In the quiet suburb of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, an extraordinary encounter unfolded on November 10, 1975, when Peter and Anne Eaves experienced something that defies conventional explanation. The couple, retirees living in their modest home, had just finished dinner when they received unexpected visitors who appeared to be unlike any human beings they had ever encountered. These strange figures, carrying white staffs and moving by floating slightly above the ground, left the couple with vivid yet incomplete memories of the event.

The most puzzling aspect of this incident involves the partial amnesia both witnesses experienced. Despite clearly seeing the visitors under the porch light, Peter and Anne struggled to recall specific facial features afterward, particularly the eyes. The visitors' strange appearance included skin resembling "smoked meat," tiny mouth openings, and an unusual floating movement that seemed controlled and deliberate. Although the encounter lasted only minutes, it left a lasting impression on the couple, who maintained their story despite skepticism from police and ridicule from friends and family.

Key Takeaways

An elderly Wisconsin couple reported an encounter with strange beings who carried white staffs and floated above the ground in November 1975.
The witnesses experienced unusual memory lapses about the visitors' facial features despite having clearly seen them during the encounter.
Despite facing disbelief from authorities and loved ones, the couple remained steadfast in their account of the incident for years afterward.

Background Details

Meet the Eaves

Peter and Anne Eaves lived in a modest home in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At 64, Peter had worked as a construction firm foreman until retiring in 1973. His wife Anne was 59 at the time of their unusual experience. They led a quiet, ordinary life until an evening in November 1975 that would challenge their understanding of reality. Their story, documented by reporter Carol Whalen in the Wisconsin Northeast Post, became one of the most peculiar encounters reported in the region.

The November 1975 Visitation

On November 10, 1975, at approximately 7:50 PM, the Eaves heard their doorbell ring after finishing dinner. Anne observed a strangely dressed figure of average height through the door window, holding a five-foot white staff. When the visitor didn't respond to Anne's greeting, Peter opened the screen door to investigate.

The visitor had several unusual features:

Skin resembling "smoked meat" with deep facial grooves
A small, puckered mouth opening "no bigger than a dime"
A pointed chin
A straw-hat-like head covering with narrow brims
Tufts of hair protruding from beneath the hat

When Peter reached toward the visitor, the strange figure raised its staff, tapped it three times on the sidewalk, and appeared to drift backward rather than step away. Peter then noticed four additional similar beings on their lawn and street, all carrying identical white staffs. One figure in the street was heavier and appeared to float 2-3 feet above ground while tapping its staff on the asphalt.

The beings moved across the lawn without touching the ground, their feet making walking motions but hovering inches above the grass. All had deformed appearances with arthritic-like claw hands and bent, bowed legs. Peter described them as "oversized gnomes."

Anne pulled Peter back inside, after which he experienced an unusual memory effect—he could no longer clearly recall details of the beings' faces or clothing. The Eaves contacted Wauwatosa Police, but Officer Daniel Anderson found nothing unusual during his patrol. Despite skepticism from authorities, friends, and even family members, Peter and Anne remained adamant about what they had witnessed. A neighbor later confided to reporter Whalen that they too had observed a strange vehicle in the sky while driving through the Menominee River Parkway in 1974, adding a potential corroborating element to the Eaves' account.

The Evening Encounter

Initial Visit at the Doorway

On November 10, 1975, around 7:50 PM, Ann and Peter Eaves were relaxing after dinner when their doorbell rang. The couple, who lived in a modest home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, were surprised by the late evening visitor. Ann peered through the door's window and spotted an unusual figure standing under the veranda.

When Ann opened the inner door while keeping the screen door locked, she attempted to communicate with the visitor but received no response. "Come here, he doesn't talk," she called to her husband, who joined her at the door. Peter, a 64-year-old retired construction foreman, initially thought the visitor might be a late Halloween prankster.

Description of the Mysterious Visitors

The visitor at the door had several distinctive features that the couple found difficult to fully recall later. The figure stood at average height, holding a five-foot white staff in its left hand. Its facial skin resembled "smoked meat" with deep grooves across it. The mouth was particularly unusual—a small, puckered opening no larger than a dime.

The visitor wore a hat similar to a straw hat but with a narrower brim. Peter recalled seeing tufts of hair protruding from either side of the hat, though he couldn't remember the hair color. Both Ann and Peter later experienced strange memory gaps when trying to describe the visitor's face in detail, especially regarding the eyes.

