the blink of an eye. The craft emitted a crackling noise intermittently. It sounded like the hum of power lines. He compared it’s movements to those of insects on ponds. He also described it rotating around and hurrying off.
Chad claimed to have discovered Coast to Coast AM through Google while searching for understanding.
He complained of headaches and worrying about radiation due to the hum and his wife being pregnant. He was concerned about the unborn baby.
He claimed to see the craft often, at least 8 times. He has seen it looking out the window of his home. His neighbors also have seen it. He claims to have seen it on half of the hikes he had taken recently.
The next sighting took place May 5th in Lake Tahoe and was reported to MUFON on May 12th. So, really this was one day before Chad’s sighting and reported two days later than Chad reported his. The images were taken on a cell phone. This craft looked different having only 4 arms, 2 of them longer. This was another married couple that was visiting Lake Tahoe for the weekend. They saw it at about 7 PM as the wife was retrieving a sweater from the car. She yelled for the husband to come outside as he was still in their rented cabin. They claimed it moved very “exact” and made a slight vibrating sound.
The third sighting was by Rajinder Satyanarayana in Capitola, California. 6 pictures were originally posted on Craig’s List and then moved to Flikr. The account was hacked, the pictures replaced with porn and the account was closed. The sighting took place on May 16th and the pictures were posted May 20th. The camera was a Konica Minolta DiMAGE X. This craft had a third configuration of the arms, having four of them, 2 arms longer, plus 6 other smaller arms.
Rajinder was in Capitola with his fiancé to announce their engagement to her parents. They were eating dinner on the back porch when the sighting occurred. All four observed it as did a car full of people. The fiancé’s father was a mechanical engineer and had no explanation for the craft.
He claimed to have sent a copy of the picture to the local newspaper. He also speaks for the first time of the writing on the craft and of it not being recognizable.
Next, was a sighting on June 5th in Big Basin, California by Stephen and Jenna L. One of them was a free lance wedding photographer. 3 photos were posted at a private, unidentified photo listserv and then moved to UFOcasebook.com. They used a Canon Rebel XT to take the pictures. This was a fourth configuration of the craft’s arms observed, having 5 arms one longer than the rest and many other additions.
Stephen took the pictures and posted them. Jenna was a member of the listserv and recognized the craft due to an About.com article. The listserv was a tight knit group that knew each other. They claimed no need for anonymity.
Stephen explained his photography assignment was to take pictures of something of a small scale against a background of a large scale. While he was photographing flowers against the backdrop of the valley the craft just appeared out of nowhere in his viewfinder. The craft moved slow and jerky. When it left, it just vanished.
The fifth sighting was by Ty, also on June 5th, and also in Big Basin. He posted them at earthfiles.com on June 16th. Ty got 12 pictures of the thing. The original e-mail he sent to Linda Moulton Howe was on the 11th. A package, including photos was also mailed to her on the 11th. Howe is who coined the term “dragonfly-shaped aerial drone” which the craft is sometimes referred to as.
Ty was with a group of 8 people mountain biking near Saratoga in Big Basin when the group observed the drone 4 times. The object was the same one that Stephen had seen. The object was rotating. The sighting took place in the early afternoon and lasted about one minute. Ty referred to it as “the mothership”. Ty stated he was a long time Coast to Coast fan.
They were 20 minutes down the trail when they saw the craft appear out of nowhere approximately 2 miles away. The craft rotated slowly, changing direction back and forth. It then just disappeared. The group remained “frozen” after the incident. No pictures were taken the first time it was seen. The second sighting occurred over the course of a few seconds and no pictures were taken then either. The craft was stationary. It made a low vibration and high clicking noise. The third time it appeared for about a minute and pictures were taken, the fourth time no pictures were taken as it only appeared for a second.
One of the riders with Ty worked for a bay area newspaper and was familiar with the craft. He had heard reports of it a year ago (2006) and was told to ignore the story.
So, between the end of April and June 5th, 2007 there were five sightings of four different craft or the same craft in four different configurations. All the incidents occurred in Central California or nearby. All the incidents described the movement of the craft as slow, jerky and then it would just vanish. All described a buzzing or vibrating sound associated with it. All also got pictures. Two sightings were the same day and in the same location. In the end one witness claimed to have knowledge that the story would be held under wraps by the media. Would the media cover up such a story?