New York Skies (Cheryl Costa)

UFO Sightings: Orange County vs. Suffolk County

Columnist Cheryl Costa explores UFO sightings volumes versus UFO hype.

In several of my New York Skies articles, I have pointed out that Suffolk County is hands down the biggest hot spot for UFOs in New York State. Yet numerous people have commented that Pine Bush in Orange County is the capital for UFOs in New York.

I am going to put this issue to bed, once and for all. Below is a bar graph using National UFO Reporting Center data. I sampled the 20-year window from 1995 to 2015. For the sample period, Suffolk County reported 398 UFO sightings, while Orange County had only a quarter of that at 98 sightings.

NYSKIES-Orange-Suffolk-cacosta-2-11-2016

Data compiled by Cheryl Costa

I’d also like to point out that in 2001 and 2003, there were no UFO reports listed in the NUFORC database. Also during the sample period, Orange County’s UFO sightings averaged in the single digits rather consistently. Suffolk County by comparison has generally been on an upward trend in terms of sight growth, most especially over the past eight years.

Orange County and Pine Bush have the distinction of having a fine spring UFO-themed festival annually in May. In my opinion, Suffolk County — by virtue of its sheer volume of UFO sightings — seems to be the E.T.’s choice and would be the logical spot for a New York State UFO Convention.

Let’s look at some recent sightings in New York Skies:

Jan. 17, 2016: At 10:30 p.m., a resident of South Huntington witnessed a triangle-shaped craft with bright white lights.

Jan. 24, 2016: At 9:30 p.m., a fifth floor apartment resident in North Williamsburg observed an object that resembled a ball of fire in the sky that had a pulsating nature.

Jan. 25, 2016: At 9:46 p.m., a resident of Oceanside observed a formation of several flashing lights close to each other moving in the same direction and speed.

Jan. 30, 2016: At 8 p.m., a resident of Brooklyn saw a bright white light that hovered over her daughter’s school building before darting out of sight.

Feb. 1, 2016: At 10:11 a.m., a resident of Buffalo reported seeing objects that looked like red strips of light. The objects flew silently at high speeds.

If you are interested in joining a monthly UFO discussion group in the Onondaga County area, drop Cheryl an email [email protected]. If you have a UFO sighting to report, you can use either one of the two national database services: nuforc.org or mufon.com. Both services respect confidentiality.

Cheryl Costa would love to hear the when, where and what of your New York sighting. Email it to [email protected]. The names of witnesses will be omitted to protect their privacy.

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