Mort Twain writes: "I have always enjoyed and been fascinated by your website. It seemed I should share some information. I went to college in New Hampshire in 1965 when the big power blackout happened on the East Coast. I was just going through the food line when all the food prep machines stopped and the lights blinked. It felt very strange but the power came right back on. However, I sensed something big had just happened so I went back to my dorm room and found out that there had been a massive power blackout on the East Coast. But, I found out more than that as I started listening to local New England talk radio.

Reports were rampant immediately following the blackout that a fully credible Maine State Trooper had reported seeing a UFO come down and tap into a power line followed by the blackout. This story was all over the news in New England and New Hampshire. I believe the trooper had been interviewed or at least talked to and he was sticking by his story. But, then as so often happens, this news story and its details vanished and was never heard again in the subsequent discussions. No explanation was ever made for the story itself. In short, the entire account was erased as if it hadn't been the main topic of discussion at the time of the blackout itself when cause and effect are most obvious. We're being told the current reversed itself suddenly in the Lake Erie loop. In short, safeguards were put into effect after the 1977 NYC blackout but the whole thing happened again like in 1965, except bigger ... and again ... no one has a clue! Hope I was able to offer some "illumination.". If there had been an EMP big enough to knock the power grid down, all the cars and computers, etc, would be dead too, I suspect. Thanks to Mort Twain

NEW YORK - ARE WE ALONE?

PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK -- Members of the United Friends Observer Society don't think so! Rebecca Rothbaum, Poughkeepsie Journal writes: "Bill Wiand doesn't know who they are or what they want." But he knows what he has seen and it is enough to tell him there is life out there, from some far away part of our universe or maybe even another dimension. ''I did recently have a visitation and it terrified me,'' he said. ''It started like it always does, with the noise in my ears and it just kind of rumbles through. I couldn't move my body, but I could move my eyes and I knew the room was filled with entities.'' Wiand was talking at the most recent meeting of the United Friends Observer Society or UFOS, which describes itself as a ''support group for those who have seen UFOs, would like to see a UFO, or have experienced contact with a UFO.'' ''We're here for anyone who needs us to help them through their experiences,'' explained Sue Wiand, who with her husband Bill and Newburgh couple Sue and John Mann, run UFOS. Sue Mann, who was listening, added: ''Also, we're here for anyone who is interested. We don't make any judgments.'' The group was founded 10 years ago in nearby Pine Bush, Orange County, an area considered ground zero for UFO sightings in the Northeast and made famous among UFO circles by the late Ellen Crystall's 1994 book ''Silent Invasion: The Shocking Discoveries of a UFO Researcher.'' snip

Bruce Cornet, who holds a doctoral degree in geology has been studying UFO activity in the area for more than a decade, and has been trying to marshal scientific documentation to back up his own experiences. As people were filing into the meeting, he described to a handful of listeners what he believes was his first alien abduction -- back in 1981 -- which he has remembered only through hypnosis. ''They immobilized me and undressed me and put this device on my genitals and took a sperm sample,'' Cornet said. After overcoming his paralysis, Cornet said he tried to free himself. But the aliens, whom he described as humanoid but ''looking like they were 2,000 years old, shriveled up, with jaundiced skin,'' stunned him with a probe to his forehead. Cornet considers the possibility that many of the UFOs spotted locally may in fact be military aircraft, flying in and out of Stewart Airport. But like other UFO-ologists, Cornet is not totally satisfied with that answer. ''What would the military be parading super secret aircraft through farm fields for?'' he asked. snip Thanks to Rebecca Rothbaum, Karl Rabe, poughkeepsieJournal.com

