Delphos ring
- Date
- 2 Nov 1971
- Place
- Johnson family farm, Delphos, Ottawa County, Kansas, United States
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Sixteen-year-old Ronald Johnson said that while tending sheep in the evening he saw a glowing, mushroom-shaped object about nine feet across hovering 75 ft away, which then rose into the sky; he reported temporary blindness, headaches and nightmares. His parents said they saw it receding and found a glowing ring of soil where it had hovered, which felt numbing to the touch, and the sheriff took soil samples. Investigator Ted Phillips published the case in 1972 and a later CUFOS-associated laboratory analysis reported a water-soluble organic compound in the ring soil. Critics, including a neighbour's account, point to a circular feeder that stood on the spot and to fungal growth (fairy-ring mycelium) or chicken waste as the cause of the ring.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
Ring attributed to fungal mycelium or residue from a circular livestock feeder; the sighting itself is unexplained testimony
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- Yes: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- No: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- Yes: Other shape
- Yes: Physiological
- Yes: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
On the map
39.27° N, 97.77° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map