Close Encounter - Indian Point, NY Nuclear Reactor

A thirty-five-year-old New York State Power Authority police officer that worked as a security guard at the Indian Point nuclear reactor complex located on the Hudson River at Buchahan, New York just south of Peekskill, tells his incredible story:

The first interview took place at a restaurant in Peekskill late on the night of September 12, 1984 after the guards got off work. Six of the Indian Point security guards showed up, but, because of the lateness of the hour, we were able to talk in depth to only three at that time.

Carl talked to us for forty-five minutes that night and again for a similar length of time on October 5. The first interview was taped, but not the second. He said thee was certain information pertaining to security equipment that he did not want recorded.

Carl had worked, as a security officer for the Power Authority for three years and, before that, had been a New York State Police officer. It turned out he'd had two sightings at the reactor complex, the first on June 14 and the other July 24.

“I was on outside patrol at Indian Point Number Three,” he told us, describing the June 14 sighting. “It was approximately 10:15 at night, and I saw out in the distance a series of lights. We have a clear view for several miles in all directions.

“I saw these lights coming at me. They were white with a yellow hue. I watched them foe about ten minutes, and, at that time I estimated they were about a quarter of a mile form me. They were approaching form the northeast, going southwest, coming directly toward me.

“At that point, I looked over at the Con-Ed people (at the adjoining Consolidated-Edison nuclear power complex), and there were about ten of them looking at the same object. I got on the radio and called some of the other units to come out to my location to observe the object with me. I knew that it was something strange, and since it was getting so close, I wanted someone to come and assist me if I needed help. I didn't want to take any chances.”

Two other guards responded to his call.

“We all looked at this thing for approximately twenty minutes, and during that time I would say it hovered in one area for about fifteen minutes without moving,” Carl said.

The object consisted of ten or more lights arranged in a boomerang pattern. It appeared to be hovering about a quarter of a mile from one of the gates to the complex, and at that distance, they could not make out any shape.

“The lights were incredibly bright and they were steady,” Carl said. “It was hovering over the parking lot on the reactor grounds and over some buildings that have lights on twenty-four hours a day. These are bright security lights, and the lights on this object were at least ten times as bright.

“The building it was over is quite large eighty feet high-and this object dwarfed it.”

He estimated the object was at least 300 feet from one end to the other.

“Behind the lights was a dark mass,” he said. “I know this because a plane flew by in the distance and you could see the plane's lights quite clearly. When it passed close to the object, the object blocked out the lights of the plane, and a few seconds later the plane emerged from behind the other side of the object. So there was some type of huge dark mass behind the lights.”

Fifteen to twenty minutes later, the object moved off toward Peekskill. “When it started to move, it moved no more than ten miles an hour.”

Carl had no doubt that it was a solid object and not a formation of aircraft, partly because winds were gusting up to twenty-five knots an hour that night.

“No small plane could stay in formation with the wind that night.” He said, “The wind didn't faze these lights at all. When it hovered, it just stood there, I was in the service and I flew helicopters, and I know how hard it is to keep a formation with small planes. No way was this a formation of planes. I saw no hint of any standard lights that a plane would have, also, the lights wee much too intense for a small aircraft.

“When the object turned, it rotated as if it was lying on a wheel. It made a very slow, sharp, ninety-degree turn. The object always moved in the direction of the apex.”

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July 24, 1984,

Carl then went on to tell about the night of July 24.

It all started with another security guard calling and saying, “Hey, here comes that UFO again!' With that being heard all over the air, everyone came running to see it. At that time, there were five of us, including two supervisors who also came out to see it.

“It approached form basically the same direction as before, and this time the lights were changing, First, they would all be yellow, then white, and then all turned blue. The lights were in a semicircle, and in the rear, pretty far back, was this red, blinking light,”

Stars were blocked from sight as the object moved between them and the guards.

“As the object approached the plant, I got about as close as 500 feet from it,” Carl said. “It looked like and ice cream cone. You could see it was a solid body about the size of three football fields. At this time, it was directly over our heads, and we were looking up at it. It was still moving, but very slowly. I could walk and keep up with it, so it mist have been going slower than five to ten miles an hour.”

Carl said he and the other guards watched the object for about twenty minutes. All the time you could see the structure behind it.”

Only one of the three reactors was in operation, Carl said. “Ours was the only one working. This object picked the right one to fly over, and that's what got our supervisor worried. This thing got within thirty feet of the reactor.”

As on the night of June 14, there were winds gusting up to thirty knots an hour.

“We were all standing there with our mouths open,” Carl said. “We were in awe of it! If the thing stayed over us, the order was already given to get ready to shoot it down. We had shotguns and were waiting for the final word to fire on it.”

Another officer, who we'll call Milton, was on duty inside, watching TV monitors at a security console that allows him to aim cameras placed at strategic points around and outside the buildings.

“I received a call form Officer ---- and Officer ----, saying there was something in the sky, and I asked them what it was,” Milton told us. “They told me to swing my camera over in the direction where they saw this object.”

One of the cameras under his control was at the top of a ninety-five-foot-tall pole.

“I turned my camera in that direction, and I saw eight bright lights in a V shape, very wide, almost like half circle. They were at least as bright as the landing lights on a large jet. My supervisor and I panned the camera up and sown, and the object was very large, bigger than a football field.”

He said the object was so huge that he had to pan the camera nearly 180 degrees to scan it the entire object from front to back.

“It was one solid structure and very large. We had it on camera for about fifteen minutes. I was trying to think of some logical explanation for what it was, but I didn't know. Whatever it was, it was larger than a C-%A, which is the largest aircraft in the world and has a wingspan of 212 feet. This was much larger. It seemed very brazen. It acted like it didn't care who saw it.”

Still another officer, who was reluctant to be identified for fear of jeopardizing his job, said, “There was this series of lights in the shape of a boomerang, and behind it was this dark structure, and there were these two things on the bottom that looked like hollow spheres of some sort. They looked like portals that could open up and rockets or something could fly out of there. They were very dark. It was very low. It was so close I actually got scared looking at it.”

1. As the object approached the east gate of Reactor Number Three, the nuclear plant's security system shut down. Sensors that detect movement shut down, and the entire alarm system failed.

2. Inside the security console, the computer that controls all security and communications systems shut down.

3. At that time, the commander contacted Camp Smith, a New York National Guard base less than ten miles away, requesting identification of the object. No answer was given. A request was then made for an armed helicopter to shoot the object down. Before the command was given to launch the helicopter, the UFO moved away.

4. The next day, the commander of the security guards informed then that “nothing happened” and the event was to be forgotten.

5. The incident was witnessed by several plant workers as well as the security guards.

6. A number of area residents saw the object at the same time the plant guards did, and the Peekskill police received numerous calls about the UFO the same night.

7. A videotape of the object may exist, since all the security cameras automatically record everything they see and the tapes are kept for a certain period of time before being reused. However, authorities say no such tape exists.

8. All radio communications that night were also routinely recorded, but the tapes reportedly no longer exist.

9. In the days following the incident, officials of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission visited the plant, and the entire security setup underwent a shakeup.

Gerry Culliton, a reporter for radio station WVIP in Mt. Kisco, New York, did get and acknowledgment form Carl Patrick, of the plant's information office, that the sightings had occurred.

“He told me there definitely were sightings, “Culliton told us, “and he said the New York State Police did and investigation and arrested four Cessna pilots.”

However, Police records confirmed that no pilots were arrested. Culliton said he asked for a copy of the UFO incident report, but was told that “all security procedures and measures that are taken here are completely confidential to protect our own security.”... - Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings (J. Allen Hynek, Philip J. Imbrogno, and Bob Pratt)

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The threat of UFOs compromising reactor security, as if the nuclear industry didn't have enough to deal with already, became a very real concern in 1984. Although of- ficials won't admit it, several researchers have information That New York 's Indian Point Reactor complex endured such a UFO problem during the long siege of sightings that happened throughout the state's Hudson Valley area. The portrayal of the event in this article is based primarily on the disclosures of unnamed sources.

The summer of 1984 was a troublesome season for authorities at the Indian Point nuclear reactor complex in Buchanan, New York. Two UFO appearances, one of which was verified by Carl Patrick, director of nuclear information for the New York Power Authority (NYPA), and later documented by the press and the 1987 book Night Siege, apparently put the normally tight security of the plant to a severe test. The first event entailed the brief flyover of a huge craft, witnessed by three security policemen on June 14. That was followed ten days later by a UFO incident of unprecedented impact. It was one of hundreds of UFO sightings in the Hudson Valley, but one the nuclear workers won't soon forget. "Here comes that UFO again! " an Indian Point security guard is said to have yelled on the night of July 24, 1984, alerting other security personnel by way of the plant's internal communications system. A UFO, variously described as looking like "an ice cream cone " and "boomerang, " had lazily drifted over to Reactor #3-the only active reactor at the time-lingering about 300 feet above the domed construction for some ten minutes, sending security officials into an uproar. Now, six years later, the principal UFO researcher on the case admits that many aspects of the event remain confusing and undisclosed. And although he's still receiving information, Philip Imbrogno calls his own lengthy investigation "stagnant." "Every time new information comes up or I get a lead on something, I get very reluctant to deal with it again," said Imbrogno, who heads the science department at the Windward School in White Plains, New York. "The entire case has caused me quite a bit of pressure . . . The event would indicate that whatever appeared over there, our state-of-the-art technology in defense was unable to deal with it. " He suggests that from what his sources have said, a military aspect came into play. The Indian Point UFO represented an intolerable security breach. Military customers?