NEW JERSEY - SAM SHERMAN'S UFO SIGHTING

OLD BRIDGE - On August 15, 2003, Sam Sherman writes: " My wife and I were driving east on Cottrell Road at 8:43 PM, and just as we approached Route 34, my wife noticed an odd lighted object hovering over some trees. From the distance it looked like a football shaped object, self illuminated fully (from within) by what looked like pure white light. I decided to cross Route 34 and get closer to the object, which apparently was hovering in place. After driving around a few blocks to get a clear view without trees obstructing the view, I stopped the car and took my monocular from the car trunk. With the monocular, I got a clearer view of the object. It had a white strobing light on top and a similar light on the bottom. On the side of the object I saw some darkened pattern, but could not make out what it was. Seeing this pattern gave me the idea that it might have been an advertising blimp, not a true UFO, but there are concepts against that. First, I could see no pilot's cabin or gondola on the bottom of the object and the bottom white strobing light was right on the bottom of the object not under such a gondola. Second, if it were an advertising blimp the message (dark part) on the side was impossible to read clearly and would never have been noted by the unaided eye -- what would be the purpose of such advertising? Third, if there were flashing lights on it to warn planes, it would seem that those should be red not pure white. Fourth, the object as seen appeared very similar to the British sighting as written in the email post -- below. I have gone to the FAA website and downloaded the Official Regulations for AIRSHIPS (BLIMPS)- They MUST have a RED and a GREEN LIGHT. They MUST have a light at the FORWARD END and a light REAR END. The object we sighted did not meet these regulations. My wife and I are leaning to the opinion that what we observed was a non-terrestrial craft of unknown origin. It may not have been a Football Shape but a Lenticular (lens-shaped) object such as a flying disk -- of which we only saw one side view making it look from that side as "football shaped". Thanks to Sam Sherman flexaret2@aol.com

FLORIDA - UFO FLIPS OVER HIGHWAY

TAMPA - Three businessmen were heading northbound on I-75 on August 1, 2003, around 9:30 PM. Off in the distance they saw a baby blue,, greenish and white light, spaced apart but on the same aircraft. The passenger seat says, " Do you see that?" I acknowledged, it was weird. A few seconds later it was right over us coming from the west to the east toward the highway at a pretty high speed. As soon as it was directly over us it flipped, reversed and started heading west again finally shooting away. When directly over us it could have been no more then 100 feet way. When it changed directions, I knew something was up and just as it was starting to head away I stuck my head out the window to catch a glimpse and could actually see the craft. It was FLIPPING head over end as it turned! It was a grayish dull metallic color, but its shape was hard to make out, but probably an oval or saucer. It had a greenish baby blue light on one end and a white light on the other. Me and my friend started yelling at each other, "DID YOU SEE THAT?" Four other cars around me were hitting there brake so they must have seen it too. Weird stuff. Thanks to Peter Davenport NUFORC

ALABAMA - DAYLIGHT RECTANGLE UFO

BIRMINGHAM - Two drivers in two cars in phone contact were 15 miles south of Birmingham on I-65 when they noticed a perfect rectangle shaped UFO, like a flat non-reflective white 2-by-4 board. The huge object seemed suspended in air. If it was a single-level passenger craft, the fuselage average passenger height is twelve feet high. One witness asked the other, "If he had noticed the bogey at 2 o'clock? The second witness, a Marine Sgt. noted that although he knew of an airport close by, he had noticed the object and that it was certainly not moving, nor was it a contrail. He described it as Rectangle shape, like a flat non-reflective white 2-by-4, that seemed suspended in air - - no movement. Thanks to Peter Davenport NUFORC

OHIO - UFO CAUSES POWER OUTAGE AND RODS VIDEOTAPED

WEST CHESTER -- Mort Twain writes, "This afternoon I talked with researcher Donnie Blessing by telephone concerning her investigation of a UFO sighting on June 2, 2003, that dealt with a reported power outage while the UFO was in relatively close proximity to the witness. Donnie has spoken with the witness and is preparing a report and drawing to send to NUFORC. As we discussed plans on the case and preparations to go about contacting CINERGY to confirm power service disruptions on June 2 around the 2:30 a.m. time frame, it was a big surprise to learn of the major blackout. The data looks very good so far.

