Contents:

Overview of the Events

Interpretation

Publications of the Rome Incidents in a Newsletter and a Local Newspaper

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In 1982, Dennis Pilichis wrote a report called Night Siege, The Northern Ohio UFO-Creature Invasion, in which he details the strange happenings with cryptic creatures in and around Rome, Ohio, over four months. The accounts are typical of other encounters/events in other parts of the world. This is the reason why I want to highlight this report. You can read it in its entirety here: Night Siege, The Northern Ohio UFO-Creature Invasion (PDF file). It is worth it.

The value of his investigation lies in his openness of mind, attention to detail, and not leaving out details that other UFO researchers might just discard because of their own preconceived conceptions. The author has witnessed himself the strange creatures and lights. He reports the incidents with its many interesting details, but does not give any opinion of what is behind the phenomena.

I will first give a short overview of the events, followed by my own explanation.

Overview of the Events

A farmer was putting in a gas well, clearing a large area in dense virgin woods.

A deer was found in the woods with its side cut out as if by claws. Soon after, a work horse was found with its side cut out, with claw marks.

Four ducks and a chicken of the farm disappeared, and were found mutilated in the woods.

Cattle of nearby farmer disappeared.

The farmer's newborn calf was seen carried off by a large hairy creature.

The farmer's son saw a face behind his bedroom window.

When the creatures appeared, the farmer's dog started to bark, then started whimpering and trying to hide.

There were two kind of creatures:

-Black humanoid forms which do not have red glowing eyes, but at times have a soft white glow around them.

-Animal looking beings (compared to a gorilla) with large red glowing (self-luminous) eyes, bipedal (7 to 12 feet tall), but sometimes on all fours. They snorted and growled. They had long, shaggy black hair. They would chase the ducks. They were shot and hit many times, upon which they screamed and fell down, but they ran away as if unharmed, and never left a blood trail. Often, when shot, it would have no effect at all on the creatures.

Three and five toed footprints were found, plaster casts made. Prints would start at one spot, going on for a while and suddenly end. Trails would stop, leaving an area with no print, then the prints would continue. Many times, no footprints are found when the creatures appeared.

One instance, the field grass was swirled around the footprint impressions (five prints in total) in a clockwise directions.

Impressions of the footprints were found in both hard and soft soil, and each time they had at the same depth.

The creatures were seen visually, though when photographed they did not appear on film.

A creature was following a person but always stayed at a certain distance. When the person stopped, the creature stopped too.

Strange light were seen with the appearance of the creatures:

-Dark blue or white light flashing in the woods, preceding the appearance of the humanoids and bigfoot-types.

-Flash light beams flashing horizontally.

-The back woods lighting up as bright as daytime with pure and clear white color, for a short time; sometimes seen coming from a hovering light sphere.

-Lights hovering over the top of trees, changing from one color to another.

-A person was hit with a light beam coming from a light sphere, with a stunning-like effect as the result.

A fog appeared out of nowhere above the farm house.

Damage to electric boxes.

A creature following the person but always staying at a certain distance. When the person stopped, the creature stopped too.

Interpretation

The following is my own explanation of the events.

The UFO phenomenon is always a complex event consisting of different anomalous happenings. When creatures are involved, the events serve as a warning to stay away from a certain area. Usually an area that was previously untouched. Or hikers penetrating deep into the woods in areas not normally visited. It seems that the alien beings on this planet need certain areas for themselves. Some have suggested that these area have entrances to their underground dwellings. It is also possible that the cryptic creatures are used as sentries to guard an area of alien activity.

Night Siege mentions that about the middle of June 1981, a gas line was put in from one road to another north to south for about a half mile into dense virgin wooded areas, to serve a farm. That implied clearing the area, and then strange things started to happen. These happenings are intended to create fear, and thus keep people away from that area.

The first things that happened was the discovery of the mutilation of a deer, a horse, four ducks and a a chicken, all bearing claws marks, all found in the woods behind the farm where the clearing took place. These mutilationx were not like the famous cattle mutilations where organ and tissues are surgically removed. The mutilations were rather primitive, resembling those of a predator, but clearly showing that they were not killed for the food, but instead to leave a message. The horse belonged to the woodcutters who were clearing the area.