Imbrogno says that it is precisely that aspect which has had a lasting effect, and which has generated repercussions that continue to this day. But according to the New York Power Authority, which oversees the reactor complex, Indian Point itself has no direct military customers. Reactor #3 primarily services local and state facilities in New York City and Westchester County, including local school districts, the New York City subway systems and some of New York's trains. Most importantly, in Imbrogno's mind, are several military installations in and around Duchess County, which allegedly get their power from Indian Point. According to his sources, these are primarily satellite receiving stations, and "a number of other military operations of which we can only guess, " Imbrogno says. The official agency overseeing the reactor complex is the New York Power Authority, although Consolidated Edison has jurisdiction over Reactor #2 and is sold use of #3 for extensive transmissions to New York residential users and, perhaps, military facilities such as Camp Smith, an Air National Guard base located north of Peekskill. (Reactor #l is inactive.) It was NYPA whose officials apparently spent considerable human energy trying to dissuade Imbrogno from writing about the July 24 event, concerned he would release information vital to the plant's security. "I think other agencies were using (the NYPA) to harass me, " he said, noting that he was constantly subjected to their repetitive phone calls, threatening that he would be forced to appear at a hearing on the incident. (He was never subpoenaed, but Imbrogno subsequently, and perhaps coincidentally, was audited by the IRS four times.) The compulsion to publish was undeniable; of what may have been as many as 70 UFO witnesses among Indian Point personnel, a number quietly sought out Imbrogno, and on the condition of anonymity provided him with the vital facts which led to the production of Night Siege (co-written with Bob Pratt and J. Allen Hynek.) "My sources involve people who work in security for the plant and also people in secretarial and janitorial positions," he said.

"The only problem is that getting anything on paper- documentation, something official-is very, very hard, I have unofficial confirmation right now that a number of documents pertaining to the sighting do exist at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. " Normally, NRC records can be opened to the public under terms of the Freedom of Information Act, but when he in- quired, Imbrogno was informed that the documents were being held at the reactor complex, and as such were protected under national security regulations. "It's a joint sort of thing, " he said, "In other words, although the NRC is pretty open to the public, if they want to keep a document classified, they'll store it with another agency. I have an inside secretarial source who's actually seen the documents filed." The NYPA's Patrick denies that any such documentation exists, and dismisses the incident by claiming that all Hudson Valley UFO sightings were later identified as light aircraft, There was no videotape taken by on-site surveillance cameras, Patrick insists, or audio recording of oral communications, both pieces of evidence which Imbrogno strongly feels do exist and are being retained somewhere. According to Imbrogno's sources, a security shake-up ensued the very next day. "A number of agencies came in, including the NRC and military personnel, and they supposedly cleaned out everything. You have to remember that with nuclear reactors, you're only going to get 10 percent of the real story. They're overly terrified of bad publicity, and are really afraid of the anti-nuclear groups, which can cause trouble. Anything that happens is immediately covered up, including UFO sightings. "

An 'irregularity'

Imbrogno further alleges that shortly after the UFO infringement, a crack in the reactor's casing was discovered. The public didn't hear about such a situation until a year later; the NYPA's Patrick denied any "crack, " although he did recall a time when Reactor #2 may have developed an "irregularity. " Imbrogno says, "[Indian Point officials] made a public statement that operations were not affected, that everything was normal. But I've been told by several people that they lost power, the security system dropped, and the reactor controls went crazy. Apparently it was caused by the UFO." No way, says the NYPA. "Any implication that the sightings of these [light aircraft] in any way affected Reactor #3 is false", Patrick said. Imbrogno's sources indicate otherwise. Supposedly, a mass of sophisticated, high-accuracy tracking equipment was installed at the complex, enabling security to quickly generate a computer image of whatever aircraft might be affecting the equipment. Apparently such problems are still going on. Patrick would not comment on what kinds of security equipment protect Indian Point, but stressed that nothing new has been installed since the incident. Imbrogno is also suspicious that the armed security forces at the site may have had reason to attempt firing on the craft, again an allegation flatly refuted by the NYPA. "I know a number of helicopters with rocket launchers were sent up and followed the craft for some distance," Imbrogno commented, citing his anonymous sources for the info. "When these helicopters went on their way, the object moved off and started crossing the Hudson, and disappeared up north." Officials will not talk to Imbrogno, nor answer his letters, he says. UFO spoke with Cliff Spieler, vice president at the New York Power Authority. He, like Patrick, basically dismisses the entire affair. "Having looked into this thing and living two miles from Indian Point, think the UFO reports are nonsense, " he said. "[All Hudson Valley UFO sightings] are linked to small planes flying out of Duchess County." At one time, officials speaking for Indian Point made their position quite clear to Imbrogno, "They said, 'you can cooperate with us, or you don't have to cooperate with us. If you don't cooperate with us, you have to face the consequences, because you are dealing in an area of national security. The incident that took place over there involved national security because it was a breach of security at a nuclear reactor.' But they weren't ready to say who was breaching security!" In considering the "who," Imbrogno took in a number of hypotheses, including the possibility that the incident was an elaborate test flight of a secret military craft, such as the B-2 Stealth bomber, or a covertly-planned contingency test of the plant's security operations, carried out under the guise of a UFO overflight.

Nothing is impossible, he'll admit. But the most tenable answer, he feels, is that the UFO was an extraterrestrial craft. "I don't think our government could be so bold with a craft of the kind that appeared at Indian Point," he said. "Talking to these security people, and looking into their eyes," his voice trailed, " . . . they tell a story of this one cop who got up on the roof below the UFO, and the thing started moving a little bit. He pulled out his gun, looked at it, then put the gun back in his holster and ducked! . . . The people who were telling these stories are not familiar with the UFO literature. If I really wanted to go into this, with no fear of what would happen to me, I'm sure there's an incredible story here. I am still being given information about certain things going on there-In the nighttime, people seeing little creatures coming through the walls of the casing on the reactor, and military personnel indicating 'we're aware of these creatures and we don't care if they're from outer space-shoot 'em!' . . . On a newscast on Channel 7 in New York, they were interviewing one guy, and he said, 'I saw it going over the reactor! I think they're sucking the power from it! That's what they're doing!' But a civilization that has this type of vehicle- any intelligence, whatever it is-I'm sure doesn't need nuclear energy."

Ed. Note: In a letter to UFO shortly after this article was written, Imbrogno added to his remarks. "It is hard to believe that people like John Lear and Bill Cooper are revealing 'top secret' information with little or no repercussions. I just poked my nose a little too deep into an area of national security and got my ears pinned back for it. My next step is to approach this in a legal way by asking for an investigation (preferably by a member of Congress) to find out how and why the security at this government reactor was violated and why information is being withheld." - Vicki Cooper, UFO Magazine

NOTE: I realized that Philip J. Imbrogno has recently been 'called out' for his apparent falsification of credentials...but the total research in the book "Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings" should not be discounted...Lon

Reader Response: The Ozark Howler and a Big Apple Shape Shifter

I received the following email in response to Was It The Ozark Howler?:

I have seen this creature very close to Jasper, Arkansas. I have lived in the Arkansas Ozarks for over 20 years. I never knew what it was until recently doing research. And I do believe I know where they are. I first had visual sight of one was off HWY 65 on HWY 256, heading towards Welcome Home. When I saw it I couldn't believe my eyes, I had never seen anything like it, what shocked me the most and what was most memorable was the horns coming out of it's forehead, very much cat like, but it was it's face with it's horns that really shocked me. I drove as if in shock from a car crash not believing what I saw, until I started doing research on the subject. For over 10 years, in a remote region close to Mountain View, Arkansas, you can hear the howl every single night, usually after midnight. I never knew it was until I did the research, it is very elk like, almost like a horn, but definitely a howl. If anyone is brave enough I can show you where exactly to go to hear this, and where I made visual contact.

I also received several responses to my post Witness: The North Georgia Mothman, including the following email that describes a Mothman-like entity in the boroughs of New York City:

Sir - These are true experiences from my 60 year lifetime of strange experiences. I send you these that they may help me get in contact with the others that have had encounters with these things during the times I did. There were originally they posted at my first website in the early 90s. These are both about giant bird like entities that I encountered. The first one was when I was just a child circa 1958 -1968, then the another when I was in my early 20s. Both of which I had witnesses for.

Though I mainly speak about my UFO encounters there are other things that I experienced during my life time that are just as weird. I will start with a creature me and my brother Ralph called depending on how it appeared at the time it manifested different names. It was called Mr. Gonzwell , A Gonzwell , or just Gonzwell. This was during the time we where living at that hated tenement 1530 Brook Ave.

