The Coyne Helicopter Encounter: The Night a UFO Lifted an Army Huey Over Ohio

A Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter on display at a museum, the same model flown by Captain Lawrence Coyne's crew in 1973

About 4 min readOn 18 October 1973, a four-man U.S. Army Reserve helicopter crew flying over Ohio reported a cigar-shaped object that filled their windshield, bathed the cockpit in green light, and left their altimeter climbing while the controls were set to descend. The crew filed an official report, and the case became one of the most investigated UFO encounters in American history.