Article/Document:

Connecticut Sightings Of The Hudson Valley "Boomerang" As Investigated By Mark Packo

Mutual UFO Network Of Connecticut

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Summary: Mark Packo documented the series of UFO sightings in Fairfield County on 3/21/85 and 8/31/89.

Introduction
Mark Packo documented the series of UFO sightings in Fairfield County on 3/21/85 and 8/31/89. Parts of this document, from the files of MUFON CT, has been transferred to this form using Optical Character Recognition. The parts of the document used are those which directly describe the sightings.

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Sightings - 3/21/85

1. New Fairfield
Driving NNE on Ball Pond Road (Route 39) during an unspecified time, a mother and her pre-teenage daughter both noticed an airborne curiosity which they agreed resembled 7 or 8 round red and blue lights hanging motionless over the intersection of Ball Pond and Bigelow roads.

Quoted in the Danbury News-Times - confirmed later during a telephone interview - they described seeing "bright" yellow, white and red lights in triangular and round shapes. These lights were roughly estimated to have been at no more than 100 feet in altitude, with an apparent size close to that of a foot-ruler held out at arm's length. As they slowed down to observe this thing more carefully it was heard to emit a "soft and deep hum". Other drivers were noted to be slowing down on the road during this time.

After only a minute or so, mother and daughter proceeded, traveling west on Ball Pond Road, but watching these lights as they went, noticing that they had started to move. As the lights did so, they also began to change appearance, now resembling two concentric rings of white light. After a couple more minutes of awkwardly trying to observe this thing, the witnesses lost track of it as it passed beyond the treeline, heading towards the southwest.

2. Bethel
According to a muddled account in the Bethel Homes News, sometime between 9:30 and 10 PM, from "a vantage point on Payne Road," some townspeople reported having watched a formation of lights, while someone else claimed that while she "was driving home on Dodgingtown Road... became frightened when it appeared that the light in the sky above her was following the car". Another individual, from Redding, notified the paper of having seen something odd that "had hovered over the pond at Putnam Park," which is situated south of the two previous locations.

3. Danbury
The Waterbury Republican mentioned an unidentified woman who claimed to have been "on Interstate 84 near route 7 around 10 P.M. when she saw the object. Drivers were pulling to the side of the road to watch it, she said. They watched the object for about 15 minutes before it flew away."

*Please note: this location is about halfway between the New Fairfield and Bethel areas.

4. Trumbull
Sometime around 9 PM, a gentleman, pulling into his driveway on Dayton Road, alongside Great Oak Park, spotted a formation of white lights passing high overhead, heading east "towards Route 25." Hurrying inside he alerted his family, then returned outdoors with some of his children in tow. They watched what his eldest son described as "seven humming objects, each with (sic) set of alternating red and white lights." This was claimed to have been producing a "slight murmur", and at no time was even the slightest deviation between any of the lights noticed as they moved away.

5. Trumbull
From the Bridgeport Post, a Monroe resident to said she was entering Route 25 around 9 P.M. when she saw an object in the sky. 'It was at a very high altitude and wasn't moving at all. I sat there for a few minutes and watched it. Then a car came southbound down Route 25 and it veered toward the car."'

*Possible location of sighting: commuter parking lot at intersection of Route 25 and Route 111, which would suggest that the lights were situated approximately over Indian Ledge Park.

6. Trumbull
Near 9 PM, one of the security guards employed at the Trumbull Shopping Center heard on his portable two-way radio some of his fellow guards excitedly describing something that was just then taking place outside in the parking lot. Along with a number of shoppers who had overheard some of these remarks - the unit's volume having been turned up for monitoring - this guard exited to the Main Street (eastern) side of the mall.

In the distance to the west, this throng of people watched what the guard described to the Bridgeport Post as a "glider shaped" assemblage of white lights, "like six crosses with a red dot at the back" that moved "a bit slower than planes" and noiselessly, south towards Bridgeport.

Quickly losing sight of this formation, the security guard and a friend of his immediately got into a car and drove up the shopping center's entrance road onto Main Street, in pursuit of whatever it was. About a mile south of the plaza, near Overland Avenue, they again caught sight of the aerial display, still heading slowly south, roughly parallel with Park Avenue. It was finally lost sight of beyond the treeline.

7. Bridgeport
Between 8 and 9 PM, a televised talk show, "What Do You Think?" had been in progress on the University of Bridgeport's cable access station. Hosted by an editor of the Fairfield County Advocate, the guests that night were two Connecticut residents who had been heavily involved with investigating sightings of the so-called "Westchester Wing", or "Hudson valley Boomerang", since early 1983. Since one of the guests was also a co-author of Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings, (Ballantine Books, 1987) in which this particular event is mentioned though with a surprising lack of detail - in chapter 15, 1 think it is only fair to point out the more important discrepancies found in that account, along the way.

