Todd Sees Incident
39 year old Pennsylvania hunter & outdoorsman Todd Sees wakes before dawn and decides to go deer spotting on Montour Ridge, a mountain range behind his home in Point Township, Northumberland County.
He leaves home at 5:00 a.m., telling his wife he'll be back by noon, and drives his ATV up a tree break where a powerline runs.
Sees is the son of a farmer, a family man, little league coach and father of 2.
When he fails to return by the appointed time his wife grows concerned and calls the police.
Shortly thereafter, Sees's son finds his father's four wheeler abandoned at the top of the ridge, 2 miles from their house.
By 2:30 p.m. a large search team has been mobilized.
They discover no footprints leading away from the ATV and no scent for their search dogs to track.
Over 200 volunteers and rescue personnel continue combing the area with dogs.
Skin divers search a nearby pond and the others scour a 6 mile radius for any sign of Todd.
Day one ends with Sees still missing.
The search continues throughout the following day.
Around 8:00 p.m. on the second night someone spots a patch of white in the woods near the pond, a mere 450' from the Sees residence.
Local firemen work feverishly with saws and axes to cut a path through the heavy brush and there, in a dense bramble, they find the dead body of Todd Sees.
Witnesses describe him as dressed only his boxers, emaciated, and wearing a countenance of abject terror.
No one from the family is ever called in to identify the body, and contrary to Pennsylvania law, the body is removed without a coroner present.
Northumberland County coroner James Kelly conducts an immediate autopsy but his results are inconclusive.
With no significant external or internal injuries, there is no clear cause of death.
He eventually returns the body to the family in a sealed casket and strongly suggests they do not open it.
Sees is buried sight unseen and his poor, grieving family do the best they can to pick up the pieces, with much help and support from the local community.
A toxicology report, released months later, suggests cocaine toxicity as the probable cause of the death.
Local police close the investigation.
News coverage was surprisingly scant and that is basically the sum total of the unassailable facts.
The strange circumstances of the case, however, and their similarity to other rural events involving missing persons almost immediately attracted the interest of paranormal researchers, particularly those in the UFO community.
Despite an understandable stonewalling from local police trying to protect the Sees family, follow up investigations by controversial UFOlogist Peter Davenport and former Homicide Detective Butch Witkowski produce quite a bit of additional information, all of it decidedly of the alleged variety of which there is no no official verification of these details and they should be taken with a healthy grain of salt.
That said, even if you disregard the UFO angle entirely, the case leaves behind a haunting impression of a man experiencing a harrowing final ordeal.
R.I.P.
One of Todd Sees boots was found 75' up a tree.
At 5:30 a.m., on the morning in question, 3 nearby farmers and a fisherman on the Susquehanna River witnessed a disk shaped UFO over Montour Ridge.
An anonymously filed, mistakenly dated report to this effect was submitted later in August, 2002, to the National UFO Reporting Center.
Additional reports provide even stranger details.
Numerous accounts of the FBI descending quickly on the scene and instructing locals not to talk to the press.
The following are reports filed through the National UFO Reporting Center:
Occurred : 8/4/2002 05:30 (Entered as : 8/2/2002 5:30 Pm)
Reported: 8/29/2002 2:56:17 PM 14:56
Posted: 2/14/2006
Location: Northumberland, PA
Shape: Disk
Duration: 20 minutes
NUFORC Note:
We have contacted a local newspaper in Northumberland County, and to the police officer who served as investigator of the case.
The newspaper confirms that the incident occurred, although the police officer stated that the descendant’s remains had been returned to the family, contrary to the claims made by some regarding this case.
The official report will be released in late September, according to the police officer, and we will attempt to obtain a copy of it.
NUFORC Note:
I will be as brief as possible, A man named Todd Sees, was abducted and murdered by aliens on Montour Ridge, in Northumberland County, near the town of Northumberland, PA.
This is a big sloppy cover-up if there ever was one.
Todd Sees the victim, lived at the foot of Montour Ridge,a mountain stretching over 20 miles East.
Todd went up the mountain to look for pre-season deer.
He told his wife that he would be home by noon.
He rode his 4 wheeler up the powerline behind his home at a little after 5:00 a.m.
Noon came and no Todd, his wife and children became concerned.
At 2:00 p.m. a search party was organized, local police, state police, paramedics, and 200 volunteers helped search for Todd Sees.
