February 13, 2025 • 43 mins
In the early 1980s, New York's Hudson Valley became the backdrop for a strange and unsettling series of events. Between 1982 and 1986, thousands of residents reported sightings of mysterious lights and unidentified flying objects, most notably large, V-shaped and circular crafts that defied explanation. Some believed they were merely airplanes, but the scale, patterns, and behaviors of these crafts suggested otherwise. Witnesses described UFOs that moved silently and hovered for extended periods, often in clear view of multiple people at once. As the phenomenon continued over several years, it sparked intrigue and fear, leading to investigations, media attention, and countless accounts from everyday citizens. Join us as we unravel the Hudson Valley UFO phenomenon, exploring the sightings, the theories, and the mystery that continues to captivate those who witnessed it.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
D (00:01):
Hey guys, welcome to the Eerie Side Podcast with your
hosts D, and Sophia.
Unfortunately, this week Elenawill not be able to join us.
We appreciate you guyslistening, and I hope you are
ready to get on the Eerie Side..
(00:51):
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(01:12):
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Alright, I'm going to have anepisode today.
It's a little different than theother ones.
(01:32):
And the reason is, I'm going tobe talking about something
that's really unknown.
I'm going to be talking aboutthe UFO sightings at the Hudson
Valley from 1982 to 1986.
I know that they're not calledUFOs right now, or unidentified
flying objects, and they arecalled UAPs, unidentified
(01:53):
anomalous phenomena.
For the sake of the story, inrespect of its time period, I
will call them UFOs because thatis what they were called back
then.
In the early 1980s, for severalyears, thousands of people saw
V-shaped and circular formationsof UFOs over the Hudson Valley,
(02:15):
many as large as footballfields.
Sophia (02:18):
So the UFOs were V-shaped, or the patterns they
were moving in?
D (02:22):
Most of the people saw were mostly V-shaped, but they also
saw circular formations.
Sophia (02:29):
Formations being what the shape of the UFOs?
D (02:32):
Yes.
Sophia (02:32):
Or the way they were moving?
D (02:33):
No, the shapes of the UFOs.
Sophia (02:36):
Okay.
D (02:37):
The sightings came in waves, often occurring in the same few
areas and often the same day ofthe week.
The first recorded sighting wasa few minutes before midnight on
December 31st, 1981.
An anonymous off duty policeofficer and his family saw a
boomerang shaped object driftslowly over the top of their
(02:59):
home in Kent, New York.
They saw the solid structurewith roughly 15 red, green, and
white lights anchored to itsunderside.
It maintained a constantaltitude of about 150 meters,
which is about 500 feet, movedat a gently walking pace, and
made only a faint hum.
(03:22):
At one point, the lights wentout, and three binding white
lights in the shape of atriangle appear in their place.
And five seconds later, thecolored lights appeared.
Then, it drifted out of sight.
Next Edward Hanson, 55 yearsold, appears to have seen the
(03:43):
same object while traveling downInterstate 84 only moments after
the family saw the object.
Hanson, among others, stopped onthe side of the road and watched
a boomerang formation of lightsthat projected a bright beam of
light to the ground.
It was so large that it filledthe sky in front of him and made
(04:05):
slow, tight circles in the air.
Just as he thought he would liketo take a closer look, the
object moved in his direction.
He panicked as it approached.
Then, he heard a voice in hishead that instructed him not to
be afraid.
At the same time, the objectturned away and the beam went
(04:28):
out.
Hanson said that he feltthoughts that weren't his own
and believed he had received atelepathic communication from
the UFO.
Many witnesses reported similarcommunication, in the next few
years, or felt the UFO had readtheir minds.
Nearly two months later, onFebruary 26, 1982, Monic Cristal
(04:53):
and her daughter followed alighted object down several
miles on a country road andwatched it pass over the car.
It hovered over a frozen lakeand Monic came out of the car to
watch it.
The object had 50 blue, red, andamber lights and a large amber
light in the middle.
It was 60 to 90 meters, about200 to 300 feet across and
(05:18):
perfectly silent.
Monic claims that its undersidewas lined with metal beams and
crisscross supports like theunderside of a bridge.
Although it started to go away,the exact moment she wished for
it to stay it turned back andflew towards her and retreated
(05:38):
when she got scared There wereseveral witnesses nearby who saw
the same object at the exactsame time and later when it
crossed Interstate 84 The policein Kent and Carmel, New York,
and Danbury, Connecticut, allreceived a flood of calls of a
(05:59):
UFO that night.
The 1984 Hudson Valley UFOsightings are called the
Westchester Boomerang, where theUFO sightings stretched
throughout 1983 and'84 in NewYork and Western Connecticut.
Reports primarily occurred fromMarch of 1983 through the summer
(06:19):
of 1984 in the Hudson Valleyregion of the Northeastern
United States, includingWestchester County, Dutchess
County and Putnam County in NewYork and Fairfield County in
Connecticut.
According to the New York Times,residents reported seeing
objects about the size of anAmerican football field, usually
(06:40):
in a V-shape or a circle,absolutely and outlined in
bright lights of white, red, orgreen.
The objects were described asbeing able to shoot straight up
in the sky and hover in the airfor extended periods of time.
The sightings renewed the springof 1983.
(07:03):
On March 17, 1983, a woman inNew York, saw a V-shaped object
with numerous lights all colorsof the rainbow arranged along
its wings and one bright largelight in the Santer.
It then made a sharp turn andflew two doors down to the home
(07:24):
of Dennis Sant, deputy clerk ofPutnam County, New York, and he
saw the object hovering over hisyard early that night and
confessed he had a strong urgeto look for it outside.
He found it Interstate 84 andran inside to get his family.
As soon as he wished he couldget closer look at it, it
(07:47):
rotated in his direction, andfloored towards him and stopped
at 12 meters, which is 40 feetaway.
That was pretty close.
Sophia (07:56):
It sounds like it's perhaps being telepathic like
these other people weredescribing.
D (08:01):
He did say it seemed to come close to him.
Sophia (08:04):
Right when he asked, when he wanted it to.
D (08:06):
And 40 feet is not that far.
Just under 40 meters, 130 feetlong and more than a hundred
meters or 330 feet wide, hadmany red, green and white lights
along its side, and an amberlight that swept from one end of
the V to the other.
As it hovered there, the lightsgrew to be three times as
(08:28):
bright.
Sant and his father were soclose to it that they could see
its dark metal surface and heardfinely tuned engine sound.
The following week, March 24th,1983, another wave of sightings,
mostly in Yorktown.
Many witnesses were Yorktownpolice officers who admitted
(08:51):
that their switchboard wasflooded with calls of a large
boomerang UFO with red, blue,and green lights.
Police in the nearby village ofNewcastle received a flood of
calls as well, described anobject as large as a football
field.
Bill Hele, a meteorologist, sawan asymmetrical v-shaped object
(09:12):
that was about 400 meters, 1,312feet long with seven lights, the
object descended from about 600to 300 meters, which is from 2,
000 to 1, 000 feet altitude, andslowed as it approach.
Hale realized that the lightswere all changing colors at
(09:33):
different times.
He thought it was as if thelight was from a rotating prism
within the structure.
Suddenly, all the lights wentout, leaving nothing in their
place, and as if whatever objectthat was supporting them
disappeared.
The lights reappeared 30, 40seconds later and a few seconds
later, the object flew to thenorth and flew away as its
(09:56):
lights changed to a slime green.
At the same time, 15 minutesnorth in Putman County, people
saw a smaller object exhibitingsimilar behaviors.
It was a big night forsightings.
Well, then the press got thewind of the phenomena.
On March 26, 1983, WestchesterRockland Daily Item, as well as
(10:20):
the North County News, publisheda story of the sighting that the
lights had returned.
There were several thousandwitnesses on March 24th
sighting.
85% of the sightings occurred onan area less than 60 square
kilometers, which is 23 squaremiles, in Westchester and Putnam
Counties in the Taconic Parkway.
(10:43):
The reports describe the sametype boomerang shaped objects
moving 20 to 50 kilometers perhour, from 12.5 miles to 31
miles an hour, and many timeshovering over a body of water.
Every sighting had somewhatdifferent behavior.
Witnesses reported seeing lightsjump positions in sky, disappear
(11:06):
and reappear in place andrelease self propelled lighted
objects.
Some saw lights detach from theformation and move on their own.
Sophia (11:16):
It's interesting that the lights detached and were
moving on their own.
That's not what I was expecting.
D (11:22):
There's something showing they would move up and down.
But that might make sense tosomething else that I'm going to
explain later on as to what someof these sightings may have
been, but not all of them.
