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Witness recalls 1967 UFO encounter and missing time

A New York witness at Howe Caverns recalls an encounter with a UFO from 1967 when an unknown object hovered over his vehicle creating a period of missing time, according to testimony in Case 57320 from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

The reporting witness and his best friend were returning to Long Island, NY, from Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada when the incident occurred on September 2, 1967.

“It was late and we knew we would never make it so we decided to stop along the way,” the witness stated. “We saw a billboard advertising Howe Caverns and we decided to go there for the night and then visit the caves in the morning.”

It was Saturday night of Labor Day weekend. The two followed signs to the cavern’s parking lot and arrived about 11 to 11:15 p.m.

Outside view of Howe Caverns. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Outside view of Howe Caverns. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“We were young foolish kids and didn’t have much money so we decided to sleep in the car. It was a white 1961 Chevy Impala. We were the only car in the lot and I remember saying, ‘Let’s park in a corner so if we oversleep I don’t want people looking in the windows.’ I parked the car in such a way that I backed against a hill declining away from the car. The trunk overhung the start of the decline. You basically couldn’t stand behind the car. I parked with the passenger doors also at the edge of the lot.”

They were attempting to block people noticing them sleeping in the car.

“I remember saying, ‘At least the car is protected from passerby’s on two sides – the rear and passenger side. I was in the front seat and my friend Bill was in the rear seat, ready to go to sleep. We locked the doors. I laid down with my head where the passenger would sit and Bill was the same way in the rear.”

But shortly the two would not be able to sleep.

“Since it was pitch black, I had my eyes closed. Bill then calmly said, ‘Look at the lights in the trees.’ I said, ‘It’s probably the sheriff. He saw our car lights come up here and we are going to be caught.’ That was the last rational comment made for several hours.”

The witness explains the dynamics between him and his friend Bill.

“Best friends from seventh grade, we were now juniors in college. He went to NY Maritime College, and I went to Hofstra University. He was always better than me in every sport we tried, from skiing to tennis. He could run faster, swim better and do more pushups than me. I always felt ‘safe’ around him. I knew I could count on a stronger, more rational guy to protect me.”

But his friend’s strengths seemed to be overpowered in this situation.

“Well, he suddenly started screaming, almost berserk like, at me to ‘get away, drive away.’ He kept shouting, ‘They’re behind us. They’re over the car.’ I didn’t respond in a scared manner. I remember thinking that it’s just the cops.”

Then the witness noticed the lights.

Howe Caverns. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Howe Caverns. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

“In seconds I slowly started to react. An intense light was shining in my eyes. Even though they were still closed, I could see the reds and harsh whites of light, and at the same time, Bill was sitting up and pounding on the seat and me to get up and go. I never saw him like this, and I was now reacting to his fear.”

The witness then reacted to the situation.

“I opened my eyes and he was climbing into the front seat. I told him to calm down – I’ll drive away. The car’s interior was lit up like day, yet it was pitch black outside. I realized the light was coming in from the rearview window. I thought that strange, since nothing could be behind us.”

The witness decided to simply drive away.

“I saw the keys on the dashboard. I put them in the ignition. He was next to me and I calmly drove away. When we reached the main road there were no signs of any cops. I stopped, and remember saying, ‘Let’s get a motel.’ I turned left and drove not more than a mile and we came across an old motel. I pulled into the lot and saw that it was almost 3:30 and said, ‘It’s crazy to pay for a room for a few hours. Let’s sleep in the car. Bill calmly said, ‘OK,’ and I remember saying, ‘Let’s put up something to block the windows so the lights don’t get us.’”

The two calmly went to sleep and did not discuss what had just happened. They also did not realize that three hours had elapsed.

“We awoke around 8, and took the maps out of the windows that we used to block the ‘lights’ and went up to the caverns. I went back to that parking spot and we looked around and couldn’t understand anything that happened. We shrugged it off, toured the caverns, and around noon headed to Long Island.”

The two never discussed the events of that evening.

“It was like we couldn’t rationalize it. It was a blur.”

The witness offered some of his own background.

