***************************************************************** I M P O R T A N T N O T I C E concerning the following text file ***************************************************************** ParaNet makes no endorsement of this material and the views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of ParaNet. This information is provided as a public service only. This file is SHARETEXT material. This means that you are free to distribute it to anyone you like, as long as it is not used for commercial purposes, you do not charge for it, you do not remove this header, or change the contents in anyway. Additionally, we ask that you contribute to ParaNet, if possible, to assure a continuation of this valuable, educational SHARETEXT service. The suggested contribution is $75.00 and entitles you to full access to our comprehensive library and our network of electronic affiliates all over the world. Other services are available. Mail your contribution to: ParaNet Information Service P.O. Box 172 Wheat Ridge, CO 80034-0172 ParaNet(sm): Freedom of Information for a better world! (C) 1991 ParaNet(sm) Information Service. All Rights Reserved. **************************************************************** ParaNet File Number: 00262 DATE OF UPLOAD: August 27, 1989 ORIGIN OF UPLOAD: ParaNet Alpha/Denver, Colorado CONTRIBUTED BY: R. Perry Collins ======================================================== THE WESTCHESTER WING - PART II The wave of UFO activity characterized as the "Westchester Wing" has carried on into 1985, although the magnitude of the wave seems to have diminished. There have been several unusual incidents which serve to highlight covert federal interests not only in "coverup" attempts but also in active pursuit of the object(s). It has become increasingly obvious to investigators that the federal government not only is almost frantically attempting to explain away and deny the phenomenon, but also to tap the efforts of those less restricted (civilian) investigators. This has, at times, led to some humorous situations. At one point, in a conversation with Bob Girard about the implications of this surveillance, I jokingly said that I really had no problem with it, as I belonged to the "KSP." Bob asked what that was. I calmly replied that the KSP was the "Krypton Special Police," assigned to investigate the investigators of UFO investigators. Whoever was listening in overreacted as our line was immediately cut and I was left with a dead phone. Lt. Lesnick, tired of being followed whenever he went to interview witnesses, decided to get even. He had his followers tailed. For several weeks up to five cars played Keystone cops across the Conneticut and New York countryside. Phil Imbrogno, amazed, watched a helicopter slowly drifting over his residence as an individual inside pointed a camera at him. Quickly, Phil ran for a camera to point back at them. Heedless of this merriment, the "Wing" continued appearing, making friends among the populace and causing alarm to the establishment. The implications of all this, and the details of the actions of both the UFOs and the people involved with them provides us with a rich field of information. There is a great deal to learn here, not only about our "visitors," but about ourselves. When I say "making friends among the populace" I mean it literally. In many cases involving this "Westchester Wing," as with other UFO appearances over the years, there is evidence of what we call "psychic" interaction between the witnesses and the object. There have been many cases, some of which will be detailed here, where this interaction took place. For instance, the object has been noted to recede in distance when witnesses become fearful, come closer when they desired a better look, and respond to witness viewing positions with maneuvers and displays of lights. The object has hovered over residences of families who had noticed it slowly following them home. It has even hovered at less than 500 feet altitude a short distance from homes until whole families gathered to watch. Then, slowly cruising directly over, it displayed itself with breathtaking effects and beautiful lights. The wing shaped arrays of light are multicolored, strong but with a soft glow and are almost entrancing. These lights are turned on and off, again in direct correlation to the presence of witnesses. Someone, it seems, is saying hello. Someone is also paying very close attention to our nuclear weapons storage areas. Someone is providing periodic demonstrations of ability to quickly and easily nullify ballistic missile installations, antiaircraft missile launches and jet aircraft interception attempts. This activity has been going on for years but it is only recently that investigators have been able to get solid information about it and to make that information more available to the public. The wave of activity involving the "Westchester Wing" comes at just this time of growing public awareness. This UFO wave has been identified by J. Allen Hynek as one of the largest and most consistent displays in history. It has been centered over one of the most affluent and influential population centers in the nation. We must ask ourselves whether or not all this can be coincidental. There have been numerous appearances of the "Wing" in 1985, but, as stated, the reports have decreased in number. I shall concentrate on three specific events of note; a very dramatic incident over the Indian Point nuclear facility, a sighting over Meriden, Conneticut involving an untraceable military helicopter and an unusually well-planned example of efforts to divert attention from the real phenomenon. These cases will provide a focus for what seems to be the fading of this particular wave of UFO activity. As other investigators, particularly Jacques Vallee, have noted, UFOs generally seem to present themselves with periodic waves in both time and location. This wave may now have served its purpose: the reinforcement of the almost mythological reality of the UFO phenomenon. The three examples shall detail some reactions of established social groups, primarily those concerned with government and national security. Before going into depth with those