FOSTORIA -- George Ritter, who fought in Vietnam with the 5th Special Forces, videotaped UFOs on August 15, 2003, the second day of the Blackout. He videotaped a series of photos of large lake freighter-size cylinders flying over his home, thirty miles from Lake Eire. The video is shot on VHS tape at between 10,000 to 15,000 frames per minute. This speed is fast enough to stop any insect or bird. These craft are moving at thousands of miles per hour. Photos can be seen at http://www.georgefiler.com/.Filer's Files #34 Views

NORTH DAKOTA - FIVE SEE DISK THAT MOVES FASTER THAN AN AIRPLANE

TIOGA -- Saturday night on August 2, 2003, at 10:52 PM, a group of us (three who had seen this object, and two who had not) crawled up on a roof of a picnic area at our park. My friend and I had seen the light in the sky twice and my sister had seen it once, therefore, we thought we would see if it would come again. We wanted to look at it closer with binoculars. At around 10:50-10:58 CST it came, for about 2-3 minutes or less, it looked like a star not blinking, it moved quickly and then it just vanished after a bit of flying. My friend looked in the binoculars and said it was spinning and looked like a disk. Thanks to Peter Davenport NUFORC

MONTANA - FIVE LIGHTS LIKE A CROSS

KALISPELL -- I noticed a yellowish bright light in the sky on August 1, 2003, out my bedroom window, at ten minutes to midnight. Then, I noticed it wasn't moving like a plane would, so I watched it and it would move only slightly, then be still again. This caught my attention, so I awakened my husband and we got out our binoculars and when you looked through them you could see a row of five lights, then almost two sets of two from the center of the object almost like a cross. I watched it move very slowly over a period of hours from 11:20 PM to 3:30 AM until it was out of sight. That's what we saw. Thanks to Peter Davenport NUFORC

CANADA - UFO FLAP SWEEPS ONTARIO

STRATFORD, ONTARIO -- UFOs have been particularly active in Canada's eastern province of Ontario during the past week. The witness reported, "On the evening of August 4, 2003, my friend and I were sitting in the hot tub at 10 PM, in my backyard 67 miles west of Toronto and saw a single, slow-moving light headed east." Then I noticed an airplane coming in fast, approaching the light. It was as if he was giving chase, as he had to make a big curve in his flight path to catch up and come up beside the light. It looked as though he had passed to the left of the light, slowing down just before passing. Then the two dropped out of sight due to our house."

NORTH BAY, ONTARIO -- Just 24 hours later, on Wednesday, August 6, 2003, at 12:32 AM, Canadian ufologist Brian Vike reported, the eyewitness and a couple of close friends came to a full stop near Lake Nipissing, located about 250 miles north of Toronto. The witness saw a really strange object and pointed it out to his friends. Due to the object being so low, they wondered if it was attached by a cable, wire, etc. because it sat stationary in one position. At that point, they grabbed the camera, got out of the vehicle and took three snapshots of it. The UFO was cigar-shaped, solid gray in color and sitting at 250 feet altitude. The witness said, "While they stood watching the object, it started to pulsate, then disappeared or blinked out." It was also very close and they watched for about four minutes.

SALMO RIVER - On August 14, 2003, at 11:20 PM, A husband and wife were traveling to Nelson, BC on Highway #6,along side the Salmo River when to their right flying at the top of the mountain was a round red ball of brilliant light. The witnesses said it moved very quickly, too fast to be an airplane and hugged the contour of the mountain. No sound was heard. Thanks to Brian Vike

ARGENTINA - ENORMOUS ROUND OBJECT

CARACAS -- Mrs. Enza Colucci, who was returning from the Los Samanes urbanization to her home in Santa Monica, was followed by an enormous round object, surrounded by blinking blue lights on August 19, 2003 between 8:35 and 8:50 PM. Mrs. Coluchi was very excited and her driver, Mr. Alberto Amorín, phoned CEINPLA immediately to file a report and make their experience known. They regret not having had a photo camera on them. Thanks to: lornis1@earthlink.net

