Lon Strickler Phantoms and Monsters
Note: This case, for the most part, has been suppressed from general knowledge. I have posted the NUFORC report and summary as well as a few local media reports. There is a very strong possibility of conspiracy.
Read and forward your opinion.
-Lon
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Occurred: 8/4/2002 17:30 (Entered as : 8/2/2002 5:30 Pm)
Reported: 8/29/2002 2:56:17 PM 14:56
Posted: 2/14/2006
Location: Northumberland, PA
Shape: Disk
Duration: 20 minutes
(NUFORC Note: We have contacted a local newspaper in Northumberland County, and to the police officer who served as investigator of the case. The newspaper confirms that the incident occurred, although the police officer stated that the decedent’s remains had been returned to the family, contrary to the claims made by some regarding this case. The official report will be released in late September, according to the police officer, and we will attempt to obtain a copy of it. -PD)
I will be as brief as possible, A man named Todd Sees, was abducted and murdered by aliens on Montour Ridge ,in Northumberland County, near the town of Northumberland, Pa. This is a big sloppy coverup if there ever was one.
Todd Sees the victim, lived at the foot of Montour Ridge,a mountain stretching over 20 miles east. Todd Sees went up the mountain to look for pre-season deer. He told his wife that he would be home by noon. He rode his 4 wheeler up the powerline behind his home at a little after 5:00 in the morning.
Noon came and no Todd, his wife and children became concerned, at 2:00 a search party was organized, local police, state police, paramedics, and 200 volunteers helped search for Todd Sees. The 4 wheeler was found on the top of the mountain near a powerline, tracking dogs could find nothing to go on around the 4 wheeler. The search went on for 2 days, over 6 miles of mountain were covered from top to bottom. Todd vanished with out a trace, the 4 wheeler was (keep in mind) 2 miles from his home at the foot of the mountain. A pond a few hundred yards from the house was even searched by skin divers just so they overlooked nothing. Dogs were over the whole area constantly no results, no trace, then in the evening of the 2nd day something white was spotted in a large brushy area 25 feet from the pond, police and rescue workers spent 20 minutes cutting and hacking, brush and small trees so they could reach what looked like a body. It was Todd Sees, he was wearing his underwear, he was emaciated, not bloated, he was white, he had an expression of horror on his face. When he went up the mountain he was fully dressed, boots, camo vest, hat, socks and pants.
The F.B.I. showed up with in 30 minutes, they took charge, they would not let the wife look at her dead husband, no matter how much she tried. The F.B.I. asked questions around the area, neighbors, mostly farmers, 3 farmers on one farm said they saw a large round bright object, just above the powerlines, at the time of the disappearance, it was silent, it did not move fora! bout 10 to 15 minutes. It suddenly went up and suddenly stopped,a light shined down and something was pulled up into the light. It then went straight up,hesitated again then went west over the Susquehanna River and out of sight.
A police friend of mine said after 2 autopsies nothing was found. A toxicology test revealed nothing, no visible cuts or bruises any where except from the brush.
Now the body is at Allentown, from there it is going to Fort Indiantown Gap, PA.
The wife was told she can not have the body for 6 to 8 weeks. A boot was found a mile from the 4 wheeler a few days ago at the top of a tree, it was his. I notice military copters have been scouring the mountain ever since at least once a day.
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Preliminary Statement regarding the death of Mr. Todd Sees of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, on Sunday August 4th, 2002
I. Preface
Because this report addresses the tragic and untimely death on August 4th, 2002 , of a young man, Mr. Todd Sees, of Northumberland County , Pennsylvania , we preface by extending our sincere condolences to the family members who survive him. It has never been our intention to cause family members of the late Mr. Sees’ any distress over this matter, although we understand that the information originating from our website, because of its nature, may have been upsetting to them.
Because of the pain that information may have caused them, we apologize. It was never our intention to cause pain to the family, anymore that it is the intention of a newspaper to cause pain in the course of reporting on such a tragic, and unusual, event. From the beginning of our investigation into Mr. Sees’ death, our only objective has been to reveal the truth, and to attempt to provide answers to the many still unanswered questions that it has given rise to.
