Medulla, FL being encounter — October 8, 1968

At about 7:30 p.m. one October evening in 1968, Mr. and Mrs. Buck McMullen were preparing dinner at their home in Medulla, Florida, when their dog became intensely agitated. In the HUMCAT account, it broke loose, forced its way through the screen door and hid beneath a table. The couple went outside with their son’s fiancée and reportedly saw a transparent spherical object about 50 yards away above a palm tree. The sphere gave off a purplish-red glow. Inside stood two normal-sized men in close-fitting white uniforms with hoods. They appeared to operate a horizontal bar pivoted to a central metallic column, moving it up and down like a railroad handcar. As they did so, the sphere allegedly rocked and gained height, eventually departing with fire and sparks. The witnesses reported a strong ammonia-like odor and earlier television interference; the overall observation was said to last about 20 minutes. HUMCAT cites Lee Butcher’s Lakeland Ledger reporting and subsequent FATE article. It gives 18 October, also the date in other developed accounts, while the Hatch ledger supplies 8 October. That conflict remains visible. The motions, odor and television effects are witness claims rather than independently measured evidence, and the bar’s apparent operation does not establish how the object was propelled.