Cattle of a nearby farmer disappeared. The disappearance of livestock is a common theme with alien activity. It is not only upsetting to a farmer, but also causes loss of income.

Then the creatures started to appear. The farmer's newborn calf was seen carried off by a large creature. This was clearly an orchestrated event; it was meant to be seen, because it is triple upsetting: the calf is newborn, it is another financial loss, and a large wild-looking creature is taking it away. They did not resemble the typical image of a Bigfoot that was so popular at that time.

Many people consider Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) a biological being, a possible surviving hominid, or a trans-dimensional being. It is typical in the UFO phenomenon, that the appearing creatures and alien beings are always different in their appearance, often tailored to the pre-conceived images the witness has already in his mind by his exposure to the media. We are talking here about appearances, not biological beings. Certain aliens might be biological, but when we talk about cryptic beings, they are not. We see that in Night Siege too, although the witnesses involved are convinced that they have seen real, biological creatures. Pilichis is cautious in this regard, and considers the phenomenon as belonging to the unknown.

As I have pointed out in my other articles, Bigfoot and similar cryptic creatures are not biological or dimensional beings. They are temporary creatures, created or manifested by alien beings. These creatures can be just visual (like a hologram), what explains that they sometimes are seen to be transparent. However they can also be made more material, so they can interact with our physical environment: leave tracks, move brush aside, cause damage to houses, cars, and take off with and mutilate live stock. Again, even when physical they are not biological. They have physicality but they are composed of a certain physical substance that we are not familiar with. This explains that they can be shot, even multiple times without any effect. Yes, they sometimes, but not always, fall down, but then they get up and walk away as nothing happened. They never bleed, never leave a blood trail. Foot prints start when the visual form suddenly materializes to sufficient physicality to leave trails. Prints suddenly stops when the creature gets dematerialized on the spot. All this is not unique to the story in Night Siege. Bigfoot has been shot many, many times, and never leaves a dead body. Pilichis, at the end of his report, mentions 20 other incidents in the USA where a Bigfoot creature was shot and ran away as if nothing happened.

The strangeness of these visual, sometimes physical, forms goes even further. Pilichis mentions: "Sometimes when creatures are seen visually, and they are photographed, their image does not appear on the film." How is it possible that what is seen as a totally physical creature is not registered on film? A biological being would be captured by a camera. However we are dealing here with a kind of energy-form that a human eye registers but a chemical emulsion on film does not. These creatures are energy-forms. They have been seen coming out of a light sphere, or a light sphere morphs into a Bigfoot. They can become transparent and then disappears. They disappear into a flash of light, or just disappear on the spot into nothingness.

Bigfoot, or the ape-like creatures, as Pilichis puts it, are not the only cryptic beings that appear. There are hundreds of those cryptics animals, and even more strange humanoid forms, often ill defined, that appear in the woods. Some glow, some have a glow around them. Some are (semi-) transparent. They all have one thing in common: they only appear for a very short time, because they have only one purpose: "Don't go any further, stay away!" Fear always works.

In Night Siege, there are two types of creatures, as mentioned above: the dark entities with (sometimes) a glow around them, and the ape-like creatures with large fangs. The red glowing eyes of the ape-like creatures, are also found with Bigfoot types, the Mothman, wolfman (werewolf), and other kinds of cryptic creatures. A biological being with self-luminous eyes would not be able to see. The round red glowing eyes are meant to attract attention and to convey the message that these creatures are very dangerous predators, so be very afraid!

Another sign that these creatures are energy-forms is the swirl effect of the grass: "One instance, the field grass was swirled around the footprint impressions (five prints in total) in a clockwise directions." This shows that the creature is made up of energy that, for some unknown reason, was so strong, for a short while, that it had an effect on the grass.

If the creatures were biological beings with a certain weight, they would leave different depths of footprints depending on the type of soil, or the hardness or softness of the soil. Yet here we have: "Impressions of the footprints were found in both hard and soft soil, and each time they had at the same depth." There is only one reason why this is the case: the alien beings who are creating these energy forms are preprogramming them to leave tracks with the same depth regardless of the type of soil. They want to leave physical proof that these creatures are supposedly biological beings. If the witnesses knew that they were actually energy-forms, they might react differently.

