Hudson Highlands no stranger to “high strangeness”
In 1972, Dr. J. Allen Hynek put forth a system of classification for UFO encounters in his book “The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry”. A close encounter of the first kind is a “visual sighting of an unidentified flying object, seemingly less than 500 feet away, that shows an appreciable angular extension and considerable detail”. Expanding upon this, the second kind is described as “a UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace”. And finally, perhaps the most famous type of all, a close encounter of the third kind constitutes “UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present – these include humanoids, robots, and humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of a UFO”.
Over time Hynek’s three-tiered system has been expanded to include the fourth and, more recently (and controversially), fifth kinds. A close encounter of the fourth kind is the well-known, nightmarish scenario of abduction by aliens, while the fifth is deliberate, human-initiated communication with otherworldly entities.
If the name J. Allen Hyneck seems familiar to some of you, there are those who may recall his presence in the Hudson Valley nearly 40 years ago. Hynek was an American astronomer, professor, and eventual ufologist. He worked as a scientific advisor for the U.S. government’s most well known UFO research projects – Project Sign and Project Bluebook (the inspiration for the TV show of the same name). He was initially skeptical of the phenomenon and if you’ve ever heard someone dismiss a sighting as nothing more than “swamp gas” you have Hynek to thank for starting that.
However, as the years went on, he began to become more involved in his own independent research. Over time he became less skeptical and was inclined to take the subject much more seriously.
And this is how Dr. Hynek found himself caught up in one of the largest UFO flaps in American history.
Beginning in the early 1980’s, mysterious lights began appearing regularly in the Hudson Valley. It wasn’t uncommon to spot one or more bizarre objects gliding silently through the skies. These alleged alien crafts took on various forms from V-shaped to rectangular, rounded or boomerang-like, and even the classic disc. They could be completely silhouetted against the night sky, their presence only intimated by the absence of the stars obscured by their sizable mass. On the other hand, many had blinking white, red and green lights while some put on a prismatic spectacle of color. Some shone brightly while others were faint. And at times crafts would shine spotlights onto the ground below as if in search of something we can only guess at.
Crafts would appear over bodies of water, such as Lake Oscawana, the New Croton Reservoir, Rockland Lake and the Hudson River itself. Some even took an interest in the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan. Several nerve-wracking nighttime visitations were reported wherein the plant’s computers and electricity would go down in the presence of a hovering object.
But for some reason, the crafts had a predilection for causing quite a stir during rush-hour on busy highways! Several mass sightings occurred along the Taconic State Parkway and I-84, causing traffic jams as astonished drivers stopped their cars to get out and observe, while many were content to peer through the windshield in the relative safety of their vehicle. And some drivers just hightailed it out of there at the first opportunity!
It was during the height of the UFO flap (between ‘82 and ‘85) when Dr. Hynek and his team arrived to investigate the strange happenings in the Hudson Valley. This famously culminated in August of ‘84 with a day long public conference at Henry Wells Middle School in Brewster, NY.
As reported in the book “Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings,” authored by Hynek and his investigative partners, Philip Imbrogno and Bob Pratt, over 1500 people had shown up along with “more than seventy-five newspaper, radio, and TV newspeople […] from The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Hartford Courant, ABC, CBS, and NBC television news divisions, many area radio and TV stations and newspapers, and a number of national magazines.”
But while the Hudson Valley UFO flap had seemingly fizzled out by the end of the 1980’s, close encounters of all kinds hadn’t stopped entirely.
Closer to home
A search through the databases of MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) and NUFORC (National UFO Reporting Center) alone will present the curious with a plethora of documented sightings throughout the decades.
For instance, there was the July 4, 1965 sighting by a 13-year-old Cornwall-on-Hudson resident who reported a “HUGE” saucer over Round Top.
In August of 1993, three military police officers at West Point reportedly witnessed a hovering object that rapidly flashed three times, lighting up “the entire side of the mountain.” Unfortunately, it was not reported which mountain it was.
In 2018, while driving up Bear Mountain a motorist saw a V-shaped “white streak” race across the night sky.
The above accounts are only an infinitesimal sampling of the myriad cases leaving UFO researchers, witnesses, the general public – and the U.S. government – scratching their heads and looking up.
One such researcher is Linda Zimmerman of Chester, NY, a former research scientist and award-winning author with a particular interest in science, area history and the paranormal.
Despite having her own experience in the late 1970s, wherein Zimmermann (in furry bathrobe and slippers, no less), along with two male friends, hastily followed mysterious lights from Nanuet into Harriman State Park, UFOs were something she never really gave much attention to.