We both were very young and again told this thing was just a nightmare so it was relegated to the status of a Dream Demon as with all things I write I do not ask for belief for that does not really matter to me I know what I say here is true so what others may believe is of no importance to me.

I write this with hopes that some one reading it may have seen this creature and will get in contact with me. These encounters occurred from 1958 thru 1968. I will list here some of this creatures appearances and behavior.

Gonzwell was a large creature of human dimensions. It looked like a combination of a man, a bat and a bird. It was covered with a fine dark gray rat like fur and had huge owl like multi-spectrum iridescent eyes. If you looked into its eyes it would paralyze you. It had a eagle like beak, and huge bat like wings. The Entity seemed to be able to stretch its neck and shape shift. It would sometimes first appear as a large black bird, crow, or raven. At times it appeared as a tall silhouette of a man wearing a long black cape, or poncho wearing a wide brimmed bowler hat he only spoke when in this form. He would with anger speak of what man kind was doing to the world. Only in this form did we call it Mr. Gonzwell. It seemed mainly to come during the warmer months.

I seemed to be the main focus of this creature but Ralph had several encounters with it also. It like all the other creatures encountered while we live there would come to, and through the window of our bed room and stand there staring in, calling to you in your head to look at it. It seemed to be able to stretch is neck like an ostrich for at times it would seem not to move from its place in the window yet be able to get its face right up into your face.

It once told me this place was its home and it did not like what had been done to it. I was a kid I thought it meant it once lived in our apartment and died and was a ghost or a spirit that was haunting the alley like the other things that came to the window.

As with everything that happened to me I told my mother of this creature and she said it was just a dream but told me how I could defeat these monsters in my dreams.
She said to just tell them to leave you alone or you would wake up and that would destroy it. That worked fine in my nightmares and for awhile the household was able to finally get through a night of uninterrupted sleep without me waking them up screaming at the top of my lungs.

Then one night while my two aunts Dutes (Ruth) and Bob (Barbara) were visiting I had a "dream" encounter with Gonzwell. In it I found myself setting in the living room of our apartment alone with the shades up at night time. Our living room had two windows separated by a twelve foot wall at night with the shades partially lowered it made me think the house was watching me through these two huge darkened eyes faking sleep while in truth it was peaking at me.

Normally I would have immediately pull them all the way down to close these eyes. Suddenly in this dream the shades were up to the tops of the window and I could feel the cold watching on me coming from them. I went to pull the shades down but knew being short I'd have to stand up in the window to do it. But for me to do this meant that any one or anything standing out in the darkness of the roof would see me as I did so but I could not take the stare of darkness coming through them. As I started toward the window, the radio came on, and a male voice on it said "Gonzwell has been spotted in your neighborhood what ever you do, do not draw the shades it's the only way he can enter your home." Now I was in a pretty fine mess. Leave them up and let the terrible watching continue or pull them down and invite Gonzwell to enter.

My nightmares had finally reached a new level of cruelty to me one fear was used to force me to face the other. I sat still in that dream for what seemed hours terrified of the darkness watching me through those damned darkened windows yet horrified to draw the shades. Stupid nightmare huh? I know it sounds like that but if you knew the trauma I had and have of darkened windows you would understand the fear caused by the thought that some one or something was out there in the darkness watching me. That was and is still a deep terror I deal with to this day, though at least I can now walk to a darkened window and pull the shades with out almost dropping dead from terror. But to continue......

Finally if just to bring end to it I ran over and lowered the shade of one of the windows. A black spot appeared on it and began to grow until it filled it then as if it was a black opened door Gonzwell stepped from it. I quickly pulled the trump card that I had use with success for almost six months by then and screamed at it, "If you do not leave me alone I will wake up and that will destroy you!" "That won't help you now" was its only response and it started toward me. I woke up in bed with my two brothers Ralph laying beside me, and Chuck at the head of the bed.

I wasn't afraid, in fact I was invigorated, I had just defeated the King of the Dream Demons. Then I saw a black spot appear on the drawn window shade which then swelled into the same black doorway I had seen in my dream and through it stepped Mr. Gonzwell who then said, "I told you that would not help you now!" I screamed as loud as I could, "Daddy Daddy there is a man in the room, there is a man in the room!" "Mattie why don't you go in there and see what's the matter with that boy I got work tomorrow." was the only thing I heard him say. "Me?!" I heard my mother say" Didn't you hear him say there was a man in the room, you go in there, your the only other man in the house, I'm getting ready to go under this bed!" That's when came the familiar chorus I hadn't heard for six months or so before then...."Butch turn to the wall close your eyes and go to sleep!!!"

I look back to Gonzwell he was bending over my brother Ralph as if to reach for me.
I must have fainted because the next thing I remember was my mothers screaming, "Oh my GOD!" I sat up and looked in time to see her rushing Ralph out of the room. Then I saw where Ralph had been sleeping was covered with blood. During the night he had a terrible nose bleed. I thought I had hit him in the nose during my nightmare but there was so much blood it covered the corner of the bed where his head had laid.
It was to be years later when I got an inkling of what may have happened that night.

We moved soon after that but that was just because we were finally excepted into the new project that were opened. This was a real happening and have become one of those stories told about the table at every big family gathering. Not one will pass that my Aunt Ruth, Aunt Bob or my Aunt Gerlene who lived down stairs did not ask
"Butch do you still remember that night when you screamed there was a man in your room?" After we moved I thought that was to be the last I saw of Gonzwell but it was not...

I had not seen this creature for years then, when I was about sixteen, one night it entered my dreams and I just lost it and attacked it. In the dream I became a bigger version of myself that I called Posey ( my given name after my grandfather).
He wrestled Gonzwell to the ground and held it down and demanded for it to leave me alone its only response was. "I only want to be your friend." "The only way you can be my friend is to leave me alone " was Poseys answer.

That was the last time I saw Gonzwell and the first and last time I saw the bigger dream version of me called Posey. Years later I heard of the Mothman and read the book. The book describes a creature that was very similar to Gonzwell and to my surprise, and horror it was seen around the time we were having encounters with this Entity.

Years later I found out that the land that our homes were built upon was once sacred Native American burial grounds. Was that what Gonzwell meant about what it did not like about what we did to the land? Could it have been a nature spirit? I was to also learn years later that there is Native American in my blood line from my fathers side my Grand mother was Cherokee. When Ralph left the army he brought me a group of books he said I should read they were the works of Carlos Castaneda.

In the Teachings Of Don Juan I was first to hear of the Nagual form that some times comes out of people, a bigger version of themselves (Posey?). I also learned you had to wrestle and ally in order to defeat it, and was how I had finally defeated Gonzwell.

Then there was its statement once I had pinned it to the floor and would not release it, "I just want to be your friend." was it saying It wanted to be my ally?
Then many years later I learned of implants in the nose. Ralphs bleeding after the night Gonzwell came through the shade. They demolished 1530 Brook Avenue and for some reason have not yet built on the land there.

What was Gonzwell?

I don't know but the only connecting link I can see in these bizarre happenings is that the area in which it manifested was all once considered sacred lands. In fact all the areas I lived in, in the Bronx may have at one time been just that. Could this be the reason for the many kinds of encounters of Entities, sightings of UFOs, and strange phenomena that I had while I was living in the Bronx?

If that is so then why am I still dealing with the same phenomena now that I live in Brooklyn? This is something I think should be looked into by investigators of the paranormal. It's too bad that these lands were destroyed and built upon so long ago but it seems they have maintained their energy field or what ever it is that draws these things despite Man's ignorance, indifference to, and wanton destruction of these one time ancient and sacred sites. What do you think?

NOTE: I'm not going to comment on these revelations but I'm sure the readers would welcome your thoughts...Lon

The Great Blackout of 1965: Was UFO Activity Responsible?

I have posted several observations from that fateful day...the official reports and the speculations. Though we were not affected in south-central Pennsylvania, the incident did create a major stir worldwide. The U.S. Government was clamoring for answers while, at the same time, people where asking the question...was UFO activity responsible for the greatest electrical blackout in U.S. history?

On November 9, 1965, the northeast power system broke up 4 seconds after the initial disturbance, and 30 million people were without electricity for as long as 13 hours. Later that day, President Lyndon Johnson wrote to the chairman of the Federal Power Commission:

"Today's failure is a dramatic reminder of the importance of the uninterrupted flow of power to the health, safety, and well being of our citizens and the defense of our country.

"This failure should be immediately and carefully investigated in order to prevent a recurrence.

"You are therefore directed to launch a thorough study of the cause of this failure. I am putting at your disposal full resources of the federal government and directing the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense and other agencies to support you in any way possible. You are to call upon the top experts in our nation in conducting the investigation.

"A report is expected at the earliest possible moment as to the causes of the failure and the steps you recommend to be taken to prevent a recurrence."

Signed,
Lyndon B. Johnson

The Event

The Great Northeast Blackout of November 9, 1965 began at 5:16 p.m., near the end of an otherwise typical work day.

The event started at the Ontario - New York border, near Niagara Falls.

A single transmission line from the Niagara generating station tripped (opened).

Within 2.5 seconds, five other transmission lines became overloaded and tripped, isolating 1,800 MW of generation at Niagara Station.

