S O U T H E A S T O H I O S U P E R N AT U R A L
ABOVE: Circleville residents gather to discuss latest UFO research.
SAUCERS SOAR IN POPULARITY
Circleville Residents Thrive in UFO Research After 30 Years
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STORY BY BRANDON MONTY | PHOTOS PROVIDED
t was clear cold February night in Circleville. Pete Hartinger and his buddy were driving to a high school basketball game, when a strange light appeared in the sky. Hartinger, a 17-year-old at the time, says it was the brightest he’d ever seen. After following the object out of town, the pair lost sight of the light. But when the two made it to the Lancaster Turnpike, the light reemerged alongside them. Hartinger describes it as so bright that couldn’t see an outline. Before he knew it, the mysterious figure was above the Pickaway County Fairgrounds, hovering roughly 750 feet in the air. Five days later, on February 27, 1958, Hartinger found himself shaken awake by his brother in the middle of the night, around 1 a.m. The family dog, Pal, was barking. Something was awry. After telling his brother to quit messing with him since he had to go school the next day, Hartinger went to the window where, once again, he witnessed the bright light.
There was the same hovering bright beam of light–floating 2,000 feet in the air. Hartinger said he thought about hiding underneath his bed. “At that point, I knew it was real,” Hartinger says. Two sightings in five days were all the convincing Hartinger needed. One year later, as a senior at Circleville High School, the quiet-mannered Hartinger was convinced by his public speaking teacher to make a case for UFO existence as part of discussing controversial topics. Hartinger’s passion for UFOs grew more by the day. In 1959, he joined the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomenon (NICAP). After spending over 20 years there, he met two fellow Pickaway County residents, Jon Fry and Delbert Anderson, who were also interested in UFOs. In 1989, the three men formed the Roundtown UFO Society. The first Roundtown, or RUFOS, meeting was January 7, 1989 at Hartinger’s home. Since that date, they’ve missed six meetings in 31 years. To WWW.SOUTHEASTOHIOMAGAZINE.COM | 43