The 4 wheeler was found on the top of the mountain near a powerline, tracking dogs could find nothing to go on around the 4 wheeler.
The search went on for 2 days over 6 miles of mountain were covered, from top to bottom.
Todd vanished with out a trace, the 4 wheeler was keep in mind, 2 miles from his home at the foot of the mountain.
A pond a few hundred yards from the house was even searched by skin divers just so they overlooked nothing.
Dogs were over the whole area constantly no results, no trace.
Then in the evening of the 2nd day something white was spotted in a large brushy area 25' from the pond, police and rescue workers spent 20 minutes cutting and hacking, brush and small trees so they could reach what looked like a body.
It was Todd Sees, he was wearing his underwear, he was emaciated, not, bloated, he was white, he had an expression of horror on his face.
When he went up the mountain he was fully dressed, boots camo vest, hat, socks, pants.
The F.B.I. showed up within 30 minutes, they took charge, they would not let the wife look at her dead husband, no matter how much she tried.
The F.B.I. asked questions around the area, neighbors, mostly farmers, 3 farmers on one farm said they saw a large round bright object, just above the powerlines.
At the time of the disappearance, it was silent, it did not move for about 10 to 15 minutes.
It instantly went up and stopped, a light shined down and something was pulled up into the light.
It then went straight up, hesitated again then went west over the Susquehanna River and out of sight.
A police friend of mine said after 2 autopsies nothing was found, a toxicology test revealed nothing, no visible cuts or bruises any where except from the brush.
Now the body is at Allentown, from there it is going to Fort Indiantown Gap, PA.
The wife was told she cannot have the body for 6 to 8 weeks.
A boot was found a mile from the 4 wheeler a few days ago at the top of a tree, it was Todds.
I noticed military copters have been scouring the mountain ever since at least once a day.
NUFORC Note:
This was the first report NUFORC received about the tragic death of Mr. Todd Sees, which occurred on Sunday, August 04, 2002.
NUFORC would like to communicate with anyone who was involved in the search for Mr. Sees, which was conducted on August 4th & 5th, 2002.
A craft was seen on Montour Ridge on August 6, 2002, About August 4, 2002 at 5:30 a.m. by a farmer and also 3 fisherman on the Susquehanna river.
It was at the very top of the mountain on the western end, just hovering above the powerlines.
The farmer said it appeared out of nowhere, he could see some sparks flying from the tower and dropping to the ground.
The whole incident lasted about 10 minutes, then it got very bright and took off very low heading West, then it stopped and went straight up, it was gone in seconds.
The horses on the farm were very upset and nervous for about 12 hours.
NUFORC Note:
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous.
One of several reports submitted by an anonymous source, or sources, about alleged incidents in this area of Pennsylvania. Mr. Todd Sees was reported missing on August 4, 2002, so we have amended the date above to reflect that date.
We would very much like to speak, or communicate, with the party, or parties, who submitted this report.
Please contact NUFORC if you read this note.
We received this report on August 18, 2002, and posted it on August 28, before we knew anything about the incident involving Mr. Sees.
We posted it, uncertain whether it was a serious report, or not, and we later were contacted by other parties, who confirmed that Mr. Sees, had been reported as a missing person, and whose body was found approximately 40 hours after he had left his home.
This is a copy of a letter I sent to a member of Seattle's UFOCCI:
I live 2 miles from the location of the possible abduction/death of Todd Sees.
I also live near someone that knew him well.
There seems to be a lot of cover up and misinformation surrounding this case:
My friends worked with Todd Sees father.
This individual is related to a family member of Todd.
The individual is a best friend and Todd's son were part of the search party, and helped retrieve the body.
They are the only eye witness I've found so far as to actually viewing the body.
The dogs never picked up his scent, nor found his missing clothes.
The body was found on Monday night at 9:00 p.m.
So he'd been out in the heat and humidity for 39½ hours.
He should have been swelling from body gasses at that time.
But he was emaciated, as per the UFO report, this has not yet been verified.
The 4 wheeler was at the top of the ridge, his body was found face down, 75' from his house.
He was wearing only his boxers.
There was a spot on his right forehead that was showing signs of decay, the rest of his body was intact.
Todd was holding his throat, suffocating?
An allergic reaction to bee venom, could have caused his throat to close and he might have suffocated, but no bee stings found.