Clothing and Physical Characteristics:

Unusually dressed figures
Each carried a white staff in left hand
Deformed appearance with claw-like, arthritic hands
Bowed, bent legs
Small, dime-sized mouth openings

Peter's Interaction and Response

When Peter unlocked the screen door to get a better look, he reached out to grab what he still thought might be a prankster. The visitor immediately raised its white staff and tapped it three times on the sidewalk, making distinct clicking sounds. Instead of stepping backward, the figure seemed to drift away from Peter.

This unusual movement shocked Peter, causing his wife to pull him back inside by his overalls. "I must have gone into a state of shock. I knew exactly what they looked like when I was leaning out the door, but once I was inside the house, I couldn't remember much about their faces or dress," Peter later explained.

Despite the bizarre nature of the encounter, both Peter and Ann emphasized that they never felt threatened by the visitors. After regaining their composure, they contacted the Wauwatosa Police about the incident.

Observations of Additional Entities

Once the first visitor moved away, Peter became aware of four other similar creatures on his lawn and in the street. All were dressed alike and carried white staffs in their left hands. One entity, described as "heavier" than the others, was floating two to three feet above the asphalt in the middle of the street.

This "roly-poly" visitor appeared to be bouncing up and down with more control than astronauts on the moon, tapping its staff on the ground with each movement. Peter observed that the staff seemed to function as an "energy stick" of some kind.

The other three visitors moved across the lawn in a strange manner—their feet made walking motions, but they remained two to three inches above the ground. As Peter watched from inside his home, he noticed one of the visitors turn toward him and raise its bent hand in what seemed like a gesture.

What Happened Next

The Couple's Reaction

Peter and Anne Eaves were profoundly affected by their encounter with the strange visitors. Peter experienced an unusual memory lapse after the incident. While outside, he could see the beings clearly, but upon returning indoors, he struggled to recall specific details about their faces. Anne similarly had difficulty remembering the visitors' appearances, primarily recalling only their distinctive hats. Despite these memory gaps, both remained absolutely convinced of what they had witnessed.

Reporting the Incident

Following the encounter, the Eaves promptly contacted the Wauwatosa Police Department. Officer Daniel Anderson responded to their call and patrolled the Menominee River Parkway area, approximately two blocks from their home. After finding nothing unusual, Anderson visited the Eaves' residence on the third day. The couple got the impression that the officer dismissed their story as fabrication. This skepticism was further evidenced by the fact that no official police report was filed about the incident.

Neighbors' Experiences

Despite widespread disbelief, the Eaves weren't alone in their unusual experiences. A neighbor later confided to reporter Carol Whalen that they had witnessed a strange vehicle in the sky while driving through the Menominee River Parkway in 1974. This neighbor admitted they had kept silent about their sighting for fear of ridicule, telling Whalen, "You know they're right. No one takes us seriously." This corroboration provided some validation to the Eaves' account, suggesting that unexplained phenomena might have been occurring in the area before the Eaves' own encounter.

Media Coverage and Public Reaction

Carol Whalen's News Investigation

In March 1976, the Wisconsin Northeast Post published Carol Whalen's detailed interview with Anne and Peter Eaves about their unusual encounter. Whalen meticulously documented the couple's account of the November 10, 1975 incident, when five strange beings allegedly visited their Wauwatosa home. During her investigation, Whalen noted how consistently the couple maintained their story despite the passing year.

Peter, a 64-year-old retired construction foreman, provided Whalen with specific details about the visitors' appearance. He described beings with skin "like smoked meat" and faces with deep grooves, though curiously neither he nor Anne could fully recall the visitors' facial features. The beings reportedly carried 5-foot white staffs that seemed to function as energy-conducting instruments.

Whalen managed to corroborate elements of the story by interviewing neighbors. One neighboring couple admitted they had witnessed an unusual aerial vehicle in the nearby Menominee River Parkway in 1974 but had remained silent for fear of ridicule.

Public Skepticism and Mockery

The Eaves faced significant disbelief from both authorities and their social circle. When they reported the incident, Officer Daniel Anderson of the Wauwatosa Police Department searched the area but documented nothing unusual. After following up with the couple days later, the officer left them with the impression he considered them "a couple of nuts" and didn't file an official report.