Sophia (11:35):
Yeah, because I wonder what the purpose of those lights
would be if they had todisconnect and then attach.
And honestly, what the purposeof these UFOs being specifically
in this area for a period oftime is something I'm also
curious about.
D (11:52):
I will be describing that further later, what people think
is going on also.
On October 28th, Jim Book, abiomedical engineer, and I think
he was also working at IBM, sawa massive light boomerang shaped
object fly up and the CrotonFalls Reservoir.
It was at least 30 meter long,which is a 100 feet, and 9 red
(12:15):
lights on its side.
It began moving around thereservoir and maintained a
constant altitude of 4.
5 meters, which is 15 feet abovethe water level.
Each time it stopped, itreleased a cherry red light and
projected a type of screen fromits underside that appeared to
interact with the water.
(12:35):
The object made no noise at all,and its lights went out every
time another car passed by.
The Yorktown Police declaredthat the UFOs were nothing but a
group of planes flying information, although they were
never able to identify theculprits.
And the Putnam Police declaredthat the lights belonged to a
(12:57):
squadron of ultralight aircraftsflying in formation.
However, ultralights bouncearound in the breeze and be
nearly impossible to fly inperfect formation.
As they make a motor enginenoise like a lawnmower that
would have been perfectlyaudible in nearly every
sighting.
(13:18):
Do you remember what anultraplane looks like?
Sophia (13:21):
No.
D (13:21):
It's the one that Elena went up with a guy and it was all
open.
Sophia (13:25):
Oh, I know which one you're talking about.
D (13:27):
So, the police were saying that's what the people were
seeing.
Sophia (13:31):
I also went up in that plane in case you forgot, Mom.
D (13:36):
Yes, I did forget that you did go on it also.
Sophia (13:38):
I'm confused.
What is this plane about?
D (13:41):
They claim that there were a few of those up and they were
flying in perfect formation.
And that's what people wereseeing at night.
Sophia (13:48):
Who claims this?
D (13:49):
The Putnam police.
Sophia (13:52):
And why do they claim this?
D (13:54):
I don't know.
Sophia (13:54):
Were these planes actually flying in motion or is
it just?
D (13:58):
It was just something they claimed.
There's another claim cominglater on.
The Federal AviationAdministration told the police
on multiple occasions that thelights belonged to unspecified
airplanes or helicopters.
Later conducted an investigationof the signings but never shared
their conclusions.
Sophia (14:16):
I wonder why.
D (14:18):
The police department at Brewster and Carmel said an
official at the Steward AirForce Base told them that the
lights were planes beingtransferred from the base.
The base denies this.
The state police officer ofTroop K followed the lights to a
small Stormville Airport inDutchess County and reported
back to Sgt.
(14:39):
Kenneth V.
Spiro that it was a group oflight planes that flew in
formation.
The undersides and under thewings were painted black so they
couldn't be seen from theground.
The planes were rigged withbright lights and they could
turn from one color to another.
The lights had given it theshape of the UFO.
(14:59):
According to the police officerwho spoke to a couple of pilots,
he said that the pilots weregetting a big kick out of it and
there was no violation of thelaw to what they were doing.
According to Timothy L.
Hartnett, the Deputy Director ofthe Eastern Region of the FAA,
he said the planes were flyingas close together as they feel
(15:21):
safe in areas of sparsepopulation and that the planes
could fly as low as 500 feet.
In February 8th of 1984,Poughkeepsie Journal tracked
down one of the host pilots tointerview.
To find this pilot, they had totalk to dozens of air officials,
police agencies, and otherpilots.
(15:42):
The pilot they tracked down saidthat they flew single engine
planes, sometimes Cessnas 152s,fly in V-shape or diamond
formation as close as a wingspanapart.
Each aircraft will require red,green, and white navigation
lights as well as bright whitelanding lights.
(16:03):
At least one of the pilots,usually near the end of the
formation, used a rotationbeacon that warned nearby
aircraft.
The formation traveled fasterthan 100 miles per hour, but
might appear motionless becauseit is so wide it can be seen
from long distance.
This is what the pilot says,okay?
(16:24):
If someone's on the ground andwe're moving toward or away from
him, it might appear we're notmoving at all.
The pilots usually take offseparately, then slowly move
into formation one by one untila crude V-shape is formed with
as many as five planes.
Then they fly together formiles, making constant
(16:46):
adjustments along the way.
He said that the pilots usuallystick to a well known path over
the Taconic Parkway and traveledas far south as Westchester
County.
He said that to be safe, thepilots don't fly in this
formation for more than onehour.
A spokesman for the FAA, LouisArchitoff, manager of the public
(17:10):
affairs for the agency thatregulates commercial flights,
confirmed that it's not illegalto fly like this.
He did say that unless you aregood, it's risky at night.
Not only are you looking foreach other, you have to watch
for other aircraft in the area.
He said, actually, I think it'skind of foolhardy.
(17:32):
So, these pilots supposedly werethe UFOs or claim to have been.
Sophia (17:38):
They claim to have been.
D (17:39):
Right.
Sophia (17:40):
What do you think?
D (17:43):
I expressed my opinion at the end because there's more on
this.
But that's what they claim.
Sophia (17:49):
Okay.
I think I need more informationbefore I can make my own opinion
on this.
D (17:55):
They claimed that how far they can go and how fast and
when they did it.
Sophia (17:59):
But they claimed they were the ones behind those
supposed planes.
D (18:03):
Correct.
They claimed that they were theUFO.
Well, people were seeing.
Sophia (18:07):
They could also be forced to be claiming this.
D (18:10):
True.
Another local pilot said some ofthe formation flyers told him
they enjoyed the UFO publicity.
They get laughs reading about itin the paper.
The pilot of the formation saidthat he and his fellow flyers
have no plans to go public.
The pilot that says he was partof this formation.
(18:31):
This is their private enjoymentand they didn't want to stop,
but they didn't want to behounded either.
And he said that if someonetagged him, ask him if he's one
of the flyers, he'll deny it andthen he'll stop.
He also said that Thursday wasthe most convenient flight time
for the pilots.
The pilot said, I do thinkpeople are ignorant about flying
(18:53):
and allow imagination to make upfor a lot of things.
In 1984, Discover Magazinereported that a group of pilots
practicing their formationskills first in the daytime.
Then when they became moreconfident at night, became tight
formations of aircraft, as withlittle as six inches between
(19:14):
wingtips, which is really notthat far away.
According to the skeptic writer,Brian Dunning, there's no
evidence that these pilots everintended a UFO hoax, but when
local newspapers began printingstories about the strange
sightings and experiences andtelevision stations ran tapes of
the mysterious lights in thesky, the pilots were
(19:37):
incredulous, then amused.
The group began callingthemselves the Martians.
Sophia (19:43):
So these pilots were supposedly flying their planes
16 inches.
D (19:48):
Six inches from wing, per each wing.
Their each wing was only sixinches apart.
Sophia (19:54):
I have a hard time to believe that they actually did
that.
I mean the room for air is solittle, and I don't think as
humans.
We are capable of that.
D (20:04):
That's what they claim, and that's what a lot of people
grasp on that they wasn't UFOs,it was these airplanes.
Sophia (20:11):
They wish they had the technology and the skill to do
that.
D (20:14):
I'm not saying they did or didn't This is also what they
say, the pilots would turn offtheir exterior lights at the
same time, which will make theaircraft appear to disappear
from the sky.
They vary their formations fromcrescents and circles to crosses
that looked from the ground likediamonds or V's giving rise to
reports about different andsometimes startling UFO shapes.
Sophia (20:35):
Are airplanes even allowed to be turning off their
lights?
Because I thought they needed toget them on for safety purposes.
D (20:41):
I don't know.
They would turn them off andthen turn them on again.
Sophia (20:44):
I thought planes are not supposed to be turned off their
lights for the safety purposes.
D (20:48):
They probably don't.
I don't know what to tell you.
I'm telling you what they did.
Sophia (20:52):
You mean what they're claiming to say?
D (20:53):
Yes.
One thing to keep in mind isthat the Cessnas 152s can't
hover and their engines are notsilent or have soft hums and
they can't move backwards.
Sophia (21:06):
That sounds like pretty limiting technology based upon
what witnesses saw.
D (21:10):
Right.
The witnesses, most of them saidthey heard soft hum or nothing.
Like it was very silent.
And it moved backwards and ithovered.
Cessnas cannot do any of that.
Sophia (21:24):
Exactly.
D (21:24):
March 25th, 1984, a year after the Big Flap, another wave
of sightings began and severalmore occurred that summer.
