It was summer and prime season for forest fires in many Southern tier counties in the early 1970s. One particular fire unit was assigning volunteers to shifts in several fire watch towers in their coverage area. On one particular late afternoon watch, the tower was staffed by two highly regarded high school members, Jake and Harry. Both boys were getting ready to start their senior year of high school in a few weeks as the summer drew to a close.
The incident started innocently enough with neighborhood kids at a playground observing a brilliant light hovering in the distance. As the fire station was a block or two from the playground, the kids ran there and told the watch commander about the bright, unidentified object.
The watch commander by this time was well aware of the phenomena. The teens standing watch had radioed the station house that something big and bright was hovering in the air.
One of the teens radioed a description of the object, saying it was so bright it was like looking into the sun. Then there was no radio contact for a few minutes, then the teens franticly reported that a bright beam of light was “blazing” into the tower’s “nest” area and that it was hurting them. The radio went dead, the fire house tried for a couple of minutes to re-establish radio contact with the young fire cadets. The watch commander immediately ordered the rescue squad and paramedics to drive to the watch tower.
About 10 minutes later, the rescue team reached the tower and found both young men unconscious. A preliminary check of their vitals registered blood pressure that was abnormally high. The rescue team transported the young men to a local hospital where they were brought around. Both of them were seemingly delirious with fright upon waking up.
The physicians drew blood to check for drugs, both young men were clean. The hospital kept them overnight for observation. The next morning both were calm and in better spirits. The nursing staff noted that both were sun burnt on the face and arms but only on one side of their body. As it turned out it was the side that each had facing the bright, unidentified object.
The fire department found that the portable fire radio they used in the tower was no longer functional; deemed beyond repair and had to be scrapped.
My source tells me that both young men recovered, graduated high school and went to college. In their early 30s, both began exhibiting similar, but odd chronic medical illnesses. Neither of the men would speak to me about their incident 40 years ago.
Let’s look at some recent UFO sightings in New York Skies:
Sept. 24, 2016: At 11:00 p.m., a motorist in White Plains saw two circular, orange flying lights that were totally silent.
Sept. 26, 2016: At 11:30 p.m., a resident of Penfield says he was standing in front of the town library and suddenly there was a bright, white rectangle hovering in the sky not far from where he was.
Sept. 29, 2016: At 11:00 p.m., a resident of Sanborn witnessed three orb-shaped UFOs “dancing and chasing each other.”
Oct. 1, 2016: At 11:15 p.m., a resident of Elmont on Long Island reported three fireball UFOs above the city.
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.