UK/ENGLAND - GLIDER PILOT SEE DAYLIGHT RECTANGLE UFO

BANBURY, Oxfordshire -- I am a glider pilot in the UK, and the following, which may be of interest to you, is a slightly amended and expanded form of a posting I made on a glider pilots' online discussion group yesterday: On Sunday 3rd August at about 2:30 PM, 1430, I was standing at the launch point at Shenington Airfield when I noticed a small object passing overhead, downwind, directly above and in line with our E-W runway. At first I thought it was a tiny feather drifting with the wind a few feet above my head, but on looking again, I realized it was much higher, moving in a straight line and at a steady speed. I would hazard a guess at 3000 to 4000 feet altitude. The object was white, but with a slightly wispy, almost translucent appearance which gave it a somewhat indistinct outline, hence my initial reaction that it was a feather. I could however just make out a definite structure, that was basically rectangular in overall plan form, and consisted of what might have been a lattice of booms, which gave it an appearance rather reminiscent of an old-fashioned TV aerial. Seen from a long distance this would explain why it looked rather vague and wispy. It was moving asymmetrically, that is, set at a slight angle in relation to its direction of travel, which was from west to east. It had a steady and purposeful forward motion, and remained observable as a white speck receding into the distance for a short time after it had passed overhead. Another glider pilot, who that afternoon had landed in a field some 30 miles to the east of my position, reported that he and his retrieve crew had also seen the same object. They, too, were unable to identify it.

STEVENAGE -- About 12.30 PM, on Saturday August 2, 2003, I was observing aircraft flying about six miles from final touchdown into Luton Airport. I was suddenly aware of a bright object in the sky at about 60 degrees from vertical. The sky was clear and sunny with only the jet streams of high civil aircraft breaking an otherwise cloudless sky. Later, I was able to find it, unmoved from the first location. A balloon would have drifted out of sight by now. A second light drifted slowly across from the direction of the Knebworth festival. This second light passed close to the first light before suddenly accelerating northeast in excess of 2000 mph. It was closely followed by what appeared to be a haze, or very small cloud traveling at the same speed, followed by the first at high speed. There was no noise. Two airliners were on final approach to Luton Airport, and one appeared to be heading straight for the light before banking left to take up final approach. The flight crew must have seen the light. I have to draw the conclusion that the mass gathering of 125,000 people at Knebworth for the Robbie Williams concert had something to do with the appearance of these objects. They most certainly were not balloons, not high-level airliners, not helicopters and not flares. Thanks to Peter Davenport NUFORC

NETHERLANDS - GREEN, YELLOW, RED, ORANGE LIGHTS ON DISC

APELDOORN -- On August 4, 2003, at 11:30 PM, the witness reports seeing green, yellow, red, and orange lights moving around the outside perimeter of a saucer shaped craft at 5:30 AM. The craft was a gray saucer. It was moving fast, bouncing up and down, left and right in the morning, in a cloudy sky. It was half daylight and the duration of the sighting was for one minute. Thanks to Peter Davenport NUFORC

TURKEY - UFOs RUNNING WILD

REFAHIYE -- UFOs were first seen by the workers at the Refahiye Baku-Tiflis-Ceyhan Pipeline work site. The illuminated lights thought to be UFOs caused great anxiety among the public. Officials said, "It could be a UFO, since illuminated lights, said to be UFOs, have been seen over the skies of Erzincan for a few days. Mr. Halil Canavar, the district official stated that he had a 15 minute recording of the illuminated object's on video-tape, which he was keeping for further study. The object that hovered for two hours, shifted south and disappeared.

Mr. Erkan Karaman, the Mayor of Erzincan observed the object together with the public and stated " It did not look like a star. The inside was red, the top and bottom parts were green. Some parts were a metallic color. We think it is a UFO. The experts should definitely analyze it." The Sirius UFO Research Center in Istanbul has started an investigation on recent sightings in the region. Thanks to Recep Demirci, YARIN National News, 8/13/03.

EDIRNE -- Four UFOs were spotted between August 2nd and 6th. Commerical planes and F-16 s fighters were seen while the sighting occurred. The UFOs were distinctly different. Their maneuver abilities were much greater than those made by manned aircraft. Thanks to The Sirius UFO Center Turkey The UFO Sightings and Updates on this page come from a wide variety of sources. Among them are:

NUFORC, MUFON database, Filer's Files, UFO Round-up, UFO Wisconsin, and the UFO Casebook.