This time around the behaviorand shapes of the colors were
more varied than ever.
They were having flying X's,crosses, and circular
formations.
They have a video of a crossformation.
(21:46):
Some people report UFOs hoveringoverhead and bathe them in beams
of light.
On March 25th alone, there wasan estimate of two to three
hundred people saw a UFO again,and over the Taconic Parkway.
The Carmel Police had at leasttwenty calls, and the police saw
it themselves.
A lieutenant with the departmentsaid that he was sure himself
(22:09):
that it was not a conventionalaircraft.
So now the police department issaying, when they are seeing it,
that it's not a conventionalaircraft.
There were more sightings onMarch 31st, 1984, and more that
summer.
On June 11th, 1984, a giantV-shaped formation of lights
buzzed the town board meeting atNewcastle County.
(22:30):
Several officers saw the object,and the neighboring county
airport tracked it on radar.
On July 12th, 1984, and again,the 19th and 24th people saw
circular formations of thelights across Connecticut and
New York State.
There is an estimate that therewere 5,000 witnesses on the
(22:50):
first night alone.
At least 12 were police officersand one was a Danbury County
Chief Nelson Mascheto.
He was on a fishing boat withfamily and friends on Candlewood
Lake, Connecticut, when they sawa circular object with
multicolored lights hoveringoverhead.
The lights seemed to bespinning, but the object stayed
(23:13):
still.
When the operator shot theboat's lights off, the object
lights went off as well.
On and off with the same effect.
They were doing an on and offand the object did the same
thing.
On July 24th, 1984, Bob Pozzuolicaptured some lights on film in
Brewster, New York.
The lights were circular.
(23:34):
You can see that also onYouTube.
Sophia (23:37):
Oh, there's actually video footage of it.
D (23:39):
Yeah.
William A.
Pollard, driving on Interstate84, recounted to the New York
Times that he saw an objecthovering about 30 feet from the
ground in a field.
A gigantic triangle with lights.
It shot straight up afterturning off its lights.
Pollard said he has seen thelights many times, but the first
(24:00):
time was very different fromeverything he saw later.
It was rigid.
Mahopac resident Irene Lunnreported a sighting on Monday,
August 20, 1984, about 9 p.m.
She said it was headed southover a pond, just clearing the
trees.
There was no sound at all.
(24:20):
You could hear the cricketsabout three quarters the size of
my house with an L-shapedstructure suspended underneath
it.
At one point all the lights weregreen then red then went back to
a pattern of green red andwhite.
I felt it was letting me know,it knew we were watching it.
That was scary.
It went on for about 10 minutes.
(24:43):
In 1985, HBO did a specialproduction of the UFOs and sent
the Pozzuoli film to Dr.
L.
Hibbs of Jet PropulsionLaboratory at Pasadena.
were unable to identify thelights.
On two occasions in June,workers and guards at the Indian
Point Nuclear Reactor Complex,Buchanan, New York, had seen an
(25:08):
object hover over the site andthe facility's security systems
had mysteriously shut down.
There were a few more sightingsin 1984, but in the following
years they started declining.
Although the sightings decreasedin frequency after 1984, the
sightings do continue to thisday.
(25:28):
In 1992, Unsolved Mysteriesdevoted an episode to the Hudson
Valley sightings and interviewedmany of the police officers who
saw the UFOs, which broughtcredibility to their accounts.
UFO investigators found somepatterns in the dates and
interesting discoveries.
First, reports were remarkablyconsistent of triangular or
(25:51):
boomerang shaped objects andsometimes circular.
These objects have been reportedin the southern states since the
mid 1970s.
And similar reports in U.
S.
date back to since 1951.
Just a few years later in 1989and 90s, there was a wave of
(26:11):
sightings over Belgium thatinvolved black triangular
objects that behaved in the samemanner that the Hudson Valley
UFOs.
In 1997, a giant light V-shapedobject buzzed the city of
Phoenix, Arizona.
However, not all the witnessesin Hudson Valley reported the
same UFOs.
A building inspector inTorrington, Connecticut, saw a
(26:34):
cigar shaped craft with fourwindows.
And the guards at the IndianPoint Nuclear Reactor Complex
saw an object shaped like an icecream cone.
While some insisted there was asolid structure behind the
lights, others weren't certainthere was.
Not sure if that means there'sdifferences due to error and
(26:55):
observations, or there's avariety of sighted objects.
Second, sightings were heavilyclustered geographically and
felt disproportionately onMonday, Thursday, and Sunday
nights.
Sophia (27:09):
That's so weird.
D (27:11):
What's more, that some of the biggest nights for the sightings
in 1984 fell on the same datesas the biggest nights as the
year before.
No one has been able to makesense of these curious anomalies
in the data or explain why suchconcentration of sightings in
the same 3700 square kilometers,which is about 1430 square
(27:36):
miles, of the Hudson Valleyregion.
Sophia (27:38):
I wonder if there's some sort of nature phenomena that is
happening or stronger on thosedates that we aren't aware of
that makes these unidentifiedobjects decide to come out on
those dates.
D (27:56):
I'm not sure.
It could be something that'sdoing that.
I do know that as you read moreand more about this, people are
commenting saying that they haveseen them.
Many people said they weregrowing up, they would see these
objects.
One gentleman said, he was justgoing home after shopping with
(28:16):
his parents at a mall, and hecould see the object following
them.
Sophia (28:20):
They sound like common occurrences in this town at that
point.
D (28:25):
Yes, it does seem that.
I wouldn't be surprised if morepeople saw them, and many maybe
never reported it.
Sophia (28:32):
Yes, a 100%, and I can understand why they would not
want to report it as well.
D (28:38):
Yes, and what's really interesting is they've taken the
sightings and have been able tofind similarities, which usually
you don't hear about it So Ifind it interesting that there's
some similarities here.
Sophia (28:49):
Right.
Remember when you were talkingabout the lights and they were
changing their patterns?
D (28:54):
Mm hmm.
Sophia (28:55):
It makes me wonder, now perhaps there's somebody who's
changing these lights in realtime as they interact with
people.
It also makes me wonder thatmaybe they're somehow powered by
AI intelligence as well.
D (29:10):
They could be.
If these are real UFOs, and I'mnot saying they aren't, and for
them to even come to our planet,they must have something
advanced like an AI.
Sophia (29:22):
That's if you're going along with the theory that it's
powered by a different species,by a different planet.
D (29:28):
Correct.
The third thing that they found,however, is that the most of the
area most visited by UFOscontain a lot of government
owned land.
Sophia (29:38):
Oh, really?
D (29:39):
Yes.
The land is dotted by abandonedmines and rich in iron ores.
Local claims to have experiencedunusual number of electrical
disturbances there.
Sophia (29:51):
This puts an interesting twist on things.
D (29:53):
I think mines rich in iron ore and U.
S.
government owned land isinteresting.
Sophia (29:59):
What makes you wonder which one they're there for, and
perhaps both?
D (30:04):
Correct.
Lastly, many said that they hadtelepathic exchanges with the
UFOs they saw.
This is common in UFO reports.
This suggests that there is anintelligence behind the UFO
phenomenon that is able tointerface with the human mind
directly.
Sophia (30:22):
That's also very unique and interesting to hear about.
Because not all people who haveexperience UFOs say that they
have had some sort of telepathiccommunication with someone.
D (30:38):
There were some reports of missing time as well as strange
dreams and abduction experiencesthat occurred at the same time
as the sightings.
There was a high strangeness inthe UFO reports that were
difficult to explain.
Sophia (30:52):
A high strangeness?
D (30:53):
Yes, there were some strange things that were happening,
abductions and stuff, but thosewere difficult to explain
because not as many people sawthem.
So they categorize that as that.
Sophia (31:05):
Then it also makes you wonder.
If they did abduct somebody, whyonly those times?
They were there for many periodsof time.
If you're going to abductsomebody, my first thought
process is you don't need tokeep going to that same area
over and over again to abductsomeone, but who knows?
It's hard to say what these UFOsare actually doing in these
areas, especially if theaccounts are different from
(31:29):
different people.
D (31:31):
Yes, there's unfortunately a lot of unexplained situations
here.
At least they did try to figureit out.
Over 30 years later, the HudsonValley sightings of the early to
mid 1980s are the longestrunning and most intensely
studied in the UFOs in history.
Many sightings had trainedobservers and multiple
(31:51):
independent witnesses, and somewere even collaborated on radar.
The data shows that the UFOsactivity over the Hudson Valley
followed a number of strange butdiscernible patterns.
