NUFORC Sighting 05574

Occurred: 1957-08-15 01:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 1999-02-12 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes max
No of observers: 1

Location: Ludlow, MA, USA

Shape: Cigar
Characteristics: Lights on object

Black silhouetted object against glow of distant town. Flashing light on one edge. Hovers then drops down out of sight.

My hobby was Astronomy and I would get up late at night to look out of my window at the stars. It was a summer night I believe in August of 1957. I was looking south toward the massachusetts turnpike and toward the town of Indian Orchard, Mass which cast a glow into the night sky. I was ten years old at the time. My stargazing was interrupted by a rapidly flashing bluish white light. I thought it was some kind of firefly but when I looked directly at it I saw that it was on one edge of a black silhouetted cigar shaped object. It reminded me of a weapon discharge such as a machine gun. It was 'firing' in the same direction of travel as the object and appeared to be slowing the object down as if it were a retrorocket. The object (which I estimated to be large...at least several hundred feet long) slowed to a halt over the hill. The blue-white light ceased to discharge. After a few seconds it slowly descended behind the hill and out of sight (there is a valley there where the Ludlow River (it may be called the Chicopee River actually) flows. I watched for hours but it never came up into view again. I had heard that the Ludlow police had seen it in a different area that night at about 3am but never verified this in newspapers recently.



NUFORC Note:

Date in 1957 is approximate. We have assigned an arbitrary date in August 1957. PD


Posted 1999-04-02

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