After finishing the program's interview and call-in segments, both gentlemen and an assistant left the studio to their car, no doubt parked off of University Avenue. At this point they noticed "a series of bright lights hovering not far above a fifteen-story building just north of the campus." Considering the absence of any other high-rise building on or near the campus, this must have been the tall building located at the corner of Rennell and Atlantic streets - west of where the television studio was located. This suggests that the formation was at first noticed over Seaside Park's largest playing field.

Although these lights initially appeared, to the investigators, as a "circular pattern" in the sky, they claimed to have been skeptical towards it being other than a prank, due of course to the suspiciously convenient timing of its arrival - an understatement, to say the least. However, they soon became convinced that there was something genuinely strange about this airborne display, and as it began to move northwards they followed after it in their car.

"Now the lights stopped and hovered almost directly above Interstate 95, which crossed over our street a short distance ahead of us ... It had seven intensely bright white lights in an elliptical pattern. They were about seventy-five degrees up from the horizon and almost directly over our heads ... As the object turned to the east, the lights seemed to be going out one by one. Then we realized they were not going out at all, but were being blocked from sight by some kind of structure or undercarriage ... When the object completed its turn, we could see about about twenty smaller lights of different colors with a faint orange glow around them that partially illuminated some type of dark structure."

Later, relying on the testimony of a "number of excellent observers," the investigators were supposedly able to triangulate the position of this formation at "between 1,200 and 1,500 feet high... located 200 yards west of exit 25, at Fairfield Avenue." Unfortunately, the information included in this chapter is either incomplete, inadequate, and/or erroneous for even the most diligent map reader to make full sense of, insofar as determining the precise location this UFO was spotted in. Suffice it to say that the Night Siege co-author has, on other occasions - once while being questioned on Geraldo Rivera's daytime talk show, and again during a brief conversation with myself - expressed uncertainty over exactly which 1-95 exit this thing had hovered over. Not to belabor this point unnecessarily, but it does seem to be a rather disappointing lack of initiative, and judgement, not to take greater advantage of such a rare, once-in-a-lifetime situation.

To end this account, the investigators watched as the object began to move away to the northeast, passing over the highway as it did SO. They drove up onto the highway to chase after it, but quickly "lost it in the west," as they traveled east, towards Stratford, which, by my reckoning, I suppose more accurately means that as they watched the object(s) moving north from their vehicle heading east, it was eventually lost sight of to the west of them. In any event, all during this time and through much of the rest of the evening, numerous Bridgeport area residents phoned in to WICC radio's Tiny Markel talk show, eager to share their own accounts of having just spotted this aerial visitor. *Regrettably, transcripts of this program had long since been routinely discarded by the time - three years later - that I attempted to obtain them.

According to Night Siege, the exact time that this UFO situated itself over the highway was 9:15 PM. According to the cursory report in the Bridgeport Telegram/Post, "State Police reported that about 100 to 150 cars pulled over on 1-95 to watch the spectacle."

8. Milford
A young woman who was bicycle riding in the vicinity of Bayview Beach, during an unspecified time, was quoted as describing what she saw: "'To me it looked like an egg or a football. There were five or six groups of lights. And it sounded like a lawnmower off in the distance"'.

Having moved out of the state, this person was unavailable for elaboration on this sighting. I can only surmise, based on my familiarity with this area, that she observed the formation either as it passed by over Long Island Sound, or above 1-95, in the vicinity of exit 39. Keep in mind that the Tweed/New Haven staff insisted that they had watched as a group of planes approached up the coast from Bridgeport for about 20 minutes. This claim, in conjunction with the bicyclist's statement that she could hear a noise emanating from the UFO, reinforce a Long Island Sound location. However, the following sighting events do not.

Another witness mentioned in the Milford Citizen volunteered that he "had just finished dinner with his wife and another couple when he spotted the craft. 'I was in the (sic) air force for five years, and that was no plane, baby. I watched that thing for 10 minutes. I followed that sucker doing 50 miles per hour. It was u shaped, and it just shot off and vanished."'

9. Milford
Once more, where all this took place, at what time and in which direction it was seen going is pure conjecture. However, it is reasonable to suggest that these folks were somewhere in the vicinity of the Connecticut Post Shopping Center, near exit 39, on the Boston Post Road (which is where, in fact, the paper said he had been) and probably driving east, towards Orange.

10. Milford/Orange
Moving northwards, though not necessarily forwards,chronologically, the next encounter was by a young woman "traveling along Grassy Hill Road... shortly after 9 o'clock...'I was with my boyfriend and another couple. We stopped the car and got out.'...observed a 'Square object with six very bright lights. White lights which looked like spot lights.' She reported that the object was moving very slow, was low to the ground, without making any sound. 'It was lower than any aircraft I've ever seen. I was just so amazed by it. As it got further away the lights turned red."'