After decades of denying theirexistence, the Pentagon has
acknowledged UFOs are real andmay explain what has been seen
(32:11):
in the skies over New York.
And although a task forcereviewed hundreds of new reports
of UFOs in 2022, there's noevidence of alien life officials
said in a required report toCongress.
The new All Domain AnomalyOffice did leave some intrigue,
ending its report with a teaser.
(32:33):
Additional information isprovided in the classified
version of this report.
So we don't know exactly what'son all the report.
And if it wasn't enough to piqueyour curiosity, a career Air
Force intelligence officerturned a whistleblower claim to
Congress that the U.
S.
government is withholdinginformation about a covert
(32:54):
program to retrieve crashedalien spacecraft and reverse
engineer the technology.
Sophia (33:01):
What a surprise.
D (33:02):
We're not alone." Jonathan Gray, a U.
S.
intelligence official with theNational Air and Space
Intelligence Center, whoconfirmed former intelligence
officer David Grusch's claim,told Debrief, an outlet, that it
reporters on science,technology, and defense news.
The Pentagon has denied Grusch'sclaim.
(33:24):
Grusch has claimed that they aretaking spacecrafts and doing
reverse technology.
The way I see it, the UFOs areone of the following, or maybe
more than one.
The Cessnas 152s maybe some ofthe sightings were this, but I
don't think all of them were.
Sophia (33:42):
Right.
D (33:43):
One is that they can't hover, they make noise.
I don't think they were outthere all the days they were
being seen.
I do think maybe sometimes theywere out there, and some people
did see them and thought theywere UFOs, but I don't think all
the sightings are this.
Sophia (33:59):
They can't explain for all of the sightings.
And there are times where peoplewill think there's an object in
the sky that looks weird.
And then I, for example, take alook at the picture or the video
and I'm like, This looks like anairplane.
This does not look like it'sanything unusual.
But I don't think we can putthat same thought process to
everyone who has theseexperiences.
(34:21):
Because, many people see thingsthat cannot be explained.
And so we can't just discrediteverything that somebody sees in
the sky.
D (34:29):
Right.
There was a push for thoseCessnas.
I don't know if the governmentwas trying to do it.
It just seems that they may havebeen.
But, I just don't see everysighting was that.
It just doesn't make sense.
They can't hover over water oranywhere.
They can't fly up and down.
Go straight in the sky and comedown.
They're airplanes.
They fly a certain way.
(34:49):
They're not helicopters.
They don't do that.
The other thing are drones,especially multirotors.
They have the ability to hover.
Modern drones, particularly themultirotor drones with four or
more motors, can hover in placeand fly vertically.
Some are capable of staying inthe air for extended periods,
depending on their battery life,usually 30 minutes to a few
(35:10):
hours.
There are limitations.
The hover time is generallyconstrained by battery capacity
and while they can shootstraight up, they often limited
to shot shorter durationscompared to other aircrafts.
Some stealth drones or UAVsdesigned for reconnaissance and
surveillance like the RQ-170,Sentinel, or more advanced
(35:33):
prototypes might have hoveringcapability in certain designs.
However, these are not typicallysilent.
in the strictest sense and stillhave noise from their rotors or
engines.
Sophia (35:45):
Did they have drones back in the 80s?
D (35:47):
Well, if they were advanced technology, and we didn't know
about it, the answer could beyes.
Sophia (35:53):
You mean governmental technology?
D (35:54):
Yes, governmental technology.
Sophia (35:57):
Drones are very loud.
They're not quiet.
And they're also small comparedto the size that some of these
people were saying the aircraftswere, football fields.
D (36:07):
However, nowadays they may put drones up and they do
designs and they look quite big.
So if there was something ofthat sort, I'm just saying, I'm
not saying that's what it was.
I'm just saying, we just have tolook at all the things that it
could be.
Sophia (36:19):
That's true.
D (36:20):
There are ongoing efforts to develop quieter, low observable
drones with VTOL capabilities.
However, they're not out there.
So I'm going to just say that wejust need to keep our options
open.
I'm not saying that they weredrones.
Don't forget some technology,probably the government has
developed before it goes to thepublic.
(36:42):
And maybe the drones were one ofthem.
I'm just saying maybe I'm notsaying for sure.
Number three is potential futuretech.
There have been rumors andclassified reports about future
stealth aircrafts or prototypesthat could hover silently,
possibly using innovativepropulsion systems like ion
(37:03):
thrusters or advanced hybridelectric engines, but nothing
has been fully verified ordeployed for public use.
Concepts, such as the X-15'ssuccessor or more advanced
stealth helicopters might oneday use technology to
dramatically reduce noise duringhovering.
(37:24):
But again, these aren't fullyrealized just yet.
So these are supposedly likehelicopters that can go up and
down, they can hover, that maybeare more advanced that we're
aware of that do not make muchnoise.
However, it does not explain thesize of what was seen by people.
Sophia (37:45):
It also doesn't explain the telepathic experiences some
of these individuals had aswell.
D (37:51):
That's true, and I'm trying to be open minded and bring up
what else could they be otherthan maybe UFOs.
I did research to find, whatother, crafts could be making
it.
Now we don't have any craft thatwe know that's big as a football
field that can fly like that.
(38:12):
We do have crafts that can hoverhelicopters, but they're too
loud.
We do have airplanes that coulddo some things.
We do have, drones, but none ofthem fit in perfectly.
Another thing that could workmaybe is theoretical silent
aircraft in the realm of sciencefiction and future military
(38:34):
concepts.
There are potential design foraircrafts that could use an
advanced propulsion technology,like electromagnetic propulsion
or ducted fan systems.
that can make hovering nearsilent, but these are still in
the conceptual or experimentalphases.
In short, no hovering aircrafttoday is completely silent, but
(38:58):
there are some that arerelatively quiet compared to
traditional rotorcraft.
Stealth and noise reduction area focus of future military
aircraft, so advancement inthese areas might bring us
closer to your ideal silenthovering craft in the future.
Sophia (39:14):
So if you're going to go with this theory, you're going
to have to assume that the UFOswere not completely silent like
people described, or there issome sort of technology that the
government has that they areusing to create these silent
aircrafts that we are notexposed to or aware of.
D (39:35):
Correct.
That's what you're looking at.
And the last thing is, it'sreally a UFO.
Now, like I said, I do believesome of the sightings were the
Cessnas.
I don't believe all of them.
I don't know if anything wassecret government craft.
I have no idea.
We're talking of many thousandsof people who saw these.
(39:55):
And some of them felt somethingtoo.
And they could see underneaththat they were smooth.
Only one story says that theylook like a metal of a bridge.
Everybody else was more likesmooth looking.
Now, airplanes are not smoothlooking underneath.
Even if they're black, you couldsee, you'd be able to see wheels
at some point.
So that's the question reallyis, what were they?
(40:20):
And I don't think that themclaiming to be the airplanes
themselves is realistic.
Sophia (40:26):
So what does that leave us with?
D (40:28):
It could be something we're not aware of.
Even the policeman said that itwas not an aircraft, so he knows
he did not see an airplane.
So it could be a UFO.
Now why they all were there?
I have no idea.
And why they slowed down?
They claim that they're stillthere, but not like it used to
be.
Sophia (40:46):
Aren't you going to discuss the possibility that
these aircraft were manned by anintelligent life force that came
from a different planet?
D (40:55):
That's what a UFO is, isn't it?
That's how I see it.
Sophia (40:57):
No, a UFO is an unidentified foreign object.
D (41:02):
When I think of a UFO, or UAP, I personally think that
they're from another universe,galaxy, somewhere.
And that there's anotherintelligence that is not human.
Sophia (41:18):
Okay, I was just curious if you were going to explore
that theory into more detailhere.
D (41:24):
No, because they weren't as many like abductions and
sightings of aliens.
It was mostly of the objects inthe sky.
I'm sticking to that for thisone in particular.
But I think most people who sawthem, when they said they saw a
UFO, I think most of themthought that there was another
(41:46):
intelligent being behind it, orin them, like an alien or some
sort.
I don't think they thought itwas just an object there.
Sophia (41:56):
I would assume, and if you couple that with the
telepathic communication thatsome of them had that I think
would definitely spook peopleinto thinking that something
else was involved besides anysort of human.
Can I look at the photos?
D (42:11):
Yeah, you can look at the photos now.
Sophia (42:13):
Interesting photos.
D (42:15):
So this is an unusual one.
I wanted to keep everybody justaware of what was happening in
the 80s on UFO sightings.
I just find it interesting nowthat it's come out that there
are sightings out there that thePentagon has said, yeah, there's
something out there happening.