After their isolation, the generators became unstable and tripped off-line.

The northeast power system became unstable and separated into isolated power systems (islands) within 4 seconds.

Outages and islanding occurred throughout New York, Ontario, most of New England, and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Most islands went black within 5 minutes, due to imbalances between generation and load (generator overspeed/underspeed tripping).

The massive blackout left 30 million people without electricity for as long as 13 hours.

This was "the big one" and it all started with the operation of a simple overcurrent relay on a transmission line. The design and operation of electric utility systems changed after that, due to the lessons that were learned from this event.

Areas of Separation
5:17 PM - November 9, 1965

Orange: Ontario Hydro System
Yellow: St. Lawrence - Oswego
Blue: Western New York
Red: Eastern New York - New England
Green: Maine and part of New Hampshire

The green area did not lose power during the blackout.

Regional Reliability Councils

The regional reliability councils were formed in the wake of the 1965 Northeast blackout:

Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) was formed in January, 1966.

Federal Power Commission's blackout report was issued June, 1967.

National Electric Reliability Council, now North American Electric Reliability Council, (NERC) was formed in June, 1968.

NPCC, our regional reliability council, was the first one. Today, there are ten regional reliability councils. (Florida is the newest, creating its own in 1996, after having been in the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council). NERC is an association of the regional reliability councils. Although the organization and workings of each regional reliability council are different, they have a common factor - each one has its own criteria, which establish minimum standards. An important aspect of assuring reliability is sharing information necessary for system analysis, and coordination of system design and operation.

Then and Today

Compared to today's system, the 1965 system was much less networked. Some areas had strong interconnections while others were weak. In fact, the State of Maine survived the 1965 blackout because of its weak ties to the rest of New England, which tripped.

System impedance (electrical "distance") between Bangor, Maine and Portland, Maine is about 8 times less today than it was in 1965. In terms of electrical distance, Bangor is as close to Tennessee or Michigan today, as it was to Portland in 1965. This is approximate, and based on broad estimates. However, it illustrates the interdependency of today's system, compared to 1965. We must be much more careful today if we are to avoid a widespread disturbance, simply because of the close ties we have with other power systems.

Today's Power System

New England now has a well-developed 345 kV network, with 345 kV ties and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) ties to neighbors.

In northeast North America, we design to what we call "Normal Contingencies", and we use redundant, independent protection systems where required. We test system resiliency with "Extreme Contingencies". We monitor what we call Special Protection Systems (SPSs), which are fast-acting relay, communication, and control systems for generator, line, load, or other cross -tripping. There are more devices with fast controls today.

The North American Interconnected Systems today are four major independent systems, or networks:

Eastern Interconnected Network (east of the Rockies). This system is all but the ERCOT and WSCC reliability councils, and the Quebec portion of the NPCC reliability council.

Quebec. This system is part of the NPCC reliability council.

Texas. This system is the ERCOT reliability council.

Western Interconnected Network (west of the Rockies). This system is the WSCC reliability council.

These four systems are asynchronous, tied together only by DC interconnections. These systems include continental Canada, the contiguous United States, and northern Baja Mexico. Other systems are: Alaska, Mexico, and Labrador. These systems are illustrated in the following NERC map of reliability councils.

The eastern interconnected network is, arguably, the largest machine in the world. The network has thousands of sources, hundreds of millions of miles of lines, and over a billion individual loads. Despite its complexity, this network operates in continuous synchronism as a single system. The power systems are so well connected, a single disturbance can be detected thousands of miles away.

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The Great Northeast Blackout
November 9, 1965

Excerpted from:

UFO Canada
by Yurko Bondarchuk

Published by: Methuen Publications, Toronto, 1979
ISBN 0-458-94160-3

From Chapter 9 - The E.M. Effect and Power Blackouts
(pages 130 - 137)

On November 9, 1965 the Northeastern region of the United States and Canada was abruptly plunged into blackness. The worst blackout on record came to be known as the "Big Blackout".

The facts are well known. At 5:16 pm, at the height of the evening rush hour, electrical power to one-sixth of the continent's population was suddenly cut off, trapping millions of people on expressways, in elevators and in office buildings. Altogether, thirty million people in eight U.S. states and in the province of Ontario were affected by the disruption (1)

In Ontario the blackout was confined to the eastern portion of the province - from Timmins in the north, across to Cornwall in the east and south toward Sarnia. Windsor, Ottawa and Sudbury were the only eastern centres to escape the blackout.(2) Yet within three hours power was restored to most parts of the province.

Mass media coverage naturally focussed on the human aspect of the blackout and to a lesser extent, on the delay in determining the cause of the breakdown.

There was, however, an even more dramatic story.

UFOs had been reported in the vicinity of strategic hydro installations at the time of the blackout. The impressive number of credible sightings led many researchers to consider the possible role these craft may have played in the power collapse.

The researchers included the late Dr. James E. MacDonald,(3) a physicist at the University of Arizona; former NICAP director Major Donald E. Keyhoe; and astronomer Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the current director of the Centre for UFO Studies.

Immediately following the breakdown, the U.S. Federal Power Commission and the Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission launched a full-scale investigation into the cause. At first, it was reported that the trouble originated with a mechanical breakdown in a high voltage line between Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

According to the Toronto 'Globe & Mail':

The report turned out to be false. Then a sub-station near Syracuse was reported to be the cause of the failure, but repairmen found it in perfect condition. (4)

Finally, six days after the blackout, Ontario Hydro engineers traced the trouble to the mammoth Sir Adam Beck No.2 Generating Station at Queenston, Ontariom north of Niagra Falls.

It seems that just prior to the blackout, power was flowing from Sir Adam Beck No.2. into Ontario, then across the border via Cornwall into New York State. In graphic terms, power was flowing clockwise in a loop around Lake Ontario.

At 5:16pm, a backup relay on one of the six lines linking Sir Adam Beck tothe rest of the province mysteriously tripped the line's circuit breaker, which acts much like a household fuse.

In quick succession the cut-off power jumped to the other five lines, causing an overload that tripped the circuit breakers on these lines as well.

A veritable tidal wave of electricity - 1.1 million kilowatts - flowed in the opposite direction into New York State. (5) Inexplicably, the relays on the New York lines failed to isolate and contain the overload. Within seconds, the entire grid of thirty-one interconnected power utilities of CANUSE (Canada-United States Eastern Grid) had broken down.

Although experts could pinpoint the origin of the blackout, they were baffled by the cause of the relay malfunction and the failure of the protective systems to contain the overload.

In the words of Ontario Hydro's system supervising engineer, Jim Harris: "It's incredible! I would have said this was impossible if I hadn't seen the evidence." (6)

The mystery deepened when it was discovered that the relay had not in fact malfunctioned, but had merely reacted to a sudden surge of power from an unknown source.

As stated in the final report of the U.S. Federal Power Commission: "The precise cause of the backup relay energization is now known." (7) Where did the unexplained surge of power come from? To this day that question has remained unanswered.

Or has it?

Although inconclusive, one answer might lie in the findings of the late Dr. James McDonald who contended that the magnetic fields accompanying UFOs can create sudden power surges in transmission lines as the craft flies overhead.(8) In theory, these power surges could produce blackouts of massive proportions.

Since the 'Big Blackout', McDonald's theory has gained considerable support in the light of strong evidence confirming widespread UFO activity on that fateful evening.

The Syracuse Herald-Journal was inundated with calls reporting more than one hundred sightings in the Syracuse area.

One of the first came from Syracuse Deputy Aviation Commissioner, Robert C. Walsh, who was flying over Syracuse at the time of the blackout.(9) Despite the darkness, he managed to land safely at Hancock Airport.

Standing on the runway, with some airport officials he suddenly noticed an enormous circular ball of light, drifting overhead. "It appeared to be one hundred feet in the air and fifty feet in diameter.(10) It rose for several seconds, then suddenly disappeared. Moments later, a bewildered Walsh and his companions watched an identical device ascending over the airfieldm before mysteriously 'blinking out', as did its predecessor. Unlike the known high-speed plunges of fireballs, these craft moved upward at moderate speed - clearly under some form of intelligent control.

At the same time, the mysterious craft were also being observed overhead. Veteran flight instructor Weldon Ross and his student, James Brooking, were approaching the darkened airport when they spotted a second fiery object below.

The Giant craft, estimated at well over one hundred feet in diameter, appeared to be positioned directly over the Clay sub-station, a strategic installation that channels power from Niagara Falls to New York City.(11)

It was the same sub-station where hydro investigating teams had initially pinpointed the origin of the blackout.

In a relentless pursuit of a possible UFO-blackout relationship, Herald-Journal reporters succeeded in uncovering even more explosive evidence. In a front page story seven days after the blackout, the paper carried photographs of the mysterious red craft taken by Mr. William Stillwell, a sexton at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He described what he had observed through a 117-power telescope:

The centre was rotating, around and around and around. It came from the direction of DeWitt and shot off at an angle and then went back the way it came. (12)

He had watched the glowing object for as long as two hours before it streaked away.

While investigating teams continued to dig for the mysterious cause of the power failure, press coverage of a possible UFO connection gained momentum.