Again, I would surmise that a likely area in which something "low to the ground" might conveniently be observed for any length of time and through which this road passes might be the Grassy Hill Country Club's gold course, close to the junction with the Wilbur Cross Parkway. Likewise, this raises the intriguing question: If these folks were in fact witnessing an unusual aircraft situated some 4.5 miles north of Long Island Sound, then what were all those other people watching as it, or they, flew up the coast to New Haven?

11. Orange/Derby
And to further complicate the Bridgeport to New Haven flight-path, from the Ansonia Evening Sentinel: "Nearly 100 people gathered in the parking lot of St. Jude's Church in Derby for a panoramic view of the spectacle, which occurred between 9:15 and 10 p.m." "The object was described by most as 'saucer shaped' with blinking red and white lights flashing intermittently."

St. Jude's is located high atop Sentinel Hill in Derby. Its parking lot affords a wide and mostly unobstructed view to the west and north, overlooking the confluence of the Naugatuck and Housatonic rivers, where Route 8 skirts around downtown Derby. Quite likely, the parishioners, who were just exiting the church after Lenten choir practice, encountered the UFO as it was passing from Orange into Derby. Which brings us to the most detailed episode of the night.

*For the record, I should mention that requests for additional information from the church staff were ignored.

12. Derby/Ansonia
At approximately 9:20 PM, the first principal witness, whom I shall refer to as "B", and his friend, had just left from work at a store in the Ansonia Shopping Center. Driving the short distance west, up Division Street, they then turned south near Griffin Hospital, towards downtown Derby. At this point they both noticed what looked to be a brightly lit aircraft about 1.5 miles ahead of them and at about a 45 degree angle above. As they descended the sloping road towards downtown Derby they drew nearer to this aircraft which, upon closer inspection, now gave the appearance of being 4 or 5 white lights arranged in the shape of an X. As the lights that constituted this shape randomly blinked off and on, the formation likewise moved through the sky in a similarly unusual fashion: advancing slowly then stopping, reversing direction, then going forward again, only to just as erraticly "drop straight down", then rise up to its previous altitude, and so on. According to B, the overall maneuvering of these lights through the sky above downtown Derby somewhat resembled the outline of an enormous letter H. And though he readily admitted that the passage of time had no doubt altered some of his memory of this event, I found his recall of most of its particulars to be remarkably vivid. By way of partial corroboration, consider this statement made by a Derby policeman, as quoted in the New Haven Register, "The objects have been described as slow-flying with a lot of blinking lights underneath them... They seem to stay in one spot, then move a couple of miles, then stop."

As B and his friend turned west on Seventh Street, they were able to get an even better look at this thing, which now appeared to have a "flattened football shape" with a "white dome light" on top of it and numerous red lights length-wise along its middle. At this point, B was of the opinion that the UFO was situated over Derby High School.

Shortly thereafter, B arrived at his home, on a small side street close by Oak Cliff Cemetery, and hurried inside to alert his mother and stepfather as to what was still visible in the sky. At first his claimes were met with amused skepticism - no one hustled outside to have a look for themselves. However, once the neighbors got word of what was going on, the close little road was soon full of curious spectators.


At this point the second principal witness, whom I shall refer to as "M", will take precedence. M recalled what she saw out in front of her house, sometime close to 9:30 PM, as looking like a "huge" group of lights, at least as large as her outstretched in apparent size. It seemed to have "a shape to it", noticeable due to what she perceived as rectangular "panels" of red, blue and yellowish colored lights which were arrayed all over its bottom surface. These "panels" did not flare as most light sources normally do, particularly when viewed at night. Instead, their glow was more similar to that of flourescent lighting: soft and less distinct. In any case, M adamantly insisted that the outline of this object, or group of objects, closely resembled that of a large blimp, though she was equally insistent that it could not have been one.

M went on to recall that the lights attached to this aircraft all at once began to switch off and on randomly as it hung motionless in the air. There was no sound she or any of the other spectators could detect from it, even though, based on my own on-site estimates, it could not have been much further than a single mile due east - approximately over the intersection of Route 8 and Pershing Drive - the same vicinity that the parishioners of St. Jude's had such an excellent view of.

Puzzling over this mysterious sight, M decided to fetch her husband's old, adjustable focal-length binoculars (7xl5-35MM) in order to more closely examine it. Doing so, she claimed to have been able to detect a "gray structure" that was partly illuminated by the glowing "panels" along the bottom, but nothing else of any noteworthy detail.

