Date:
June 14, 1984
Location: Buchahan, New York, United States
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... He estimated
the object was at least 300 feet from one end to the other.
Sketch based on descriptions by security personnel at
Indian Head nuclear reactor
Indian Point nuclear reactor complex located on the Hudson
River at Buchahan, New York just south of Peekskill.
Source:
J. Allen Hynek, Philip J. Imbrogno, and Bob Pratt (excerpt
from Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings)
Indian
Point Close Encounter #1
Excerpt
From: Night Siege: The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings
By: J. Allen Hynek, Philip J. Imbrogno, and Bob Pratt
June
14, 1984
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. (From the book Night Siege by Dr J.
Allen Hynek and Philip J. Imbrogno Chapter 11, Page 140)
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 there 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."
------------------------------------------------------
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 from 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 semi-circle, 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 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-5A, 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."
Source:
http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case1080.htm