examples, let's look more closely at the reactions of local groups and individuals, especially those individuals who observed the "Wing" at close range. The reactions of local police were touched on in the previous article. Many police officers who were witnesses to the low overflights of the UFO were adamant in their statements. They agreed that what they saw was not a plane or groups of planes. One officer reported a very large, structured craft which glided silently over his cruiser, stopped, rotated on its axis, and moved slowly over his position again. Many other patrolmen who had seen only the formations of planes were just as convinced that the whole thing could be explained as aircraft. In early 1983, when the UFO overflights began, the first explanation offered was that the sightings could be explained by the presence of ultralight aircraft. Just as this was being publicized as untenable (largely through the efforts of Phil Imbrogno), the formations of Cessna aircraft began to be noticed. It is important to note that these formations of aircraft had not been widely seen nor reported in the media until more than a month after the first reported UFO sightings over Yorktown, N.Y. Since that time there have been many reports, both of a very large, low, dark object variously illuminated and of close formations of light aircraft, flying at five to seven thousand feet, displaying non-regulation lights. Many witnesses, some of them pilots themselves, reported having seen both displays. They agreed that there was no confusing the two. While the majority of the population in the area where the highest number of reported sightings has seen nothing, a significantly large minority has viewed and reported definitely seeing an unusual object(s). Throughout the summer and fall of 1983 and well into 1984 the UFO wave gained momentum. Local media reports, witness reports and intensive investigation by Lesnick and Imbrogno became the talk of many social gatherings. It became fashionable to discuss the subject and debate the pros and cons of its real nature. Local newspapers did yeoman service in presenting many of the aspects of the situation. Independent radio and television stations followed the activity, often interviewing Lt. Lesnick and Imbrogno. The "V" shaped displays of lights continued. Those who saw them were often professional people whose articulate reports were difficult to discount. It became easier, as reports came in, to separate the planes from the UFO. Often the witnesses themselves knew the difference. The area where these reports were most concentrated included Westchester, Putnam and Duchess counties of New York and Fairfield County in Conneticut. These four counties are closely clustered around New York City. The media there receive much more national attention and were reluctant to get involved with the whole subject. City journalists who spoke to investigators said they frankly didn't know what to think. There were several times that major television networks mentioned the reports. These came after evenings where the witnesses numbered in the thousands. But these were isolated dates and the networks made no effort to follow up or clarify their brief airings. All but one of the major newspapers of the city made little or no effort to publish the numerous reports. The New York Times published two well written items discussing the activity. These appeared on April 17, 1983, near the beginning of the true UFO wave and on September 11, 1984, as the wave continued but as reports of the aircraft became more numerous. The reports of low overflights of the large, structured UFO often referred to strong thoughts and feelings by the individuals involved. Often the UFO seemed to respond to these thoughts and in some cases to initiate them. Many witnesses noticed more direct interaction than the obvious light displays and maneuvers. Bill Hele works as meteorologist for the National Weather Corporation at Westchester Airport. On the evening of March 24, 1983, he was driving along the Taconic State Parkway in Westchester County, N.Y. when he saw the object. "I've been around aircraft all my life and I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it," he stated. "I had the feeling of being stared at, analyzed and rejected. It wasn't a dangerous feeling, but I had the feeling of being examined head to toe. There was a series of lights, maybe a half a dozen in a row, with one or two hanging on the end like a pendant. They went out for 15 to 20 seconds and reappeared with no sound. There was no shadow, no silhouette, no nothing. Just lights, but they were changing multiprismatically. We're talking a magnitude of a quarter mile long or longer of lights...It caught me by total surprise." Hele's experience was mentioned in the September issue of Omni magazine and again in the Hartford Courant of August 16, 1984. As the sightings continued, there were no more people who noticed an almost "psychic" interaction with the object. Approximately ten percent of the witnesses reported definite correlations between their thoughts and the actions of the "Wing." On March 17, 1983, between 7 and 10 p.m., several hundred people in the area of Brewster, N.Y. watched as a large "V" shaped array of lights cruised low over the town and nearby Interstate 84. One witness, Dennis Sant, got an extremely good look at it. He and his family were coming home from church when they saw the object hovering near their home. As they got closer to the house, it seemed to disappear. Thinking that was all there was to see, they went inside. Soon Sant felt an impulse to go back outside and walked out his front door. As he glanced in the direction of nearby I-84, he was a large "boomerang" shaped object hovering silently less than 200 feet over the highway. It had red, white, blue and green lights on its "wings" and a large yellow light in the middle. People on the road were stopping, exiting their cars and staring at it. Sant remembers wishing he could get a better look. Immediately after his thought, the craft made a sharp turn and slowly moved directly towards him. It lost altitude until it was about thirty feet from him and less than 100 feet up. Now it stopped