II. Background/Chronology
On Wednesday, August 28, 2002 , the National UFO Reporting Center (“NUFORC”) received a brief, one-paragraph, report, criticizing our Center for not having covered an alleged “alien abduction,” which, the source asserted, had occurred in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Even though the report did not appear to be either serious, or carefully prepared, we responded, nevertheless, requesting more information from the person who had submitted it.
The individual, who provided no telephone number, responded via e-mail, describing the death of Mr. Todd Sees, and further asserting that circumstances surrounding the death had been very unusual. The source asserted that the death itself was mysterious and unexplained; that certain facts surrounding the follow-up investigation were unusual; that federal authorities had been called into the investigation; that the family members of the decedent were not allowed to witness the victim’s remains; and several other facts that seemed noteworthy to us. The individual went on to assert that the death had been related to UFO, and/or alien, activity. Despite repeated attempts by NUFORC to obtain more information about the individual, we have not succeeded in talking directly with the person.
NUFORC decided to follow up on the unsubstantiated report, and, on August 30th, we telephoned The Daily Item newspaper in Northumberland County, PA in attempt to establish whether the initial report had any basis in fact. The staff member we spoke with there confirmed that such an incident had, in fact, occurred, and that the newspaper had published several articles about the death, and about the subsequent investigation. (Please see two of the articles at the end of this report.) The staff member apprised NUFORC that the investigation had been conducted by the Point Township police department, and she directed us to those offices for more detailed information about the continuing investigation.
On that same date, we telephoned the Point Township police department and spoke with an officer, who identified himself as “Sgt. Cottner” (sp?), and who stated that he had been the investigating officer on the case. He added that the incident had been categorized by the police as an “unexplained death,” but he made it clear that he could not, and would not, discuss the case. He stated that the police report would be available in “late September,” and he suggested that we should wait for the official report to be released.
That same day, NUFORC telephoned the office of Mr. James Kelley, County Coroner for Northumberland County, hoping to obtain more information about the cause of the victim’s death. In a conversation several days later, Mr. Kelley apprised us that the death had occurred, that he had performed the autopsy on the victim, that no cause of death had been established, and that photographs had been taken of the victim’s remains during autopsy. He added that autopsy photographs are “never released.” Mr. Kelley, like Sgt. Cottner, made it clear that he could not discuss the case in any detail.
Based on the information we had obtained by September 5th from these official sources, NUFORC decided to release the report originally submitted to our Center, even though we had not yet succeeded in obtaining the newspaper articles, or any other detailed information, about the death and subsequent investigation. At that the time of the posting on September 8th, we had not anticipated the effect that the release would have in the public forum.
The case was commented on during a radio appearance on September 10th by Peter Davenport, NUFORC Director, on the Jeff Rense Radio Program, and the report that NUFORC had released was posted to the website.
The next day, a relative of Mr. Sees telephoned NUFORC, apprising our offices that the family had been quite upset by some of the information contained in the original report, and that they had had no inkling that there might be such grossly unusual circumstances, as asserted in those reports, surrounding his death. At that time, we extended our apology to the family for any distress our actions might have caused them. In addition, we explained to the family member that we had spoken with the local authorities and with the newspaper, and that our information was based on our findings of fact. The family member, after she had heard our explanation of the actions we had taken in attempt to gain access to more, factual information from the authorities, stated that she understood our position in the matter.
During the last two weeks of September, NUFORC has made numerous attempts to obtain more information, but unsuccessfully, to date. During a brief conversation with Chief Gary Steffen, Chief of Police for the Point Township police department, he apprised NUFORC that an investigation into the “unexplained death” was underway, and that he could not comment further. However, he did aver that he was familiar with the information on the NUFORC website, and that he was “following developments” there. Also, he confirmed that no family member had been summoned to identify Mr. Sees’ remains, but added that it was not necessary to do so, since he, the Chief, had been personally acquainted with the victim, and he was able to identify the remains at the site where the body was found by volunteer searchers.
Chief Steffen has failed to return our last four messages to his office, requesting a return telephone call. In a brief follow-up conversation with Sgt. Cottner, the latter stated that he could not reveal any more facts about the case, and that the Chief probably would not return our calls. He refused to respond to our question as to whether federal law enforcement officers had been involved in the follow-up investigation of the case.