In a strongly worded editorial, the Indianapolis Star urged:

The answer is fairly obvious - unidentified flying objects! It is one angle the multi-pronged investigation should not overlook.(13)

Support for the UFO possibility intensified as news of other sightings became known. In New York City, twenty minutes into the blackout, witnesses in the Time-Life Building spotted a peculiar glow in the sky over darkened Manhattan. According to Major Donald Keyhoe:

It appeared to come from a round object hovering over the city. This was tewenty minutes after the lights began to go out. Several photographs were taken by a Time Magazine photographer, one of which appeared in the November 19th issue. (14)

Although clearly visible in the photograph reproduced here, Time editors failed to make any reference in their photo-caption to the spindle-shaped craft. Journalistic oversight or deliberate omission? The only hit of any unusual aerial activity came in a facetious reference to a Soviet satellite:

Some New Yorkers, claiming that they had seen a satellite pass over at the moment the lights failed, argued that the Russians had done it again. (15)

But UFO investigator and author, the late Frank Edwards disagrees with both the UFO and the Soviet satellite explanations:

The spindle-shaped thing could have been a UFO--but it certainly wasn't. It was nothing more than an optical ghost, the result of reflections between the elements of an air-spaced lens.(16)

While disputing the validityof the Time photo, Edwards strongly supported the contention the UFOs were somehow involved in activating the blackout. In fact, while conducting his own investigation into the cause of the blackout he discovered that U.S. military authorities had been well aware of the UFO presence, at least forty-five minutes prior to the power failure.(17)

This startling disclosure came from two commercial pilots, Jerry Whitaker and George Croninger, who were flying over Tidioute, Pennsylvania, when they spotted two disc-shaped 'shiny objects' overhead.

Even more surprising was the sight of two military jets chasing the mysterious craft.

Moments later, one of the discs put on a 'burst of speed' and quickly outdistanced its pursuers. While watching the fast-disappearing UFO, the dazed pilots lost sight of the other object, which had presumably departed in the same manner.

The most spectacular UFO revelation, however, came one day prior to the releae of the 'official' explanation when, speaking before a nationwide televison audience, NBC commentator Frank McGee announced that a private pilot had spotted a "round, glowing object near the Niagra Falls power plant".(18)

Associated Press picked up the story and numerous newspapers subsequently carried it. The following morning, a well-documented article appeared in the New York Journal American blaming UFOs for the disastrous power-grid breakdown.

Any further media focus on the UFO connection was brought to an abrupt halt, however, with the release of the 'broken relay' explanation.

Despite mounting evidence, the Federal Power Commission had predictably chosen to side-step the possible UFO connection. This ommission was eventually confirmed by Dr. James E. McDonald who, as a respected scientist, was allowed to interview certain FPC officials.

They admitted they had the Syracuse and Niagara Falls reports, also most of the others on that night. But they wouldn't discuss the UFO possibility....No matter what they believed, I think they were convinced the facts shouldn't be given tothe public, and that's why they agreed to the 'broken relay' story. At any rate, it was obvious they were covering up (19)

Under the circumstances there seems to be a strong possibility that Canadian authorities were also involved in the cover-up. Ontario Hydro-Electric Power Commission investigators, having become aware of the UFO reports, collaborated with the FPC by exchanging information that eventually led to the 'broken relay' explanation.(20)

Furthermore, this explanation had apparently been pre-arranged and was released simultaneously in both countries.(21)

The Ontario Hydro press statement similarly neglected to include UFOs as the possible cause for the blackout.

One reputable American ufologist went so far as to point an accusing finger at the late Lester B. Pearson, then prime minister. Major Donald Keyhoe contends that:

To shift attention from the UFO explanation, the 'broken relay' story was invented. Since this could be construed as blaming Canada, the Prime Minister must have been convinced it was best for both countries not to disclose the true situation.(22)

It that was the case, then it represents one of the most shocking deceptions ever perpetrated - leaving the heads of thirty-one utility companies and thirty million people to grope around in the dark in more ways than one! - MUFON Ontario

(1) Time Magazine (November 19, 1965) Canadian Edition, p.24.
(2) Ibid. p.23B.
(3) John G. Fuller, 'Aliens in the Skies: The New UFO Battle of the Scientists' (New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1969), p.85.
(4) Toronto Globe and Mail, November 16, 1965.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ontario Hydro, Hydroscope, Vol. 2. No. 40 (November 19, 1965) p.2.
(7) James M. McCampbell, 'Ufology: New Insights from Science and Common Sense' (Belmont, Ca.: Jaymac Company, 1973), p. 57.
(8) James E. McDonald, Statement prepared for the Hearings before A Committee of the U.S. Federal Power Commission.
(9) Frank Edwards, 'Flying Saucers: Serious Business' (New York: Bantam Books, 1966), p. 147.
(10) Ibid.
(11) Donald E, Keyhoe, 'Aliens From Space' (Toronto: The New American Library of Canada Limited, 1973), p. 172.
(12) Frank Edwards, op. cit., p. 148.
(13) Donald E. Keyhoe, op., cit. p. 176.
(14) Ibid. p. 172.
(15) Time Magazine, op. cit., p. 28A.
(16) Frank Edwards, op. cit., p. 149.
(17) Ibid.
(18) Donald E. Keyhoe, op. cit., p. 177.
(19) Ibid., p. 182.
(20) Toronto Globe and Mail, op. cit.
(21) Ibid.
(22) Donald E. Keyhoe, op. cit., p. 180.

Links to sources describing the incident - Archive - 1965 Blackout

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Evidence looking at the possible UFO – New York City blackout connection was even brought in front of congress. Dr. James E. McDonald, a top Ufologist of the day and University of Arizona professor, testified on the possible UFO connection to the northeast blackout in front of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics at July 29, 1968, Symposium on Unidentified Flying Objects, Rayburn Bldg., Washington, D.C. Among the congressmen who listened in was the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

The congressmen were impressed enough with the evidence that they questioned Dr. McDonald on his theory of UFO electromagnetic effects being able to black out huge sections of the country. One exchange occurred with Representative William F. Ryan, a Democrat from New York City.

Mr. Ryan: Let me ask a further question: In the course of your investigation and your study of UFO sightings, have you found any cases where contemporaneously with the sighting of UFO's allegedly, there were any other events which took place, which might or might not be related to the UFO's?

Dr. McDonald: Yes. Certainly there are many physical effects. For instance, in Mr. Pettis' district, several people found the fillings in their mouth hurting while this object was nearby, but there are many cases probably on record of car ignition failure. One famous case was at Levelland, Tex., in 1957. Ten vehicles were stopped within a short area, all independently in a 2-hour period, near Levelland, Tex. There was no lightning or thunder storm, and only a trace of rain.

There is another, which I don't know whether to bring to the committee's attention or not. The evidence is not as conclusive as the car stopping phenomenon, but there are too many instances for me to ignore. UFO's have often been seen hovering near power facilities. There are a small number but still a little too many to seem pure fortuitous chance, of system outages, coincident with the UFO sighting. One of the cases was Tamaroa, Ill. Another was a case in Shelbyville, Ky., early last year.

"Then there are scattered instances in which substantial power distribution systems have failed at or very near the time of observation of aerial phenomena similar, broadly speaking, to one or another UFO phenomenon. I have personally checked on several such instances and am satisfied that the coincidence of UFO observation and power outage did at least occur. Whether there is a causal connection here, and in which direction it may run, remains quite uncertain. Even during the large Northeast blackout, November 9, 1965, there were many UFO observations, several of which I have personally checked..."

"I interviewed a woman in Seacliff, N.Y. She saw a disk hovering and going up and down. And then shooting away from New York just after the power failure. I went to the FPC for data, they didn't take them seriously although they had many dozens of sighting reports for that famous evening. There were reports all over New England in the midst of that blackout, and five witnesses near Syracuse, N.Y., saw a glowing object ascending within about a minute of the blackout. First they thought it was a dump burning right at the moment the lights went out. It is rather puzzling that the pulse of current that tripped the relay at the Ontario Hydro Commission plant has never been identified, but initially the tentative suspicion was centered on the Clay Substation of the Niagara Mohawk network right there in the Syracuse area, where unidentified aerial phenomenon has been seen by some of the witnesses."

This extends down to the limit of single houses losing their power when a UFO is near. The hypothesis in the case of car stopping is that there might be high magnetic fields, d.c. fields, which saturate the [ignition system solenoid] core and thus prevent the pulses going through the system to the other side. Just how a UFO could trigger an outage on a large power network is however not yet clear. But this is a disturbing series of coincidences that I think warrant much more attention than they have so far received.

Mr. Ryan: As far as you know, has any agency investigated the New York blackout in relation to UFO?

Dr. McDonald: None at all. when I spoke to the FPC people, I was dissatisfied with the amount of information I could gain. I am saying there is a puzzling and slightly disturbing coincidence here. I'm not going on record as saying, yes, these are clear-cut cause and effect relations. I'm saying it ought to be looked at. There is no one looking at this relation between UFO's and outages.

-----

Although the Pentagon was reporting nothing had been seriously affected, there were facts that showed this was not true. There was secret information that indicated that the situation was much more complex than just a power blackout.