Eventually the object began to move very slowly to their left (north), all the lights simultaneously turning amber as it did so, which M choose to speculate was possibly the result of the craft's having turned as it advanced, its hull obscuring those lights which were differently colored in the process. After a couple of minutes the object was gradually obscured behind the rooftops and trees in the distance.

Unable to relocate this strange aircraft, M went back inside her house, eager to share this experience with a close friend who lived a few miles to the northwest, in oxford. Surprisingly, this friend, along with her husband, knew at once what she was referring to, claiming themselves to have just been watching from their high vantage point on Moose Hill as some-odd looking airplane slowly traversed over distant Derby, only to rapidly accelerate off to the northwest. Subsequently, M heard from others during the next couple of days, in person and over the radio, who professed to having similar experiences during that evening.

The total duration of both B and M's sightings was close to a half hour.

13. Naugatuck
Another report, unconfirmed, from the Waterbury Republican, quotes an anonymous woman who said that "she and a friend were in a car on New Haven Road when they saw a large rectangular object with many bright lights hovering about 250 feet off the ground. A man driving a truck stopped near them to watch it too... 'It was humungous ... and had clumps of bright, bright lights ... It was moving very slowly and at one point it stopped in mid-air' ... Three other aircraft that the woman identified as helicopters were flying around the object. Suddenly, 'this thing took off like you wouldn't believe' toward Middlebury..."

To speculate again: Since New Haven Road - the Naugatuck portion of Route 63 - passes through a valley, there are not all that many places along that part of its length consistent with being able to observe a low-flying aircraft. Therefore, I would guess that these aircraft were near the Beacon Hill area, close to the border of Naugatuck State Forest, about 10 miles NNE of Derby.

Middlebury is about 5 miles northwest of Beacon Hill.

14. Middlefield
Close to 9:30 PM, two adult women and a young girl who were traveling south on Route 147 noticed some peculiar looking lights off to their right, close to the ridge of Beseck Mountain. As originally noted in the Middletown Press, what they saw was a

"'low, hovering object ... slightly above tree level, resembling a giant, upside-down salad bowl ... it was huge ... you could actually see a dome on the top with flashing lights going around the dome.'"

Stopping their car in order to get a better look, the ladies watched as this seemingly motionless object began, gradually and without any noise, to head south parallel with Lake Beseck. It could not have been much farther than a mile distant, within the eastern ridge of Beseck Mountain. The driver described the lights to me as having either been rotating around it length-wise, or to have been blinking so rapidly in succession that they seemed to be rotating, similar to the way in which some Xmas lights function. The color of these lights was not recalled with any certainty, though she was certain that they did change in cue with their operation.

After dropping the girl off at home, (the driver's daughter) both adults promptly returned to the lake side in order to relocate the aircraft, but were unable to do so.

Lake Beseck is 16.25 miles NNE of New Haven; about 1.5 miles east of exit 16 on 1-91.


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Sightings 8/31/89

1. STRATFORD, 11:00 - 11:10 PM corner of Broadbridge and Barnum Avenues
Having stopped off at Burger King for a late meal this witness was heading back to his car when he noticed a small group of people in the parking lot intently looking at something in the sky to the east. Though he was in a hurry to get to work curiosity won out and this young man joined the onlookers, startled to discover that the source of their interest was almost directly over his place of employment.

only a quarter of a mile away and seemingly hovering above the Finast Supermarket's parking area was a large ring composed of many bright red and yellow lights. These lights appeared to be either rotating about the circumference of some sort of airborne object - the body of which this fellow could not see - or to be imparting that effect as a result of the spinning of the object itself. Then, as the spectators watched, these lights began to "change form", realigning into the shape of a boomerang, their colors turning uniformly white.

While some of the onlookers argued amongst themselves as to the source of this display, the boomerang began to move slowly northwards, eventually passing out of sight behind the intervening trees and buildings. Hurrying down Barnum Avenue in order to check into work on time, this witness soon confronted another small gathering in front of the grocery store, persons who were excitedly discussing the weird occurence that had just transpired.

2. STRATFORD, 11:05 - 11:15 PM area between Main and King Streets
Waiting for the traffic light to change at the intersection of the Barnum Avenue extension and Main Street (heading west), the first witness - a young girl who was idly resting her head against the passenger's side window - glanced up and was shocked to see a large triangular shape outlined by white lights. Alerting her mother and sister, the three of them peered up through the front window at what they could only surmise was some sort of low-flying passenger jet. Travelling remarkably slow and with a total lack of audible sound, this huge wingshape passed directly over their vehicle, continuing northwards, parallel with Main Street.

