Black silhouetted object against glow of distant town. Flashing light on one edge. Hovers then drops down out of sight.
My hobby was Astronomy and I would get up late at night to look out of my window at the stars. It was a summer night I believe in August of 1957. I was looking south toward the massachusetts turnpike and toward the town of Indian Orchard, Mass which cast a glow into the night sky. I was ten years old at the time. My stargazing was interrupted by a rapidly flashing bluish white light. I thought it was some kind of firefly but when I looked directly at it I saw that it was on one edge of a black silhouetted cigar shaped object. It reminded me of a weapon discharge such as a machine gun. It was 'firing' in the same direction of travel as the object and appeared to be slowing the object down as if it were a retrorocket. The object (which I estimated to be large...at least several hundred feet long) slowed to a halt over the hill. The blue-white light ceased to discharge. After a few seconds it slowly descended behind the hill and out of sight (there is a valley there where the Ludlow River (it may be called the Chicopee River actually) flows. I watched for hours but it never came up into view again. I had heard that the Ludlow police had seen it in a different area that night at about 3am but never verified this in newspapers recently.
((NUFORC Note: Date in 1957 is approximate. We have assigned an arbitrary date in August 1957. PD))
My hobby was Astronomy and I would get up late at night to look out of my window at the stars. It was a summer night I believe in August of 1957. I was looking south toward the massachusetts turnpike and toward the town of Indian Orchard, Mass which cast a glow into the night sky. I was ten years old at the time. My stargazing was interrupted by a rapidly flashing bluish white light. I thought it was some kind of firefly but when I looked directly at it I saw that it was on one edge of a black silhouetted cigar shaped object. It reminded me of a weapon discharge such as a machine gun. It was 'firing' in the same direction of travel as the object and appeared to be slowing the object down as if it were a retrorocket. The object (which I estimated to be large...at least several hundred feet long) slowed to a halt over the hill. The blue-white light ceased to discharge. After a few seconds it slowly descended behind the hill and out of sight (there is a valley there where the Ludlow River (it may be called the Chicopee River actually) flows. I watched for hours but it never came up into view again. I had heard that the Ludlow police had seen it in a different area that night at about 3am but never verified this in newspapers recently.
((NUFORC Note: Date in 1957 is approximate. We have assigned an arbitrary date in August 1957. PD))
No
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Off
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Yes
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Ludlow
USA
5 minutes max
5 minutes max
42.17
-72.47
cigar
MA
Occurred : 8/15/1957 01:00 (Entered as : 1957 01:00) Reported: 2/12/1999 17:48 Posted: 4/2/1999 Location: Ludlow, MA Shape: Cigar Duration: 5 minutes max Characteristics: There were lights on the object
Black silhouetted object against glow of distant town. Flashing light on one edge. Hovers then drops down out of sight.