Something in the Sky
One Spring evening in the mid 80’s, Pete Bertine is attending an all-boys boarding school in Katonah, NY. Just as he sits down to eat his dinner, one of his classmates rushes into the dining room and announces, “It’s back!” Immediately the students rush outside, into the twilight. Pete follows, though not exactly sure what “it” is. Once outside, Bertine witnesses a sight, something in the sky, that he is still trying to understand nearly 40 years later: a massive, silent “structure,” hovering above his school, as wide as several football fields.
Bertine’s story falls within a well-documented rash of UFO sightings throughout the 80’s that experts have dubbed, “The Hudson Valley Wave.” During this time, strange, silent, inexplicable structures, some very much like what Pete saw, were seen in the night sky by hundreds of people, from mechanics to CHP officers. Linda Zimmerman, an expert on this UFO phenomena and other waves of sightings, places Pete’s account into the context of the Hudson Valley Wave and shares the many ways these mysterious events have changed the lives of those who witnessed them—sometimes for generations.
If you have witnessed the Katonah UFO, or have seen other strange objects in the sky, please share your experience at unsolved.com.
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Pete Bertine
Moderator, please delete this comment
Pete Bertine
I do not believe that what I saw was an alien space craft. I do not believe that there is any credible evidence that the earth is being visited by extraterrestrial life. All I can say is that I can’t explain what I saw that night in the sky over my school
Jeremy Osinski
The 3/8/1994 radar returns that Jack Bushong tracks on the Weather Service radar system are most likely from the Apache Longbow. Jack Bushong tracks the mysterious objects on the National Weather Service radar system, and does not have experience with military radar. There is a stealth version of the Apache Longbow which makes them whisper quiet. The emitting element performs a complete revolution in a mechanical sweep a few times every second and is curve shaped to follow the doughnut shaped cover for the radar which is mounted above the helicopter blades. This is why Jack Bushong observed a similar doughnut or mushroom shape radar returns over Lake Michigan. They were most likely turning on and off the Longbow radar which make it look like they are hopping from one place to another. Initial observations from homes were reported of 4 very bright lights, which could be (4) 3′ diameter searchlights, which are bright enough to conceal the Apache Longbow in the glare. Most people never have opportunity to see those searchlights in person, so they would look strange to the average person. The one object separating into 5 objects was probably the Apache Longbow helicopters turning on 4 additional searchlights simultaneously during the blink of an eye as observed by the witness from the ground. The police description of the colored objects separating or combining into a single glowing object was probably caused by inaccurate recollection by the officers caused by extensive talking to dispatch and Jack Bushong for a long time while driving and chasing the objects and being informed by the two about how the objects seem to be separating or combining on NWS radar while driving. The chrome shaped cylinder with a long series of lights observed from the ground was most likely after-the-fact hoaxing, which often happens after the original witnesses report anomalous objects.
The advanced AH-64D Apache Longbow was delivered to the Army in March 1997.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_AH-64_Apache#AH-64D
Pete Bertine
You are describing a different event from a different time. What was discussed in this episode occurred in 1984 and earlier. The helicopter you’re referencing did not become operational until the late 1990’s
Melinda
I’m 1983 none of us who saw it had cameras handy!
John Burton
To bad no one ever thinks to grab a camera and take a picture of one of these objects.
Pete Bertine
Had you been there in 1984, awestruck by what you were witnessing, the last thing you would do is take your eyes off of it and go searching for a camera
Ursula M-V
Hello all! My name is Ursula and I work for reputable documentary film production company. We’r developing a docu-series about the history of UFOs in the US and we believe the Hudson Valley Wave to be a critical part of the story. If you were in the area at the time (80s) and want to speak up about what you saw, please email me at umvitkus@gmail.com. Hope to hear from you!
Angel Perez
This was an amazing podcast! I also experienced something I cannot explain and to this day I still wonder if anyone else saw what my family and I witnessed that night. I grew up in a farm town called Dos Palos in California. We lived basically in the middle of fields with the closest neighbors being maybe 2-3 miles away so the nights were always very dark since the only light source was our porch light and of course the moon. One very late night or early morning-my memory of the time is fuzzy because I lost the concept of time during this event- we were prepping for a trip to Bakersfield and one of my brothers who was packing the vehicle, came in excited and confused saying “there’s something in the sky!”. I remember running out with my mother and seeing my other 3 other brothers just standing there looking up at something. As I started walking down the porch steps and cleared the huge eucalyptus tree we had in the front yard, I saw what looked like a huge sphere with big amber lights all around. I remember this sphere was just there, in the sky not moving, no noise.. it was just there. At some point I remember it looked like it started to spin in circles in place. I remember we all stood there in silence for what it seemed hours. I don’t remember what happened after that. I don’t even remember seeing it leave… my next memory is just of my father coming out of the house and loading us all up in the vehicle. I am curious to see if anyone else in the area saw what 6 of us saw in or near Dos Palos or even the Central Valley around 1993.
Pete Bertine
Wow Mary Ann! So wonderful to read about your experience. Your description of the grid pattern of the lights is exactly right and I had forgotten that detail. Thank you!
Pete
Mary Ann Edwards
I listened to this podcast today and I know exactly what Pete experienced. I’ve told several people my experience and I’m sure they think I’m nuts. It would have been in the 1980’s as well when I noticed a strange large slow moving object with many lights in the sky travelling from the west to east over Woodstock, Ontario Canada. I remember going outside to observe it as it slowly passed over my home very low. I remember how silent this craft was and being so confused as to what it was. It was so large like a football field with a flat bottom with many lights in a grid pattern much like the inside of a computer. I had nothing to compare it to at the time as I had never seen anything like before or since. I know people said it must have been a weather blimp but I know it wasn’t. I feel vindicated that what ever that craft was it was real and I’m not nuts.