So I wondering how many of thosewould fall into that.
(42:35):
I want to thank you forlistening to us this week.
We love our listeners andbecause of you, we do this
podcast.
Your help and engagement reallyhelps the podcast grow.
If you enjoyed this episode,please text a friend and family
member to listen to our podcast.
Until next time, make sure youstay on the Eerie Side.
(42:56):
Bye.
And be safe.
Hey guys, welcome to the Eerie Side Podcast with your
hosts D, and Sophia.
Unfortunately, this week Elenawill not be able to join us.
We appreciate you guyslistening, and I hope you are
ready to get on the Eerie Side..
(00:51):
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(01:12):
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Alright, I'm going to have anepisode today.
It's a little different than theother ones.
(01:32):
And the reason is, I'm going tobe talking about something
that's really unknown.
I'm going to be talking aboutthe UFO sightings at the Hudson
Valley from 1982 to 1986.
I know that they're not calledUFOs right now, or unidentified
flying objects, and they arecalled UAPs, unidentified
(01:53):
anomalous phenomena.
For the sake of the story, inrespect of its time period, I
will call them UFOs because thatis what they were called back
then.
In the early 1980s, for severalyears, thousands of people saw
V-shaped and circular formationsof UFOs over the Hudson Valley,
(02:15):
many as large as footballfields.
Sophia (02:18):
So the UFOs were V-shaped, or the patterns they
were moving in?
D (02:22):
Most of the people saw were mostly V-shaped, but they also
saw circular formations.
Sophia (02:29):
Formations being what the shape of the UFOs?
D (02:32):
Yes.
Sophia (02:32):
Or the way they were moving?
D (02:33):
No, the shapes of the UFOs.
Sophia (02:36):
Okay.
D (02:37):
The sightings came in waves, often occurring in the same few
areas and often the same day ofthe week.
The first recorded sighting wasa few minutes before midnight on
December 31st, 1981.
An anonymous off duty policeofficer and his family saw a
boomerang shaped object driftslowly over the top of their
(02:59):
home in Kent, New York.
They saw the solid structurewith roughly 15 red, green, and
white lights anchored to itsunderside.
It maintained a constantaltitude of about 150 meters,
which is about 500 feet, movedat a gently walking pace, and
made only a faint hum.
(03:22):
At one point, the lights wentout, and three binding white
lights in the shape of atriangle appear in their place.
And five seconds later, thecolored lights appeared.
Then, it drifted out of sight.
Next Edward Hanson, 55 yearsold, appears to have seen the
(03:43):
same object while traveling downInterstate 84 only moments after
the family saw the object.
Hanson, among others, stopped onthe side of the road and watched
a boomerang formation of lightsthat projected a bright beam of
light to the ground.
It was so large that it filledthe sky in front of him and made
(04:05):
slow, tight circles in the air.
Just as he thought he would liketo take a closer look, the
object moved in his direction.
He panicked as it approached.
Then, he heard a voice in hishead that instructed him not to
be afraid.
At the same time, the objectturned away and the beam went
(04:28):
out.
Hanson said that he feltthoughts that weren't his own
and believed he had received atelepathic communication from
the UFO.
Many witnesses reported similarcommunication, in the next few
years, or felt the UFO had readtheir minds.
Nearly two months later, onFebruary 26, 1982, Monic Cristal
(04:53):
and her daughter followed alighted object down several
miles on a country road andwatched it pass over the car.
It hovered over a frozen lakeand Monic came out of the car to
watch it.
The object had 50 blue, red, andamber lights and a large amber
light in the middle.
It was 60 to 90 meters, about200 to 300 feet across and
(05:18):
perfectly silent.
Monic claims that its undersidewas lined with metal beams and
crisscross supports like theunderside of a bridge.
Although it started to go away,the exact moment she wished for
it to stay it turned back andflew towards her and retreated
(05:38):
when she got scared There wereseveral witnesses nearby who saw
the same object at the exactsame time and later when it
crossed Interstate 84 The policein Kent and Carmel, New York,
and Danbury, Connecticut, allreceived a flood of calls of a
(05:59):
UFO that night.
The 1984 Hudson Valley UFOsightings are called the
Westchester Boomerang, where theUFO sightings stretched
throughout 1983 and'84 in NewYork and Western Connecticut.
Reports primarily occurred fromMarch of 1983 through the summer
(06:19):
of 1984 in the Hudson Valleyregion of the Northeastern
United States, includingWestchester County, Dutchess
County and Putnam County in NewYork and Fairfield County in
Connecticut.
According to the New York Times,residents reported seeing
objects about the size of anAmerican football field, usually
(06:40):
in a V-shape or a circle,absolutely and outlined in
bright lights of white, red, orgreen.
The objects were described asbeing able to shoot straight up
in the sky and hover in the airfor extended periods of time.
The sightings renewed the springof 1983.
(07:03):
On March 17, 1983, a woman inNew York, saw a V-shaped object
with numerous lights all colorsof the rainbow arranged along
its wings and one bright largelight in the Santer.
It then made a sharp turn andflew two doors down to the home
(07:24):
of Dennis Sant, deputy clerk ofPutnam County, New York, and he
saw the object hovering over hisyard early that night and
confessed he had a strong urgeto look for it outside.
He found it Interstate 84 andran inside to get his family.
As soon as he wished he couldget closer look at it, it
(07:47):
rotated in his direction, andfloored towards him and stopped
at 12 meters, which is 40 feetaway.
That was pretty close.
Sophia (07:56):
It sounds like it's perhaps being telepathic like
these other people weredescribing.
D (08:01):
He did say it seemed to come close to him.
Sophia (08:04):
Right when he asked, when he wanted it to.
D (08:06):
And 40 feet is not that far.
Just under 40 meters, 130 feetlong and more than a hundred
meters or 330 feet wide, hadmany red, green and white lights
along its side, and an amberlight that swept from one end of
the V to the other.
As it hovered there, the lightsgrew to be three times as
(08:28):
bright.
Sant and his father were soclose to it that they could see
its dark metal surface and heardfinely tuned engine sound.
The following week, March 24th,1983, another wave of sightings,
mostly in Yorktown.
Many witnesses were Yorktownpolice officers who admitted
(08:51):
that their switchboard wasflooded with calls of a large
boomerang UFO with red, blue,and green lights.
Police in the nearby village ofNewcastle received a flood of
calls as well, described anobject as large as a football
field.
Bill Hele, a meteorologist, sawan asymmetrical v-shaped object
(09:12):
that was about 400 meters, 1,312feet long with seven lights, the
object descended from about 600to 300 meters, which is from 2,
000 to 1, 000 feet altitude, andslowed as it approach.
Hale realized that the lightswere all changing colors at
(09:33):
different times.
He thought it was as if thelight was from a rotating prism
within the structure.
Suddenly, all the lights wentout, leaving nothing in their
place, and as if whatever objectthat was supporting them
disappeared.
The lights reappeared 30, 40seconds later and a few seconds
later, the object flew to thenorth and flew away as its
(09:56):
lights changed to a slime green.
At the same time, 15 minutesnorth in Putman County, people
saw a smaller object exhibitingsimilar behaviors.
It was a big night forsightings.
Well, then the press got thewind of the phenomena.
On March 26, 1983, WestchesterRockland Daily Item, as well as
(10:20):
the North County News, publisheda story of the sighting that the
lights had returned.
There were several thousandwitnesses on March 24th
sighting.
85% of the sightings occurred onan area less than 60 square
kilometers, which is 23 squaremiles, in Westchester and Putnam
Counties in the Taconic Parkway.
(10:43):
The reports describe the sametype boomerang shaped objects
moving 20 to 50 kilometers perhour, from 12.5 miles to 31
miles an hour, and many timeshovering over a body of water.
Every sighting had somewhatdifferent behavior.
Witnesses reported seeing lightsjump positions in sky, disappear
(11:06):
and reappear in place andrelease self propelled lighted
objects.
Some saw lights detach from theformation and move on their own.
Sophia (11:16):
It's interesting that the lights detached and were
moving on their own.
That's not what I was expecting.
D (11:22):
There's something showing they would move up and down.
But that might make sense tosomething else that I'm going to
explain later on as to what someof these sightings may have
been, but not all of them.
Sophia (11:35):
Yeah, because I wonder what the purpose of those lights
would be if they had todisconnect and then attach.
And honestly, what the purposeof these UFOs being specifically
in this area for a period oftime is something I'm also
curious about.
D (11:52):
I will be describing that further later, what people think
is going on also.
