The 1973 Coyne UFO Encounter: Military Helicopter vs Unknown Craft

This UFO encounter occurred on October 18, 1973 Mansfield, Ohio at 11:00 p.m. 

Army Reserve Capt. Lawrence J. Coyne (with his crew 1st Lt. Arrigo Jezzi, Sgt. John Healey, and Spec5 Robert Yanacsek) is flying an Army Reserve UH-1 Huey helicopter at 1,200 feet from Columbus to Cleveland, Ohio. Healey notices a steady, southbound red light. 

It looks like the port-wing light of an aircraft but seems brighter and carries none of the other FAA-required lights. He watches it disappear behind the helicopter and doesn’t tell the others. A couple minutes later, Yanacsek sees a bright red light on the eastern horizon and watches it for 90 seconds, realizing it is pacing the helicopter. 

He mentions it to Coyne, who tells Healey to watch it. Soon the light turns and comes towards the helicopter. Coyne takes the controls from Jezzi and puts the helicopter into a descent. He calls Mansfield (Ohio) Approach Control but fails to get a response. 

The red light is now closing on them at a dangerous rate of speed, possibly 684 mph. Coyne pushes the stick down, forcing the helicopter to descend quickly. When he gets to an altitude of 650 feet above the treetops, Coyne looks up and sees the object covering the entire front windshield. 

The red light is on its nose and a white light is on the tail of this cigar-shaped, metallic structure UFO. Under the tail, a green beam sweeps a 90° arc and shines through the windshield. It hovers above them for 10–12 seconds before accelerating and heading northwest. 

The bright white light just snaps out. Coyne looks at the altimeter and realizes they have been ascending and are now at 3,500 feet, but the stick is still down. He pulls the stick up and the helicopter levels out at 3,800 feet. 

Reviewing his instruments, Coyne notices that the magnetic compass is rotating slowly, while the Radio Magnetic Indicator is functioning normally. They make radio contact with Akron and fly on to Cleveland without further incident. Other witnesses on the ground have seen the incident.

More New Forgotten 1965 UFO Reports The From U.S. Air Force

Sources:

Jeff Knox F. Book

John P. Coyne, “Copter Narrowly Misses Collision with Strange Craft,” Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer, October 21, 1973, p. 31A;

Philip J. Klass, “The Other Side of the Coyne Encounter,” Fate 31, no. 12 (December 1978): 72, 74, 76–82; 

Kim Hansen, “UFO Casebook,” UFOs 1947–1987, Fortean Tomes, 1987, pp. 82–85; 

Timothy Good, Above Top Secret, pp. 302–303; 

Jennie Zeidman, “The Coyne Case: Correction and Update,” IUR 14, no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 1989): 17–18; 

Richard Hall, The UFO Evidence, Volume II, pp. 81–86; 

Jerome Clark, The UFO Encyclopedia, 4th Ed., pp. 353-356;

Kevin Randle, 1973 - A TIME OF UFO SIGHTINGS,  pp. 130–156; 

“Green Beam from a UFO Lifts Up Army Helicopter, Observed by Lawrence Coyne and John Healy in 1973,” Eyes On Cinema YouTube channel, June 4, 2025;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7xZ5vMMfk