pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
I think Oct 13 or thereabouts is the date Monique O'Driscoll made one of the first reports of HDVL lights. If I can I want to get down to where she was and just take a look at the surrounding conditions. Like Stormville - I can read about it or I can just go there.
That's why I went to Gettysburg several times. Being physically present makes a huge difference, at least to me.
That's why I went to Gettysburg several times. Being physically present makes a huge difference, at least to me.
Double Nought Spy
Old. Tired. Disgusted.
Thanks for posting this, and thanks for doing all the legwork. I've always had the feeling this case had something very interesting buried under all the BS and honest misidentifications. Interesting stuff.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
I very much appreciate the interest. It's infuriating to me to live here, know what I know, remember what I have seen as well as many other people .... and then some talking head goes on one program on TV and makes some ridiculous comment about this being a magical UFO water slurping hot spot and all that goes straight down the toilet. Back to square 1, sometimes even here. That's why we still hear that foolishness and it makes me wonder about everything else we hear.
Overall, in most cases people prefer the mythology to reality as the latter is usually boring and does not lead to the exciting, neat, advertising packed conclusions. Often it's boring and pedestrian.
What I got out of looking into all this, apart from now understanding much better exactly what a public menace Gersten and Imbrogno were, is that there are a couple of truly High Strange events from right during that period that have gone either unnoticed or incorrectly filed away with all the other nonsense. Ufology shot itself in the foot on a couple of good ones here.
By that I mean the Poughquag case that I mentioned relevant to those Stormville pics just posted plus the Middletown case @Terra mentioned here, the one I found in the newspaper archives.
This is why I have been to Gettysburg several times - it's within reach. I've read extensively about that battle and yet actually standing in the Evergreen Cemetery or on the Cashtown Pike gives a sense of ass puckering reality to the whole thing. It got real. Standing there I can imagine thousands of men intent of killing boiling towards me in a mass. It's always best when possible to expose your imagination to Reality once in a while, it certainly serves to deliver context. As it relates to these cases, come on over and spend a month. You'll see what I see and go 'oh'.
Overall, in most cases people prefer the mythology to reality as the latter is usually boring and does not lead to the exciting, neat, advertising packed conclusions. Often it's boring and pedestrian.
What I got out of looking into all this, apart from now understanding much better exactly what a public menace Gersten and Imbrogno were, is that there are a couple of truly High Strange events from right during that period that have gone either unnoticed or incorrectly filed away with all the other nonsense. Ufology shot itself in the foot on a couple of good ones here.
By that I mean the Poughquag case that I mentioned relevant to those Stormville pics just posted plus the Middletown case @Terra mentioned here, the one I found in the newspaper archives.
This is why I have been to Gettysburg several times - it's within reach. I've read extensively about that battle and yet actually standing in the Evergreen Cemetery or on the Cashtown Pike gives a sense of ass puckering reality to the whole thing. It got real. Standing there I can imagine thousands of men intent of killing boiling towards me in a mass. It's always best when possible to expose your imagination to Reality once in a while, it certainly serves to deliver context. As it relates to these cases, come on over and spend a month. You'll see what I see and go 'oh'.
Double Nought Spy
Old. Tired. Disgusted.
Seems like Tha Gummint didn't have to put much effort into implementing the recommendations of the Robertson Panel. Ufology did a lot of the heavy lifting for them. They didn't even have to manufacture very much ammo, since that was provided by kooks and grifters for free.
As I sit here in my comfy chair, my butt is about 4 miles from the site of one of the earliest known cattle mutilations. Weird shit goes on here, but the locals don't talk about it much. I wonder what some of them have seen, and not told a soul about it.
I've been to Gettysburg twice, on bus tours, for just a few hours. We didn't get past the first layer of tourist stuff, but I was impressed with the way visitors are accommodated but not by way of crass, obnoxious marketing. At least that's what it was like 30 years ago. Walking around the visitor center, it's difficult to imagine the mayhem the place has seen. As with so many of the places I visited in my career as a professional tourist, I'd love to go back and really see it.
As I sit here in my comfy chair, my butt is about 4 miles from the site of one of the earliest known cattle mutilations. Weird shit goes on here, but the locals don't talk about it much. I wonder what some of them have seen, and not told a soul about it.
I've been to Gettysburg twice, on bus tours, for just a few hours. We didn't get past the first layer of tourist stuff, but I was impressed with the way visitors are accommodated but not by way of crass, obnoxious marketing. At least that's what it was like 30 years ago. Walking around the visitor center, it's difficult to imagine the mayhem the place has seen. As with so many of the places I visited in my career as a professional tourist, I'd love to go back and really see it.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
I haven't been down there in at least ten years but it still has the same old flavor. The huge new tourist center had just opened and from what I saw, they did a nice job of it. If you were to spend any time there and had a vehicle I'd highly recommend personal battlefield tour from one of the retired park rangers. We paid for 4 hours and wound up shooting the **** for 8. Enjoyable.