“I am the hysterical one. I react to things. I can get out of control in a flash – and yet that night I was the calm one and Bill was the screamer. Anyway, I dropped him home and then went to my house. We both still lived with our parents. When I walked in the house, my father was watching TV and on the coffee table was Newsday, Long Island’s newspaper. The headlines screamed at me – ‘U F Os sighted over upstate New York.’ I rushed to the phone to call Bill. He answered, and I said, ‘Did you see the paper?’ He was shaken and said ,’Yes.” I said, ‘What happened, what did we see?’ He refused to talk about it. He wouldn’t answer me.”

The two lost contact for 35 years.

“When we finally did reconnect, he was married and living in Oceanside, California. I was living in the Hudson Valley. I asked him about that night in 1967, and his voiced changed and wouldn’t even acknowledge what I was asking. He died in 2005.”

The witness is left with many unanswered questions.

“Now for the real ‘crazy’ stuff. I am almost afraid to write this because it is so bizarre. I had incidents like this in 1977, 1987, 1997 and 2007. I often thought, what happened in 1957 when I was 9 years old? Well, I remember waking up one morning. We lived in Flushing, NY, and I had an object imbedded under my skin on my right thigh. I showed my mother. It was clearly under the skin, yet there was no mark, cut or pain. She looked at it and said, ‘You must have stuck a pencil point into your leg. Don’t worry. It will go away.’ I remember thinking I didn’t do that, besides that would hurt. It took about 6-8 months to ‘disappear’ into my thigh. If I coughed, my mother had the doctor there, yet she was absolutely unconcerned about this object in my leg. It resembled a lead pencil point, with a dull tip.”

The witness reviews previous encounters.

“In 1977 in California, in 1987 in the Hudson Valley, in 1997 in NYC and in 2007 in the Hudson Valley, other ‘incidents’ occurred. I am now 66. I have seen all the shows about abductions, missing time implants, etc. and would like an answer. I am not seeking publicity and am quite embarrassed about all this. People laugh when I tell them. They ridicule and tease. Let me tell you, the fear is overwhelming, like I have never felt. Thank you for reading this. And yes, I saw the ‘grays.” How sick does that sound?”

Howe Caverns is about 33 miles southwest of Schenectady, NY. (Credit: Google Maps)

Howe Caverns is about 33 miles southwest of Schenectady, NY. (Credit: Google Maps)

New York State Director James Bouck, now retired, investigated this case and closed it as Information Only. Howe Caverns is a cave in Howes Cave, Schoharie County, New York.

Please remember that most UFO sightings can be explained as something natural or man-made. The above quotes were edited for clarity. Please report UFO activity to MUFON.com.

About Roger Marsh

Roger Marsh is a UFO writer and content developer. He is Director of Communications for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) where he manages media contact, rights and permissions, and content development for television, film, documentary, radio, print and stage. Roger is a MUFON case researcher for History channel’s “Hangar 1: The UFO Files.” He is editor of the monthly international MUFON UFO Journal, executive producer of the weekly “MUFON UFO Traffic Report” radio show; serves as the MUFON webmaster; reporter for the daily “UFO Traffic Report” in web and audio formats; and publisher of the “MUFON Books” imprint. He is the author of Sacred Dialogue, editor of Silent Invasion, and co-editor of Ron Paul Speaks. Roger was featured in the 2015 season premiere episode of Destination America's "Monsters & Mysteries in America." Roger and his wife, Joyce, live in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, restoring a 1910 Pennsylvania four-square.

6 comments

  1. Aliens ships are here. The Alien ships could be from another planet…OR our planet…sometime in the future. Maybe mankind has morphed into the greys….thousands of years into the future, and came back through time to this era for reproduction purposes only. From what I see, highly evolved species, like thew greys, are void of emotion, and are more like ANTS! Highly productive, and a way to preserve a species…but far from human. I hope to GOD this is not US in the future. That would be sad!