Though impossible to clearly distinguish against the night sky - particularly because of the nearby flourescent lamps -the outline of this strange, and to them ominous, aircraft became somewhat more definite as it drifted away. From this different angle a crescent of green lights was revealed, arrayed along the back of the object imparting to it an overall "domed" contour.

Frightened yet curious for another look at whatever this thing was, the ladies promptly crossed the intersection, pulling over into the nearby shopping center's parking lot. Upon doing so they immediately noticed a group of people standing out in front of the distant supermarket looking at something overhead. This, the ladies were even more amazed to discover, was yet another strange, airborne object. Bewildered they searched the skies all about, trying to locate the triangular UFO but were unable to. Regardless, they were steadfastly certain that this new object could not have been the same thing they had seen over Main Street in a different location.

Pulling up alongside the brightly lit store front the ladies joined this assemblage though they declined to leave the security of their car listening to the mingled descriptions of what had just taken place. Most of these accounts agreed on the basic details: A large ring of bright red lights had suddenly appeared above the parking lot at an altitude low enough for it to be heard producing a humming noise. It then rose vertically to a greater height at which it then proceeded to move ahead a short distance only to stop, then reverse course back to its starting position only to hover again, all of its lights starting to revolve as though it were spinning about its vertical axis.

Though some of the spectators professed to have found this aerial exhibition quite captivating, most of them were unsure what to make of it. However, they were all in agreement that the circle, whatever it was, finally moved off to the north, disappearing beyond the treeline.

3. STRATFORD, 11:10 - 11:30 PM corner of King Street and North Avenue
Driving up the hill from Main Street the first witness saw ahead of him some unusually bright lights that were only partly visible through the branches of the trees located to the rear of Nichols School. Pulling into his driveway he got out of his car only to be confronted by an L-shaped array of white lights approaching high above the houses along Wood Avenue.

Awestruck, this fellow watched as the array passed directly overhead, emitting as it did so a deeply pitched "synthesizer" like sound - clearly audible in the quiet neighborhood - which rapidly changed to a much higher pitch as it made a tight turn to the north. In the brief time during which this aircraft was passing above him the witness claimed that its underside was visible as an equilateral triangle, in apparent size close to that of his hand when held out at arm's length.

Rushing indoors to find his camera as well as to notify anyone else around of what he had just seen, this witness then exited out onto his front porch. Here he was stunned to once again encounter the mysterious aircraft, now silently hovering only a short distance away to the north. Firing off a couple of flash photos with his disc camera he was then joined by his girlfriend and an upstairs neighbor. Enthralled by this weird scene the three of them stepped out onto the street, anxious to get a better look and hopefully identify what this thing was.

This is what they saw: a greyish-silver, convex-shaped object about 50 feet long and 10 feet wide. Though exterior details was not distinguishable, the structure was plainly flanked by two unblinking red lights. The young lady claimed to have detected a curved row of much smaller white lights spaced midway between these red ones, bisecting the width of the object. At no time during their examination was the object heard to make any sound.

For several minutes these folks puzzled amongst themselves, unable to satisfactorily conclude what this thing could be. Meanwhile the first witness attempted to take more pictures of it but was unable to get the film to advance due to the poor condition of the camera. (Developed negatives contained nothing of value anyway, as should be expected from lens type, film speed and distance from flash.)

During this time some cars passed by on the road, the occupants heedless of the nearby spectacle, obscured for the most part as it was by the houses and overspreading branches of numerous trees.

Finally they were joined by...

4. STRATFORD, 11:10 - 11:30 PM North Avenue
From inside his house this elderly gentleman first heard an electrical-type sound which he initially assumed to be coming from the transformer attached to the telephone pole directly out front. Shortly after this his attention was drawn to the sounds of his neighbors talking and walking along the street. Concerned that there might be something wrong with the wires, or perhaps even his roof judging by how fascinated they seemed to be with the top of his house, this fellow stepped outside in order to find out what all the fuss was about.

Standing in the middle of North Avenue these neighbors quickly drew his attention to what this witness described as a very large and dark structure, resembling the "hull of a submarine". He was instantly fascinated by the ability of so sizeable an object to remain suspended in the air scarcely higher than the tops of the trees that lined nearby Vine, Arbor and Woodcrest Roads without making the slightest noise.

Determined to more carefully assess this incredible sight, the witness then walked up and down along this stretch of North Avenue, examining the UFO from different spots, attempting to get a better handle on its size and shape. He also noted the row of tiny white lights stretched midway between the pair of red ones. Finally he rejoined the others, comparing notes but still baffled. During the ensuing conversation their attention was briefly diverted from the subject at hand which, when they turned back to ponder it again, was gone.

