I recall it being summer 1976, Sparta, Wisconsin. Six of us (ages 11-12) were late night fishing next to Perch Lake nearest to Golf Course. We had large sleeping bag opened up and we planned to sleep under the stars that evening. We lived nearby and back then our parents were not worried as it was the 70's, part of the culture then. My brother and one friend decided to walk home, they did not wish to campout or fish anymore. That left four of us at the site. As I looked to the stars to pass time I saw an object moving through the sky. I used a flashlight and was shinning it into the sky where I saw the object, albeit pretty high in the sky. I noticed it because it was moving rapidly, but had a low level light to it. I began flashing the light on and off into the sky when one of my remaining friends became scared and told me to stop doing it. This went on for about 3-4 minutes. I continued doing it until I no longer saw the light of the object. We then resumed what we were doing and talking, while sitting on the sleeping bag. The night was clear, weather was warm, no clouds, no wind. It was a hot night. We were situated under a large tree, probably about 30-50 feet in height. Nearby there were smaller trees. As we sat there, the top portion of the tree began to blow and bend as is something were forcing it. We felt no wind sensation at all and as we looked around at nearby trees and bushes, nothing was moving, only the tree above us. All of a sudden streaks of colorful light shot across the top of the tree light being shot from a cannon. The lights were bright, many different colors. We had the tree top swaying above us while these lights streaked atop the tree. We were scared to death as we watched this for about 1-2 minutes. We could not believe what we were experiencing as there was absolutely no wind, no other trees or bushed were moving the slightest bit. We pulled our fishing lines in, grabbed poles, snacks, and everything we had. We tossed it in the center of the sleeping bag, all the time the lights continued streaking above us at the tree top level. Each one of us four remaining persons grabbed a corner of the sleeping bag and ran as fast as we could. We went to the house where my brother and other friend had gone earlier. We told them what happened and we were very charged up. We eventually called the local Police and an officer responded. Although he seemed to believe us, he seemed to try to calm us down more than anything. I am not sure if he told us that others had seen or reported something or maybe that was just part of his efforts to calm us down. I am uncertain if there was a police report generated or if in fact the call was recorded back then, I never checked into it. We then went back to sleep on the front lawn of one of the guys houses. Since this event, I have spoken to one of the other guys, years later as we were adults. He asked me if I remembered what had happened to us and I told him yes. He told me that he had never talked to anyone about it. I told him I understood. This friend died in 2005. I told my family about the incident of course after it had happened, but I had never talked about it again to the other friends that were with me that night. About a year ago, I sent the remaining two friends a Face Book message and asked them if they remembered the incident or wanted to talk. Neither of them responded back to me. Neither of them are computer savvy and really don't monitor their Face Book accounts at all. They both reside back in Wisconsin and I live now in Arizona. My background includes 25+ years of law enforcement (Police Officer) and I now work for the State of Arizona as a criminal investigator. I find myself looking up into the night sky and on a few occasions, I have used a flashlight to shine into the sky. It is as if to say, I remember and/or I wish to know more about what happened to me all those years ago. Almost like an invitation as strange as that sounds.
