The pre-dawn hours of January 5, 2000, brought an unusual stillness to southwestern Illinois. Police patrol shifts were winding down, emergency calls had quieted, and the region’s small towns settled into the final hours before sunrise. Then, at approximately 4:00 AM, that quiet was broken by a single phone call that would trigger one of the most documented UFO incidents in American law enforcement history.

Melvern Noll, owner of a miniature golf course in Highland, Illinois, found himself staring at something that defied his understanding of aircraft. The object hovering in the sky above his property appeared massive, roughly the size and shape of a house, with brilliant lights illuminating its entire structure. Most unsettling was its complete silence. No engine noise, no rotor wash, no sound whatsoever accompanied this enormous craft as it maintained its position in the night sky.

Noll’s 911 call came through the Highland Police Department’s dispatch at 4:05 AM. His voice carried urgency but remained steady as he described what he was witnessing. The dispatcher, trained to handle everything from domestic disputes to traffic accidents, found herself taking notes on something entirely outside normal protocol. Noll emphasized the object’s size and the fact that it made no sound despite its proximity to the ground. He estimated its altitude at less than 1,000 feet, well within the range where any conventional aircraft would produce significant noise.

Lebanon Police Officer Ed Barton received the dispatch call at 4:07 AM. As a veteran of the force with over fifteen years of experience, Barton had responded to countless unusual calls, but this one struck him as different. The caller’s tone suggested genuine concern rather than a prank or misidentification. Barton drove toward Highland, maintaining radio contact with dispatch as he scanned the pre-dawn sky.

At 4:12 AM, Barton’s voice crackled over the police radio with a transmission that would be recorded and preserved: “I’ve got visual contact with the object.” His description matched Noll’s account but added crucial details from his law enforcement perspective. The craft appeared wedge-shaped or triangular, with three intensely bright white lights positioned at what seemed to be the corners of the object. A single red light pulsed rhythmically in the center, creating a pattern unlike any aircraft navigation system Barton had encountered in his career.