People always want physical proof, so the alien beings provide them, although the proof is faked. However, physical interaction does occur. When these creatures are around, physical damage is done to our property. In Night Siege damage occurred at electric boxes, seemingly squished by an unknown force. They are again messages to stop human activity in the woods, or to stop human encroachment on forests where alien beings are active.

At the basis of it all is technology that utilizes a form of high intensity energy that can be shaped, formed and projected. The strange UFO lights are a kind of byproduct of this energy. In Night Siege we have flashing light, light beams, back woods lighting up as bright as daytime, light spheres.

Publications of the Rome Incidents in a Newsletter and a Local Newspaper:

From the newsletter Creature Chronicles, Autumn Number 4, 1981, published by Ron Schaffner: 

From The Valley News; Orwell, Ohio; July 1, 1981:

STRANGE BEAST ROAMS IN ROME OHIO

ROME – A Rome family has reported a large mystery animal roaming around its home and terrorizing horses and other farm livestock.
The family on Johnson Road reported that it shot at the black animal described as between seven to nine feet tall Sunday. Sheriff deputies did not find any animal, but did find some large footprints near the home.
The animal reportedly showed up Wednesday. The family said loud growling and commotion in the yard awakened it. The family said every time they shined a light on the animal. It would return to the woods.
The animal came back Sunday, and the family chased it into a clearing, where several shots were fired. It is unknown if the animal was hit.
The family said since it came to the property, four ducks and some chickens have disappeared.

From The Valley News; Orwell, Ohio; July 8, 1981:

ROME’S STRANGE BEAST: IS IT FACT OR FANTASY?

ROME – Principal figures involved in the mystery of a strange beast or beasts that once again are being reported on Johnson Road here are refusing to comment or talk to the media.
The Valley News has learned at least three area residents spotted what they believe is a nine-foot tall animal, which walks on its hind legs Tuesday night in the same area where sheriff’s deputies found large footprints a week ago.
Ducks and chickens continue to be found dead or missing in the same area.
Other residents on Johnson Road feel the “creature” might be a bear. One long-time resident of the area reported hearing grunting and growling sound from the woods this week. He remembers bears in the area many years ago and feels there might be one or two still living in the thick, rugged country near the Grand River by Johnson Road.
One Rome resident had reportedly made plaster casts of the creature’s footprints.
Most area residents are passing off the sightings as nothing more than someone’s vivid imagination. However, one person whom The Valley News contacted swore the creature is real and is not a bear.

The Valley News; Orwell, Ohio; Wednesday, July 15, 1981
ROME’S BIG FOOT: FACT, FAKE OR FANTASY?

