Coyne Helicopter Incident — Army Reserve Near-Collision 1973

On October 18, 1973, Captain Lawrence Coyne and his three-man US Army Reserve crew were flying a UH-1H Huey helicopter from Columbus to Cleveland at 2500 feet when First Lieutenant Arrigo Jezzi spotted a red light approaching at high speed from the east. Coyne pushed the cyclic to descend and the object appeared to stop and hover directly above the helicopter. A green beam from the craft illuminated the cockpit. Despite Coyne pushing the collective to full-down, the helicopter began ascending — climbing from 2000 feet to 3800 feet with no control input from the crew. The magnetic compass was spinning. After approximately five minutes, the object departed to the northwest. All four crew members submitted official military reports describing a gray metallic craft approximately 60 feet long with a green beam. A family of four driving on the highway below independently reported observing a helicopter and a craft with green and red lights that they thought were in trouble. The Coyne incident was formally investigated by the Center for UFO Studies and Dr. J. Allen Hynek, and was submitted to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as a case study in UAP. It remains one of the most credible multi-witness military aviation encounters in the US record, notable for the involuntary altitude gain against pilot control input and the instrument anomaly.