UFO Watchers Report Sightings Across New York City

NEW YORK CITY, NY - While dysfunction on underground transit has been tormenting New Yorkers all summer, some of them are looking to the skies.

The National UFO Reporting Center received six reports of UFOs in Brooklyn, four in Manhattan, three in the Bronx, three in Queens and none on Staten Island. It logged 91 sightings of flying saucers and the like statewide. By comparison, Washington, which tends to see more sightings than other states, had 105 reports of sightings.

The reports come form forms people can submit at the National UFO Reporting Center’s website and a 24-hour hotline.

The submissions are tinged with wonder and, sometimes, paranoia.

“A large, bright light flew over my house and possibly crash landed, because I heard a loud [bang] as the sky went dark again,” reads one Brooklyn account, from April 5.

“Cops were heard in the distance but it was quickly dead quiet only the sound of the neighbourhood dogs could be heard.”

“It was quickly dead quiet” – perhaps the sign of a cover-up?

(For more news about your NYC neighborhood, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

A submission from last August takes the reader right into the home of a UFO spotter.

It reads: “I was on the roof of my apartment building, eating a bag a potato chips, at around 2:45 a.m. this morning. I was just absentmindedly looking up, and after a couple of minutes, at around 2:47 a.m., I saw a huge streak of golden yellowish light catch my peripheral vision from the east side of Manhattan.

“I didn't think much of it, but 2 minutes later, I saw the same golden streak of light zoom by towards what looked like downtown, going south of Central Park.

“I was absolutely shocked and almost panicked.”

The Economist analyzed sightings in 2014 and found that most of the them happen between 5 and 10:30 p.m. – prime “drinking hours,” the British magazine wryly noted.

“It turns out that aliens are considerate,” the Economist said. “They tend to arrive in the evening, especially on Fridays, when folks are sitting on the front porch nursing their fourth beer, the better to appreciate flashing lights in the heavens.”

Still, the head of the National UFO Reporting Center is dead serious about his work.

Peter Davenport once told the Los Angeles Times, “"The work of studying UFOs is of immense consequence to every living thing on this planet.”

Many UFO sightings can be explained - Davenport's site noted it has received numerous reports misidentifying Venus as a UFO. On the other hand, famous scientists like Stephen Hawking have seriously discussed the possibility of alien life. That long-shot is what motivates UFO watchers like Davenport.

So, the reports will keep coming in.

Lead image by Jonas Bengsston via Flickr.