Several Sightings:
ROME – Is there a Bigfoot type creature in this rural area of Ashtabula County?
Two people who have devoted their lives to studying such phenomena think so.
One is Dennis Pilichis of Roaming Shores. For 18 years, Pilichis has recorded, documented and written about UFOs, Bigfoot creatures and other perhaps-unexplained happenings.
He first found out about strange sightings now being described as “in the vicinity of Johnson Road” in an initial story two weeks ago in the Valley News. He sought out the family in question, which still prefers its name not be printed.
“I told him I was sincerely interested in getting foot prints,” Pilichis said. “I got some plaster of Paris and we gout our first prints on July second. I didn’t go out there until after I had seen the police reports.”
The family first reported hearing “grunting screams” and later found four domestic ducks with their heads bitten off. Pilichis, who is affiliated with a nation-wide network, was intrigued.
As described in earlier stories, the creatures, which have been seen, bear no resemblance to bears. By comparison with trees and manmade structures, which the creatures have stood next to, are believed to be nine feet tall. Most often, a six-foot Creature has been seen with one about nine feet tall.
Besides the strange sightings, an awful smell usually is noted when the creature or creatures are seen. Several people from the initial family and other individuals have now sighted the creatures.
The creatures are described as gorilla-like. Even those people who have seen the creatures at close-range seem to have trouble describing the things accurately.
Pilichis took plaster casts of footprints found in the vicinity. He described the ground as quite hard, indicating that the creature must be quite heavy to sink one and one-half to two inches into the earth.
Each of the creatures has “large red glowing eyes”. A mystery even to Pilichis is that after clear sightings, often no tracks are left even though grass may be matted down and branches broken.
While these reports may sound bizarre at best to the uninformed, to Pilichis they are almost normal. For The Valley News he introduced books and reports from Pennsylvania and several surrounding states.
The large three-toed tracks, glowing red eyes, the stench and other similarities make the Rome reports sound nearly identical.
“I want to make it clear that I have spent at least 60 research hours on these sightings,” said Pilichis who has spent several nights in the area. “I firmly believe these people have not made anything up. There is always a slight percentage factor of exaggerating but these people have seen something.”
In similar cases, the sightings have continued for several months and then suddenly stop.
A year ago in Lisbon, Ohio similar reports of strange noises and breaking limbs were noted. As in the Rome case, even the most fearsome of dogs cowered in fright.
In June of the same year in Russell’s Point, Ohio, a six-foot tall creature, which had a horrible smell, scared a farmer and his dogs and left a 16-inch footprint.
Other Ohio sights dated back to 1973 have been recorded in Minerva (1978 to present, East Liberty, Mecca, Mansfield and Oberlin).
It must be noted that in none of these cases were humans harmed or any great amount of damage done. Other than fright, these creatures seem to do no harm to humans.
According to Pilichis, there were some minor incidents earlier in the year that had relevance to the incidents during the summer. A deer had been found dead in the woods and it appeared that its side was ripped open by claws. An Amish group claimed that feed bags had been ripped open by something with claws.
Around June 15, a farmer claimed that four ducks and one chicken were found dead in the tree line on the back of his property. They were physically mutilated. Something had bitten their heads off and gashes were found on their bodies. Footprints were found that resembled claw marks.
The strange activity then shifted to Robert’s family within their property. For the sake of simplicity, I will produce a listing of events in chronological order that is further detailed in NIGHT SIEGE.
June 25, 1981 (In the a.m.):
Robert and his boys saw a “thing” in the front yard when he heard his DUCKS acting up. It had two big glowing eyes, was on all fours. No body detail given. Robert shot at it and it ran down a field, screaming in a high pitched-low pitched sound. They estimated the animal to be 8 feet tall.
June 26, 1981(2 a.m.):
Robert went outside to see why his dog was barking and shinned his flashlight out back to see a gorilla-like animal that he described as black with two bright red eyes. It was making snorting and growling noises. Robert also saw the face, teeth and chest area. He ran back into the house and grabbed his shotgun and told his sons to get dressed. They got into their truck and chased the creature until it vanished in the wood line. On their way back to the house, Robert said their truck stopped running in the driveway. Robert told a neighbor what was happening. This neighbor related a story that his kids were afraid to campout in the backyard because they saw an animal that looked like a bear. After a few minutes, Robert was able to get the truck running again.
Further descriptions:
9 1/2 feet tall; long shaggy hair; red glowing eyes, about the size of baseballs and self Luminous; very large, flat noise; 1 1/2 inch fangs; the arms hung down below the waist. The chest had small white patches about the size of half-dollars where breasts would be. No details given on hands or feet.
June 28, 1981 (In the a.m.):
Late this night, the family saw some unusual forms in the wood line out back. They put their youngest boy on the tractor and drove out into the field. They saw these forms waving what looked like flashlights with a dark blue light. As they proceeded closer, the forms had red glowing eyes. Robert started shooting and emptied two boxes of 12 gauge shells. He appeared to hit one of the animals and saw two eyes fall to the ground. They thought they killed this animal when they saw the same type eyes coming from all directions. They hurried back to the house and witnessed the creatures roaming about all night through their window. The following day, Dennis Pilichis arrived on the scene to do a field investigation. They discovered three-toed impressions throughout Robert’s property: a least 40 or so.
Descriptions of tracks:
3-toes, 7 inches by 8 inches, with the middle toe sinking deeper in the ground than the others.
Quote from NIGHT SIEGE: “Mind you, the creature who is directly connected to this trail was in the front yard after the ducks on all fours at the time of discovery. The field was mostly mud, dirt and chunky parts.” Pilichis has no explanations for the series of strange lights and black forms seen, although he believes they are not the same phenomena as the “Bigfoot-type” creature(s).
June 29, 1981:
The Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department was called twice on this date. (5:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.) They drove their cruiser around the field and saw some ground indentations. The police did not see anything unusual, but Robert claims that members of his family witnessed strange forms coming from another direction. When Robert used the cruiser’s spotlight to shine in that area, there was nothing to be seen.