What you will notice is it's all about ghost hunting now. Annoying but fun if you don't take it too seriously. Of course, that ghost hunting got my wife and I off our backsides and were crawling through Devil's Den, parts of Little Round Top - at midnight. That was fun.
pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
We've been spending a fair amount of time cruising around this county in search of real estate.
I never did make it down to where Monique O'Driscoll saw the first 'triangle' in October but have been all amongst the area for various reasons. What I have said before and I know it gets overlooked is geography.
Interstate 84 runs right across the southern part of Dutchess County and everything south of that, Monique's area , the Indian Point nuke plant, are in some of the most rugged terrain you'll find. The hills are only hundreds of feet but are numerous and the ridges/crags/valleys are dark and deep. It's all about the geography that descend to the river.
Roads like driveways with pitch and swoop like a roller coaster that crisscross all over the place. There's one so steep that when I was a kid I was literally afraid to drive a delivery box truck in one area - it was terrifying and still is.
Yes, I can see how large planes in the sky or even the hoaxers could appear especially weird in those areas, you never really will get that good a look and I think it's much harder to gauge size, distance, any of that. They would likely pop in and out of view. Easy to se eif you just spend some time actually looking.
For all the nonsense I've read and heard from various experts' on this 'Wave' I never hear anyone talk about that. My guess is that experts have never set foot in the area.
I never did make it down to where Monique O'Driscoll saw the first 'triangle' in October but have been all amongst the area for various reasons. What I have said before and I know it gets overlooked is geography.
Interstate 84 runs right across the southern part of Dutchess County and everything south of that, Monique's area , the Indian Point nuke plant, are in some of the most rugged terrain you'll find. The hills are only hundreds of feet but are numerous and the ridges/crags/valleys are dark and deep. It's all about the geography that descend to the river.
Roads like driveways with pitch and swoop like a roller coaster that crisscross all over the place. There's one so steep that when I was a kid I was literally afraid to drive a delivery box truck in one area - it was terrifying and still is.
Yes, I can see how large planes in the sky or even the hoaxers could appear especially weird in those areas, you never really will get that good a look and I think it's much harder to gauge size, distance, any of that. They would likely pop in and out of view. Easy to se eif you just spend some time actually looking.
For all the nonsense I've read and heard from various experts' on this 'Wave' I never hear anyone talk about that. My guess is that experts have never set foot in the area.
nivek
As Above So Below
Otherworldly Encounters from the Hudson Valley
Stretching out through mainland New York, from Yonkers to Albany and many towns in between, the Hudson Valley (sometimes called the Hudson River Valley) is without a doubt one of the most active UFO hotspots of America, with multiple reports of strange, glowing objects passing overhead, and even of alien abduction encounters from many of the lonely roads that crisscross the area. Indeed, these accounts date back decades and continue to happen today in the twenty-first century.Linda Zimmerman documents many of these earlier encounters in the book Hudson Valley UFOs. One of the earliest of these is the curious UFO sighting of Dorothy Wilk, who claimed to have seen a disc-shaped object as her husband drove her and her daughter home one evening in 1968. According to the account, as Dorothy glanced out the window, she suddenly noticed a “circle of red light” moving overhead. She quickly drew her husband’s attention to it, and he promptly pulled the vehicle to the side of the road so they could take a closer look. As they looked on, they could see that the lights were clearly part of a “huge, circular craft” that was “moving back and forth” directly over the road. Then, things turned even stranger.
As they looked on, a “light beam” suddenly emanated from the bottom of the object, lighting up the ground below before disappearing. This light beam appeared several times before the craft suddenly shot up high into the night sky “at a high rate of speed!” It was only after it had vanished from sight that they realized the object had been completely silent throughout the encounter. The couple reported what they had seen to the local police, who seemingly passed the account to one of the local newspapers, which subsequently ran a story on the sighting shortly after. As well as detailing Dorothy and her husband’s sighting, it stated that many other people had witnessed something strange in the sky on the night in question, including several on-duty police officers.
Following the newspaper article, it appeared the events would be forgotten about, and Dorothy and her family began to go on with their lives. Then, a gentleman arrived at their home claiming to be from Stewart Air Force Base. He stated he wished to speak with the couple about what they had seen. He remained polite and non-threatening throughout the conversation, but it was clear to Dorothy and her husband that his sole purpose for visiting them was to dismiss what they had seen as nothing unusual. If the newspaper report was accurate – and there is no reason to think it wasn’t – then it is perhaps clear that, whatever it was, a mystery aerial vehicle was present over the Hudson Valley region that evening in 1968.
Another thought-provoking incident in the Hudson Valley occurred around the same time. On the evening of July 3rd, 1968, nine-year-old Marloe was a passenger in the back seat of the family car, with her brother next to her, her father in the front passenger seat, and her mother driving, as they returned home from a birthday party they had attended. As they were approaching the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, they could see a line of cars parked at the side of the road, the respective drivers and passengers standing next to them seemingly watching something strange taking place overhead. A moment later, Marloe’s mother pulled their car to the side of the road, and they all stepped out to see just what was happening. They all looked up, immediately becoming aware of a “humongous craft” that was hovering overhead just before the bridge.
