New York Skies (Cheryl Costa)

UFOs of Christmas Past

Columnist Cheryl Costa shares a personal encounter from her time in the military during Christmas.

Image provided by IgorZakowski via Thinkstock

Christmas Eve for many has a special wonder. On a clear winter night, the stars are bright and if you lean up against a tree or a fence post and lay your head back, it’s easy to get lost in the spectacle of all the stars.

It was Christmas Eve 1971. I was an airman first class assigned to the 1881st Communications Squadron at the huge U.S. Air Force base at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. At about 11:30 p.m., I was walking west on the lane that would take me to the base chapel for midnight mass. The sky was crystal clear. Cam Ranh Bay was only a couple of degrees of latitude north of the equator. For a kid who grew up in upstate New York, it was bit discomforting, because we were too far south to see common constellations like Ursa Major.

As I looked into the western sky, I could see the constellation of Perseus and Taurus. High in the sky above them was the constellation of Orion, with its left shoulder star of Betelgeuse bright as ever.

Suddenly I saw a bright, star-like object zooming from the north across the western sky just below Taurus. My first impression was it was a meteor or perhaps a fighter jet. Then the object just stopped. It hovered out there below Taurus for perhaps a minute or two. Then it seemed to dance or dart around in various directions before it just dashed off toward the south at tremendous speed until it disappeared.

I was 19 years old. I didn’t know what to think. About all I could say was, “Wow!” During midnight mass, I was not with the program at all. I was replaying what I saw repeatedly in my head. Fearing my Air Force peers would think I was intoxicated or worse … nuts!

I just kept the whole sighting to myself for many years, until I shared it about 15 years ago with a couple of Native American folks I used to know. Now I’ve shared with you a deeply personal sighting as a holiday gift.

Let’s look at some awesome UFO sightings from Christmas 2015 from around the country:

  • At 12 a.m., a resident of Port Coquitlam, Canada, witnessed a number of bright orange spheres fly by at great speed.
  • At 12:05 a.m., a resident of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, observed a chevron-shaped object flying by from the southeast sky. He said there were about four or five round lights on each wing of the craft.
  • At 7:00 p.m., a resident of Green, New York, witnessed fireball-like objects flying at about 20 feet above the tree tops in a triangular formation.
  • At 7:30 p.m., a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, saw a strange spherical light that changed from white to pink to orange.
  • At 8:18 p.m., a resident of Londonderry, New Hampshire, observed a three elongated crafts with red lights on the noses and tails and an orange strobe in the middle.
  • At 8:30 p.m., a resident of Ellington, Connecticut, witnessed a large formation of orange orbs.
  • At 9 p.m., a resident of Norwalk, Connecticut, reported seeing a dozen individual bright lights flying slowly east before veering north.
  • At 9 p.m., a family in Cape Coral, Florida, was enjoying a campfire together when they saw four bright orange lights.
  • At 9:30 p.m., a family in Blain, Minnesota, watched two bright orange spheres darting and dancing about in the sky.
  • At 10 p.m., a family in Monks Corner, South Carolina, witnessed five glowing fireball-like orbs in the sky late on Christmas night.
  • At 10:30 p.m., a resident of Millbury, Maine, witnessed four bright lights spreading out from a central point and returning before flying off at great speed.

Merry Christmas from New York Skies!

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