Flying saucers and aliens are the stuff of science fiction, right? That may be true everywhere but Massachusetts. This state is actually home to the only “historically true” U.F.O sighting in America. And you can actually visit the site where it happened.
The story goes that on Sept. 1, 1969, Thom Reed and his family were out for an evening drive in Sheffield. They were in the process of crossing a small covered bridge when Reed and his entire family – including his mother, grandmother, and brother – saw a blinding light rise up out of the Housatonic River.
Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan Reed went on to allege that he and his family were somehow pulled from their car and taken to what looked to him to be an airplane hangar. Incredibly, Reed described the hangar as being filled with creatures that resembled large insects. Reed’s mother and grandmother were separated from him and taken to a different room, though Reed said he could still hear their voices yelling for him.
And with that, Reed said they were all mysteriously and instantly transported back to the family station wagon.
Google/Jose Vargas One family’s crazy story might be easy to laugh off, but four different people in Sheffield called in to a Sheffield radio station that night to report strange lights in the sky. Reed also took a lie-detector test that claimed he was being 99.1 percent honest in his account.
It was because of this that the Great Barrington Historical Society eventually voted to recognize the incident as “historically significant and true.” Other state officials and even the Massachusetts governor also officially recognized the abduction as historical.
Google/Mimi Hassett
Today, you can head to the Upper Sheffield Covered Bridge to see a 5,000-pound granite monument to the event. The monument bears a plaque that commemorates “”our nation’s first off-world/UFO incident.” The area also features a grassy space with benches and lamps where believers and skeptics can relax and watch the skies.
Wikimedia Commons/John Phelan
Reed went on to allege that he and his family were somehow pulled from their car and taken to what looked to him to be an airplane hangar. Incredibly, Reed described the hangar as being filled with creatures that resembled large insects. Reed’s mother and grandmother were separated from him and taken to a different room, though Reed said he could still hear their voices yelling for him.
And with that, Reed said they were all mysteriously and instantly transported back to the family station wagon.
Google/Jose Vargas
One family’s crazy story might be easy to laugh off, but four different people in Sheffield called in to a Sheffield radio station that night to report strange lights in the sky. Reed also took a lie-detector test that claimed he was being 99.1 percent honest in his account.
It was because of this that the Great Barrington Historical Society eventually voted to recognize the incident as “historically significant and true.” Other state officials and even the Massachusetts governor also officially recognized the abduction as historical.
Google/Mimi Hassett
You can find this unique park at Covered Bridge Ln., Sheffield, Mass. If that’s not weird enough for you, check out this giant floating rock in Massachusetts.
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