    There are many ‘time travel’ reports with UFO’s…For example, the Walton Incident, and a Chilean military man who was abducted in 1978 I believe it was, and brought back 15 mins later with 5 days of beard growth. Alien avoidance of humans…tend to indicate that “String Theory” is not valid. That means there may only be one timeline… If there are an infinite number of timelines going forward, the Aliens would not have a problem disrupting this one! It appears that IF they are us, coming back in time, then they really need our DNA in their/our future…hence the taking of eggs and sperm from abductees. They are avoiding humans, except for the abductions cases. That means there is only ONE timeline folks. That also explains why we rarely see ET’s….they can hide on this planet…ANYWHERE in time. They could be anywhere in time…365 days a year x multiple milenia before us and after us. Time travel also explains how they can materialize and de-materialize in front of our eyes! They are slipping through time! The only UFO’s we see are the ones who slipped into the present. If this time travel theory is true, then it begs the next question. As habitable planets are usually 100’s of light years apart, is it MORE likely that intelligent civilizations will develop technologies that can traverse time FIRST, OR develop technologies to travel 100+ light years in a reasonable time to get there FIRST? If it is the later….then they would want to stay here. They are not here in huge numbers on a daily basis….therefore lending credence to the theory that they are time travelers from Earth’s future. We have always said, time travel cannot ever be possible, because there are no time travelers here now. Perhaps they have been under our noses all this time, and we continue to call them “extraterrestrial”….when in reality they are “terrestrial”.

  2. Since 1957 to 2007 he has been visited by aliens every 10 years, according his statement. This is means that, probably will happen again in 2017. It will be a great opportunity to record this future encounter. The guys from Open Minds should consider this.

  3. I want to encourage as many people as I can on something that I truly believe. I believe that the so-called “aliens” are just that– SO CALLED, or SO BELIEVED (as aliens by us)… I believe from all the research that I have done informally over the last 7-8 years that the ‘aliens’ represent the host of angels that were cast down to earth with Satan from heaven by the Archangel Michael. Research I have done told me that the angels when they came to earth, found favor among our women, and had them… That is, made children. These children as far back as this happened were (and maybe still are– I am not the expert) known as the ‘Nephilim”… Basically giants, like that of Goliath. But let’s go back (you can do your homework on all of what I just stated on your own)– The angels taught mankind all kinds of ‘dark’ arts, tatooing, metalurgy and the making of swords, etc, black magic, and a number of other things… My hypothesis is this, ok, these angels are presumably still with us being made from God. IF they are, and I do believe they are, I believe as they were so willing to teach mankind these afforementioned things, that they would be equally willing to ‘become aliens’ in the time that we live in– 1900 till now… Such that they could assist in the deception of mankind, and thus, enable more than less of men and women to lose their place in heaven (for those that believe that Jesus is the Christ, and died for our sins to give us redemption for our sins and eternal forgiveness)– Deception is what all of this stuff going on in our world today is all about. The president of this country, the illuminati, the bilderbergs, and all this business about flying saucers and aliens… Look the aliens more or less (but not really) as late as 1947 (Roswell flying saucer incident/accident) broke on the public scene… I say public, but what I specifically mean is entered some of the publics consciousness. Many still laugh at the thought that anyone would believe in such stuff. I believe that these fallen angels in doing the devi’s bidding are aiding in all of the deception to put mankind and planet earth far away from God, our Father in heaven. Soon after the Roswell incident, our technologies of the world (not just the US– spaceships were witnessed all across the globe for years) started to make leaps, and bounds, and quantum leaps. Think about it for a minute: In 1903 the Wright Brothers flew their little aircraft at Kitty Hawk, NC for a few minutes– But t his was man-made history in the making. In 1927 Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic. Within 20 years we had made the speed of sound (1947)… But after that Quantum leaps were made. The Fallen angels showed us all kinds of stuff. We as a nation (really just our government only– all and most of it was and is, still, kept secret and hush-hush from us) recognized that with the help of the Fallen angels, we could get on top (of the world in dominance)… A treaty (Greada treaty, 1954) was signed in to being by President Eisenhower whereby the aliens could in exchange for sharing information with us, have, at their disposal, human beings for whatever purpose they wanted them.. Hence the “missing persons” over so many years that are never recovered… All kinds of things are done to these people, some just kids… The aliens are conducting tests on these people… All so that all can believe it is life on other planets — Because it is just plain ludicrous for us to beleive that we are the only ones out there. We (not me, and other God fearing Christians) will be led further astray into believing this myth that because we are scared for our lives (once someone makes, that is, declares that Aliens are real) and want someone (our government will be ready and willing to put us away in FEMA camps [they already have the land divided up in sections that not the government we know or the police we know] that will be governed by a different set of rules and rulers [men in black– I am really not kidding] we will then await our ends since we did not trust in Jesus Christ, or maintain our once healthy government in the form of the Republic that it once was… Look up Bill Cooper, Dr Karla Turner, Phil Schneider — now granted many of these people were maybe not Christians knew about all of this… They are all now DEAD. My contention is this, and you will need to know to try it if it ever happens to your, but do this: IF ever you come in to contact yourself with any aliens, try rebuking them in the name of Jesus Chris, and with faith do this. command them to depart… And they will in the name of Jesus. but first you must believe!! Amen.