Marloe later recalled that the craft was distinctly “diamond-shaped” and had “rounded corners.” As it hovered, it glowed brightly, and despite its size, it remained completely silent. They continued to watch the curious craft for several minutes before it suddenly shot off into the distance, doing so at such a rapid pace that it appeared “like it had shrunk!” Marloe later learned from her father – John – that he had seen a raised part of the craft on the top side, a raised section that contained what appeared to be windows, each spaced evenly apart. Out of these windows a “bright yellowish light” shone. Interestingly, John also recalled that the object “moved in the strangest way,” and appeared to “jump from place to place!” Marloe’s mother – Cassie – also noted several clear details of the encounter. She recalled that although the object was distinctly circular, it was “not a saucer as it had height,” elaborating that it was like a “cruise ship of flying saucers!” She further stated that the exterior of the craft appeared to be metallic but “not shiny,” and that it had a strange, otherworldly quality to it.
Following the craft’s disappearance, the family made a report of the sighting to the local police. However, although they were informed that they had received a number of calls describing the same object that evening, the officer who took the report offered that the family shouldn’t waste their time on the sighting as “it won’t be reported, and it won’t be in the newspapers!” Not satisfied with such a response, John asked why this was the case, to which the officer stated that great efforts were made to make sure such sightings were not widely reported. In a moment of candor, the officer then admitted that he and his partner had come up against such suppression when they had reported a similar sighting previously.
The previously mentioned Linda Zimmerman investigated the case, and eventually spoke with the family, including Marloe, who offered that she had seen another anomalous object several months later. She claimed it was a cold, snowy morning and she was waiting for the school bus to arrive. As she stood there, she suddenly became aware of a “strange humming” coming from above her. She looked up, not seeing anything unusual, to begin with. Then, a moment later, she could see a “whiteish egg-shaped craft” emerging out of the clouds. The more she looked at it, the more she realized she was looking at the same object she had witnessed with her family previously, with the same row of windows that glowed a bright yellow from the illumination inside the object.
The next thing she realized, the school bus was approaching and she was forced to break her attention away from the aerial vehicle and step onto the bus. However, as she did so, the driver asked her if she had seen anything unusual, suggesting to Marloe that they too must have seen the object. She stated that she had before sitting down. The driver closed the doors and drove away.
As it happened, Marloe wasn’t the only member of the family who had witnessed UFOs on other occasions. When Zimmerman spoke with Cassie she discovered that she had also had several UFO encounters, the first of which was at the start of the 1970s. On the day in question, she was driving along a mountain road with her sister on a particularly bright, sunny, and peaceful day. Then, her sister gasped and pointed toward the sky. Cassie shifted her focus in the direction her sister was pointing, immediately seeing the “three cigar-shaped objects” hovering overhead slightly ahead of them. She recalled they were a “dull, silver color” and were “tapered at the ends!” The objects remained completely silent throughout the sighting, as well as remaining in perfect formation.
Only several months before the sightings near the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, in the spring of 1976, Cassie was at home when she noticed a bizarre, glowing, orange object descending out of the foggy, night sky toward the surrounding woodland. The lower the object got, the more she could make out that it was spherical. Moreover, it moved at such a controlled and (relatively) slow pace that she knew she was not watching a meteor falling to the ground. Of course, whether these repeated sightings by multiple members of the same family are indicative of something more such as alien abduction remains open to debate. As we shall explore shortly, though, there are many alien abduction cases from the Hudson Valley region.
Zimmerman relays a similar encounter in the same book that occurred several years later in the summer of 1979. The account was volunteered to Zimmerman by Ed Mulvaney, who claimed he was driving down Stormville Mountain when he noticed a large, mysterious triangular object around half a mile from his location. He slowed his car somewhat as he watched the bizarre aerial anomaly, noticing that around “15 or 20 cars (were) pulled over” to the side of the road ahead of him, their motorists also watching the strange display overhead. At this point, Ed brought his car to a stop and got out of the vehicle. He walked over to the small crowd of motorists, all of them looking upwards at the huge triangular craft as it made its way directly over them. Ed later offered that the craft was around the size of a “new cruise ship!” In fact, it was so large that it “blocked out most of the stars” as it passed by.
Ed further recalled seeing several lights set in a ring formation that appeared to be “pulsating” and changing color. The object remained in view for around a minute before it disappeared into the distance. Like many of the other sightings we have examined, the object remained completely silent for the duration of the incident. Perhaps even more surreal, after the strange craft had disappeared, each of the witnesses simply got back in their respective cars and drove away, almost as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.
Several months later, either in late 1979 or early 1980, another baffling UFO encounter unfolded in the Hudson Valley, this time in the Yorkton Heights region. On the night in question, Joan Naylor was driving with her husband close to the Croton Reservoir when she noticed a strange “orange star” in the night sky. However, it only took several moments of watching this strange orange glow for her to realize it wasn’t a star at all but something that was moving. She pointed the aerial anomaly out to her husband who turned his focus to it.