Finally, we have encouraged a number of members of the press, both local and national, to investigate the incident, hoping that they might be more successful in obtaining from authorities information that NUFORC was not able to obtain.
In addition, as part of our investigation, we continue in our attempt to locate and interview members of the approximately 200-member search party that was involved in the 2-day search for Mr. Sees’ body. Some of the questions we are attempting to resolve appear in the next section of this preliminary report.
III. Unresolved issues
We list below a few of the questions surrounding the death of Mr. Sees that we have attempted to answer, but which we feel remain unresolved, as of the date of this summary:
1. If the death of Mr. Sees is being investigated as an “unexplained death,” and not a homicide, why are the local authorities involved in the investigation refusing to comment on the case? If the death, in fact, was the result of a snake bite, a bee sting, a diabetic coma, or exposure, all of which have been proposed as the cause of death, why are the police, the coroner, and the district attorney all refusing to comment on the case?
2. If the victim’s remains were so badly decayed or disfigured that the family could not have an open casket funeral ceremony, why was no family member, or representative of the family, e.g. a family physician, summoned to establish positive identification of the body? Also, under what authority did officials act in their apparently informing the family of the decedent that the casket containing his remains should not be opened before its burial? In addition, how could a body become so badly decayed in 39 hours, or less, of exposure that it was unfit for viewing by the family, or at a funeral?
3. If, indeed, unconfirmed reports that special agents from the FBI, or from another federal law-enforcement agency, were summoned to the site where the victim’s remains were found, why were they summoned, and by whom? What interest would federal authorities have in an allegedly accidental, or “unexplained,” death, if there were not extenuating circumstances? Moreover, why would members of the Point Township police department refuse to comment on whether federal authorities had been involved in the investigation?
4. If tracking dogs were used during the search for Mr. Sees, it seems unusual to us that they would not be able to immediately track the path that the victim presumably took, as he walked, perhaps barefoot, from his vehicle to the location where his remains ultimately were found by searchers. Tracking dogs are very adept at following a scent, and it seems unusual that they could not locate remains that reportedly were badly decayed at the time the body was discovered.
In addition to those questions outlined above, we feel there are many specific questions surrounding the death of Mr. Sees, which have yet to be resolved by any follow-up investigation. For example, the apparent absence of any apparent cause of death seems unusual, given that the decedent was a seemingly quite healthy and fit young man. In addition, it is unclear to us why an experienced outdoorsman, as Mr. Sees apparently was, would abandon his vehicle, shed his outer garments, doff his boots, and walk an estimated two miles toward his home, leaving his vehicle, still in good working condition, on top of the nearby mountain. There apparently are many other aspects surrounding the death, which seem unusual, and which we do not address here.
IV. Summary
As of the date of this writing (September 30, 2002), we have no idea what caused the death of Mr. Sees, and we certainly have no evidence, aside from unsubstantiated assertions, several of them from anonymous sources, that there was anything “unworldly” associated with his tragic demise. However, in light of the many recent reports from South America that have come to our attention over recent months of allegedly strange deaths, and possible human mutilations, we feel that further investigation into this case is justified.
We will pursue the case, to the best of our ability, and will attempt to bring some satisfactory resolution to this apparent mystery. Most of all, we hope to be able to obtain copies of the official reports pertaining to the death, if and when they are released, and we will report them here in a final report.
We close by again expressing our condolences to the family of Mr. Sees over his death, and by apologizing if our paricipation in this matter has caused them over the tragic loss of their loved one.
Report prepared by: Peter B. Davenport, Director, NUFORC (September 30, 2002)
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Article:
NORTHUMBERLAND — A Northumberland man whose body was found in the woods here in August died because of cocaine, police said in a release Friday.
While Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley would not qualify the death as an overdose, the press release listed Todd Sees’ cause of death as “cocaine toxicity.”
Police said the manner of death is accidental.
Kelley said he could not release the amount of cocaine in Sees’ blood because his death was still under investigation.
Point Township police could not be contacted Friday for further comment about what they were investigating.
The family of Sees, 39, reported him missing on Aug. 4. Searchers found his body in the evening of the next day.
In the past month, while police were waiting for the results of toxicology tests, a group of UFO Web sites published anonymous reports that a UFO may have been involved in the death. Officials called the reports “ridiculous.”