    Peter Heidgerd

  4. It was November, 1977 and I was with my friend Gary staying at a home in Escondido outside of San Diego. The home we were in was owned by a pair of teachers that Gary had met through his navy days in the late 1960’s. The teachers were married and I remember Jean had taught in Poway . I don’t remember where Hector taught. Also staying in the house were two of Gary’s naval buddies, Lee from Albuquerque and I believe his other fellow was named Harold and he was from Tempe, Az. Jean, the teacher was actually Harold’s teacher and they became close friends. So the four of us were in this sprawling home overlooking a huge canyon in Escondido We were all between 29 and 32 and the four of us partied every night in San Diego..Hector, in his 50’s and Jean, also the same age would often accompany us to the city. They were real cool, their house was our house. It was either Friday or Saturday night and everyone was preparing to get ready for a night out….everyone except me…..I “knew” that I wasn’t going to go out…Something, I don’t know what, did not want me to leave that house. I feigned a flu like illness and after much pleading they finally left me alone and realized I was not going out that night. They left around 11pm, and drove to San Diego. I was now alone in this four bedroom ranch perched on a cliff , overlooking a canyon. Gary and I shared a bedroom at the end of the house. We were in a queen size bed that faced the canyon. There was huge sliding glass doors opposite the bed opening to a huge deck. The views were spectacular. I made a bowl of cereal and then went into bed. No T V or reading, I just turned out the bedroom lights and waited. For what, I didn’t know….I was in bed, on my back, wide awake, when the most brilliant light was flooding the room. I was terrified, a fear that was beyond anything I had ever known. There was no noise…I wouldn’t open my eyes..I felt paralyzed with fear. I wanted to pull the covers over my head but I couldn’t. This “fear” which seemed to last an eternity, suddenly ended…I vaguely remember having a “conversation” with what I don’t know… The next thing I remember was that it was after 4 in the morning and the others had arrived home. They were surprised I was up in the kitchen, as they said, “just standing there, doing nothing, looking dazed” Naturally, they thought I was really sick. I told them I was never sick, I just didn’t want to go…I then asked them if they saw the lights…When I told them about the lights they thought I had been dreaming or hallucinating. I became almost angry that they wouldn’t believe me about the lights. I never told them about my fear. After much kidding, claiming I was drunk or delusional we all went to sleep. The next morning, Hector wakes everyone up and shows us the morning paper, the San Diego Union…”strange lights observed by hundreds over Escondido” said the article…Everyone now believed me, but nothing else was ever discussed…….I will post the other events at a later date…charles

  5. I got done playing basketball with my neighbor I walked home I walked on my porch and my light came on I looked down to the river and I seen another light that was similar to my porch light I was drawn to it for some reason no one lives down there this is extreme northwest Montana on the kootenai river I remember walking toward it then looking back it was blinking at me I don’t know what happened I stayed up the rest of the nite reading psalm 91 over and over

  6. Charles Maggiore

    I had other incidents every 10 years apart. In 2017, I was now retired and living in Florida. All year, I was apprehensive, when would they appear? But, I must report that nothing happened, the entire year was normal. Perhaps I am too old for them now. Anyway, a feeling of relief has finally come over me.

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