As they continued to watch, the orange, glowing object began to pick up its pace, moving so fast at some points that it appeared to leave a “trail of fire” behind it. In fact, at one point the Naylors began to question if they were watching an out-of-control and engulfed airplane. However, the control the object appeared to operate under showed them they were witnessing something completely out of the ordinary. At this point, they pulled their vehicle to the side of the road and stepped outside. By now, the bizarre object was much closer, so much so, the sky around it began to take on an orange glow. Then, suddenly and without warning, it changed direction. As it did so, the glow coming from it increased in intensity. Of more concern, the object was heading in their direction. Within a few moments, it passed directly over the top of them and headed toward the reservoir. As it did so, they could both see that the object was a distinct triangular shape and, as we might imagine, it made no sound whatsoever, traversing the sky in complete silence. The Naylors could also see that at each point of the triangle was a white light, a detail that would show up in multiple reports of triangular objects over the coming years.
With the object almost out of sight, the couple got back in their car and set out to the Croton Dam hoping to get a better look at the strange and futuristic craft. As they made their way there, they managed to pick out the lights of the object, now hovering “on top of the mountain” a short distance away. The object began to rise into the night sky. At the same time, the couple became aware of a sudden loud rumbling sound. The next thing they knew, three military helicopters rose into the air in front of them seemingly from out of the valley below. Instead of approaching their vehicle, though, they headed in the direction of the triangular craft. Within moments, the object and the three helicopters had disappeared into the distance. Interestingly or not, when Joan went to report the encounter, she found that “no one was interested” in making any official documented report. Make of that what you will.
Undoubtedly, the most active, and certainly most well-known UFO encounters were the wave of sightings that hit the region in the early-to-mid eighties. The initial sightings of the Hudson Valley UFO wave (as it would be referred to over the coming years) arguably began on the evening of March 17th, 1983, over the town of Brewster. Suddenly a quiet night turned electric as the town’s telephone switchboard burst into life, eventually becoming jammed due to the sudden surge of calls – all of which were reporting the same thing, strange and unsettling lights moving across the sky. At the same time, motorists on the now-gridlocked Taconic Parkway left their vehicles to get a clearer view of the aerial display. The closer they looked, the more certain they were that the lights were connected to a huge, “mothership-type” craft.
One of the witnesses that night was Dennis Sant, a married father of five children who had been a government employee for almost 20 years, and who was at home when he witnessed the strange craft go directly over his property. As the object passed overhead, he claimed, “Thoughts started to flood my mind, thoughts of the craft touching the ground, thoughts of an encounter with an alien being. Thoughts of being abducted. All types of fearful thoughts started to enter my mind!” Whether these thoughts were some kind of transference of information, an attempt at communication, even repressed memories of a previous encounter, or simply nothing more than an active imagination is open to debate. Sant, though, is a very credible witness who also took in a considerable amount of detail regarding the object. He recalled, for example, that the craft was definitely three-dimensional and made of a “girder-like” dark gray metallic outer shell. Moreover, it had lights that were “all brilliant colors” all around its exterior and appeared very much like a floating city lit up at night.
Another mass sighting unfolded several months later in late June. Once more, multiple calls came through the switchboards of the region, with residents reporting hearing a disturbing low humming sound before seeing a huge “disc-shaped” object with multiple colored lights around its exterior passing overhead. Some of the witnesses later claimed that the object was approximately “the size of 16 or 17 houses!” These sightings and reports continued over the following years, although, suspiciously to some, news reports of them appeared to die down. Some of the reports, though, were not only amazingly detailed but remarkably credible.
In the summer of 1986, for example, Rob Levine was driving home from work when he noticed what he thought was a low-flying vehicle, possibly one that was in trouble. As this aerial object neared his vehicle, he slowed down his car, eventually bringing it to a stop. He turned his attention skyward, noting that the object was flashing with multiple different colored lights and appeared like nothing he had ever seen before. He kept the lights in his sight, watching as they appeared to move further away and then closer again, repeating this several times. They then flashed in a V-shape before forming into letters or symbols that he had not seen before. As this was happening, strange beams of light emanated from the underside of the object and stretched toward the ground. He later stated that he had the impression that the craft was attempting to communicate with him. He also noticed that throughout the encounter, his surroundings were unnaturally quiet, almost surreal.
These sightings in the early-to-mid 1980s are just some of the many that were reported during this time. Just to demonstrate how busy this period was, between 1982 and 1986, there were over 300 such reports made from this region of New York.
It is also worth our time to examine some of the strange events that took place in Pine Bush, many of which were documented in the book Silent Invasion: The Shocking Discoveries of a UFO Researcher by Ellen Crystall, who spent over a decade investigating the strange goings-on there. As well as multiple sightings of strange objects, Crystall relayed accounts of these otherworldly objects landing in, or taking off from, nearby fields, even managing to capture several pictures of these futuristic aerial vehicles. However, as most of these were unclear and blurred, many people distanced themselves from her claims. She would offer that the reason for the blurred images was “due to intentional magnetic or microwave disruption focused on the camera (or) film by the aliens to camouflage their craft!”
