This was many years ago -- september, 1964 -- (which your robot won't let me enter) but i remember it very well. i was in college at u of mich., a member of the anti-war movement, living in a co-op house near the washtenaw river in ann arbor. fearing harassment because of my anti-war activities, i took care to go home from class by a circuitous route. i was walking home after dark, along the flood-shelf of the washtenaw river, which was then overgrown with brush and small trees, when i walked through a screen of branches and was promptly hit in the face with a bright light. startled, i jumped back -- and the light shut off. i stepped forward again, again was hit with the light, again stepped back, and again the light shut off. i cautiously poked my arm forward, and saw it enveloped in light -- exactly like poking my arm into a pool of under-lit water. there was also a tingling sensation at the edge of the light. i looked around and saw that some light was *reflecting* off leaves beyond that edge, but none of the *direct* light came through. this struck me as weird; what could cut off direct light so sharply, but didn't effect light reflected off leaves? intrigued, i held up my hand in front of my eyes so i wouldn't be blinded by that light, and walked through the tingly "edge" into the zone of the light. once inside the "zone", to either side of my blinkering hand, i saw a round shape the light was reflecting off of. it was the curved edge of a thick (maybe four feet) metal disc, and the light was coming from somewhere maybe 8 feet above it. the light didn't illuminate the whole disc, but was aimed in my direction so that i saw only the leading edge; the rest was in darkness. from the curve of the leading edge, i'd say that the whole disc was maybe 20 or 25 feet in diameter, or about the size of a common helicopter's circle of blades. it was either sitting on the ground or hovering just above it. the only way it could have gotten to that location without being seen was to fly there. as i stood looking at the thing, i heard both a low steady humming and then a mechanical voice. i've done enough studio recording work to recognize that what i was hearing were two tightly-aimed directional audio-speakers, aimed so that the sound-waves would converge in the middle of my head. this would make it seem as if the voice was inside my head. it was also very soft, and if i didn't have quite good hearing i might not have consciously heard it. the voice was middle-range, and was clearly a recording that kept repeating the word "come...Come..." it was trying to talk me into approaching the odd disk, but i didn't trust it and didn't come any closer than about 15 feet. because my anti-war activities, and police reactions to them, had made me suspicious, my guess about the odd object was: that it was an experimental craft from willow run laboratories, only a few miles away, where the air force was reputed to be working on new weapons to use in the vietnam war. the idea that this was some air force experiment on random passers-by made me angry. i decided to do something the operator(s) wouldn't expect. keeping my eyes closed so i wouldn't be blinded by that light, i began to dance -- a simple grapevine step -- and sing. i made up the words as i went along, but they were on the lines of: "down, down, bring the ship down! crash, smash, into the ground! crash and burn, let everyone learn! crash and burn and die!" mind you, i was wearing hippie bell-bottoms and a big peace-sign at the time. well, the outlandish contrast of my appearance and my activities must have spooked the operator(s) of that craft, because -- behind my closed eyes -- i saw the light stop, and heard the humming increase. i opened my eyes in time to see the thing rise (at a medium speed) straight up. i got a better look at it as it rose, and saw that it was indeed disc-shaped -- or more properly *donut-shaped*, with a hole in the middle that took up at least half the diameter of the craft. the hole had a misty, quivering look -- almost exactly like seeing through spinning fan-blades. part of my view was cut off by the nearby trees, so i couldn't tell if the "donut" had any other features. while i watched, the craft rose to just above the trees (maybe 30 feet), and then it took off -- fast -- toward the northeast, which happened to be the direction of willow run -- and soon disappeared in the dark. i noticed after it was gone that the brush was mashed down in a circle where i'd seen the craft, but i couldn't see much else in the dark. i walked over the ground where the craft had sat, and noticed that the ground was warm. since there was nothing else to see, i proceeded on home to the co-op house. no, i didn't tell anyone about the encounter, at least not then. i knew what the police would think of my story. so i never got any visits from men in black. i did, however, afterwards develop an intense interest in science, science-fiction and spaceflight which has lasted the rest of my life. i'm pretty sure i know now what that craft was, because since then i've come across accounts of air force experiments with "stealth" helicopters and circular helicopters. i've also read about clever use of converging sound-waves, and experiments with sharply limiting energy-waves (such as light). i'm convinced that what i saw was an experimental "stealth" circular helicopter with its blades in the center, and also an experiment with limiting light and converged sound-waves. i have no doubt that the operator(s) would have done nasty things to me if i'd obeyed that recorded voice and approached the craft. so i maintain that at least some ufo sightings are your taxes at work -- and not for a good purpose. --leslie <;)))>< fish