was 7:45 p.m. A bright flash was observed, followed by flames eight to ten feet high. When the witnesses reached the scene they found a large area of the dike covered with a mass of molten metal that glowed red-orange, igniting the grass.

     As opposed to many of the previous cases, where few exact times and detailed witness accounts are available, the present incident offers an abundance of information. Police and firefighters reached the scene within minutes of the event. One law officer described the molten mass "running, boiling down the edges of the levee" over an area of about four by six feet. The central portion remained warm to the touch for another two hours. There were eleven witnesses in all, eliminating the hoax hypothesis. Two of the witnesses had independently seen a hovering red object with lights blinking in sequence around the periphery. Inquiries made at Eppley Air Field and Offutt Air Force Base disclosed that no engine failure had taken place and there was no aircraft operation in the area.¹²

     The recovered residue was analyzed at Iowa State University and the Griffin Pipe Products company, leading to the determination that the metal was chiefly iron with small amounts of alloying metals such as nickel and chromium. This composition excludes a meteoritic origin.

Case no. 10: Circa 1978. Jopala, near Puebla (Mexico) -- Classification: MA-2

     While in Mexico in November 1978 the author was told by local investigators of the fall and recovery of a metallic residue following an observation of an unknown aerial phenomenon in the mountains near Puebla. The object was reportedly composed of iron with silicon (1.13%) and traces of manganese (0.84%), chromium (0.77%) and carbon (0.28%).¹³

Analysis of the Council Bluffs Case

     The weather in Council Bluffs the evening of Saturday, December 17, 1977 was overcast with a 2,500 foot ceiling, visibility 10 miles, temperature 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Wind was from the WNW at 16 mph, with gusts to 25 mph. The town is located on the southeastern shore of the Missouri river in Iowa, across from the city of Omaha (Figure 1.) The object hit the ground in the vicinity of "Gilberts Pond" in Big Lake Park, across the Missouri from Eppley airport. The exact street address is 1900 N. Eighth street. It fell at a point 16 feet from the paved road and 6 feet from the top of the levee, burning an area 4 feet wide by 9 feet long. There was a secondary burn area 27 feet away on the side of the dike, measuring about 2 by 4 feet.

     Some samples of the material were embedded in the ground in both areas but no crater was discovered. There was an indentation 2 to 3 inches deep and many metal spherules were found scattered about the area, particularly toward

     ¹²Telephone conversation with investigators, September 1978.

     ¹³Personal investigation.