and resumed hovering for approximately one minute. Then it began slowly moving over his back yard, emitting a soft hum. Sant was able to jog almost directly under it and saw a dark, grey metallic structure. The object again stopped and hovered and Sant backed away from beneath it. As his family and neighbors watched, it suddenly shot down a brilliant beam, illuminating the entire yard for approximately thirty seconds. It then slowly moved away towards the north, gaining altitude. Many more such "interactive" cases could be presented here, but I prefer to discuss one with which I am most familiar -- my own. As described in my previous article, I too got a good look at the "Wing" in late August of 1983. Several hundred people saw the object that night over a cluster of Conneticut towns that included New Haven, Orange, Milford, Bridgeport, Monroe and Stratford. I interviewed many of them on tape. We all saw the same thing and many of us had similar reactions. I was home alone that night on the third floor of my residence in the north end of Bridgeport, near St. Vincent's Hospital. Strangely enough, just before I saw it, I was reviewing some notes I'd made after speaking with Lt. Lesnick about the wave of "Wing" reports. Deciding to take a break, I walked to my north window. Suddenly three lights appeared, seemingly low over the rooftops to the northwest. I told myself I was seeing a light plane, but immediately dismissed the idea as the lights were too widely spaced and were drifting very slowly to my left. Just as I became intensely curious, the lights went out. Hoping to see them again, I moved to my bedroom and the west window. As I looked out, directly over my neighbor's house, the lights reappeared. They were much closer now, stationary and about twenty to twenty-five degrees above the horizon. I was amazed. Here I was, a man whose hobby is UFOs, apparently seeing one. The lights sat there, the left one red, the middle one green, the right one blue. Abruptly, I began speaking aloud, "If you are what I think you are, tell me somehow that I'm not hallucinating." The lights seemed to react; the green slowly faded out, came back on and they all faded. Immediately I received a strong impression to move back to the north window. The impression was so abrupt and so clearly not my own thought that I started to resist it even as I began to move to the next window. Excitement and curiosity overcame me, however, and I quickly moved to the forward room and leaned out the open window. An immense, wing shaped array of lights greeted me. Later I calculated that the object supporting the lights must have moved sideways and forwards at least one-quarter-of-a-mile in the few seconds it took me to move from the west to the north window. It was now almost directly overhead, between myself and nearby St. Vincent's hospital. It was moving slowly, silently, apex forward, directly to the east. I had several reactions. I was conscious of a very focused and somehow logical presence, but my mind was only secondarily aware of this. I had worked as a quality control engineer and had grown up in an Air Force family. I first realized that this "wing," if that was what it was, could not be an airfoil. It was moving too slowly to hold itself up. I was also busily engaged trying to line up reference points, judge how many hand widths it took up, etc., so that I could later trigonometrically figure out its actual dimensions. It seemed very large and very low. For approximately 20 to 30 seconds it drifted over and then suddenly the lights dimmed and went out. I strained to see a shape or structure, but could not. In all the excitement, I hadn't thought to find a camera. I quickly walked to the phone, noting the time from the wall clock and called Lt. George Lesnick. After a brief talk, I walked outside and towards the area where it had "disappeared." I spent a long time, at least half an hour, standing in an open area, wondering, hoping it would come back. It had definitely impressed me, "psychically" and otherwise. As I previously mentioned, I spent a good deal of time on the phone that night, calling the local police and airports, finding that many others were also seeing it. There are numerous other examples of the interactive nature of this wave of UFO activity. In July of 1984 I interviewed a family of four living in the suburbs of Danbury, Conneticut. The husband had been leaving work later than usual and was moving out of the parking lot when he noticed some odd looking lights in the nearby sky. At first he paid little attention to them, thinking only that a plane was flying around at low altitude. As he drove home (a trip of several minutes) he began noticing that the lights seemed to be pacing him. Still he took little notice until he pulled into his driveway and got out of his car. He then could clearly see a huge array of colored lights drifting slowly towards his house. Calling his wife and children, they all gathered on the back porch just as the object came directly over them. It was clearly triangular in shape and as it moved overhead it executed an abrupt ninety degree turn without slowing or showing a turn radius. The husband described the turn, "The tip of the triangle was moving in the direction of flight when the thing seemed to slowly rotate on its central axis, so that the tip was finally pointing ninety degrees from where it started. Then, without any change in speed, just as the tip completed its rotation, the thing just moved off in a completely separate direction, back over the front of my house." The couple had spoken to only a few close friends about the incident and seemed relieved to hear that many other people were having similar experiences in the area. While this case doesn't necessarily show interaction of a "psychic" nature, there certainly appears to have been a specific display for a specific group of witnesses. The family felt no fear of the object and it displayed no hostility. Again we can say it seems someone, using a clearly unknown and very impressive technology, may be saying "hello" at such a level so as not to disturb society as a whole. The apparently immense craft has yet to land in the center of town in broad