And why call in the FBI for bee or snake bite?
He had a red rag tied around his right arm and there was a dead rattlesnake beside him.
Investigators expected to find puncture wounds from a snake bite, but there were no puncture wounds anywhere.
If he'd been snake bit, there would be a good sized blackened area of necrotic tissue, surrounding the punctures.
As far as a snake bite goes, this was a strong, athletic, 38 year old male.
Rattlesnake venom, would most likely not have killed him at all.
He would have been able to find his way home in time to get to a hospital. With snake venom, he might have had some nervous system problems, disorientation, tremors and the like.
The report that I heard yesterday was really bogus:
We think he was stung by bees, but because his body was so decayed you couldn't see welts from the stings nor find venom in his system.
His body wasn't decayed, and a toxicology report has not been filed.
And if he were being stung, why would he remove his clothing?
I'd jump on the 4 wheeler and head down hill.
There are 2 conflicting reports about the one boot.
UFO report says it was in a tree, while the police report says beside the 4 wheeler.
Why would he take off his shoe, maybe so he could remove his bibbed cammy pants?
But if he did this, why would he leave the road?
This is a very wooded area, hard to walk through.
The road would lead straight home, yet he chose to take to the undergrowth and forest.
There were no keys, no other clothing found.
When my friends asked questions of Todd's father, he told her that everyone was told they could not speak about it.
This friend says Todd's father, the wife, the son & the friend, who both saw the body, are not talking and are still just stunned.
I was told they're acting very strange, no expressions, just scared and emotionless.
Todd's father did say that they don't know any more than the general public.
Now, here's the worst thing.
If he was stung by bees or snake bite, why were special agents, they say F.B.I. brought in?
Why did they take over?
Why was no one allowed near the body?
And no one was called to identify the remains.
No one, not even Todd's wife was allowed to view the body.
There was a funeral, with a closed coffin.
No one was ever allowed to see the body.
The family has said they doubt that there was a body in the coffin.
As for the reports by the local farmers, and the fishermen on the Susquehanna river, Pennsylvanian's are very simple people.
They don't like change and they live very simple lives.
I haven't found any one, in the 3 years since we moved here, that has a belief in ETs or UFOs.
They would just laugh it off if that were ever suggested.
If they made a report of a strange sighting, then you can be sure they were telling the truth.
NUFORC Note:
We have received other information from this witness.
Our strong suspicion is that the information provided in this report is submitted by a credible source.
The individual is a trained professional, and may submit additional information in the future.
NUFORC Note:
The date originally shown in this report was August 02, 2002.
However, the correct date of Mr. Sees disappearance was Sunday, August 04, 2002, so we have corrected the date above.
A farmer saw an object above Montour Ridge at the powerlines, on top of the mountain, it was round and very still over the lines.
Then it moved what looked like a few hundred feet to the East, it stopped and a beam of blue/white light shone to the ground.
What was seen next was very unnerving, he saw what appeared to be a man suspended in the light, he was being pulled up head first, he was moving his arms slowly in the light.
What looked like a man was pulled up into the bottom of the craft.
A few seconds later it started shuddering, then went West very fast stopped briefly, then went straight up and out of sight.
2 days later a naked body except for his underwear was found, the man found rode up the powerline looking for deer signs at around 5:00 a.m., his 4 wheeler was 2 miles from where his body was found in thick brush.
His clothes were never found.
Blood hounds never got a scent past the 4 wheeler.
The papers are not telling the whole story, they are not mentioning he was.
NUFORC Note:
Considerable unsubstantiated information temporarily deleted here.
We do so out of consideration for the family of the decedent, and until an official report is issued by the police and the coroner's office of Northumberland County.
We emphasize that this report was submitted by an anonymous source, and it may be from the same source that several other unsubstantiated reports have been submitted by.
We sincerely regret any pain that this information, which was posted here earlier, may have caused the family members of the decedent.
We post below the several articles published by the local newspaper, The Daily Item, about the incident.
We express our gratitude to The Daily Item for permission to post the article here.
NUFORC Note:
Source elects to remain totally anonymous.
We failed to indicate this fact when we first posted this report on September 7, 2002.
This statement dated September 11, 2002
NUFORC Note:
We have changed the time and date above, to reflect what we believe are the correct time and date for the incident.
Begin copied newspaper articles:
Montour Ridge Volunteers look for man Search called off at 10:00 p.m.
