Dexter woman says she saw a UFO

DEXTER, Mo. -- Do you believe in UFOs? A Dexter woman does after seeing what she believed to be saucerlike flying objects in the night sky over her home recently.

The only problem with her theory is it was the Fourth of July -- a time for all kinds of objects that light up the skies.

Anita Barnes, however, is convinced, as are her mother and her husband, what they saw on the night of the July 4 did not resemble any fireworks they've ever witnessed.

"It was about 9:30," Barnes said, "and my husband called in to me to come outside and see what was flying overhead."

One of the objects he saw was what is typically described as a flying saucer -- a round lighted object with a sort of outside slope or ring around the middle.

Barnes went inside to retrieve her cell phone and took several photos of the object, which continued to fly around until nearly midnight. Barnes lives on the far west end of West St. Francis Street in Dexter. Her mother, who lives on Bain Street, saw the same sights.

Some of the objects, Barnes said, had colorful lights circling their outer rims.

"There were eight at time, one right behind the other," Barnes said. She said the objects were going in a south-to-northwest direction over her house.

"At one point, two of them had come back toward my house. Then they disappeared, and then the single white light saucers just came out of nowhere for hours."

Until the sightings, Barnes said she was "always kind of negative" regarding the theory of flying saucers and UFOs.

"I was really amazed," she said. "I have never seen anything like what I saw that night. Every time I would see one coming, I'd get my phone and try to get a picture of it. I was very excited."

While most of the photos on Anita Barnes' phone are cloudy and distant, but one in particular stands out, showing a bright light with a ring around it.

Barnes said she since has heard there also were sightings in the Bernie, Missouri, area. But in part because of the date, residents didn't report them to any news outlet.