5. STRATFORD, 11:12 - 11:30 PM corner of Sharon and Huntington Roads
Standing on the side porch and sharing a goodnight kiss with her boyfriend, the first witness opened her eyes and beheld a most unexpected sight. Just over the rooftops of the houses across the street was a wide V-shaped arrangement of eight evenly spaced white lights, four to each side, with a red light situated at either end. This formation was moving at a nearly imperceptible rate towards the northwest, most likely situated above the Bunnell High School area.

"What the hell is that?" she exclaimed, making her boyfriend turn around to look. Fascinated they observed the formation for a few minutes until the boyfriend suggested they get a camera. But rather than risk losing sight of this aerial show the first witness summoned her sister to an upstairs window, urging her to bring the camera out to them. Disappointed that there was no film loaded in it, the three of them watched as the formation gradually moved out of view.

Deciding to call it a night, the boyfriend left both ladies to their phone calls and headed home. Heading north up Nichols Avenue but still wondering what it was that they had just seen, this fellow made a spur-of-the-moment decision to drive a little way further up the road. Where Nichols intersects with Penny Avenue, adjacent to the Route 8/Merritt Parkway interchange, he encountered a group of people in the commuter parking area - some of whom were perched atop their cars staring at something in the sky to the northwest. Pulling over into the park-and-ride, this witness shared their view of a horizontally spaced pair of alternately pulsating red lights just visible beyond the criss-crossed pylons and powerlines.

Judging by the direction as well as the slow rate of travel this witness concluded that these lights were part of the same formation that had originally been spotted over the high school. They had apparently taken almost ten minutes to travel this total distance of less than three miles.

6. STRATFORD, 11:10 - 11:15 PM Huntington Road
Driving south on the Route 8 overpass this young couple was astonished to observe an immense triangle consisting of many lights gliding effortlessly above the traffic. Its apparent size nearly a yard wide, this array of rapidly blinking red and white lights was slowly heading towards Beaver Dam lake.

As they drove down the steep road alongside the lake these flashing lights were still visible through the branches of the overspreading trees, seeming nearly to brush their tops. Then, at the bottom of the hill, they noticed some cars that were parked by the road with people standing alongside them obviously waiting for the formation to become fully visible in the nearby clearing.

Pulling over also, this couple watched as the enormous triangle of flickering lights smoothly veered off to the west, passing over the open field and a nearby industrial park until it was gone.

7. STRATFORD, 11:05 - 11:20 PM Shirley Drive
Pausing to glance out her front screen-door, this lady's attention was immediately drawn by a circular cluster of red and white lights that flashed repeatedly in the west, approaching from Bridgeport. Prepared to dismiss it as just another airplane being piloted on a flagrantly low approach path to Sikorsky Airport, this witness nonetheless waited for the plane to draw closer, her curiosity piqued.

Increasingly suspicious that there was something out of the ordinary about this aircraft, the witness called upstairs to her teenage son, urging him to look out his window in order to help her try and identify it. Reluctantly turning off his stereo the young man complied. But gazing through the screen of his north facing bedroom window he beheld an awesome sight.

From his vantage point at the second-floor window the boy gaped as what he described as a tapered triangular structure slowly advanced towards the end of his street. Its bevelled edges rimmed with constantly flashing white lights, this aerial structure came within about three hundred feet of his side of the house then stopped, hovering perfectly still less than two hundred feet in the air. After a short pause it then advanced another seventy five feet or so, now close enough for the witness to hear a deep, rumbling noise coming from it. After another short interval of motionlessness the object moved forward again until it was directly above the next-door neighbor's house, less than one hundred feet to the north, at this point its apparent length being almost eighteen inches.

Floating impossibly above the house, this object began to wobble slightly along its horizontal axis, then began to rotate about its vertical axis - as though on a turntable until it had turned 900, its apex now pointing towards the northwest. His mother having joined him at the window, both watched in bewilderment as the UFO drifted away, displaying two prominent red lights mounted at its stern. Silently it departed into the northwest where they eventually lost sight of it somewhere over the houses of Success Hill.

8. BRIDGEPORT, 11:05 - 11:25 PM Pearl Harbor Street
Stepping out onto his front porch in order to inspect some work he had done earlier on a railing, the first witness's attention was soon diverted by a pair of widely spaced red lights which were scarcely moving near the trees bordering Remington Park. This veteran of a gunnery crew and employee at a helicopter plant was at once intent upon identifying what type of machine these lights could be attached to.

Scrutinizing the pair of lights this witness noted that they were aligned on a horizontal plane - approximately 4.5 inches apart in apparent size - and that midway between them but situated somewhat lower was another smaller, single white light. Carefully aligning the movement of this triplet with features of his porch in order to better help him-to evaluate its size, direction and speed, the witness marvelled at how an aircraft of such dimension could remain so extremely quiet. Determined to solve this mystery he yelled through the front door for his son to fetch his field glasses.