Only a couple days after the blackout a book called "Strike From Space" appeared in the bookstores. Conservative activists Phyllis Schlafly and Rear Admiral Chester Ward (Ret) authored the book. Although it dealt mostly with the growing threat of Soviet space weapons and the Johnson White House’s inability to deal with the problem, the book did describe some serious events that were never really made public.

Schlafly and Ward relied on the counsel of a cast of military advisors for their book. Some of those names that included some names that have become very prominent in the UFO community. One was General Cutis LeMay who told Senator Barry Goldwater that not only could he not see the rumored Blue Room at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, but he should never even ask about it again. The second key advisor to the book was Hoover Institution strategic theorist Dr Stefan Possony, who had been attendee at the 1953 CIA UFO Scientific Advisory Panel meetings.

The book claimed that not only had the lights gone out all over the eastern United States, in an underground command post called High Point, near Berryville, Virginia, Air Force Colonel J Leo Bourassa was picking up nuclear alerts from a national network of nuclear blast detection devices called System 210-A, or "Bomb Alarm.":

"The Bomb Alarm display board at High Point was blazing with yellow lights, indicating that communications links to the BMEWS site in Thule, Greenland, as well as twenty-one other System 210-A sites, had gone down. But worse – much worse – two of the sensors, the ones for Salt Lake City and Charlotte, North Carolina, were showing red. Red for nuclear detonations. Bourassa assumed the worst – that a surgical nuclear attack was under way – and placed Mt Weather on full alert. It was the one and only time that the facility went on alert during the Cold War."

Bourassa called the full alert and called it off a couple days later. It was probably the type of action that he liked, in light of the fact that in November 1954 Bourassa quit his government job "because of not enough work to do."

Exactly one month later he would be busy again. This time it would involve the possible recovery of an object in Kecksburg Pennsylvania. - www.presidentialufo.com

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Mysterious Lights Over Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls Reporter - 10/25/2005

In a Nov. 19, 1965, Ontario Hydro Hydroscope article, system supervising engineer Jim Harris was at a loss to explain the incident.

"It's incredible! I would have said this was impossible if I hadn't seen the evidence," he said.

Just two weeks before the blackout, on Sept. 22, 1965, in an article entitled "Many report seeing two UFOs," the Gazette chronicled the activity near the power plants.

"Dozens of persons Tuesday night watched two unidentified flying objects moving and hovering over this area for more than an hour," the article stated. "The objects, bright lights which changed color, were below cloud level and remained at a fairly low level during most of the period they were observed. "Observers said the objects were not helicopters or conventional aircraft. At one point, about 8 p.m., the two objects, which had been widely separated when viewed earlier, approached each other on a collision course until they 'teamed up' and moved off close together toward Buffalo," the article added. The objects were first sighted "on the Canadian side of the river, at a point opposite Lewiston." In other words, over Queenston and the Sir Adam Beck plant.

Among the witnesses named in the article were State Trooper John Riehl, Alden residents Roselle Simon and Leonard Butler, and V.D. Price and Raymond Bright, employees of the American Standard Division in North Tonawanda.

"This was not a satellite. Satellites travel in straight lines and within a few minutes they are gone," Bright told the Gazette. "This hung in the sky for about half an hour. It would move off in one direction and then stop. Then it would change direction and move off again."

The relationship between the blackout and reported UFO activity wasn't lost on the scientific community. In a statement prepared for hearings held on the blackout by the Federal Power Commission, University of Arizona physicist Dr. James McDonald contended that magnetic fields accompanying UFOs could cause sudden power surges and could, theoretically, trigger a blackout.

Writing about the event on April 2, 1968, Gazette reporter Joe Donaldson recalled the reports on the night of the blackout.

"After the big blackout, spokesmen for the power firms denied a strange light was spotted over the Beck Station the night of Nov. 9. Since then, however, they have admitted that sightings were reported by hundreds of people," the veteran newsman wrote.

But gradually, the "broken two-dollar switch" theory as to the cause of the disaster became the accepted version of events. This would not mark the end of credible reports of UFOs in Niagara Falls, however.

On Aug. 4, 1966, the Gazette reported "Bright, high-flying, fast moving objects observed during the night and similarly described by three Niagara Falls residents."

This time the witnesses were Mrs. George Haberle of the Parkway Apartments and 91st Street residents Russell Sorenberger and Bill Nelson. Ironically, attempts by the paper to reach Capt. Harry Meir, chief of operations and training at Niagara Falls Air Base, were unsuccessful because Meir had been in Erie, Pa., investigating another UFO report.

Two Niagara Falls city policemen and a former Air Force radar chief had their own close encounters over a 48-hour period in August 1967.

According to an Aug. 25, 1967, Gazette article, the two officers, Patrolmen Anthony Caraglin and David Greene, saw a pair of UFOs while patrolling at 19th Street and Mackenna Avenue. They filed an official report of the incident.

"We saw two objects in the sky -- one object went in an easterly direction then went northeasterly. As the object went out of sight it appeared to give off different colored lights. While the object was in sight it was a solid white light and appeared to be round.

"Object Two was the same as Object One but went from south to north and went out of sight. Both objects were in view for approximately 15 minutes and appeared to be very high," the report stated. Howard Kay of Youngstown was working at DuPont that night. An eight-year Air Force radar chief, he told the Gazette the object he saw over the Niagara River near Buffalo Avenue looked like "an inverted cereal bowl and was lit up." Perhaps predictably, USAF Information Officer Thomas White said he knew nothing about the UFOs.

"I have checked with the U.S. Air Force Station in Lockport, and the 763rd Radar Squadron there reports no objects logged by their radar screens at these times," he told the Gazette.

Eight months later, on April 2, 1968, no fewer than three NFPD patrolmen reported UFOs from two separate locations.

The pulsating lights hovered for nearly an hour in the vicinity of the Beck Station, the officers said.

Patrolmen Thomas Shumway and William Wells watched the lights from Lewiston Road and Hyde Park Boulevard.

"They were like something I had never seen before," Shumway told the Gazette. "They were in formation and they were pulsating."

Shumway said the red, white and blue lights did not come from an airplane and were motionless until they suddenly shot away to the northwest at a tremendous rate of speed.

At the same time, Patrolman Richard Adkins confirmed the lights were hovering across the Niagara River from the Robert Moses Power Plant and near the Beck Station. He said the lights were about 1,000 feet in the air and that, from time to time, a red streak of light would pass through the formation. While strange lights are still occasionally reported in the Niagara skies, it appears that 1965 to 1968 represented something of a golden age for UFO sightings here.

And in the presence of so much documentation and credible testimony by trained observers, it seems difficult to deny that something was going on. What -- exactly -- the mysterious objects were will likely never be known. It is interesting to note that the Air Force employed a device to disrupt electrical power in the city of Belgrade during the Kosovo war. Could some early testing of a similar device have resulted in the 1965 blackout? - www.niagarafallsreporter.com

There were also a number of reports of anomalous lights, and speculation that the blackout may have been the related to UFO activity in some way - UFO reports on November 9, 1965

The Blackout of 1965 and the Fireball

Sources:
www.cmpco.com
www.virtuallystrange.net
MUFON Ontario
NICAP
blackout.gmu.edu
www.presidentialufo.com
www.niagarafallsreporter.com
www.mt.net
www.coasttocoastam.com
www.ufocasebook.com
www.ufodigest.com

Brooklyn's Red Bee Mystery

wivb - A bunch of Brooklyn bees have been coming home looking flushed.

New York City beekeeper Cerise Mayo was puzzled when her bees started showing up with mysterious red coloring. Their honey also turned as red as cough syrup.

She tells The New York Times a friend joked that the bees were imbibing on the runoff at Dell's Maraschino Cherries Company, in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Mayo — whose first name means "cherry" in French — raises bees in that neighborhood and across the water on Governor's Island.

Tests confirmed the bees were riddled with Red Dye No. 40 — the same food coloring found in the cherry juice. Bee expert Andrew Cote tells the newspaper that bees had been creating a big nuisance at the factory.

The solution? Put up screens or provide a closer source of sweet nectar.

**********

There Are Red Bees in Red Hook

NYMag - For the life of Cerise Mayo, a beekeeper with hives in Red Hook and on Governor's Island, she could not figure out why her bees were returning home to their honeycombs colored red. Or why, when they began producing honey, the sweet stuff itself was also scarlet-tinted. Was it a bee disease? Some obscure hipster air pollution? Were they buzzing on Robitussin like all the cool kids back behind Steve's Authentic?

A brief investigation turned up the most likely suspect: Dell’s Maraschino Cherries Company on Dikeman Street in Red Hook. Apparently, the bees were flying over there and engorging themselves on the sugary, red syrup that's used to make the neon cherries that adorn so many trendy Brooklyn beverages these days. Then they'd return home to rest and make honey. "When the sun is a bit down, they glow red in the evenings," said amateur beekeeper David Selig, who was definitely not stoned at the time. "They were slightly fluorescent. And it was beautiful."

Unfortunately, beautiful or not, the red honey they produced was loaded with Red Dye No. 40 and also tasted metallic and gross. Perhaps unsurprisingly, what works so well in a Manhattan does not work in nature.