By Marcia Moore
The Daily Item: Northumberland.
Dozens of volunteers and several search and rescue dogs canvassed Montour Ridge Sunday in a fruitless search for a 39 year old man missing since daybreak.
At 10:00 p.m., the search for Todd Sees of Northumberland was suspended for the night.
Search coordinator Point Township Fire Chief Leon Geise said 6 teams with K-9 dogs planned to resume the search at 6:00 a.m. today, with more volunteers beginning a ground and air search at 8:00 a.m.
It's not an easy thing to have to leave, he said of the decision to temporarily call off the search.
We need some closure and we don't have it.
Sees left his RD2 Northumberland home at about 5:00 a.m. Sunday to go scouting for deer on a portion of his 80 acre property, according to his brother, Ty Sees.
When he didn't come back by 12:30 p.m., 4 of us went out looking for him, Ty Sees said late Sunday afternoon.
It's not like him to be gone this long.
Harold Brub Sees joined the initial search that yielded no sign of his son.
We covered the area he normally covers, the elder Sees said.
We hollered constantly, but didn't see or hear him.
Todd knew this territory like the back of his hand.
What bothers me is that he's been gone too long.
Clad in a white T shirt soaked with sweat, Brub Sees also worried how his son was coping in the intense heat, which climbed into the 90s by early afternoon.
A coordinated search effort began at 2:30 p.m. when Northumberland Borough Fire Chief Josh Newbury received a call from Sue Sees requesting help in finding her husband.
Newbury said Todd Sees was planning to go scouting on the ridge with another person who later decided not to go out.
Although no one saw Todd Sees leave early Sunday morning, his 18 year old son, Nick, did find his four wheeler on the West end of the ridge 2 miles from their home at about 12:30 p.m.Brub Sees said.
Todd was an avid outdoorsman who's known to walk for hours, Northumberland No. 1 Fire Department volunteer Nate Fisher said, but he's never stayed out for so long without contacting family.
The heat, that's what scares me, Fisher said earlier in the day, adding that no one is certain what, if any, provisions Sees took with him.
Ty Sees said his brother usually grabs a can of Mountain Dew and dresses in camouflage when he's gone out on similar excursions.
Some volunteers speculated that Sees may have slipped on a rock and is unable to call for help.
Its very rough terrain and there's thick brush, Geise said.
This is going to be a slow and methodical search.
Be aware, rattlesnakes are in abundance, he told the volunteers preparing to head out on the search from the command post at the base of the ridge off Geise Road.
However, the group had to wait several hours while 3 tracking dogs from Northstar Search & Rescue of Selinsgrove & James Shaffer were sent out into the heavily wooded area to try to pick up Todd Sees' scent.
By 6:00 p.m. a state police helicopter from Hazelton had flown over the ridge looking for the missing man and Geise was requesting bloodhounds be brought in to assist the other canines in the search.
At about 7:45 p.m., the bloodhound was on the scene and Geise decided he had to send the 25 volunteers out on foot to begin a sweep of a 6 square mile area.
It's been fruitless so far, the chief said an hour later.
Investigation into man's death a waiting game.
By Marcia Moore The Daily Item: Northumberland.
Investigators are still awaiting toxicology results to determine what killed a 39 year old Northumberland County man found in the woods near his home last month.
Point Township police began investigating the death of Todd Sees after his body was discovered August 5, in a wooded area at the western base of Montour Ridge about 450' from his house.
An autopsy failed to conclude a cause of death and toxicology tests were ordered.
Right now we're on hold until we get the test results, Point Township Police Chief Gary Steffen said Tuesday.
The blood tests are expected to take another 4 or 5 weeks, he said.
It's just a waiting game, Steffen said.
Something certainly caused his death.
The answer has to be in the blood.
Todd was reported missing on the afternoon of August 4, hours after he left his home on an ATV to go scouting for deer on Montour Ridge.
A family member found the ATV about 2 miles from his home, but there was no sign of Todd.
About 200 volunteers, along with tracking dogs and searchers in helicopters, looked for the missing man for several hours.
About 30 hours after he went missing, Sees' relatives stumbled upon his body in a densely wooded area of the ridge about 450' from his house.
Northumberland County Coroner James Kelley said the autopsy revealed Sees had been dead between 24 hours to 36 hours, but found no signs of trauma or of coronary disease.