daylight. Human nature and our current cultural consensus could conceivably make such an event an unmanageable chaos. Whoever is "saying hello" presumably knows us well and seems to be showing great care in letting us get gradually and comfortably acquainted with it or them. We should attempt here a closer approximation to the actual structure of the object displaying the lights. "Westchester Wing" is a term I coined simply because most of the reports were coming from Westchester residents and most of the reports describing a wing or boomerang shaped display of lights. Only a relatively few reports refer to a structure. The most common descriptions of the structure itself are: huge, dark metallic grey, a grid or lattice underneath, tubular attachments and circular attachments. Descriptions vary as to the actual outline of the object or objects. Phil Imbrogno has deduced from computer studies of reported times, areas, durations and frequencies that we may be dealing with as many as three different UFOs, all with similar characteristics. One witness I interviewed gave some pertinent clues about the ambiguity of the actual shape or structure of the unknown object. The report came from a professional woman living near Goshen, Conneticut. Between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m., on September 17th, 1984, she was driving along a fairly deserted road outside of Goshen when she saw a long string of glowing white lights paralleling her car just over the treetops on the side of the road. She slowed to get a better look and as she did so the lights moved directly over her car, changing in shape to resemble a very large "horse shoe." They remained hovering like this for approximately two minutes. A pickup truck approached from the opposite lane and continued on down the road. As it disappeared, the lights seemed to "uncoil" and form a "V" shape, which then very rapidly moved away to the south. The woman was convinced that the lights were all attached to one object as their relative distance from one another never varied, only their configuration. Within an hour of her sighting, reports were received from several hundred people in the areas of Southington and Southbury, Conneticut, approximately thirty miles away. From all the available reports of these definitely unidentified objects, we can deduce only two possibilities. Either there are several structurally different UFOs or there is one very large UFO which appears to change shape using a variable lighting display. The first of the previously mentioned three incidents of 1985 on which we'll focus actually took place in the summer of 1984, but only came to public attention in January 1985. On January 12, 1985, two newspapers ran similar headlines. They were startling and controversial. "NUKE PLANT GUARDS REPORT HOVERING UFOS" appeared in the Journal-News of Nyack, NY "UFOS -- DID ALIENS BUZZ INDIAN POINT PLANT?" read the Reporter Dispatch of White Plains, New York. Again it was through the tireless efforts of Phil Imbrogno that these incidents came to light. both articles said basically the same thing. The stories were presented fairly, with both sides of the question aired. Plant authorities basically denied and downplayed the incident. Imbrogno stated that on July 24, 1984, a huge "V" shaped object slowly descended to within 300 yards of the nuclear plant. Guards became alarmed, shotguns were issued and nearby Fort Smith was alerted. John Branciforte, security coordinator at Indian Point, stated: He (Imbrogno) could possibly be making it up or he took what they (witnesses) gave him and stretched it out. I think people are going to publish stories on hysteria and misinformation. As far as I'm concerned, it's purely speculation." The real story, related by Lt. George Lesnick, sounds almost like science fiction. Lesnick was with Imbrogno when they investigated the incident. They interviewed six of the fifteen guards involved. They found more than twenty other witnesses in residences near the installation. And they found definite indications of a coverup, of jobs threatened, of an almost frantic effort to keep the real story from surfacing. Whether or not federal authorities were involved wasn't determined, but certainly responsible officials denied the known facts and even came close to slander. From all that I know of the case, it seems some of the officials, uninformed of the real nature of the events, simply tried to explain it away on the basis of their own preconceptions. As in many UFO cases, there seems to have been two types of coverup: official denial of the facts by those who should be aware of them and denial of the facts by those whose access to them was not direct. The second manifestation of our desire to create and maintain a comfortable cultural consensus, whereas the first is purposeful deception and is not so easily forgiven. George Lesnick had worked as a police officer for the town of Fairfield, Conneticut for twenty nine years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant before retiring in July of 1985. He is a healthy, robust, straightforward man who had received numerous commendations for his police work. He had been instrumental in saving lives, solving kidnap cases and generally serving his community as a dedicated and professional police officer. His comments and investigations on a case are those of a professional investigator. He does not "stretch facts." If George is not absolutely sure of his material, he does not speculate. It is with this in mind that I relate the events that actually led to the January headlines in those New York papers. I spoke with George several times to get the facts of the incident straight. In October of 1984, George, Phil Imbrogno and J. Allen Hynek were being interviewed on a late night radio show in New York. Lee Spiegel of NBC had all three men on a telephone hookup to discuss the now twenty month long wave of UFO activity involving the "Westchester Wing." After the show, the investigators received fifteen calls. One came from a man who George named "Deep Throat." He was a security officer at the Indian Point nuclear facility. He had something he wanted to talk about with the investigators. A time and a