Record
INSIDE: Rally dooms fastpitch ... Sports, A7
South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2013 | Vol. 89, No. 23 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
State tows 50-foot boat ‘Grumpy’ from Double Bluff By BEN WATANABE Staff reporter A lot of man-made materials wash up on Double Bluff Beach and the 25 acres of tidelands owned by a nonprofit. Ropes, clothes, bottles and cans are strewn across the hard sand, tangled with driftwood and eelgrass. So when a 50-foot wooden boat, dilapidated and taking on water, rests upon barnacle-encrusted rocks, residents notice. An abandoned vessel named “Grumpy” had residents of the water view homes on Double Bluff feeling just like the ship’s namesake. Disgruntled neighbors were relieved Tuesday morning to see it gone. The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had Grumpy towed to Everett during the night and assumed temporary possession, according to a DNR spokesperson. “What drives these things is if we feel the boat is in imminent danger of causing a pollution problem or a safety problem,” said Toni Droscher, DNR’s Aquatics Program Communications manager. DNR knew who owned Grumpy, but had not contacted the owner by See Grumpy, A8
Ben Watanabe / The Record
Mike Moore, a Freeland resident, inspects the 50-foot boat that was anchored and abandoned on private tidelands on Double Bluff Beach. His dog, Shaggy, scours the rocks for sticks.
Strange lights create fright at Bush Point By JUSTIN BURNETT Staff reporter The age-old question of “are we alone in the universe” may have been answered for a South Whidbey couple last weekend. A series of mysterious orange lights appeared in the sky over their home Saturday evening, and while they are accustomed to seeing all kinds or marine and air traffic from their picture windows overlooking Admiralty Inlet, the couple admit this has left them scratching their heads. “We’ve seen a lot of stuff but this was the weirdest thing we’ve ever seen,” said Dick Johnson, a retired civil engineer. Johnson and his wife have lived in the community for 17 years and were watching television Saturday at about 8:30 when they noticed what appeared to be a steady, orange light hovering over Marrowstone Island. The lone light was quickly joined
“We’ve seen a lot of stuff but this was the weirdest thing we’ve ever seen.” Dick Johnson Freeland
by several more, which then began to make their way across Puget Sound. Johnson walked out on his porch, and to his astonishment, saw more over Whidbey Island, somewhere between their home and Lagoon Point. The incident ended when two of the strange lights flew over their neighborhood — one went right over the top of their house, Johnson said. In all, they reported a total of seven objects. “The first thing I thought was Area 51 moved to Whidbey Island,”
he said, alluding to the secretive Air Force property in Nevada. As a hobby, Johnson studies military aircraft but said this was like nothing he’s ever seen before. It lacked signature aviation navigation lights, moved quickly and was totally silent. “I know what a helicopter sounds like; thump, thump, thump,” Johnson said. “This was no noise.” While he’s more inclined to believe the lights were some sort of top-secret military project, as opposed to a flying saucer from outer space, the experience was more than a little startling. “Someone has to come up with an answer for this because this was kinda scary,” he said. Johnson said he called 911 and, as directed, called the Federal Aviation Administration to report their observations. They received no explanation. See Lights, A15
Justin Burnett / The Record
Dick Johnson, a Bush Point resident, recounts a strange and frightening experience Saturday when he and his wife witnessed unexplained lights in the sky over their home.