MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) investigator Jerry Black heard the story of the event, and immediately went to work to gain more details. Black called the three women, and asked for an interview, but Smith, Stafford, and Thomas were reluctant at first to relive the event, or to have strangers in their homes. After more phone calls, and the offering of his sympathy and compassion for their experience, the three witnesses agreed to an interview. Also, Black invited Mrs. Peggy Schnell of Blanchester, Ohio to attend. She also had experience with these kinds of cases. Black felt that the three would feel more comfortable with a feminine presence.
The first meeting was more or less an ice-breaking session, but several very important facts were revealed. Black stated that the three women were all obviously in physical pain, they all were chain-smoking, which they attributed to the experience. They had an insatiable thirst, and all claimed excessive weight loss since the event. The three women gave some details of their observations of the UFO; its structure, and its behavior. They also discussed some of the ill effects that they had sustained. These memories were painful to all three, as they tried to recall details in hopes that someone might be able to help them. Mrs. Thomas would state, "We live in fear of what we don’t know. I’m worried about Lou and Mona. I think they’re ready for a breakdown."
Naturally there were some psychological problems in the aftermath of their experiences. Mrs. Smith was having difficulties in performing her everyday duties as an assistant for the Casey County Extension Office. Mrs. Stafford was not only suffering from an eye inflammation, she was desperate to know what happened during the missing time. The three women were assured that they would be able to undergo regressive hypnosis, and uncover their missing time, therefore alleviating some, if not all of their emotional stress. Several things were evident to the investigators at this first meeting. The three women witnesses were sincere about what they had experienced, they were suffering from the so-called "beam," and there were obvious physical scars from the encounter. Smith lifted her hair up, and showed a mark on the nape of her neck. It was a roundish, pinkish-gray blotch, the size of a half-dollar.
Another unusual revelation that came from this meeting was the strange reaction of Mrs. Smith's parakeet. When Smith first arrived home after her experience, instead of her usual happy greeting, she received a frightening reaction from the bird. It flew into the side of its cage, and fluttered its wings in a wild display of fear. Smith proclaimed that since the first night home, her pet had not had a thing to do with her. Did the sixth sense of the parakeet acknowledge some "unearthly" aura from Smith? Further tests were conducted in the presence of other birds, and when other people drew near, the birds were perfectly normal, but when Mrs. Smith came close, they too panicked. Her pet died in March 1976. This uncanny reaction was not the only one to come from Smith's presence.
The minute hand of the wrist watch that Smith wore began to rapidly spin around its dial. Also, the next week after the sighting when she touched her bedroom alarm clock, it quit working. Frustrated, she threw the clock away. Another quirky problem was noticed when Louise's car developed electrical problems. Driving to work, she was stopped by Police who informed her that the signal lights were not working. The most annoying problem of all was the general ill health and weakness of the three unwilling witnesses of this extraordinary event. Because of this, investigators agreed that, at least for the time being, no other details of the event be released. Walter Andrus of MUFON, and Dr. J. Allen Hynek of CUFOS, were both informed of the case, and both agreed to wait for details until the three women were in better condition.
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