place were arranged for an interview. No one but Lesnick, Imbrogno and the guard knew of the meeting. The officer indicated he would have several other guards with him. George and Phil arrived at the meeting to find six guards from the plant and, surprisingly, lawyer Peter Gersten. Accompanying Gersten was the same woman who had interviewed me the year before, posing as a MUFON investigator. (As related in my previous article, she was accompanied at that time by an FBI agent, sitting quietly at the next table, unnoticed by myself but under surveillance by local plainclothes police. George later informed me that he, too, had been invited to that first meeting, but had declined>) As the two investigators entered the diner that had been set up as the rendezvous, they noticed Gersten and his friend, and somewhat surprised, began to talk with them. "Deep Throat" came over and introduced himself and indicated where the other five guards were sitting. At this point Gersten seemed to try to take over and manage the meeting, inviting everyone to sit at his previously reserved table. Lesnick interrupted and insisted on separating the witnesses, so as to get a clearer look at how their stories compared. He took three and Phil took three, leaving Gersten and his friend somewhat at a loss. The story that came forth was startling but not so unfamiliar to those aware of how authorities at higher levels react to the presence of UFOs at "sensitive" installations. To be fair I attempted to contact the woman involved. It took some time, but I found her Conneticut address, mailed her a letter and got no response. I drove to her house, dropped a note asking her to call me (along with a copy of my previous PURSUIT article). She did call, but quickly denied being aware of any FBI involvement and hung up before I could ask about her being at the Indian Point meeting. Maybe she's being set up, maybe she's actively involved, but certainly she pops up under unusual circumstances asking informed questions about UFOs. She is not an investigator for MUFON as she told me. This I confirmed through Marge Christensen, MUFON state coordinator for Massachusetts. Perhaps I am mistaken. Perhaps she has a sincere interest in UFOs. Having met her, I would say her interest is sincere, but then so is the interest of the FBI -- they just don't seem to be able to admit it. All six guards related the same basic story. Phil and George questioned them for nearly two hours. On the evening of July 24, 1984, a huge, V shaped object, displaying two rows of bright, glowing lights, slowly approached the nuclear plant. It descended to an altitude of less than 500 feet and approached the facility to within 100 yards. The second shift security officers at first could not believe it. The object then stopped and hovered over them, emitting a low humming noise. The men became nervous as the object continued to hover and someone gave the order to issue shotguns. Fifteen guards were involved and as the object remained stationary they became very nervous. Another order was issued to contact nearby Fort Smith. As the now thoroughly shaken guards watched, the object continued to hover almost directly overhead. After approximately 15 minutes the object slowly drifted away and then abruptly accelerated upwards and to the northwest. The security officers interviewed were all relieved that no one had ordered them to fire upon the craft, but admitted that they were keyed up enough that they would have, had it been deemed necessary. The two investigators made appointments with some of the witnesses to meet again, and "Deep Throat" called them several more times. In his last call he said he could no longer talk or meet with Lesnick or Imbrogno, as his job was in jeopardy. Neither of the investigators could reach any of those they had interviewed earlier. They were simply told by powerplant authorities that the men were unavailable for comment and could not come to the phone. When asked about possible films from the plant's security cameras, the same officials replied that the cameras had not been working that night due to a technical malfunction. Lesnick was told the cameras "weren't loaded" at the time. As a professional police officer, he found this explanation difficult to believe. Considering the current protests about nuclear power facilities, and the resultant activity of demonstrators that appear around such plants, a "malfunction of security cameras" is not likely. Security at sensitive installations has also been intensified due to ongoing threats of terrorist activity. The second incident of note took place over Meriden, Conneticut early in April of 1985. At the time I was working as a technical supervisor at an engineering company in Meriden. Many of my fellow employees knew of my interest in UFOs and would occasionally drop in to my office to discuss the subject. That morning, as I was walking towards my work area, a secretary approached me to relate a UFO sighting she, a friend and her friend's father had experienced less than nine hours before. As I briefly questioned her it became apparent that what she had seen fit the "V" shaped object category. The three witnesses had seen the object moving slowly, apex towards the ground, near the junction of the Merritt Parkway (Highway 15) and I-91 (Interstate Highway to Hartford). Since this was near our plant, I took the opportunity to drive over to the area at coffee break. As I looked around for powerlines or other features, I suddenly noticed a very low flying helicopter of unusual design. I am fairly familiar with aircraft but could not at first identify this one. It appeared to be a military aircraft of gunship design. Stopping my car, I got out and viewed the aircraft through binoculars. It seemed to be making a sweep of the area and was at less than 300 feet altitude. As it made a second pass near my position, I could clearly see it, indeed, was of a military gunship design, painted a dark blue and showing commercial NS numbers in red. I noted the numbers and returned to work as the helicopter slowly moved away to the north at the same low altitude. Back at the office, I had little time to really think about it, but I was almost sure