While this last point might sound outlandish, many researchers have offered that these UFOs have the ability to cloak themselves. Bob Lazar, for example, stated that two people could be standing on the same street at the same time, and one person would be able to see the object clear as day while the other would see nothing at all as, often, seeing such objects depends on being in a specific line of sight. Moreover, it has been claimed by some researchers that sightings of UFOs are either due to faulty cloaking equipment, pilot error (in failing to utilize such technology), or because such cloaking technology was intentionally dropped.
While many treated Crystall’s claims with caution to begin with, as more and more researchers and investigators began to examine the region for themselves, they began to arrive at similar conclusions. Word began spreading around UFO and paranormal circles that there was “something strange” going on in Pine Bush. Eventually, this small group of researchers organized themselves into an unofficial and unnamed organization that would meet regularly in the area, watch the skies, and take as many reports as they could from local residents. This activity continued throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s, and the region still boasts many strange happenings today. Ellen Crystall, incidentally, passed away in December 2002 from cancer aged just 52 years old. Whether her untimely and tragic death was connected to her close encounters with these strange vehicles is not known. Her work, though, continues to inspire researchers today.
All manner of strange goings-on have been witnessed and reported in Pine Bush. Strange lights and glowing objects in the sky, for example, have been regular occurrences for decades. Perhaps of more intrigue, and concern, are reports of “phantom beings” who appeared so strange they were beyond description. There have also been reports of bizarre and freakish animals, ones that suggest some kind of hybrid breeding program. Perhaps even stranger, reports of “strange mechanical rumblings” coming from deep under the ground have also been noted, leading many researchers to contemplate if some kind of subterranean facility – possibly an extraterrestrial one – exists deep below Pine Bush.
Many of the farmers in the region have not only reported seeing these strange, futuristic objects hovering over their fields but have also discovered mounds of earth beneath where the respective objects hovered as if they had been piled up by a tractor. In the surrounding woodlands strange “white orbs of light” have also been regularly reported. Over the years, several residents have attempted to capture these orbs on film (often referred to as Tesla Globes), but they would discover a strange red mist on the photographs. Stranger still are the reports of “warm gusts of air” that can often be felt coming out of the woods, even in the freezing conditions of winter. In short, the place was a hotbed of strange, anomalous activity.
Despite their attempts to keep a low profile, many of the local newspapers and radio stations began to notice the increased presence of these paranormal researchers and, in turn, began to take an interest in the mystifying encounters and activity they were investigating. As a result, many local residents began sending pictures of these strange aerial anomalies to the newspapers, as well as speaking of their own respective encounters.
A particularly thought-provoking article ran in a 1993 edition of The Poughkeepsie Journal about a group named the United Friends Observer Society, whose members included many people who claimed to have been abducted by alien entities. One member of the group told the newspaper that they had been abducted several times, including recently, adding that “it started like it always does, with the noise in my ears!” He then detailed how he would find himself paralyzed, only able to move his eyes before finding himself in a strange room that was “filled with entities!”
Another local resident, Jim Smith, told of his account to The Times-Herald Record newspaper. Smith had lived in Pine Bush most of his life and was a sergeant at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility. He claimed to have “seen so many of the beings” that he knew a great deal about them, including how they moved, and the different sizes and shapes of the entities. He continued “When you see them so much, you know they are not of this Earth!”
As the 1990s progressed, more and more reports surfaced – and each report brought more and more attention to the Pine Bush region. Indeed, it became a hub of high strangeness in the eyes of investigators and adventure seekers alike. While there were many reports of all kinds, a number of them revolved around alien abduction, with many of the abductees having their reports taken seriously as opposed to being shunned or mocked by their communities. It is also worth noting, although still several years away, the book Communion by Whitley Strieber, who stated in his writing that many of his alien abductions took place in the Pine Bush region.
Much of this new attention was not welcome by the initial researchers, and they would close ranks from this second wave of investigators, not least, as they saw it, right or wrongly, to protect against charlatan individuals and organizations. One of these second-wave researchers, however, was Dr. Bruce Cornet, who had begun his own investigation after speaking extensively with the previously mentioned Ellen Crystall. Part of his investigations revolved around magnetic and geological experiments in the local area. Remarkably, the conclusions of these experiments were that underground transmitters were present in the area that were “firing off polarized magnetic photo beams” into outer space. Even more fascinating, and outlandish, at least to some, Cornet claimed to have received telepathic communication from the intelligence behind this advanced technology. Part of what he was told was that the Wallkill River Valley region was an “exact scale replica” of the Cydonia region of Mars. As we might imagine, many were more than cautious of such claims, although footage he and two colleagues captured of a triangular UFO passing over the region in May 1997 was certainly interesting and seemingly authentic.
