Last Podcast On The Left
Last Podcast On The Left
"One witness said it was so big. It looked as if it was a floating city. Six stories high." — Host (Paraphrasing witness account)
"He was the one whose job essentially when they find when they formed Project Sign they wanted a guy that would definitely debunk everything. So they called on Hynek." — Henry Zebrowski
"The main Hudson Valley sightings cover a period of about two years from New Year's Eve, 1982 until Halloween, 1985, who mostly in upstate New York, but also in Connecticut, just a short drive away from right here in New York City." — Host (Paraphrasing episode introduction)
This episode of Last Podcast on the Left explores the significant wave of UFO sightings that occurred in the Hudson Valley region of New York between New Year's Eve 1982 and Halloween 1985. The hosts detail how thousands of people witnessed a large, boomerang-shaped aerial phenomenon, often described as silent and featuring flashing lights, that moved across the night sky. The episode highlights the underreported nature of these sightings, contrasting them with more sensational UFO narratives and drawing parallels to the film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
The discussion prominently features the work of UFO investigators Dr. J. Allen Hynek and Philim Brogno, co-authors of the book "Night Siege." Hynek, a respected astrophysicist with a background in official government UFO investigations, initially aimed to debunk sightings but became convinced of a significant percentage of unexplained phenomena. Brogno, conversely, was more focused on the "high strangeness" aspects, including alleged communications and abductions, which sometimes diverged from Hynek's more scientific approach, particularly after Hynek's passing.
The report covers numerous witness accounts, including a man who saw a boomerang-shaped object hovering over his house, a woman who described lights reflecting off ice, and highway traffic stopping to observe the craft. It also touches upon the investigation's methodology, the establishment of a hotline, and the public conference held by Hynek and Brogno. The episode concludes by examining the legacy of the sightings and the challenges in definitively explaining the phenomena, noting the continued debate and differing interpretations within the UFO research community.