Over the years, as she lectured throughout the Hudson Valley on a range of subjects like astronomy, local history and hauntings, audience members inevitably brought up the topic.
“Sorry, I don’t do UFOS,” became her standard reply.
Well, the fact that she’s now authored four books on the subject – “In The Night Sky: Hudson Valley UFO Sightings from the 1930s to the Present” (which has an award-winning companion documentary film of the same name), “Hudson Valley UFOs: Startling Eyewitness Accounts from 1909 to the Present”, “More Hudson Valley UFOS: Including western Connecticut and northern New Jersey and beyond…”, and her most recent volume “Animal Reactions to UFOs” – proves otherwise!
Suffice it to say, Zimmermann went down the rabbit hole and has proved to be a tireless investigator. Her focus on Hudson Valley UFOs has led her on exhaustive searches though the archives of regional newspapers and periodicals (see ‘A blast from the past’ below), area police blotters, conducting interviews with experiencers in-person and over the phone, not to mention the large amount of letters and emails to sift through.
In her book “In The Night Sky,” Zimmermann plainly states “my scientific curiosity was piqued, and once that happens, resistance is usually futile.”
And one thing she’s particularly interested in is a sighting that occurred in the Town of Cornwall in 1992.
“Around late summer, possibly August, of ‘92 there was a sighting in the vicinity of Willow Avenue, Harris Lane and Rte 9W,” Zimmermann explained.
“A resident named Kathy said her children came running into the house yelling about a UFO. When she finally went outside, she was shocked to find a large circular craft so close to the roof she ‘thought it was going to crush the house!’”
But Kathy and the kids weren’t the only ones to notice the eerie visitor. Many of the neighbors came outside to gaze upon the multi-colored disc-shaped object as it hovered silently in the summer sky. Eventually, it slowly moved on its way, as UFOs tend to do. Apparently, local police departments were inundated with calls as residents reportedly spied the craft along the length of Cornwall before it eventually disappeared. And it should be noted that no coverage in The Cornwall Local could be found.
Even Kathy’s dog, Hooch, a large German Shepherd/Doberman/Husky/Rottweiler mix, had his own reaction to the mysterious stranger in the sky. Like Scooby Doo, the frightened canine hid under the bed the entire time and was sick for days, even refusing to leave the house at night.
However, what intrigues Zimmermann most about this sighting are the discrepancies between the reported appearances of the craft. Most claim they witnessed a multi-colored disc while others insist it was a solid black triangle with bright white lights at its three points! So which was it? That’s what Zimmermann is trying to ascertain and is hoping additional witnesses will come forward with more information.
If you were a witness to this event, or would like to share any of your own experiences with Zimmermann, email her at lindazim@optonline.net, or write to P.O. Box 192, Blooming Grove, NY 10914. Alternatively, you could also stop by her booth at this year’s Pine Bush UFO Fair, taking place Saturday, September 4 on Main Street in Pine Bush, NY from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In any case, don’t forget to put the smartphone down once in a while and take a look upwards. You never know what you might see in the Hudson Valley skies.
A blast from the past…
Linda Zimmermann provided the following copy of a story she discovered on the front page of the December 1, 1966 edition of The Cornwall Local. Incidentally, it was the only UFO coverage she found in our archives. The article is reproduced here for easier readbility:
UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT PHOTOGRAPHED – Peter Kaemmerlen, 15, who lives off Wilson Place, Cornwall, is believed to be the first person in town to have sighted and photographed a UFO. Above is the proof, substantiated by Paul Wilson of Cedar Lane, who also saw the flying disc approaching the Daniel Neal home on Wilson Place and the bottom is an enlargement. Peter told The Cornwall Local reporter that he was taking pictures with his Argus Instamatic camera and standing in a lot below the LeRoy Wilson home at 3:30 p.m. Friday when he was startled by a flying disc coming towards him from the vicinity of the Hudson River. As it approached the Neal home it seemed to pause momentarily, long enough for him to get this picture. Young Kaemmerlen said the UFO appeared to be about 18 feet across, flying at a height of some 50 feet and was blueish gray in color, but did not glow as some of the flying saucers were reported to do where they were sighted in the Warwick and other areas. After he got his shot of the flying object he said it slowly turned south and then with incredible speed took off and disappeared over the Storm King Mountain horizon. The youth did not mention his experience to anyone until he developed the film in his darkroom and made prints of the UFO in the Cornwall Central High School darkroom, so that he would have photographic proof to show. Pete vows it was the real thing and not a garbage can lid tossed in the air as some of his classmates jokingly charged.
(Photo by Kaemmerlen)