Information from The New York Times

Fortean / Oddball News: Paranormal Warfare, NYC ET Commission and Russian Sorcerers

How Ghosts, Superstitions, and Vampires Are Used For PsyOps Warfare

io9 - Military psy ops aren't limited to leaflets, propaganda broadcasts, and Korean pop music. In the past, the US military has played on their opponent superstitions of vampires, ghosts, and astrology. Here are some strange examples.

In World War II, US forces exploited the Nazi's predilection to put stock in superstitions and the occult. The Rand Corporation's 1950 memorandum "The Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare" details how pseudoscience connoisseur Joseph Goebbels counteracted Allied attempts to strike fear into the superstitious strata of the German population.

Another curious incident noted in the Rand document occurs in Italy, where British military created a giant manikin to scare rural residents. A large, shambling creature was assembled to freak out superstitious locals.

It is worth noting that Jasper Maskelyne did have a penchant for embellishment. The US military however pulled a similar tactic in the 1950s, when Major General Edward G. Lansdale spearheaded the rumor that an asuwang was loose in the Philippines. In Filipino mythology, the asuwang is a winged, vampiric witch that has a hankering for unborn fetuses. The US military was battling Communist Huk rebels and concocted possibly the only covert operation in human history to stage a vampiric attack. Lansdale recalls:

To the superstitious, the Huk battleground was a haunted place filled with ghosts and eerie creatures. A combat psy-war squad was brought in. It planted stories among town residents of an Asuang living on the hill where the Huks were based. Two nights later, after giving the stories time to make their way up to the hill camp, the psywar squad set up an ambush along the trail used by the Huks [...] When a Huk patrol came along the trail, the ambushers silently snatched the last man of the patrol, their move unseen in the dark night.

They punctured his neck with two holes, vampire-fashion, held the body up by the heels, drained it of blood, and put the corpse back on the trail. When the Huks returned to look for the missing man and found their bloodless comrade, every member of the patrol believed that the Asuang had got him and that one of them would be next if they remained on that hill. When daylight came, the whole Huk squadron moved out of the vicinity.

Similarly, the US military imitated ghosts when fighting the Vietcong. Operation Wandering Soul was an attempt to rattle Vietcong by playing tapes of "ghost" soldiers who had fallen in battle. This propaganda campaign relied on the Vietnamese belief that if a body isn't interred near its corporeal home, the soul will wander the earth. US forces blasted eerie recordings of disembodied souls on the ground and air. A February 1970 account in The Tropic Lightning News described the recording as an effective means to shake up Vietcong forces:

If you were a Wolfhound of the First Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, and were at Fire Support Base Chamberlain on the night of February 10 you might have sworn the place was being haunted by poltergeists, ghosts that is. The moans, groans and weird sounds began at eight that night, a likely time for the cloudlike forms to reveal themselves. Of course, ghosts are nonexistent, or are they? In this case the ghosts and weird sounds were furnished by the Sixth PSYOP Team and the S-5 Section of the 1/27th Wolfhounds who were conducting a night mission at Chamberlain. With the help of loud speakers and a tape of ‘The Wandering Soul,' a mythical tale of a Viet Cong gone to Buddha, the mission was a success.

The Wandering Soul is a tape about the soul of a dead Viet Cong. It describes the wandering of this soul about the countryside. The dead VC tells his comrades to look at what has happened to his soul and that he will never be at rest, always wandering,' said Captain William Goodman of Philadelphia, the battalion S-5. ‘Buddhists believe very strongly that if they aren't properly buried and properly mourned, their soul will wander through eternity,' added First Lieutenant Peter Boni of Boston, the officer in charge of the Sixth PSYOP Team. ‘We play upon the psychological superstitions and fears of the enemy. The method is very effective," Boni said.

Those actually playing the tape were less sanguine about its efficacy. In fact, helicopter crews reported receiving heavier fire when playing the Wandering Soul tape and would even use it goad Vietcong ground troops on. One swiftboat reserve lieutenant even recalls how the Wandering Soul tape got their boat pelted with rockets, so they opted to blast Tina Turner instead — their boat didn't take fire when blaring The Queen of Rock 'n' Roll in the middle of the night. For a fascinating history of the Wandering Soul initiative, check out Sergeant Major Herbert A. Friedman's article on Psy Warrior.

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NYC ET Commission?

aolnews - New York City is home to practically every ethnic group under the sun, and if one UFO researcher gets his way, it will soon be host to every extraterrestrial species in the universe.

Michael Luckman, author of "Alien Rock," has shifted his time from writing books to writing ballot initiatives -- specifically one that, if passed, would create an ET Affairs Commission. The panel would consist of seven volunteers who would meet twice a year to gather the most compelling evidence regarding the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs and post it on the city's website.

The initiative is almost identical to one being considered by Denver voters, but while that city's altitude makes it closer to outer space than New York, Luckman believes there's no contest as to which burg ETs should visit first.

"New York is the media capital of the world," Luckman told AOL News. "UFOs don't visit that often, but there have been some extraordinary sightings. Muhammad Ali was training for a fight with George Foreman and running in Central Park when he saw a UFO. It was a mother ship and out of that came a smaller ship.

"John Lennon saw one as well. He was with May Pang, his girlfriend at the time, and yelled at it, 'Stop! Take me with you!' "

Getting signatures for any ballot initiative isn't easy, but Luckman believes New York's large size will actually make it easier to collect enough to make an impact.

"Because New York is larger than Denver, I think it's an easier task to get signatures," he said. "The news media is extremely interested in this. Nothing says it better than the reaction to the recent UFO sightings in the Big Apple. Some may have been balloons set off by schoolkids, but there is something going on."

Assuming the initiative passes and a commission is formed, Luckman says one of the first duties will be considering sites where alien spacecraft might land. Although the New York Jets and the New York Giants both play in New Jersey, he doesn't think having ET go there is a good idea.

"It has to be in New York. If they landed in New Jersey, it would be like 'War of the Worlds,' " he said with a laugh. "I think Central Park is the most natural spot and I'd like to see space set aside as a landing site."

Luckman says another duty of the proposed commission would be appointing a liaison to act as go-between for the city and visitors from other worlds.

To that end, Luckman is concurrently working on another project called the Committee of 1,000 Humans to Welcome Extraterrestrials to Earth ("I know. It's long," he said).

The world leaders Luckman would like to serve on that committee include Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, but he also has other folks in mind.

"Muhammad Ali has had 22 sightings and is the most recognized person on the planet," he said. "Also, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Steven Spielberg, Larry King and [British pop star] Robbie Williams."

If Michael Jackson were still alive, he would presumably be on Luckman's short list. The author says the King of Pop once asked him to serve as a consultant on a project to build a high-tech alien landing pad in the Nevada desert.

Although the Denver initiative would require its commission to be funded by private sources, Luckman hasn't made a decision on how the New York panel would be funded. But he is still confident his initiative will pass muster in the Big Apple.

However, political experts familiar with the ways things are done in New York City are skeptical about the chances of the initiative ever getting to the voters.

Republican consultant Gerry O'Brien says the truth is, Gotham is "as unfriendly to its own constituents as they are to ETs."

"Unlike Western states, where voters can get initiatives on the ballot if they collect enough signatures, the only way that initiative could make on the New York ballot is if the mayor or a commission who answers to him places it there," O'Brien said.

Luckman isn't worried, possibly because Mayor Michael Bloomberg is already on his list of 1,000 people who should meet the ETs first when they land.

"The campaign will initially seek the support of the mayor," he said. "I have people inside City Hall who have expressed serious interest in the Extraterrestrial Ballot Initiative, but, right now, I can't comment more specifically. I wouldn't attempt this if I didn't think it was feasible.

"However, this is an opportunity for Mayor Bloomberg to promote extraterrestrial tourism in the Big Apple."

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Russia Has 800,000 Non-Traditional Healers

UPI - Russia has more occult healers, sorcerers and wizards than it does professional doctors, an official said.

World Health Organization data indicate there are some 800,000 alternative healers in Russia, RIA Novosti reported Monday.

Andrei Yurevich, a spokesman for the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Russia has about 640,000 professional doctors.

The independent polling agency Levada said an August poll discovered about 20 percent of Russians use the services of non-traditional healers.

Russia saw an explosion in the belief of the paranormal and occult in the 1980s, with psychic healers Anatoly Kashpirovsky and Allan Chumak drawing audiences of millions, the report said.

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Police Given Advice on Witches and Pagans

telegraph - It is Hallowe'en and the witching hour is drawing nearer, but don't be alarmed – police officers are on the case, having been issued with official guidance on how to deal with witches.

The advice is contained in a 300-page "diversity handbook" which gives officers a range of "dos and don'ts" when approaching followers of a range of religions and other beliefs, from atheism to Zoroastrianism.

Instructions include avoid touching a witch's "Book of Shadows", which contains their spells, or handling their ceremonial dagger.

The online handbook also advises officers not to jump to conclusions if they encounter a situation where a blindfolded, naked person is tied by their hands – they could merely have stumbled upon a pagan ritual, where such activities are normal practice.