that there was a connection between the UFO sighting of the previous evening and the appearance of the unusual aircraft. Around two that afternoon, an engineer coworker dropped by to tell me that he and his wife were sure they had seen a UFO early that morning. It turned out to have the same characteristics as the one seen by the secretary, but it was seen six hours after hers and was not moving slowly at all. In fact, the engineer and his wife were at first convinced they were watching a low flying delta winged bomber except that after very quickly traversing the Meriden area, it had stopped abruptly and hovered, again over the area of the highway junction. The helicopter had arrived no more than five hours after the sighting. This was too much for me to ignore, so I called the Bridgeport Air Registry Service and gave them the NS numbers I had noted. I asked who might be flying the craft that day over Meriden. After several minutes they replied that I must be mistaken because the only helicopter with that registry number was owned by an individual in Torrance, California. Now I really became curious. What was a very expensive military helicopter doing low over Meriden, Conneticut, flying a search pattern in exactly the same area as of a UFO report only hours old? What private individual could afford it, get clearance to buy it, ship it from coast to coast and then casually use it to seemingly track UFOs? This was too much. I didn't give up, but I eventually did find myself, basically, chasing my own tail. I called the Sikorsky Aircraft plant, the Army and Air National Guard in Hartford, the State Police, the Coast Guard at East Haven, the New Haven airport, the Hartford airport (all in Conneticut) and finally another investigator in Long Island. I got nowhere. Nobody had heard of, seen or had any record of such a helicopter. Finally I called Torrance, California and asked for the number of the man listed as the registered owner. There were two listings for that name. I called them both. The first man laughed and said he sure would like to own a helicopter, but he didn't think he could handle the payments. The second politely said no, he didn't fly and that I must be mistaken. I struck out. Whatever happened, three things stand out: the reported UFO apparently was our old friend, the "Wing;" the helicopter was almost as unusual as the UFO itself; the coincidence of the UFO and the gunship being in exactly the same area within hours of each other is difficult to explain. Almost as an afterthought, I might add that military helicopters of gunship design are not usually painted dark blue and they definitely do not display civilian registration numbers in bright red paint. You can draw your own conclusions! The third incident of note in 1985 really didn't involve the "Westchester Wing" directly, but it certainly gives a very clear example of the extreme efforts being made to dismiss and explain away this wave of UFO activity. It began in February of 1985. I was being interviewed by Jim Montavalli, managing editor of The Fairfield Advocate, about the UFO activity. I had contacted him, presented him with the evidence I had gathered, and asked if he was interested in an article for his paper. I found Jim to be an interested and unbiased man, and he ran an enthusiastic three page article on Feb. 20th. I impressed upon him the fact that the two most informed and active investigators of this UFO wave were Lt. Lesnick and Phil Imbrogno. Montavalli contacted them and arranged for an hour long television interview on his weekly program "What Do You Think?" The show was well advertised for a week in advance and was presented live on WUBC, Channel 12 from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. on the evening of March 20th. Just as the show ended and everyone was leaving an apparently immense ring of slow moving lights came on directly over the Bridgeport studio. From Bridgeport the formation of unusual lights moved over New Haven and into central Conneticut, putting on a display seen by many hundreds of people. I saw them while on route 34 near New Haven and watched them carefully as they moved over New Haven and then inland. The display lasted approximately seven minutes from my position and very nearly caused several accidents as drivers pulled over to watch. Alas, it was not a UFO. It took me several minutes, bus as the formation turned over New Haven, I realized they must be aircraft. There were eight of them, and their precision was almost perfect until the turn. Then four of the planes drifted slightly apart from the other four before reforming. The next day headlines throughout Conneticut loudly condemned these formation flying fools for nearly causing accidents on highways throughout the state. Demands were made for an FAA investigation. The pilots were never found. The origin of the aircraft remains a mystery. That they were aircraft is certain. Paul Estefan, administrator of Danbury, Conneticut Municipal Airport, dispatched a plane to track the lights and the pilot tracked them to two airports in New York state. But Estefan refused to name the airports, saying that the pilots had not really broken any laws. Was it rally a coincidence that these planes put on a display that began just as the Channel 12 show ended? Was it really a coincidence that immediately after Lesnick and Imbrogno presented the evidence of two years of solid investigation, the perfect and easily accepted explanation causally flew over? Was it really a coincidence that this aircraft formation flew over the exact area where the TV show was being seen? From years of patient inquiry into the UFO phenomenon, I can assure you it was not. UFOs have profoundly alarmed those at high levels of national security in almost all of the countries of our planet. They have effortlessly rendered ICBM sites ineffective, easily evaded interception attempts by the most advanced aircraft of the United States and the Soviet Union, destroyed antiaircraft missiles launched at them with a technology far beyond our own. They have, at the same time, made a distinct and almost mythological impression on people throughout the world. They have not displayed overt hostility towards