Last week I explained how I got involved with conducting a study of New York state’s UFO hot spots by analyzing UFO sighting data in the state’s 62 counties. As I previously stated, I grouped the counties by their individual economic districts.
The odd phenomena in the data was in each district, most of the sightings reported from 1999 through 2014 were rather small, except for one county which gathered significantly more reports.
Of the six counties in the Mohawk Valley, most of the sighting counts were 25 or under, but Oneida County carried a count of 96 during this period. In the Capitol district, the sighting counts for seven of the eight counties were under 80 and the rest hovered around 40. The Albany County sighting count was an eye popping 173. This shocked the heck out of a number of state Ufologists.
The Hudson Valley is well known for being a hotbed of UFO sighting activity. Analysis in the seven counties of the Hudson Valley district yielded above average sighting data in most of the counties. The heavy hitter was in Westchester County. While Pine Bush in Orange County claims to be the UFO Capitol of New York State, I must respectfully report that nine other counties in the state far exceed Orange County’s 158 UFO sighting reports for the 15 year sample period.
Moving down the Hudson to the regional New York City area, the sighting numbers rise significantly. Of the five counties in the New York City district, the average of four comes in at about 143. The actual county of New York sports a robust 400 UFO reports for the sample period.
The final district to examine is Long Island, with its two counties. Nassau County has logged 286 UFO reports during the study period. If there is to be a true UFO Capitol in New York state, then the honor and glory goes to Suffolk County, which logged 541 UFO sightings from 1999 to 2014.
UFO aficionados and researchers have been asking questions regarding correlations to the sightings. This past summer one of the editors here at the Syracuse News Times looked at the numbers and was just as puzzled as everyone else; he asked me to look at everything. Since that time, I have examined maps of military bases, nuclear power plants, population, pollution, natural resources and geological fault lines and yes, we even looked into Ley lines. While many hot spots seemed to be correlated to population centers, it was nowhere near a good fit. Absolutely nothing fit well enough to rate a “eureka, that’s it.”
I decided to consult with an associate of mine, Ben Moss, MUFON’s chief investigator in Virginia. I sent him my charts and after a long discussion via teleconference, he suggested one last thing to test. At his suggestion, I researched and found a map of ancient Native American tribal regions in New York state. The map of the state’s UFO hot spots matched nearly perfectly with the ancient tribal regions. Ben pointed out that this correlation has been observed in other states.
In closing I must share with you the words of my spouse the science librarian: “Correlation does not mean causation.”
Let’s look at some recent UFO Sightings in New York Skies
Oct. 18, 2015: At 8:15 p.m., a Buffalo resident reported seeing a flying disc-shaped object that had four lights and made a humming sound.
Oct. 23, 2015: At 11:30 p.m., a resident of Tarrytown reported a flying craft moving slowly near the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Oct. 23, 2015: At 10:30 p.m., a resident of Patchogue observed a bright white light flying near the tree line from the southwest and flying to the northeast. He reported that it looped and hovered in place.
Oct. 24, 2015: At 6:30 p.m., a Plattsburgh resident reported a translucent gray oval hovering over Lake Champlain.
Oct. 24, 2015: At 7 p.m., a Yonkers resident witnessed a blue orb in the sky over 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.