Family members treated the incident as a joke rather than a serious encounter. "My own son walks hunchback and says 'click click' just to kid us," Peter told Whalen, illustrating the mockery they experienced. Their friends and relatives uniformly dismissed the experience as either a fabrication or an elaborate prank.

The couple's frustration with this skepticism was evident in Peter's defensive statements to Whalen: "I'll believe it was a joke when someone shows me those staffs... who would go to so much trouble for just two minutes? And how could anyone get people to float all over my lawn?" Despite facing ridicule, both Anne and Peter remained unwavering in their account, with Anne insisting she wouldn't have believed it either had she not witnessed it firsthand.

Examination of the Unusual Visitors

Cognitive Disruption Patterns

The encounter between the Eaves couple and the strange entities reveals a fascinating pattern of memory interference. When Peter stepped outside to confront the visitor, he could perceive and recall their appearance in detail. However, upon returning inside his home, his ability to remember specific facial features dramatically diminished. This selective memory impairment suggests a possible cognitive boundary effect that occurred when crossing the threshold of his home.

Anne experienced similar memory limitations despite never leaving the doorway. Both witnesses struggled particularly with recalling the entities' eyes—a detail normally prominent in human observation. This targeted memory disruption appears selective rather than random, affecting facial recognition specifically while leaving other details intact.

The Function of the White Rods

The five-foot white staffs carried by all visitors served multiple apparent purposes during the brief encounter:

Movement control: The entities used the staffs to enable floating 2-3 inches above the ground
Energy manipulation: When tapped against surfaces, the staffs produced distinctive clicking sounds
Possible communication tool: The tapping seemed deliberate and coordinated among the beings

The most dramatic demonstration came from the "heavier" entity who used its staff to bounce 2-3 feet above the street surface with remarkable control, reminiscent of lunar movement but with greater precision. Peter's description of these objects as "energy sticks" suggests they served as technological tools rather than mere ceremonial items.

Similarities to Other Extraterrestrial Encounters

This 1975 Wisconsin incident contains several elements that align with other reported extraterrestrial interactions:

Element Eaves Encounter Common ET Reports Memory effects Selective facial amnesia "Missing time" and partial memories Physical appearance Gnome-like with small mouths Often described as small humanoids with unusual features Movement Floating/gliding motion Reported hovering and unusual locomotion Tool use White staffs with energy properties Advanced technology disguised as simple objects

The Eaves' neighbors' admission of witnessing an unusual aerial vehicle in the same area a year earlier provides contextual support. The complete absence of verbal communication from the entities, combined with their unusual physical characteristics—skinlike "smoked meat," tiny puckered mouths, and claw-like hands—distinguishes this case from common hoax reports while aligning with the stranger aspects of legitimate extraterrestrial encounter claims.

Findings on the Unusual Visitors

The encounter of Peter and Anne Eaves with strange beings on November 10, 1975 represents one of the more puzzling cases in unexplained phenomena. Their experience with five unusual visitors who appeared to float slightly above the ground while carrying white staffs defies conventional explanation.

The visitors' physical characteristics were notably distinct - skin resembling smoked meat, deeply grooved faces, small puckered mouths, and claw-like hands. Their mode of movement was particularly unusual, as they didn't walk but rather floated inches above the ground.

Memory interference seems to be a significant factor in this case. Both witnesses experienced difficulty recalling facial details despite clear visibility during the encounter. Peter could remember details while outside but lost much of this memory upon reentering his home, suggesting an unusual boundary effect.

The white staffs carried by the visitors appeared to serve as mobility devices, creating clicking sounds when struck against surfaces and seemingly enabling the floating movement. One visitor was observed bouncing several feet high with controlled movements similar to but more refined than lunar astronauts.

Despite the strange appearance and behavior of these beings, both witnesses reported feeling no sense of threat during the approximately two-minute encounter. Local authorities investigated but found no evidence, and the couple faced skepticism from family members and officials.

The case gains additional context from a neighbor's report of an unusual aerial vehicle in the same area during 1974, suggesting the Eaves' experience may not have been entirely isolated in their community.

This incident remains unexplained, with the witnesses maintaining the authenticity of their experience despite social ridicule and the absence of physical evidence.

The Wauwatosa Gnome Encounter: The Bizarre Visitation of Peter and Anne Eilbes (Copy)