individuals, have not landed and disrupted our society and have shown no inclination to do so as yet. We may evolve into a unified world which peacefully moves out to explore our solar system, our universe. In such a case, UFOs may not make open and direct contact for hundreds of years. It may take that long for us to develop socially to the point where we would not be totally disturbed by such contact. We may also attempt to violently commit nuclear suicide, thereby poisoning our world, and killing all lifeforms on our planet. It would be a human decision. In such a case, somebody may come down and take our toys away, scolding us severely and imposing their own order upon us. In reaching these kinds of conclusions, I feel that the majority of people in this country presently do not have a firm grasp on the UFO reality. Most simply avoid the subject. The avoidance maneuvers are varied: scientists, in general, see the UFO scene as a can of worms, full of inconsistencies; the media, especially the national media, still treat the subject with tongue in cheek; various authorities, from local police to those up to and including the presidential personnel, simply deny UFOs or explain them away as misidentification of man made or natural phenomena. A significant portion of the population treat UFOs in a semi superstitious manner, in much the same way religious prophecies are treated. It is important to realize that these attitudes are not symptoms of a "planned coverup," at least for the most part. Habitual attitudes such as these are more the symptoms of the cultural consensus "reality" within which we all usually function. The realities of our world are largely our own creation. In trying to understand that concept, in trying to delineate its boundaries, we very often create that reality most comfortable to ourselves and those around us. This process leads to the cultural consensus "reality" which most of us share and support. UFOs, as yet, have not been fully accepted into that reality. People often ask me "Do you believe in UFOs?" My most consistent reply is "No! Do you believe in helicopters?" UFOs are a reality not subject to our belief systems, although it seems they have initiated numerous "beliefs," "mythologies" and even possibly "religions." UFOs exist. The evidence for that existence is now much too solid to deny. That evidence could be an underlying force behind our rapidly evolving military technology. Deep seated fears of what we label as the "unknown" may be a factor in our feverish arms race. It is even almost comforting to realize that now, as we peer off into the darkness of our self created position, we could, if unified, at least have some chance to "battle" those "dark forces of the unknown." Unfortunately, those "dark forces" are largely creations of our own imaginations. Alien invaders haven't yet arrived to enslave us. In fact, I should imagine any advanced life form would be hesitant to try. We are an aggressive and pugnacious species and would make very poor slaves. The human race is rapidly moving into an age where the nature of "reality" is changing every day. We need to understand that we create and maintain that "kind" of reality where we all pretty much agree on "how things are." The ultimate reality of our existence is still very much of a mystery, even to those scientists who specialize in exploring and defining it. We are part of a matter/energy universe which is only now beginning to be somewhat understood. Small particle physicists, those closest to what we might call the "ultimate" reality, readily admit that at this stage of the game, they can define our universe most closely with only one word: ineffable. Science and religion are now beginning to find that they may well be exploring the same ideas, the only difference being in their approaches. UFOs are representative of a "reality" which also seems to be "ineffable." The actual appearance of UFOs to witnesses, the evidence of UFO activity not only perceived by our senses but registered on our technological sensors, is overwhelming. It is best understood when viewed in a semantically clear fashion. They are here. They are seen, tracked on radar, photographed, acted upon, and display actions which are as yet poorly understood. The data available on UFOs indicates the presence of several groups or "groupings" of visitors from other worlds. There are several broad common denominators of these groupings. One of the most consistent of these seems to be a gradual and periodically reinforced series of appearances, labeled "UFO waves." These appearances do not take place on a grand scale; likewise, landings and flyovers generally do not occur at the capital cities of the world. We are not yet prepared to face a culture of beings as far ahead of us as we are of cave dwellers. Anthropological studies show clear examples of the fates of primitive societies exposed to modern man. Another common denominator of UFO activity is their appearances near major military centers throughout the world. These appearances are again periodic, almost on a "reinforcement" schedule. Often these appearances coincide with "demonstrations" of the technological ease with which missile bases are electronically nullified, interceptor aircraft easily outdistanced, antiaircraft missiles destroyed at launch. Examples of these kinds of incidents are coming more and more to the public eye. Perhaps it is time we started growing up. Our visitors, friendly or not, certainly cannot afford to let us come swarming off our planet armed and angry. What would you do if you were up there looking down at a planet whose dominant lifeforms seem to be preoccupied making bigger, better and deadlier devices to either kill themselves or to keep each other from killing themselves? It would seem our visitors have been extremely patient. Perhaps they can help. Perhaps not. Perhaps they are angelic, attempting to help only indirectly. Perhaps they are demonic, attempting to move us onnward towards "Armageddon." Perhaps they are neither. Here we sit, our halos held up by our horns, for the most part unaware of the real nature of our visitors. Perhaps that nature is unimportant. Perhaps more important is our