A story in the March 2009 issue of Popular Mechanics lists the top five UFO hot spots for both major metro counties and less populated counties. Westmoreland County ranks number one for less populated regions with 396 UFO reports between 1947 and 2005, according to data the magazine acquired from Chicago's Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS). And CUFOS, according to the story, "gathers data from UFO reporting groups and public records."
Are the stats correct?
Ufologists will tell you - while Westmoreland County is recognized as a major UFO hot spot - the numbers are deceiving. While this chunk of Pennsylvania seems to have generated higher than average numbers, the actual UFO reports from this area are more likely in the thousands.
One reason for the higher number of reports might be as simple as the fact that this region has a longtime - and determined - ufologist accepting UFO reports. Greensburg native Stan Gordon has been researching UFO and other strange phenomena from PA since shortly after the 1965 UFO crash in the small town of Kecksburg.
Many areas of the country don't have a Stan Gordon, and most folks do not know how to report a UFO incident. There is also no one central gathering spot for UFO reports.
The largest U.S. UFO organization is the Mutual UFO Network.
According to MUFON PA State Director John Ventre, "The problem with UFO stats is that there is not one repository to report them. MUFON estimates that there are 10,000 sightings a year around the world, but MUFON gets less than half of them. The National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) gets about the same number of sightings as MUFON but doesn't investigate them. High crime areas where the residents don't trust the police and media get very few reports. Most countries have no reporting location or phone number or organization. Awareness and a fair and balanced media is the key. If UFO reports are laughed at by the media, people won't report or take them serious. I'd say MUFON gets around 20 Westmoreland County reports a year, but Stan probably gets more due to his reputation in the area."
Ventre recently spoke with InCahoots.TV about recent PA activity - a surge in UFO reports during summer and fall 2008. Check out Venre's web site, where his book, 12/21/2012.
CUFOS Scientific Director Dr. Mark Rodeghier said that Popular Mechanics used a copy of their UFOCAT database. The depository, Rodeghier said, contains "amalgamated sighting data from a huge variety of sources. The database was begun by Dr. David Saunders in his work for the Colorado UFO Project, and it is now carried on by CUFOS and one of Saunders's students, Dr. Donald Johnson."
Rodeghier said "there are often more reports from areas where investigators have been active for many years, as Stan has been in western Pennsylvania. Those areas may be hotspots, or they may have been fortunate to have someone with the skill and tenacity of Stan to be available to receive reports and then conduct investigations."
Ufologist Stan Gordon
Stan Gordon's coverage of PA UFOs has been extensive - he's been taking calls from the public since 1969. The network television show - UFO Hunters - featured Gordon on an episode that originally aired Feb. 18, 2009. His 2008 update can be read here and he regularly posts stories and information on his web site. He appeared on numerous network television shows over the years and lectures on the topic.
"My first volunteer research group established in 1970," Gordon said, "was the Westmoreland County UFO Study Group. In 1975 it expanded to the PA Center For UFO Research. In 1981, I established the PA Association for the Study of the Unexplained (PASU) which was very active until 1993. Today I continue to actively investigate and document current UFO cases in this area and throughout Pennsylvania.
"I had established a very active localized "UFO Hot Line" where the public had a clearinghouse to report such sighting to. That was not the case in many other sections of the country. So it was likely that there would be an increase in UFO reports that originated from local communities. The 396 UFO sighting figure from 1947-2005, I am quite sure is dramatically low in regards to the actual number of sightings that I received especially from the 1970's through 1990's."
Not all UFO reports are anomalous
"I must stress," Gordon said, "that while I received numerous UFO sighting reports, on a yearly basis, a high percentage of such observations were determined to be Identified Flying Object (IFO) incidents. Many UFO reports could be explained as a bright Venus and Jupiter, fireball meteors, re-entry of space debris, search light beams, and even cases of lights reflecting off of birds and insects.
"There is, however, a long history of UFO incidents reported from Westmoreland County, involving detailed low level, and close proximity observations which are not easily dismissed. UFO incidents continue to be reported anually here in Westmoreland County and from surrounding areas, and these events are now continuing into 2009."
Close range UFO sightings
Pennsylvania continues to receive both a high number of UFO reports annually, and a percentage of those are anomalous crafts seen at a very close range. Gordon covered a Feb. 3, 2009 case where a low flying cylinder-shaped object hovered in daylight just about 250 feet off the ground near Greensburg, PA. Read the complete story - Cylinder-shaped UFO hovers 250 feet over PA town. An October 31, 2008 sighting near Mt. Pleasant, PA was described as a "bright ball of light" moving just a few feet above ground level. Read the complete story - Shpere of light approaches Pennsylvania motorists.
Not all of Gordon's investigations are in Westmoreland County. He reported on a very unusual case in October 2008 where two hunters in Elk County spotted two glowing lights in a forest - and soon observed a 3-foot-tall glowing human-like form. Read the complete story.
Historically
© Charles Hanna/Stan Gordon Productions
Gordon is also the producer of an original DVD documentary, Kecksburg: The Untold Story.
While PA has a long UFO history, a high level of strangeness sent local UFO investigators and police agencies into a near panic at times during 1973 and 1974 when two anomalous subjects not commonly tied together occured in epidemic proportions. Both low flying UFOs and sightings of Bigfoot creatures plagued the region for more than a year. Hundreds of reports mainly centering on Westmoreland County were called into either local police agencies or directly to Stan Gordon. Many of these cases were personally investigated by Gordon and his team at that time. No period of time since then has seen this number of witness reports.
© Rick Fisher
Having been born and raised myself in Westmoreland County, and a witness to a low flying UFO during 1973, I was a natural partner to work with Gordon on a manuscript that details these cases. The manuscript - Strange Intrusions - was recently completed and a suitable book publisher is being sought.
Why the UFO attraction to this southwestern Pennsylvania area? Any guesses out there?
Watch this Unsolved Mysteries television show about the Kecksburg UFO crash.
Watch this History Channel episode about the Kecksburg UFO crash.
Listen to this video interview with Gordon as he talks about paranormal Pennsylvania.
Westmoreland County resident Eric Harris tells InCahoots.TV about his personal experience with a low flying UFO in this short video.
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