Coyne Army Helicopter Near-Miss Over Ohio

On the night of October 18, 1973, Army Reserve Captain Lawrence Coyne was flying a UH-1 helicopter at 2,500 feet near Mansfield, Ohio. Sergeant Yanacsek observed a red light approaching from the east at high speed. Coyne pushed the collective down to descend and avoid collision, but the object — described as approximately 60 feet long, gray metallic, with a green spotlight beam — stopped and hovered directly over the helicopter. During this period the altimeter showed the aircraft climbing from 1,700 to 3,500 feet with no crew input and the collective still in full-down descent position. The object departed to the west at high speed. Coyne filed an official Army report, and the crew's account was corroborated by a family of five ground witnesses near Mansfield who also observed the green beam and the helicopter. The case was investigated by the Center for UFO Studies and presented to the United Nations in 1978. It remains listed as 'unidentified' in official Army records and is frequently cited as one of the most credible military UAP encounters due to the involuntary altitude gain with collective in descent position.