While sightings of strange objects and lights over the Hudson Valley have continued over the years, as the 2000s began to unfold, it appeared that they were beginning to increase somewhat. On the evening of July 14th, going into July 15th, 2001, multiple residents near the Arthur Kill River reported seeing similar lights overhead to those reported in the early 1980s. Many motorists had even pulled their cars to the side of the road approaching the New Jersey Turnpike and exited their respective vehicles in order to get a better look at the bizarre events overhead.
As they moved across the sky, these glowing orbs were in a clear V-shaped formation, although witnesses disagreed whether the lights were part of a large, solid object or individual objects in their own right (some reports offered that the lights began to separate from the formation one by one). Whatever the truth, that something strange was over the New Jersey Turnpike that summer’s evening in 2001 is without doubt. Whether of consequence or not, nearby Newark Airport or the local weather services failed to pick up any sign of the anomalous object (or objects) on the radar equipment.
According to a report on the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) website, on the evening of March 17th, 2006 in the Nanuet region, an anonymous resident was stepping out of their house and onto their driveway to greet their grandparents, who were just pulling up on the drive, when they noticed several strange lights “moving really slowly” overhead in the distance. Almost instinctively, the witness pointed toward the sky in the direction of the bizarre lights. By this point, his grandparents were stepping out of their car, so the witness asked his grandfather (who had served in the military) what he thought the lights were. Rather than give a “rational” explanation, however, he stated as a matter of absolute fact that they were a “UFO!”
The object was now much closer to their location, and as it passed directly overhead, they could see the underside in much more detail. They could tell that it was an oval shape and had lights of multiple different colors running around the outer perimeter. Once more, the witnesses reported that the object made no noise whatsoever as it moved. Although it remained visible for a considerable amount of time, it eventually disappeared into the distance. When the witness reported what he had seen to the local police, he was informed that they had received several calls of an almost identical object that evening. The sighting took one last twist, though, as for several hours after the curious craft had disappeared, “the sky was full of helicopters with searchlights!” Just what they were looking for – if anything – was never explained.
As well as UFO sightings and encounters, we can find a plethora of accounts of alien abduction in the Hudson Valley. Arguably one of the earliest took place in 1929 and comes to us once more from the files of the previously mentioned Linda Zimmerman, who details the account in the book Hudson Valley UFOs: Startling Eyewitness Accounts from 1909 to the Present. The incident first came to light following UFO researcher, Budd Hopkins, speaking on a radio talk show about cases of alien abduction. A retired 61-year-old teacher – who Hopkins later gave the name, Ellen Sutter – rang in and detailed her encounter, which Hopkins then duly investigated.
According to Ellen, the incident occurred when she was only nine years old in the Spring Valley region of Hudson Valley. She offered that on the day in question, she was playing outside during an “overcast summer afternoon” when a sudden “blinding flash” caught her attention, something she later described as being like something metallic reflecting the sun. Then, however, she looked skyward and was more than shocked to see “something huge, shaped like a dirigible, with many, many portholes” hovering above her. She described how the moment, and the atmosphere, felt “like time (had) stood still,” with no sounds or any other noise whatsoever around her. Of more concern, she felt as though she was rooted to the spot and suddenly unable to move. Things, though, were about to turn even stranger.
As she looked up at the object, she noticed that several strange figures had appeared from an opening and were “floating” down toward her. She described these figures as having a “distorted, short-looking body” and wearing what looked like a “diving suit”. She continued to watch these figures approach before everything suddenly changed. The next thing she realized, the figures were no longer there. Moreover, the object was now ascending high into the sky, disappearing within seconds. A little unnerved by the whole experience, she decided to return home. However, when she arrived, she was a little shocked that her mother was so angry with her, claiming she was late home. By Ellen’s reckoning, she had returned home earlier than she was asked to. We might surmise from this that she experienced missing time, indicative of alien abductions. Whatever the truth, because of the strangeness of the incident, not to mention the amount of time she couldn’t account for, she decided to keep the bizarre events to herself.
Another intriguing alien abduction encounter is detailed in the book Night Siege: Hudson Valley UFO Sightings by J. Allen Hynek, Bob Pratt, and Philip Imbrogno, involving a man named “Ray” who experienced something very much out of the ordinary near Croton Falls. According to his account, Ray was driving near the reservoir on the evening of March 13th, 1988. He was returning home from visiting a friend and was driving along a particularly dark and lonely stretch of road. Suddenly, he noticed a strange group of “bright, white lights” moving ahead of him at a particularly low altitude over the water. He quickly dismissed the idea that the lights belonged to a plane, and continued to monitor them as he continued along the road. Several moments later, he noticed a gap in the trees at the roadside and decided to pull his vehicle to the side of the road so he could get a better look at the aerial anomaly.
He remained in his vehicle, peering through the window – and from this vantage point, he could see that the lights were heading in his direction. The more he looked at them, the more he could tell they were attached to a solid structure. This object passed directly over the top of him, allowing him to see that the object was triangular and was (like multiple other cases we have examined here) completely silent. As it made its way across the sky, he saw several white flashes of light, similar to a strobe light, emanating from the underside of the craft.
