37.17089°N 94.70439°W: Crestline KS
An abandoned boat in this small prairie town.
Field Notes:
At a certain juncture in eastern Kansas, I deviated from my planned route—a smooth highway stretching across Kansas and extending to Missouri—and veered south onto a county road. For some, such spontaneous detours might be commonplace, but for me, it was a departure from my usual road-trip habits.
To understand why this was so out of character, some context is necessary. In my younger years, I served as both a Military Intelligence collection specialist and later, an army officer. Reading and analyzing maps is ingrained in my identity and my approach to travel. I relish the process of scrutinizing them, plotting the most efficient routes from one point to another.
This detour was not a mistake. Prior to my departure, I had meticulously plotted my route on multiple navigation and mapping apps and highlighted it on several paper maps and Gazetteers of Missouri and Kansas. I was acutely aware of my location, my destination, and my schedule.
Yet, I found myself veering off my planned route and heading south along a country road that was not part of my itinerary. After enduring a few minutes of Siri’s persistent reminders to return to the route, I silenced the map app and continued my way.
As minutes turned into miles, I began searching for a sign that would justify my unplanned detour. My patience was soon rewarded. My country road ended abruptly an intersection with Highway 96, a route I knew would lead me east towards Missouri.
Embracing the unexpected once again, I turned onto Highway 96 heading east. Within minutes, I spotted the sign I’d been seeking. On the south side of the highway, I noticed a flock of “line-birds” perched on a powerline. These birds often appear at UAP sighting locations I visit, and this was the first flock I’d encountered since leaving home over three hours ago.
I quickly switched to the GPS app on my phone to capture a screenshot of the location and its coordinates. As the birds took flight and headed east, I followed their path. When they landed again, I took a second screenshot—and the purpose of my detour became clear. The screen revealed that I was near a UAP sighting in Crestline, Kansas—a location I’d plotted in the app but hadn’t planned to visit.
Upon arriving in the small town, I began exploring. Amidst a handful of well-kept houses, the town was largely dilapidated. Abandoned buildings were succumbing to the elements and neglect, some bearing the scars of fire damage. Public works buildings appeared deserted, street signs were obscured by overgrown vegetation, and in an overgrown lot, a solitary boat sat abandoned in this prairie town.
A serendipitous turn and a flock of line-birds had led me here, so I spent some time photographing and exploring. However, the unsettling “vibe” I sometimes experience at UAP sighting locations soon began to creep in. I hastily packed my cameras and resumed my journey.
During the weeklong trip marking “Stage 2” of Expedition 37, I encountered a flock of line-birds only once—just outside Crestline, Kansas. Despite traversing Missouri and returning to Kansas, I didn’t spot any more.
…
Just one flock, just outside of Crestline, Kansas.
Burned Shack-Crestline, KS
NUFORC Sighting 149920
Occurred: 2019-10-02 01:30 Local
Reported: 2019-10-18 13:30 Pacific
Duration: 30 Seconds
No of observers: 1
Location: Crestline, KS, USA
Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Left a trail, Changed Color. Three bright white lights in a perfect triangle pattern that then disappeared to reappear as a blue streak moving at great speed.
I work as an airport firefighter. My shift starts at 2:00am. Since I make this drive in the dark every day, I'm very familiar with the normal towers, FAA obstruction beacons and such. On my drive in, near the small town of Crestline, KS. I looked North and noticed three very bright white lights in a perfect triangle pattern. They appeared to be hovering in place, possibly as low as 100-200 feet off the ground, but at night it's hard to judge that. Confused, as I knew there wasn't anything in that area cell-tower wise, my first thought was a possible military helicopter formation with their forward-facing landing lights on. Again, since I work in aviation on the graveyard shift, I'm used to seeing aircraft lighting. However, these lights didn't have any of the other mandated FAA aircraft lighting. For example, there were no red beacons, no green and red directional lighting, none of it. Just three, perfectly still, perfectly symmetrical bright white! lights. Over the next 15-30 seconds, I had to keep looking back at the road since I was driving 65mph. Each time I looked away, one of the lights would disappear. First there was three, then I looked back and there were only two, then one. Until they were all gone. Still confused as to what I had seen I was simply looking in the general direction of the now dark space the lights previously occupied, and suddenly I saw a bright blue flash, followed by something streaking to the west as fast as I've ever seen anything move in my life. It disappeared over the horizon in just a few seances. That is when I realized it wasn't military helicopters.... I don't know what it was, but it was the strangest thing I've ever seen. I have not photographs or video as it all happened very quickly and I was driving.
Posted 2019-12-01