On October 28th, Jim Book, abiomedical engineer, and I think
he was also working at IBM, sawa massive light boomerang shaped
object fly up and the CrotonFalls Reservoir.
It was at least 30 meter long,which is a 100 feet, and 9 red
(12:15):
lights on its side.
It began moving around thereservoir and maintained a
constant altitude of 4.
5 meters, which is 15 feet abovethe water level.
Each time it stopped, itreleased a cherry red light and
projected a type of screen fromits underside that appeared to
interact with the water.
(12:35):
The object made no noise at all,and its lights went out every
time another car passed by.
The Yorktown Police declaredthat the UFOs were nothing but a
group of planes flying information, although they were
never able to identify theculprits.
And the Putnam Police declaredthat the lights belonged to a
(12:57):
squadron of ultralight aircraftsflying in formation.
However, ultralights bouncearound in the breeze and be
nearly impossible to fly inperfect formation.
As they make a motor enginenoise like a lawnmower that
would have been perfectlyaudible in nearly every
sighting.
(13:18):
Do you remember what anultraplane looks like?
Sophia (13:21):
No.
D (13:21):
It's the one that Elena went up with a guy and it was all
open.
Sophia (13:25):
Oh, I know which one you're talking about.
D (13:27):
So, the police were saying that's what the people were
seeing.
Sophia (13:31):
I also went up in that plane in case you forgot, Mom.
D (13:36):
Yes, I did forget that you did go on it also.
Sophia (13:38):
I'm confused.
What is this plane about?
D (13:41):
They claim that there were a few of those up and they were
flying in perfect formation.
And that's what people wereseeing at night.
Sophia (13:48):
Who claims this?
D (13:49):
The Putnam police.
Sophia (13:52):
And why do they claim this?
D (13:54):
I don't know.
Sophia (13:54):
Were these planes actually flying in motion or is
it just?
D (13:58):
It was just something they claimed.
There's another claim cominglater on.
The Federal AviationAdministration told the police
on multiple occasions that thelights belonged to unspecified
airplanes or helicopters.
Later conducted an investigationof the signings but never shared
their conclusions.
Sophia (14:16):
I wonder why.
D (14:18):
The police department at Brewster and Carmel said an
official at the Steward AirForce Base told them that the
lights were planes beingtransferred from the base.
The base denies this.
The state police officer ofTroop K followed the lights to a
small Stormville Airport inDutchess County and reported
back to Sgt.
(14:39):
Kenneth V.
Spiro that it was a group oflight planes that flew in
formation.
The undersides and under thewings were painted black so they
couldn't be seen from theground.
The planes were rigged withbright lights and they could
turn from one color to another.
The lights had given it theshape of the UFO.
(14:59):
According to the police officerwho spoke to a couple of pilots,
he said that the pilots weregetting a big kick out of it and
there was no violation of thelaw to what they were doing.
According to Timothy L.
Hartnett, the Deputy Director ofthe Eastern Region of the FAA,
he said the planes were flyingas close together as they feel
(15:21):
safe in areas of sparsepopulation and that the planes
could fly as low as 500 feet.
In February 8th of 1984,Poughkeepsie Journal tracked
down one of the host pilots tointerview.
To find this pilot, they had totalk to dozens of air officials,
police agencies, and otherpilots.
(15:42):
The pilot they tracked down saidthat they flew single engine
planes, sometimes Cessnas 152s,fly in V-shape or diamond
formation as close as a wingspanapart.
Each aircraft will require red,green, and white navigation
lights as well as bright whitelanding lights.
(16:03):
At least one of the pilots,usually near the end of the
formation, used a rotationbeacon that warned nearby
aircraft.
The formation traveled fasterthan 100 miles per hour, but
might appear motionless becauseit is so wide it can be seen
from long distance.
This is what the pilot says,okay?
(16:24):
If someone's on the ground andwe're moving toward or away from
him, it might appear we're notmoving at all.
The pilots usually take offseparately, then slowly move
into formation one by one untila crude V-shape is formed with
as many as five planes.
Then they fly together formiles, making constant
(16:46):
adjustments along the way.
He said that the pilots usuallystick to a well known path over
the Taconic Parkway and traveledas far south as Westchester
County.
He said that to be safe, thepilots don't fly in this
formation for more than onehour.
A spokesman for the FAA, LouisArchitoff, manager of the public
(17:10):
affairs for the agency thatregulates commercial flights,
confirmed that it's not illegalto fly like this.
He did say that unless you aregood, it's risky at night.
Not only are you looking foreach other, you have to watch
for other aircraft in the area.
He said, actually, I think it'skind of foolhardy.
(17:32):
So, these pilots supposedly werethe UFOs or claim to have been.
Sophia (17:38):
They claim to have been.
D (17:39):
Right.
Sophia (17:40):
What do you think?
D (17:43):
I expressed my opinion at the end because there's more on
this.
But that's what they claim.
Sophia (17:49):
Okay.
I think I need more informationbefore I can make my own opinion
on this.
D (17:55):
They claimed that how far they can go and how fast and
when they did it.
Sophia (17:59):
But they claimed they were the ones behind those
supposed planes.
D (18:03):
Correct.
They claimed that they were theUFO.
Well, people were seeing.
Sophia (18:07):
They could also be forced to be claiming this.
D (18:10):
True.
Another local pilot said some ofthe formation flyers told him
they enjoyed the UFO publicity.
They get laughs reading about itin the paper.
The pilot of the formation saidthat he and his fellow flyers
have no plans to go public.
The pilot that says he was partof this formation.
(18:31):
This is their private enjoymentand they didn't want to stop,
but they didn't want to behounded either.
And he said that if someonetagged him, ask him if he's one
of the flyers, he'll deny it andthen he'll stop.
He also said that Thursday wasthe most convenient flight time
for the pilots.
The pilot said, I do thinkpeople are ignorant about flying
(18:53):
and allow imagination to make upfor a lot of things.
In 1984, Discover Magazinereported that a group of pilots
practicing their formationskills first in the daytime.
Then when they became moreconfident at night, became tight
formations of aircraft, as withlittle as six inches between
(19:14):
wingtips, which is really notthat far away.
According to the skeptic writer,Brian Dunning, there's no
evidence that these pilots everintended a UFO hoax, but when
local newspapers began printingstories about the strange
sightings and experiences andtelevision stations ran tapes of
the mysterious lights in thesky, the pilots were
(19:37):
incredulous, then amused.
The group began callingthemselves the Martians.
Sophia (19:43):
So these pilots were supposedly flying their planes
16 inches.
D (19:48):
Six inches from wing, per each wing.
Their each wing was only sixinches apart.
Sophia (19:54):
I have a hard time to believe that they actually did
that.
I mean the room for air is solittle, and I don't think as
humans.
We are capable of that.
D (20:04):
That's what they claim, and that's what a lot of people
grasp on that they wasn't UFOs,it was these airplanes.
Sophia (20:11):
They wish they had the technology and the skill to do
that.
D (20:14):
I'm not saying they did or didn't This is also what they
say, the pilots would turn offtheir exterior lights at the
same time, which will make theaircraft appear to disappear
from the sky.
They vary their formations fromcrescents and circles to crosses
that looked from the ground likediamonds or V's giving rise to
reports about different andsometimes startling UFO shapes.
Sophia (20:35):
Are airplanes even allowed to be turning off their
lights?
Because I thought they needed toget them on for safety purposes.
D (20:41):
I don't know.
They would turn them off andthen turn them on again.
Sophia (20:44):
I thought planes are not supposed to be turned off their
lights for the safety purposes.
D (20:48):
They probably don't.
I don't know what to tell you.
I'm telling you what they did.
Sophia (20:52):
You mean what they're claiming to say?
D (20:53):
Yes.
One thing to keep in mind isthat the Cessnas 152s can't
hover and their engines are notsilent or have soft hums and
they can't move backwards.
Sophia (21:06):
That sounds like pretty limiting technology based upon
what witnesses saw.
D (21:10):
Right.
The witnesses, most of them saidthey heard soft hum or nothing.
Like it was very silent.
And it moved backwards and ithovered.
Cessnas cannot do any of that.
Sophia (21:24):
Exactly.
D (21:24):
March 25th, 1984, a year after the Big Flap, another wave
of sightings began and severalmore occurred that summer.
This time around the behaviorand shapes of the colors were
more varied than ever.
They were having flying X's,crosses, and circular
formations.
They have a video of a crossformation.
(21:46):
Some people report UFOs hoveringoverhead and bathe them in beams
of light.
On March 25th alone, there wasan estimate of two to three
hundred people saw a UFO again,and over the Taconic Parkway.