Then, rather bizarrely, the object was no longer there. Stranger still, he was now sitting behind the wheel of his car which was in motion along the road. He had no memory of the object disappearing – it was simply there one minute and then not there the next, almost as if he had imagined the entire thing, although he knew he hadn’t – and he had no memory of getting inside his vehicle and setting off back down the road. One thing he was certain of was that something very strange and surreal had taken place. He returned home and tried his best to put the bizarre events out of his mind. However, as the days went on, a feeling of general confusion and uneasiness overtook him. At the same time, he was suffering from intense nightmares that would cause him to wake in a panic. Eventually, he realized he had to report the encounter to someone, and eventually contacted Imbrogno.
Ultimately, Ray underwent hypnotic regression to unlock his memory of the unsettling events that evening near the reservoir, with Dr. Jean Mundy running the session. And the details that emerged were startling. While Ray was watching the object, just after the bright flashes of light began, he was somehow transported into the craft. He couldn’t recall actually entering it (a trivial but seemingly important detail that shows up in many alien abduction cases) but suddenly found himself lying on a table in a strange room. Around his head was some kind of “strange instrument” and he had no feeling in his legs, as if they had been numbed. Of more concern, though, several strange figures were standing around the table looking at him. The descriptions he gave for these entities fit how most of us would recognize a typical grey alien being.
Without warning, one of the creatures moved toward him and inserted something into his nose, causing him immediate pain. A moment later, the object was removed and Ray was allowed to get up from the table. One of the figures then guided him toward some kind of futuristic-looking control panel. None of them spoke to him – not even telepathically – but he had a bizarre understanding of what they wanted him to do. Frustratingly, however, although he could recall the control panel, as well as understand these unspoken instructions, he couldn’t remember any of the details. This is another detail that resonates with many other alien abduction cases – that some kind of memory block is put in place by the abductors that even hypnotic regression can’t unlock. Could this have been the case here? Then, Ray’s next memory is of sitting behind the wheel of his car driving down the road.
Ray, however, would make some intriguing statements to Imbrogno following the regression. He offered, for example, that he had a deep belief that these alien entities – if that is what they were – would return for him in the near future. Moreover, he believed that he was in “some form of mental contact” with them, elaborating that they would ask seemingly mundane questions about everyday chores he might be doing, further asking how these respective things made him feel. Perhaps of more concern, however, was that Ray claimed he was powerless to resist these requests for information.
Philip Imbrogno also investigated a similar case of alien abduction that unfolded four years previously (during the wave of UFO sightings of the mid-eighties, incidentally) on the evening of July 19th, 1984. The witness – “Bill” – was a computer programmer who worked for a “well-known corporation” and had even been involved in the NASA Hubble Space Telescope program. He claimed that he left work at around 10:30 pm on the night in question, going straight to his car and setting off for home. The journey, as it usually was, was uneventful. As he was driving along Highway I-84, however, he noticed a curious, glowing, circular object overhead. He kept the object in sight, glancing back regularly as he continued down the highway. Then, the object moved, revealing a much larger object behind it.
He continued to maintain a view of the object for several minutes. Eventually, though, he lost sight of it. He quickly put it out of his mind and continued with his journey. By 11 pm, he was driving past a field as he normally did. On this occasion, though, he could see a “dark mass” in the middle of the field that appeared, at first, to be a house or barn. He couldn’t recall ever seeing any kind of building in this field during the many journeys he had made past it, nor could he recall seeing any kind of building project here. At this point, intrigued more than anything else and not making a connection between this mystery “building” and the strange object he had seen only minutes earlier, he began to slow his vehicle so he could take a closer look. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that the dark mass wasn’t a building but a futuristic-looking object that was “huge and dark” and tapered with ultra-smooth sides.
Then, the object began to ascend, remaining completely silent as it did so. At the same time, the car radio began to weaken, with the music that was playing suddenly sounding distant. As this was happening, Bill began to feel a surge of fear run through him – a fear, despite the surreal situation, that he couldn’t explain. He immediately pressed down on the gas and drove away from the scene as fast as he could. After several moments, the object was no longer in his sight. Sure that he was at a safe distance, Bill began to slow his car and calm himself. A short time later, though, he noticed a strange light that appeared to be on the other side of a hill he was approaching. As he came to the top of the climb, he could see the unsettling object once more slightly ahead of him. He brought his car to a stop and turned off the headlights. A moment later, the white and yellow lights of the object also went out. Then, it began moving in his direction. Interestingly, although stating to Imbrogno that he “didn’t want to make light of this, the ship looked like one of the star destroyers in Star Wars!”