Kelley, along with Point Township Police Chief Gary Steffen and Sgt. Seth Cotner, met with the Sees family Thursday night to inform them of the toxicology results, police said.
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Article:
NORTHUMBERLAND, Pa. — The unexplained death of a man near here has become fodder for UFO enthusiasts, who have made it into a tale of alien attack and spread it around the world via the Internet.
The bizarre interest in the death of Todd Sees has aggravated investigators trying to determine the cause of his death, who also worry the tales will deepen the anguish the Sees family is feeling.
Sees, 39, a Little League coach and father of two, was found dead in the woods near here in August.
The anonymous Internet postings blame his death on a UFO.
Officials dismiss the stories as ridiculous. But they don’t yet know how or why he died, and they have no way of preventing story-tellers from filling that vacuum with speculation.
Searchers found the body of Sees about 150 yards from his Northumberland home along Route 147 in a heavily wooded area Aug. 5.
He had taken out his all-terrain vehicle the day before, planning to track deer. After a 30-hour search by more than 250 people, his family found his body.
An autopsy the next day failed to establish a cause of death, said Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley.
A toxicology report, which could detect the presence of drugs, poisons or other substances at the microscopic level, is expected by mid-October, he said.
But even before August was over, some Web sites began featuring anonymous tales that Sees had died in an encounter with extraterrestrials.
Here’s what they say:
A farmer who did not give his name said he saw a round disk over Montour Ridge. It moved quickly, stopped and shot a light to the ground. The farmer then saw a man being pulled up the light head first into the bottom of the craft.
Seconds later, the disk flew away.
When searchers found the man’s body, some of these anonymous reports say, it was partially clothed and had a look of horror on its face.
Some claim federal agents soon showed up to take over the investigation and didn’t let the family see Sees’ emaciated body.
‘Ridiculous’
“They’re so ridiculous and far-fetched,” said the investigating officer, Sgt. Seth Cotner of the Point Township Police.
Cotner said he’s seen a number of the Internet stories, and his department has taken “several” calls from UFO organizations.
None of the reports he has read was accurate, Cotner said. No police report on Sees’ death has yet been issued.
Cotner said police “all certainly hope” the toxicology report will clear up the mystery of Sees’ death.
There are no federal agencies involved in the investigation, he added.
Linda Vizi, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said she had not heard of the case. “But I know that Congress does not mandate us to investigate UFOs,” Vizi said.
‘Very traumatic’
Kelley, the coroner, said he saw the body, and the Internet reports he had read were inaccurate.
He said he couldn’t go into the details, since the case is still under investigation.
The family had been asked not to open the casket when they received Sees’ remains, he said.
“Letting them see it would have been very traumatic for them,” Kelley said.
Todd Sees’ family declined comment through relative Traci Sees.
The naked eye examination of the body during the autopsy turned up no evidence of trauma, heart attack or any other obvious cause of death, Kelley said.
“We’re still following every possible avenue,” he said, including the possibility of a snakebite or bee sting. But there was no visible sign of either of those, he said.
UFO groups have contacted Kelley looking for information. But since the investigation is still under way, he said he cannot get into details.
“Everyone’s entitled to their own beliefs, I guess,” Kelley said about the groups. “I just hope that nothing the family sees adds to what they’re already going through.”
‘I want the facts out’
To Peter Davenport, it’s not about belief, it’s about facts. Davenport is director of the National UFO Reporting Center, the Web site on which the first Sees reports appeared.
“I want the facts out,” Davenport said.
He was not comfortable saying there was UFO involvement in Todd Sees’ death. More facts must be gathered, he said.
Davenport said he became interested in the case when he received the first report of a UFO sighting Aug. 18, before he knew Sees had died.
He said in that anonymous report someone stated that a farmer and three fishermen had seen a flying disk.
It wasn’t until the end of the month, when another person said they had seen a person drawn up into the disk, that Davenport said he got interested.
He said he spoke briefly with Kelley and Point Township police, but they stopped returning his calls.
Davenport’s site, at www.nuforc.org/index.html, posts five to 25 reports of UFO sightings per day, he said.
Those that make it to the site are only those that “warrant attention,” he said.