"Witches have a Book of Shadows, which contains a handwritten record or diary of their personal progress as a witch," says the guide.

"Often the books have ornate covers, some have the title Book of Shadows on the cover, some don't.

"Any book can be used, but this book is regarded as private and special and should not be touched by anyone but the author. If it is possible to avoid touching this book then it is best to do so."

The guide, drawn up by the Metropolitan Police, Britain's largest police force, warns against interrupting a pagan ceremony.

It adds: "Some ceremonies include a blindfolded, naked participant, whose hands may be bound. This is in accordance with ritual and has the full consent of the participant."

Officers are also given advice on the ceremonial dagger, known as an athame, carried by witches and some other categories of pagan.

"When entering a witch's home do not touch an athame without the owner's permission," it says.

"During the Beltane Bash that celebrates the festival of Beltane (around the end of April), it has become a custom for some to wear athames in various sizes, sometimes sword size, on a belt, as a visible symbol of their pagan faith and to wear them in the streets.

"These are not intended to be used as an offensive weapon but might be misinterpreted as such."

Also provided is a glossary of pagan terms including the traditional greeting of "Merry Meet" and an explanation of a "wickening", or child naming ceremony.

It explains the dates and significance of pagan festivals such as Imbolc, Lughnasadh and Samhain – also known as Halloween.

The handbook also states: "Pagans have no religious dietary laws. However, many, though not all, witches are vegetarians."

In nine pages relating to atheists, the handbook gives advice on places of worship, Holy texts and prayer, stating: "There are no designated places of worship.

"There are no prescribed texts. Atheists have no prayers."

It adds: "Atheists have no dietary requirements other than those of the individual."

It also gives officers a handy guide to key atheist philosophers, and famous agnostic thinkers such as Bertrand Russell, Robert G. Ingersoll and Thomas Henry Huxley.

It warns: "Be aware that Atheists might feel offended by an assumption of faith," it warns.

As well as religions and beliefs, the book gives officers advice on dealing with teenagers, including a guide on "teen speak", to allow officers to communicate with younger members of the population.

The guide explains that "Talk to the hand 'cos the face is in Spain" means "I am not listening", while "Da bomb" means "great" or "excellent".

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Witch's Hat Halts London Underground on Halloween

telegraph - Tube passengers had to walk through tunnels in the early hours of Sunday morning after the hat, which contained metal, was thrown on to the line at Chalk Farm, in North London.

A passenger is thought to have thrown the hat which cut out the power, halting four trains.

Hundreds of passengers were stuck on the trains for more than an hour before they were allowed to walk along tunnels to the nearest stations, London Underground said.

The four trains, three heading north between Camden and Belsize Park, and one northbound between Camden and Kentish Town, were stopped at 0040 BST.

"We apologise to passengers who were inconvenienced as a result of this incident, and would urge customers to exercise care and not to discard items on the railway," a spokesman for the company said.

"The metal part of a hat thrown on to the rails at Chalk Farm caused power interruption," London Underground said.

London Underground estimated that there were up to 90 passengers on each train trapped for between an hour and an hour-and-a-half.

Recent UFO Events: A Viral Campaign For 'Skyline'?

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Skyline Movie Official Site

For your consideration....NYC UFOs, Chinese village disappearance and sightings that look strangely similar to events in the trailer for the upcoming sci-fi movie 'Skyline'. Are these events a viral campaign for this film?

At Comic Con, the first footage from a small sci-fi thriller called Skyline, written and directed by the Strause Brothers, was presented. The alien invasion film was made on a small budget, but has fairly large-scale ambitions. Many small independent thrillers conduct viral marketing in order to receive notoriety. Is this what we are seeing? Read the plot lines:

A series of blindingly bright lights appear all over Los Angeles, mesmerizing the citizens of the city while luring them to an uncertain fate in this sci-fi thriller from sibling filmmakers Greg and Colin Strause. As speculation regarding the origin of the mysterious lights runs rampant, a Los Angeles entrepreneur (Donald Faison), his best friend, Jarrod (Eric Balfour), and Jarrod's frightened girlfriend (Scottie Thompson) struggle to resist temptation as they seek out the source of the luminous threat. - Fandango.com

In the sci-fi thriller Skyline, strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth. Skyline is directed and produced by the Brothers Strause (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem), whose company Hydraulx has provided visual effects for Avatar, Iron Man 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 300. - IAmRogue.com

After a wild night of partying with friends, Terry (Donald Faison) awakens to discover that he's one of the few remaining people on Earth. Banding together with a small group of survivors (Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, David Zayas, Brittany Daniel and Crystal Reed), Terry sets out to solve the mystery of what happened to the human race. - Fflick.com


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Spoiler below - just wanted to give you a heads up

CinemaBlend - Directors Greg and Colin Strause are breaking every rule Hollywood has made about alien invasion movies. The typical line is that you need a studio to back you, it needs to be expansive and, above all, it will cost a bundle of money. With their newest film, Skyline, the brothers have subverted every one of those rules.

Introduced to most at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, the two directors decided to go around the studio system and independently finance their own flick. Using their own equipment, Greg’s apartment complex, tiny crews and resources available to them via their effects workshop, Hydraulx, the Brothers Strause were able to make the film on fraction of what it costs most studios (though the final number is being kept as their little secret).

A few weeks back, myself and a group of other journalists were invited to Hydraulx to not only take a tour of the various workstations, but watch four never-before-seen scenes from the film.

Starring Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Brittany Daniel, David Zayas and Scottie Thompson, the film takes place in Los Angeles, where bright blue lights have begun to shine down from the sky. A strange and mesmerizing experience, people begin to walk out of their homes to investigate. What they don’t realize until it’s too late, however, is that an alien force has arrived on Earth and has begun abducting people en masse. Awoken by the lights after a night of partying, a group of friends must find a way to survive.

When you consider that nearly everyone behind the film comes from a visual effects background, it shouldn’t surprise that the film looks aesthetically fantastic. While the Brothers Strause may not have spent $250 million, every penny they did spend is on the screen. The scenes they showed us for the film were not entirely finished, some of the effects still needing to be completed and the musical score not yet done, but they were certainly eye opening.

The first scene opens on the roof of the apartment building where Jarrod (Balfour) and Terry (Faison) look out over the city. Looking around, they see other people standing on their rooftops and a dense, dark fog descends and lightning fires from the sky. Suddenly, bright blue beams of light begin to shine down onto the city. Jarrod, holding a camera, begins to zoom in and take photos of the occurrence. Suddenly, a huge cloud of smoke erupts in the middle of the city. Within the beams of light, you can see small figures being sucked upwards – they’re people. Alien ships begin to emerge from the sky and we see the people on the other rooftop flown off towards the ship. Jarrod and Terry realize the trouble they are in and bolt for the door, which has locked behind them. Terry takes out a gun and fires at the handle to no avail. Suddenly, Elaine (Thompson) opens the doors, her eyes veiny and glowing blue from the alien lights, and ushers the two men in.

Next, we follow the gang down to the parking garage, now joined by Candice (Daniel) and another girl. They see an older couple packing their car, but when they are offered help they refuse. Candice is angry at Terry, presumably for cheating on her in a previous scene, and the group splits up into two cars to exit the building, Terry’s car in front. As they begin to drive out, a giant elephant-like foot comes out of nowhere and crushes the front car, shaking it off like it’s a piece of gum. Somehow surviving, Terry crawls out and begins to shoot at the creature. The alien then shoots out a tentacle and sucks Terry in. The alien then attempts to attach its tentacles to the other car, containing the rest of the group.

In the third scene, we get not only our first look at Zayas’s character, Oliver, but one of the smaller aliens as well. The alien has grabbed a hold of a human (not one of the members of the group) and has attached its tentacles to his head before ripping it off. The alien then removes the man’s brain and put it in his own head as the others can only look on in horror

The fourth and final scene takes place in the penthouse where the group watches out the window through telescopes to see what’s happening. A group of human flown bombers and jets take to the sky as a group of drones fly out from the alien mothership. The planes execute incredible alien maneuvers as they dogfight the humans sometimes besting the aliens, the aliens sometimes besting the humans. It becomes clear that one of the bombers is more important than the others, but it’s not explained why. The bomber approaches the mothership and, just as it fires off a missile, it explodes as an alien drone catches up to it. The missile, however, connects with the huge alien ship and explodes in a giant, nuclear blast.

While it’s both unreasonable and unwise to judge a film’s quality before it’s either completed or shown in its full form, I will say that I’ve never seen anything quite like Skyline before. The design of both the aliens and the spaceships look wholly original, not an easy task when the sci-fi genre has been around for almost a hundred years. While a few secrets were divulged over the course of the day – including that a sequel for the film already exists in the form of a 40 page treatment – the Brother Strause’s film still holds many secrets, not limited to why the aliens are attacking and what happens to our heroes is. Even the nuclear blast in the fourth clip doesn’t provide any closure, as the filmmakers told us that the biggest plot points occur later in the film. All we can do is wait until the film is released on November 12th.

'Skyline' Preview - CinemaBlend

These viral campaigns have been effectively used before...why not now? Your thoughts...