The Carmel Police had at leasttwenty calls, and the police saw
it themselves.
A lieutenant with the departmentsaid that he was sure himself
(22:09):
that it was not a conventionalaircraft.
So now the police department issaying, when they are seeing it,
that it's not a conventionalaircraft.
There were more sightings onMarch 31st, 1984, and more that
summer.
On June 11th, 1984, a giantV-shaped formation of lights
buzzed the town board meeting atNewcastle County.
(22:30):
Several officers saw the object,and the neighboring county
airport tracked it on radar.
On July 12th, 1984, and again,the 19th and 24th people saw
circular formations of thelights across Connecticut and
New York State.
There is an estimate that therewere 5,000 witnesses on the
(22:50):
first night alone.
At least 12 were police officersand one was a Danbury County
Chief Nelson Mascheto.
He was on a fishing boat withfamily and friends on Candlewood
Lake, Connecticut, when they sawa circular object with
multicolored lights hoveringoverhead.
The lights seemed to bespinning, but the object stayed
(23:13):
still.
When the operator shot theboat's lights off, the object
lights went off as well.
On and off with the same effect.
They were doing an on and offand the object did the same
thing.
On July 24th, 1984, Bob Pozzuolicaptured some lights on film in
Brewster, New York.
The lights were circular.
(23:34):
You can see that also onYouTube.
Sophia (23:37):
Oh, there's actually video footage of it.
D (23:39):
Yeah.
William A.
Pollard, driving on Interstate84, recounted to the New York
Times that he saw an objecthovering about 30 feet from the
ground in a field.
A gigantic triangle with lights.
It shot straight up afterturning off its lights.
Pollard said he has seen thelights many times, but the first
(24:00):
time was very different fromeverything he saw later.
It was rigid.
Mahopac resident Irene Lunnreported a sighting on Monday,
August 20, 1984, about 9 p.m.
She said it was headed southover a pond, just clearing the
trees.
There was no sound at all.
(24:20):
You could hear the cricketsabout three quarters the size of
my house with an L-shapedstructure suspended underneath
it.
At one point all the lights weregreen then red then went back to
a pattern of green red andwhite.
I felt it was letting me know,it knew we were watching it.
That was scary.
It went on for about 10 minutes.
(24:43):
In 1985, HBO did a specialproduction of the UFOs and sent
the Pozzuoli film to Dr.
L.
Hibbs of Jet PropulsionLaboratory at Pasadena.
were unable to identify thelights.
On two occasions in June,workers and guards at the Indian
Point Nuclear Reactor Complex,Buchanan, New York, had seen an
(25:08):
object hover over the site andthe facility's security systems
had mysteriously shut down.
There were a few more sightingsin 1984, but in the following
years they started declining.
Although the sightings decreasedin frequency after 1984, the
sightings do continue to thisday.
(25:28):
In 1992, Unsolved Mysteriesdevoted an episode to the Hudson
Valley sightings and interviewedmany of the police officers who
saw the UFOs, which broughtcredibility to their accounts.
UFO investigators found somepatterns in the dates and
interesting discoveries.
First, reports were remarkablyconsistent of triangular or
(25:51):
boomerang shaped objects andsometimes circular.
These objects have been reportedin the southern states since the
mid 1970s.
And similar reports in U.
S.
date back to since 1951.
Just a few years later in 1989and 90s, there was a wave of
(26:11):
sightings over Belgium thatinvolved black triangular
objects that behaved in the samemanner that the Hudson Valley
UFOs.
In 1997, a giant light V-shapedobject buzzed the city of
Phoenix, Arizona.
However, not all the witnessesin Hudson Valley reported the
same UFOs.
A building inspector inTorrington, Connecticut, saw a
(26:34):
cigar shaped craft with fourwindows.
And the guards at the IndianPoint Nuclear Reactor Complex
saw an object shaped like an icecream cone.
While some insisted there was asolid structure behind the
lights, others weren't certainthere was.
Not sure if that means there'sdifferences due to error and
(26:55):
observations, or there's avariety of sighted objects.
Second, sightings were heavilyclustered geographically and
felt disproportionately onMonday, Thursday, and Sunday
nights.
Sophia (27:09):
That's so weird.
D (27:11):
What's more, that some of the biggest nights for the sightings
in 1984 fell on the same datesas the biggest nights as the
year before.
No one has been able to makesense of these curious anomalies
in the data or explain why suchconcentration of sightings in
the same 3700 square kilometers,which is about 1430 square
(27:36):
miles, of the Hudson Valleyregion.
Sophia (27:38):
I wonder if there's some sort of nature phenomena that is
happening or stronger on thosedates that we aren't aware of
that makes these unidentifiedobjects decide to come out on
those dates.
D (27:56):
I'm not sure.
It could be something that'sdoing that.
I do know that as you read moreand more about this, people are
commenting saying that they haveseen them.
Many people said they weregrowing up, they would see these
objects.
One gentleman said, he was justgoing home after shopping with
(28:16):
his parents at a mall, and hecould see the object following
them.
Sophia (28:20):
They sound like common occurrences in this town at that
point.
D (28:25):
Yes, it does seem that.
I wouldn't be surprised if morepeople saw them, and many maybe
never reported it.
Sophia (28:32):
Yes, a 100%, and I can understand why they would not
want to report it as well.
D (28:38):
Yes, and what's really interesting is they've taken the
sightings and have been able tofind similarities, which usually
you don't hear about it So Ifind it interesting that there's
some similarities here.
Sophia (28:49):
Right.
Remember when you were talkingabout the lights and they were
changing their patterns?
D (28:54):
Mm hmm.
Sophia (28:55):
It makes me wonder, now perhaps there's somebody who's
changing these lights in realtime as they interact with
people.
It also makes me wonder thatmaybe they're somehow powered by
AI intelligence as well.
D (29:10):
They could be.
If these are real UFOs, and I'mnot saying they aren't, and for
them to even come to our planet,they must have something
advanced like an AI.
Sophia (29:22):
That's if you're going along with the theory that it's
powered by a different species,by a different planet.
D (29:28):
Correct.
The third thing that they found,however, is that the most of the
area most visited by UFOscontain a lot of government
owned land.
Sophia (29:38):
Oh, really?
D (29:39):
Yes.
The land is dotted by abandonedmines and rich in iron ores.
Local claims to have experiencedunusual number of electrical
disturbances there.
Sophia (29:51):
This puts an interesting twist on things.
D (29:53):
I think mines rich in iron ore and U.
S.
government owned land isinteresting.
Sophia (29:59):
What makes you wonder which one they're there for, and
perhaps both?
D (30:04):
Correct.
Lastly, many said that they hadtelepathic exchanges with the
UFOs they saw.
This is common in UFO reports.
This suggests that there is anintelligence behind the UFO
phenomenon that is able tointerface with the human mind
directly.
Sophia (30:22):
That's also very unique and interesting to hear about.
Because not all people who haveexperience UFOs say that they
have had some sort of telepathiccommunication with someone.
D (30:38):
There were some reports of missing time as well as strange
dreams and abduction experiencesthat occurred at the same time
as the sightings.
There was a high strangeness inthe UFO reports that were
difficult to explain.
Sophia (30:52):
A high strangeness?
D (30:53):
Yes, there were some strange things that were happening,
abductions and stuff, but thosewere difficult to explain
because not as many people sawthem.
So they categorize that as that.
Sophia (31:05):
Then it also makes you wonder.
If they did abduct somebody, whyonly those times?
They were there for many periodsof time.
If you're going to abductsomebody, my first thought
process is you don't need tokeep going to that same area
over and over again to abductsomeone, but who knows?
It's hard to say what these UFOsare actually doing in these
areas, especially if theaccounts are different from
(31:29):
different people.
D (31:31):
Yes, there's unfortunately a lot of unexplained situations
here.
At least they did try to figureit out.
Over 30 years later, the HudsonValley sightings of the early to
mid 1980s are the longestrunning and most intensely
studied in the UFOs in history.
Many sightings had trainedobservers and multiple
(31:51):
independent witnesses, and somewere even collaborated on radar.
The data shows that the UFOsactivity over the Hudson Valley
followed a number of strange butdiscernible patterns.
After decades of denying theirexistence, the Pentagon has
acknowledged UFOs are real andmay explain what has been seen
(32:11):
in the skies over New York.
And although a task forcereviewed hundreds of new reports
of UFOs in 2022, there's noevidence of alien life officials
said in a required report toCongress.
The new All Domain AnomalyOffice did leave some intrigue,
ending its report with a teaser.
(32:33):
Additional information isprovided in the classified
version of this report.