The object continued its approach, eventually passing directly over the top of him. As it did so, Bill noticed several circular openings on the underside that appeared to be some kind of tunnel-like entrances. What’s more, in an almost identical detail to the previous abduction near Croton Falls, white strobe-like lights began to flash from these openings. The object continued passing over him and he continued to watch. Then, in a second, he was suddenly at the bottom of the hill, around 600 feet from where he was standing only moments before. Moreover, the object was nowhere to be seen, but he had no memory of it disappearing or heading into the distance. He estimated that he had been watching the object for around 30 minutes. However, when he looked at his watch, he was shocked to see that it was 15 minutes after midnight – he was missing around 45 minutes. Furthermore, he noticed a sudden stiff ache in his neck.
He immediately continued on his journey home, telling his wife of his surreal encounter upon his arrival. After speaking about it for a little while, the couple retired to bed. However, in the middle of the night, Bill suddenly awoke screaming, “Get away from me!” These intense night terrors continued for several weeks, with Bill unable to recall what took place in them, only that “something was after him!” Eventually, realizing that there was more to the strange encounter than what he could recall, he sought the help of Imbrogno, who would recommend using hypnotic regression to unlock his subconscious memories of the night in question.
Upon being regressed, Bill recalled standing in front of the object as it headed in his direction. Then, however, he began to reveal much more than he had previously remembered. As the object passed over the top of him, he suddenly saw “someone standing in the road…he is now walking toward the car!” As the figure approached, a voice entered his mind. It urged him not to be “fearful,” adding that he had “been selected!”
The next thing he knew he was floating in the air, seemingly heading toward the craft. Then, as we highlighted earlier, he had no memory of actually entering the craft but suddenly found himself lying on a table in a strange room. Once more, in a similar detail offered by Ray, he noticed how his legs felt like “dead weights” and he was unable to move them. Of more concern, though, were the six strange figures that were standing around the table. He described them as being “small (with) large head with round eyes” that were “all black” with no pupils and appeared similar to “sharks’ eyes!” He also recalled that each of the figures was dressed in “skin-tight suits.” As he was looking around him, he noticed that one of the figures was manipulating some kind of device near his head. A moment later, the device began to vibrate and he felt an intense pain spread throughout his skull, elaborating that it felt like “a drill going through my head!”
Once more, a voice entered his mind, telling him that they had been “looking for something and (had) found it!” Following this, the feeling began to return to his legs and the voice told him that he could get up from the table. Two of the figures led him from the table to another part of the room. As they did so, Bill asked them where they were from, to which they replied, “We are from here!” Whether they meant they were from Earth is not known. Like Ray’s account, Bill’s abductors offered that they would come back for him in the near future, and they would “see him again!” It was, though, their last revelation that caused the most concern. They told Bill that they needed access to human beings as they “have trouble living in our world,” adding that they “came from a place which is very ugly!”
Although we don’t have time to go into them here, it is worth noting that as well as UFOs and alien encounters, the Hudson Valley is home to all manner of high strangeness and bizarre goings-on. There are multiple reports of Bigfoot encounters, for example, something which is particularly intriguing as we find many other UFO hotspots are also awash with an abundance of Bigfoot sightings. As many researchers have already suggested, there appears to be a genuine connection between these beastly creatures and apparent visitors from another world. Could it be that these Bigfoot creatures are also extraterrestrial? Or are these hotspots hubs of general paranormal activity and not exclusively UFO encounters? And if that is true, might we assume that Bigfoot, rather than being some kind of flesh-and-blood creature, has more of a supernatural element to it? There are also a number of haunted buildings and hotels in Hudson Valley, as well as reports of portals and ancient gateways to other worlds, perhaps again suggesting hubs of paranormal activity in such locations.
If we return our focus purely to UFO encounters for a moment, though, we might ask how many of those are the result of intelligence from another world or dimension, and how many might be top-secret military aerial vehicles? Might this explain the strange rumbling sounds beneath the region? And if there is any truth to the notion that at least some of the futuristic vehicles witnessed in the Hudson Valley are military aircraft (the triangular-shaped objects, for example) then we might ask why they seemingly choose to operate such vehicles in full view of the public? Were these sightings the result of some bizarre error of judgment, or were they purposeful operations to assess public reaction?
Or, on the other hand, what if these strange objects and encounters are the result of intelligent life from another realm, whether from elsewhere in the universe or from another dimension? Why is there such a concentration of sightings in this region? Are there electromagnetic elements here that open portals and gateways? Or could the region have been of some importance in pre-history ancient times, an importance unknown to us but of relevance to this seemingly otherworldly intelligence? For now, there is a lot for us to collectively contemplate, not only what is behind the plethora of UFO and alien encounters but also how the Hudson Valley incidents fit into the bigger UFO and alien picture, and how they, in turn, fit into the great paranormal puzzle.
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pigfarmer
tall, thin, irritable
Ah. Linda Zimmerman. She really, really wants to sell you one of her books. I saw her at the Pine Bush UFO Festival.
Let's just say I wouldn't be taking those stories to the bank. I often see her literary works on a wire rack in our local Walgreens, you know, next to War and Peace and other epic works.
Let's just say I wouldn't be taking those stories to the bank. I often see her literary works on a wire rack in our local Walgreens, you know, next to War and Peace and other epic works.