perception of their nature. Perhaps, just perhaps, we can help ourselves. With the awareness that the universe is not our enemy, that it is just the opposite, we might possibly move into a future of tremendous potential. We are growing up. Hopefully we shall share our movement into racial maturity with others who seem to have already evolved towards social and racial sanity. Again, it is our choice. We are, after all, fairly intelligent, especially when we're not chasing each other through the treetops. ADDENDUM I finished this article and submitted it to PURSUIT in early September of 1985. Since that time there have been two clear cases of the unknown object seen low over populated areas of New York and Conneticut. There was also a sharp rise in the number of isolated reports of unusual lights in these months. Most of these reports could not be attributed to aircraft activity. A summary of these reports is given here; it seems as if this resurgence is a clear indication that his wave is not finished. The first incident of note came to light through Peter Gersten's UFO Hotline. On the evening of September 12th, from 9:00 to 10:30 p.m., an unusually large number of reports came into the hotline. All described an unusual object, studded with lights, low over New York City and surrounding areas such as Yonkers and New Rochelle. Some callers reported the "V" shape. Others said the lights varied in their appearance. Several callers reported that there was definitely a very large object involved as the stars were occulted or blocked from view by its passage overhead. I listened to the report of one woman who, along with her husband, saw the object as its light configurations began to change. Her report was familiar; the process she described was almost exactly the same as that seen by the woman I interviewed in Goshen, CT. The media did not make much comment on this activity. Channel 7 News at 11:00 p.m. that night mentioned unusual lights seen over the New York City area. The second incident involving large numbers of people was one I investigated personally. On the evening of October 17th, 1985, an estimated two thousand witnesses saw the object as it appeared over Bridgeport, Fairfield and Danbury, Conneticut. As it moved over these towns it was seen, by separate witnesses, to "change shape" from a "V" to a straight line and back to a "V." The witnesses, some of them police officers, again referred to rows of large lights that defined the shape of the object. It moved very slowly, rotated on its axis and accelerated very rapidly. It was described as "larger than an airliner at low altitude" by witnesses I interviewed. Visiting the Fairfield and Bridgeport, CT police departments, I found that there had been a very large number of calls that night from people concerned about the object. I decided to call the hotline and put my findings on record. The hotline, established more than a year ago, was a direct result of UFO activity in the area and received reports, replaying some of the more dramatic ones for several days. The report from the night of the 17th was recorded on the 19th and played back on the 20th and the 22nd. It gives a clearer idea of the nature and magnitude of the incident: Thursday, October 17th -- "V" shaped white, red, green and blue lights were first seen over Main Street, Bridgeport, CT at approximately 8:35 p.m. The "lights" moved slowly north to the area of St. Vincent's hospital, stopped, hovered for three to five minutes, then rapidly accelerated away to the north. It apparently turned to the east and was next seen hovering over Fairfield University, Fairfield from 8:45 to 8:55 p.m. Again stopped, hovered, "V" unfolded to straight line. Altitude verified at less than one thousand feet by "trigging out" witness positions and angles of observation. All witnesses agree the size of the display was larger than a jet airliner. After hovering over Fairfield, while viewed by police officers, object rotated on its own axis and moved away. Reports came in from Trumbull, Monroe and then Danbury. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., over Danbury, police chief John P. Basile saw it with over thirty other witnesses. Also seen over Bethel and New Fairfield areas and then Candlewood Lake. Articles on page four of the Bridgeport Telegram of Friday, October 18th and page 13 of the Danbury News-Times of the same date. Approximately thirty calls to the Bridgeport Police Department, approximately three hundred calls to the Fairfield Police Department, calls also to the Danbury police, local radio stations and newspapers. Estimated number of witnesses, two thousand." There can be no doubt that something unknown is evident. Other reports that came to my attention were as follows: September 11th, 1985: Single witness, female, reports that while walking dog in Trumbull, CT at 11:30 p.m., saw large group of red lights moving low over position from north to south. Reported by personal acquaintance. October 7th, 1985: A Bridgeport fireman, thirty years old, while bicycling from Bridgeport to Florida (local newspaper coverage) reports seeing low flying "V" shaped object followed closely by several military helicopters. Witness reports that this was near the coast of Virginia, about 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. and object and choppers moving south to north. Reported by personal acquaintance. October 16th, 1985: Two witnesses, female, report seeing a "V" shaped object low over beach near West Haven, CT, between 11:30 and 12:00 p.m. Report also cites "mild sunburn" as a result of "being under the thing." Interviewed one witness by telephone, unable to followup and clarify "sunburn" aspect. What we have been calling the "Westchester Wing" continues to be seen. Its appearances continue to frame questions of its origin and purpose. We all, each in our own way, have much to learn in probing for answers. ================================================================= R. Perry Collins is an aerospace engineer and part-time physics teacher living in Conneticut. He has been an active UFO investigator and researcher for a number of years. =================================================================