So we don't know exactly what'son all the report.
And if it wasn't enough to piqueyour curiosity, a career Air
Force intelligence officerturned a whistleblower claim to
Congress that the U.
S.
government is withholdinginformation about a covert
(32:54):
program to retrieve crashedalien spacecraft and reverse
engineer the technology.
Sophia (33:01):
What a surprise.
D (33:02):
We're not alone." Jonathan Gray, a U.
S.
intelligence official with theNational Air and Space
Intelligence Center, whoconfirmed former intelligence
officer David Grusch's claim,told Debrief, an outlet, that it
reporters on science,technology, and defense news.
The Pentagon has denied Grusch'sclaim.
(33:24):
Grusch has claimed that they aretaking spacecrafts and doing
reverse technology.
The way I see it, the UFOs areone of the following, or maybe
more than one.
The Cessnas 152s maybe some ofthe sightings were this, but I
don't think all of them were.
Sophia (33:42):
Right.
D (33:43):
One is that they can't hover, they make noise.
I don't think they were outthere all the days they were
being seen.
I do think maybe sometimes theywere out there, and some people
did see them and thought theywere UFOs, but I don't think all
the sightings are this.
Sophia (33:59):
They can't explain for all of the sightings.
And there are times where peoplewill think there's an object in
the sky that looks weird.
And then I, for example, take alook at the picture or the video
and I'm like, This looks like anairplane.
This does not look like it'sanything unusual.
But I don't think we can putthat same thought process to
everyone who has theseexperiences.
(34:21):
Because, many people see thingsthat cannot be explained.
And so we can't just discrediteverything that somebody sees in
the sky.
D (34:29):
Right.
There was a push for thoseCessnas.
I don't know if the governmentwas trying to do it.
It just seems that they may havebeen.
But, I just don't see everysighting was that.
It just doesn't make sense.
They can't hover over water oranywhere.
They can't fly up and down.
Go straight in the sky and comedown.
They're airplanes.
They fly a certain way.
(34:49):
They're not helicopters.
They don't do that.
The other thing are drones,especially multirotors.
They have the ability to hover.
Modern drones, particularly themultirotor drones with four or
more motors, can hover in placeand fly vertically.
Some are capable of staying inthe air for extended periods,
depending on their battery life,usually 30 minutes to a few
(35:10):
hours.
There are limitations.
The hover time is generallyconstrained by battery capacity
and while they can shootstraight up, they often limited
to shot shorter durationscompared to other aircrafts.
Some stealth drones or UAVsdesigned for reconnaissance and
surveillance like the RQ-170,Sentinel, or more advanced
(35:33):
prototypes might have hoveringcapability in certain designs.
However, these are not typicallysilent.
in the strictest sense and stillhave noise from their rotors or
engines.
Sophia (35:45):
Did they have drones back in the 80s?
D (35:47):
Well, if they were advanced technology, and we didn't know
about it, the answer could beyes.
Sophia (35:53):
You mean governmental technology?
D (35:54):
Yes, governmental technology.
Sophia (35:57):
Drones are very loud.
They're not quiet.
And they're also small comparedto the size that some of these
people were saying the aircraftswere, football fields.
D (36:07):
However, nowadays they may put drones up and they do
designs and they look quite big.
So if there was something ofthat sort, I'm just saying, I'm
not saying that's what it was.
I'm just saying, we just have tolook at all the things that it
could be.
Sophia (36:19):
That's true.
D (36:20):
There are ongoing efforts to develop quieter, low observable
drones with VTOL capabilities.
However, they're not out there.
So I'm going to just say that wejust need to keep our options
open.
I'm not saying that they weredrones.
Don't forget some technology,probably the government has
developed before it goes to thepublic.
(36:42):
And maybe the drones were one ofthem.
I'm just saying maybe I'm notsaying for sure.
Number three is potential futuretech.
There have been rumors andclassified reports about future
stealth aircrafts or prototypesthat could hover silently,
possibly using innovativepropulsion systems like ion
(37:03):
thrusters or advanced hybridelectric engines, but nothing
has been fully verified ordeployed for public use.
Concepts, such as the X-15'ssuccessor or more advanced
stealth helicopters might oneday use technology to
dramatically reduce noise duringhovering.
(37:24):
But again, these aren't fullyrealized just yet.
So these are supposedly likehelicopters that can go up and
down, they can hover, that maybeare more advanced that we're
aware of that do not make muchnoise.
However, it does not explain thesize of what was seen by people.
Sophia (37:45):
It also doesn't explain the telepathic experiences some
of these individuals had aswell.
D (37:51):
That's true, and I'm trying to be open minded and bring up
what else could they be otherthan maybe UFOs.
I did research to find, whatother, crafts could be making
it.
Now we don't have any craft thatwe know that's big as a football
field that can fly like that.
(38:12):
We do have crafts that can hoverhelicopters, but they're too
loud.
We do have airplanes that coulddo some things.
We do have, drones, but none ofthem fit in perfectly.
Another thing that could workmaybe is theoretical silent
aircraft in the realm of sciencefiction and future military
(38:34):
concepts.
There are potential design foraircrafts that could use an
advanced propulsion technology,like electromagnetic propulsion
or ducted fan systems.
that can make hovering nearsilent, but these are still in
the conceptual or experimentalphases.
In short, no hovering aircrafttoday is completely silent, but
(38:58):
there are some that arerelatively quiet compared to
traditional rotorcraft.
Stealth and noise reduction area focus of future military
aircraft, so advancement inthese areas might bring us
closer to your ideal silenthovering craft in the future.
Sophia (39:14):
So if you're going to go with this theory, you're going
to have to assume that the UFOswere not completely silent like
people described, or there issome sort of technology that the
government has that they areusing to create these silent
aircrafts that we are notexposed to or aware of.
D (39:35):
Correct.
That's what you're looking at.
And the last thing is, it'sreally a UFO.
Now, like I said, I do believesome of the sightings were the
Cessnas.
I don't believe all of them.
I don't know if anything wassecret government craft.
I have no idea.
We're talking of many thousandsof people who saw these.
(39:55):
And some of them felt somethingtoo.
And they could see underneaththat they were smooth.
Only one story says that theylook like a metal of a bridge.
Everybody else was more likesmooth looking.
Now, airplanes are not smoothlooking underneath.
Even if they're black, you couldsee, you'd be able to see wheels
at some point.
So that's the question reallyis, what were they?
(40:20):
And I don't think that themclaiming to be the airplanes
themselves is realistic.
Sophia (40:26):
So what does that leave us with?
D (40:28):
It could be something we're not aware of.
Even the policeman said that itwas not an aircraft, so he knows
he did not see an airplane.
So it could be a UFO.
Now why they all were there?
I have no idea.
And why they slowed down?
They claim that they're stillthere, but not like it used to
be.
Sophia (40:46):
Aren't you going to discuss the possibility that
these aircraft were manned by anintelligent life force that came
from a different planet?
D (40:55):
That's what a UFO is, isn't it?
That's how I see it.
Sophia (40:57):
No, a UFO is an unidentified foreign object.
D (41:02):
When I think of a UFO, or UAP, I personally think that
they're from another universe,galaxy, somewhere.
And that there's anotherintelligence that is not human.
Sophia (41:18):
Okay, I was just curious if you were going to explore
that theory into more detailhere.
D (41:24):
No, because they weren't as many like abductions and
sightings of aliens.
It was mostly of the objects inthe sky.
I'm sticking to that for thisone in particular.
But I think most people who sawthem, when they said they saw a
UFO, I think most of themthought that there was another
(41:46):
intelligent being behind it, orin them, like an alien or some
sort.
I don't think they thought itwas just an object there.
Sophia (41:56):
I would assume, and if you couple that with the
telepathic communication thatsome of them had that I think
would definitely spook peopleinto thinking that something
else was involved besides anysort of human.
Can I look at the photos?
D (42:11):
Yeah, you can look at the photos now.
Sophia (42:13):
Interesting photos.
D (42:15):
So this is an unusual one.
I wanted to keep everybody justaware of what was happening in
the 80s on UFO sightings.
I just find it interesting nowthat it's come out that there
are sightings out there that thePentagon has said, yeah, there's
something out there happening.
So I wondering how many of thosewould fall into that.
(42:35):
I want to thank you forlistening to us this week.
We love our listeners andbecause of you, we do this
podcast.
Your help and engagement reallyhelps the podcast grow.
If you enjoyed this episode,please text a friend and family
member to listen to our podcast.
Until next time, make sure youstay on the Eerie Side.
(42:56):
Bye.
And be safe.
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