On March 27, 1974
members of the Betz family were near their property on Ft. George Island, which
is a patch of dry ground along the coastal marshlands of northeastern Florida.
They were inspecting the damage done by a small brushfire when they came across
a bright metal globe, about the size of a bowling ball. It was sitting there in
the grass. It was heavy and a few guessed it to be an old cannonball.
They took it back to the
house and when Terry Betz started playing the guitar, the ball, the family
reported, started to move around. The Betzes experimented with it, placed it on
their table, and watched it navigate its own way around the perimeter without
falling off.
According to the family
“Doors began slamming themselves around the house. Mysterious organ music
filled the residence, even though there was no organ.”
Mrs. Betz then called
the US Navy base directly across the water from the island and asked if they
could examine it; perhaps it was theirs. They did but returned it to the Betzes
once they verified that it was not Navy property. The navy X-rayed it and did a
metallurgical test and found it to be high grade yet common stainless steel;
hollow with a shell approximately 1/2 inch thick (about 13 mm); measured 7.96
inches in diameter (202.2 mm); and weighed 21.34 pounds (9.68 kg). The numbers
added up, it was the right weight for that much stainless steel. Its surface
was scuffed but seamless, with only one identifying mark: a tiny triangle about
3mm long.
Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a
UFOlogist and astronomer at Northwestern University in Chicago examined the
ball with five other scientists and concluded "None will go so far as to
say it's extra-terrestrial. They would be putting their scientific reputations
on the line."
Robert Edwards,
president of a Jacksonville, FL. equipment supply company, saw a photo of the
ball in his local newspaper and went to the local UPI office with a brand new
stainless steel ball, manufactured by Bell & Howell in Bridgeport,
Connecticut. It weighed and measured exactly the same as the Betz sphere.
"I'm not saying
that this thing didn't come from outer space because I've never seen it,"
said Edwards. "All I'm saying is that the physical description of it
matches exactly the type of ball we have in stock."
As for the many
published news reports about the ball moving on its own etc. the fact was that
the ball sat quietly on display inside the Betz home for nearly two weeks and
is not reported to have ever moved on its own at all.
Regarding the ball's
movement, the Navy's spokesman Chris Berninger concluded: "I believe it's
because of the construction of the house... It's old and has uneven stone
floors. The ball is almost perfectly balanced, and it takes just a little
indentation to make it move or change direction."