Scrambling onto the porch along with a friend of his, the son handed his father the binoculars. Then, eager to get a closer look at the floating lights themselves, both boys dashed off towards the back of Eastside Middle School, just across the street. Racing along the school's access road they searched the sky above Remington Park's fenced-in southern boundary. Beneath the struts and wires of the high-tension power lines and pylons they were confused to locate the pair of red lights, now diminutive, having somehow managed to traverse the diameter of the nearly mile-wide reserve. How the formation had managed to cross this distance in so short a time while still appearing to maintain a leisurely rate of travel over the outskirts of Bridgeport was incomprehensible to the two boys.

Back on the porch the three witnesses discussed their strange experience, the father confounded over the fact that he had been unable to distinguish any fuselage whatsover, even with the aid of his binoculars.

9. TRUMBULL, 11:15 - 11:30 PM westbound Merritt Parkway
Midway between exits 48 and 49 these two witnesses, a mother and daughter, spotted through the trees to their left (south) a semi-circle of bright white light which seemed to be hovering high above a nearby industrial park. Finding this aerial light to be peculiar the ladies tried to keep track of it but were unable to do so for long, mostly because of the tall trees which shelter and help give this old roadway its character.

However, once they had exited the parkway and were proceeding north on Madison Avenue they were quite surprised to once again catch sight of the same - or a very similar - halo of light, now showing itself just above the southeastern horizon. Stopping their car near Lafayette Drive the ladies got out to study this ring. Aligning it with a distant church steeple that was prominent on the horizon, they attempted to gauge whether this ring was in fact moving. They waited, but at no time during the next several minutes did the circle of light change position, size or shape relative to the Park Avenue church steeple. Finally, baffled but bored, the ladies decided to abandon their vigil and continued homewards.

10. TRUMBULL, 11:12 - 11:25 PM Unity Park
Driving down Bayberry Lane the first two witnesses noticed an unusual looking array of lights positioned above the power line pylons within Unity Park. Assuming that this display had something to do with the recent Little League championship victory the driver blithely pulled into her friend's driveway and let out her passenger - that friend's daughter who had just been visiting with her own children.

Excitedly the girl rushed into the kitchen, proclaiming that they had just seen a UFO. Skeptically her mother went out onto the driveway, meeting her friend who asked if there had just been another celebration in the park (where the team often practiced). Puzzled, the mother walked over to see what they were referring to, and immediately confronted something far stranger than anything she had expected to find.

Motionless in the air less than one hundred feet over the tranquil side-street on which she stood - practically a stone's throw away - was an enormous isocoles triangle comprised of tapering rows of multiple white lights. Aiming towards the east, this arrowhead shape had situated in back of it a set of ruby lights. Dumbfounded, this witness stood in the middle of the road staring up at this huge floating triangle of lights, trying to comprehend what it could possibly be.

Turning to her friend she told her to shut off the truck's engine and together the three ladies listened to the deep, faint vibrating sound that emanated from the arrowhead. Scrutinizing it closely the mother found that the shape's lights appeared to slightly pulse in conjunction with this undulating sound, as though part and parcel of an idling power source.

Certain that this thing was not man-made, the mother backed fearfully away from it while ordering her daughter into the house. At the same time the UFO began to move forward. Rushing into her kitchen the mother peered out its window, watching as they arrowhead drifted along above her neighbors' homes and yards, the strings of white light now all glowing red while both previously red lights now showed white.

Meanwhile, confused and worried about her own children who she had left unattended at home, the first witness got back into her truck, drove up Bayberry Lane, crossed White Plains Road, then climbed the steep grade of Oakridge Road. Pulling into her driveway on Hillston the nervous woman was appalled to once more encounter the airborne light-shape, watching as it slowly approached her backyard, parallel with the power lines. Thinking that this thing might possibly be attracted to the illumination surrounding her swimming pool, this witness hastened to turn off the lights. But before she was able to do so the formation abruptly crossed over the power lines and drifted away to the north.

11. SHELTON, 11:17 - 11:27 PM Hurd Street
From his parents' back yard this witness caught sight of a wide, wing-shaped formation of evenly spaced white lights approaching from the southeast. Unable to figure out whether it was a group of airplanes flying together or perhaps one of the new stealth bomber he had recently read about, this young man was intrigued enough to run inside and grab his father's videocamera. Hurrying back outside he was able to briefly record the formation as it flew overhead, quickly moving out of frame beyond the roof of his parents' house.

Camera in hand he rushed around to the front yard, dismayed to find the wing receding into the northwestern sky.

