New York Skies (Cheryl Costa)

Counting UFOs on a Clear, Fall Night

Columnist Cheryl Costa shares a viewing experience while on vacation.

I was participating at a medieval gaming event on a small farm somewhere south of Montrose, Pennsylvania. My accommodations were a little more than a bunk house; no television, no cell service and most certainly no internet. The sun had gone down and an in-game medieval rescue party had gone off to rescue someone from monsters in the woods. I was posted at the front porch of the tavern as a guard. During my duties, I had the opportunity to tilt my head back and observe the stars of the Milky Way. This was a unique opportunity for me, to just be still and enjoy the majestic display, counting UFOs on a clear fall night.

It was about 9 p.m.; above me were thousands of visible stars — something you don’t see in in the city due to light pollution. All of a sudden, I saw it: A bright object moving south at a high speed and altitude. I thought it could it be a high-flying airliner, but I didn’t see any navigation lights. Ten minutes later, I saw what I thought to be a falling meteor, until it stopped abruptly and darted off in another direction.

I knew there was a regional airport about 20 miles away, so I was conscious of low-flying aircrafts and quickly figured out their stacking and landing pattern.

Fifteen or 20 minutes later, there was another bright ball of light at high altitude flying much faster than any of the airliners I was seeing.

In a period of 90 minutes, I counted upwards of 14 UFOs that didn’t easily satisfy any conventional description or explanation. My UFO investigator friends are going to chew me out for not taking detailed notes. You know, I didn’t really have a pen and paper handy. I was on a little mini vacation, playing medieval warrior with my friends in the wilds of Northern Pennsylvania. Logging and reporting UFOs would have to wait for another day.

Let’s look at some recent UFOs reported in New York Skies:

Sept. 13, 2016: At 8 p.m., a resident of Fort Edward in Washington County reported watching four bright, fast-moving lights each split into two. The formation of eight bright lights left the area at great speed.

Sept. 17, 2016: At 10:30 p.m., a resident of Colton reported observing bright, red lights flying in circles above town before just silently disappearing.

Sept. 21, 2016: At 8 p.m., a resident of Cicero reported seeing three red lights in formation, with two bobbing around in front of a third.

Sept. 22, 2016: At 9 p.m., a resident of Brooklyn witnessed a strange, bright red light in the sky traveling slowly and stopping abruptly.

If you are interested in joining a monthly UFO discussion group in the Onondaga County area, drop Cheryl an email [email protected]. If you have a UFO sighting to report, you can use either one of the two national database services: nuforc.org or mufon.com. Both services respect confidentiality.

Cheryl Costa would love to hear the when, where and what of your New York sighting. Email it to [email protected]. The names of witnesses will be omitted to protect their privacy.

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