January 5, 2000 / T194
Southern Illinois police sightings
Highland–Lebanon–Shiloh–Millstadt–Dupo area, Illinois
Witness account
Before dawn, a civilian report prompted police in several southern Illinois communities to look for a large object or configuration of lights. A contemporary NUFORC account from a Lebanon officer describes a dispatch call, bright lights and changing apparent shape; reports also involved Shiloh, Millstadt and Dupo. The Millstadt account is associated with Officer Craig Stevens. Witnesses described an unusually large, quiet formation, sometimes perceived as triangular, rather than producing a common instrumentally measured outline or size.
Public record
Contemporary witness submissions, police-report material and follow-up interviews give this case a stronger documentary base than a much later anonymous anecdote. The Lebanon submission describes four police observers; later summaries vary in witness counts. A poor photograph is mentioned, but no decisive image or calibrated radar track establishes a single craft's dimensions or performance.