Still determined to get more footage, this fellow then set off in pursuit of the UFO, driving up High Meadow Road where, from its vantage point, he was better able to estimate the thing's trajectory. Speeding after it, he was soon able to catch another glimpse of the wing, perplexed at how this leisurely flying group could have managed to elude him and his camera once again by a much greater distance than he had anticipated. For this reason there was no further opportunity to record the lights.

Subsequent examination of this videotape by personnel from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) proved inconclusive as to the formation's nature, though a scientific analysis was not, to my knowledge, conducted upon it. The informal consensus of opinion was that this fellow had probably taped a group of small airplanes flying in a tight formation. My own viewing of this minute or so of videotape somewhat supports this evaluation. However, the lights do seem remarkably stable in relationship to one another; likewise, the engine sound issuing from them is so well-tuned that it is difficult to distinguish whether it is produced by one source or many in synchronization.

12. TRUMBULL, 10:30 - 11:00 PM Route 25 southbound
On their way home to Bridgeport this married couple realized that their van had a flat tire. Pulling over onto the breakdown lane the husband went to work jacking up their vehicle but was soon joined by a pair of passersby who offered to help. As the three men proceeded to replace the tire the young lady monitored the oncoming traffic in case some driver - inattentive to the numerous lights bedecking the outside of their customized van - threatened to side-swipe them.

Watching the oncoming traffic, this woman noticed an extremely bright and shapeless blob of light about midway up in the northwestern sky that appeared to be heading towards them. The closer this light came the more certain she was that there was something wrong about it. Finally she felt compelled to draw the men's attention to whatever this beacon was,

While all of them watched, the approaching light gradually took on a more definite shape, revealing itself as an immense chevron-shaped array of multiple white lights with a few red lights positioned in back of it, Slowly and without any sound this chevron - over a foot in apparent width passed above the witnesses at an altitude guessed to be not more than one thousand feet. It continued to the southeast until it was directly above the Daniels Farm Road overpass, only a quarter of a mile away. At this point the chevron smoothly executed a turn to the left, every light stationary in relationship to each other, then crossed over to the west. Once over the opposite, northbound lane of the throughway the chevron then performed another amazingly well coordinated turn and began to head back in the direction from which it had come. As it did so the witnesses soon lost sight of it behind the high escarpment that divides both major lanes of the roadway.

Hurriedly they completed their task, eager to leave rather than risk another encounter with this mysterious aircraft.

13. TRUMBULL, 10:50 - 10:55 PM Route 25 northbound
Nearly done with their shift, a crew of four EMS volunteers was heading back to their base in Monroe when the medical van's driver suddenly noticed something off to his left. Shouting through the partition that separates the front cab from the rear cabin, he and his front-seat companion urged the other two crew-members to shut off all the interior lights and look out the rear windows, declining to tell them why.

Assuming this to be some sort of prank the crew mates nonetheless complied. Looking out towards the west, across the throughway's opposite lane - they were stunned to observe an immense structure, resembling a child's top, that sat low in the sky, not far from one of the high-rise buildings of St. Joseph's Manor.

The female EMS described this thing as having been brightly underlit by spotlights which were evidently recessed within or attached onto its bottom section. All around its wide circumference was a series of discrete red lights. The apparent size of this object was close to that of a hand width.

Though seen only fleetingly from a moving vehicle, this UFO made a strong impression upon each of these witnesses. However, only the female of the group was willing to share her recollection of it - though reluctantly - the others preferring to avoid the matter entirely.

14. TRUMBULL, 9:30 - 9:45 PM Fresh Meadow Drive
*Note: this is the earliest sighting*

Upon the conclusion of a favorite TV program this witness took her dog outside for their customary evening stroll. Walking west, she saw just above the treetops ahead of her an equilateral triangle formed by three white lights, an apex pointing upwards. As she continued walking towards the conifers that separate her peaceful neighborhood from the expanse of undeveloped land dominated by the Easton reservoir, she watched with growing interest as this triangle began to change position in the night sky, shifting about in an erratic "zig-zag" manner and at a speed that seemed extraordinarily slow compared to most of the airplanes she was accustomed to seeing on her nightly sojourns.

Turning right, this lady followed the bend of the elliptical road, surprised to find the triangle again in her line of sight, it having evidently crossed over to the north during that short time she was unable to see behind the trees. Now drifting slowly along on a course nearly parallel with her own - and much closer than it had previously been triangle gave this witness a much better opportunity to examine it. This woman said that she was able to make out a number of small red lights that flickered repeatedly along the object's margins - though any fuselage it had remained invisible to her. Likewise, as it passed by just beyond the rooftops she was able to hear it emitting an electrical sound, surprised that it did not doppler change pitch - as the object moved away from her.

Looking after her straying dog this lady promptly turned back, only to discover that the strange aircraft had vanished.

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Hudson Valley Sightings