by Author, Charles Lear
After Project Blue Book was deactivated in 1969, civilians were left with no official government body prepared to deal with UFO reports. This is still the case (the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office only takes reports from military personnel) and this has left local agencies, such as the police, as the organizations that people often turn to, and each one handles reports in its own way. It recently came as a surprise to Pennsylvania state representatives during a budget meeting when it was mentioned that UFO reports were received by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Records recently acquired from PEMA provide an inside look into how they were handled by organizations in that state.
According to the article by Peter Hall posted May 4, 2024, on the Pennsylvania Capital-Star website headlined “Pennsylvania has investigated more than a dozen UFO incidents in the past decade, records show,” it came out during a budget hearing before the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee that PEMA had received UFO reports. PEMA Director Randy Padfield was responding to a question from State Representative Ben Waxman (D-Philadelphia) regarding possible threats from drones and unmanned aerial vehicles to the state’s nuclear power plants when he said “We have had reports of unidentified flying objects in the past.”
According to Hall, Padfield quickly moved on and began talking about the FAA’s role in drone regulation when House Appropriations Committee Chairperson Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) interrupted him and said, “So, wait. Run that back again. What did you say about UFOs?”
Padfield replied that PEMA sometimes gets reports of lights in the sky from 911 centers and that they are explained as having astronomical or earthly sources. Hall quotes Padfield as saying “Most of them are unfounded, or they’re attributable to some other mechanisms,” and then quotes Harris asking, “So, what about the un-most. You’re talking like ET phone home or something?”
Padfield is said to have explained that some sightings are “undefined” and not easily understood unless the person reporting has taken pictures but, in Hall’s words, “everything is passed along to the appropriate agencies.” Some of those agencies, it turns out, are civilian UFO research and reporting organizations.
According to Hall, the Capital-Star, not “satisfied” by Padfield’s answer, filed a right-to-know request seeking records from PEMA relating to UFOs and “encounters with unknown beings including those of suspected extra-terrestrial or cryptozoological nature.” PEMA is said to have responded “perhaps appropriately, on April 1,” and turned over 40 pages of records of UFO reports that were passed on to the Commonwealth Watch and Warning Center, which gets reports from county emergency dispatch centers that then get distributed to “appropriate state and federal agencies.”
The documents are included in a scrollable window linked to scribd.com and we’ll focus on two cases where it can be seen how one was able to be explained and one was passed on to a private UFO investigator.
The following is a record of three calls that were received on March 1, 2023:
3/1/23 Three reports have been received by the Lebanon County 911 Center all reporting suspicious lights in the sky. Information was provided as follows: First caller at S 5th St, City of Lebanon, call received at 1843. Stated it was located in a northern direction from her home. Reported seeing an oval shape that went from gray or black to a transparent type color. The object then remained stationary but caller was able to still see just the lights of the object. Saw about 5 minutes prior to the call. Second caller at Tunnel Hill Rd, Cleona Boro [sic], call received at 1850. Caller reported that there were lights in the sky that were following her. Stated it followed her to her house and continued following her going to her husbands [sic] job. She could only see 2 white lights that were hovering lower than an airplane, no shape of object. Third caller at Pine St, North Lebanon Twp, call received at 1908. Caller also reported an object hovering in the same place for about 20-25 minutes. Stated that it did not make any noise.
The records show that local media picked up the story and specifically mentioned is ABC27 that has the brief article by Madison Montag headlined “What are the two bright lights over Pennsylvania?” posted on March 1, 2023. The subhead has the answer: “Lots of people have seen two bright lights in the night sky above Pennsylvania, so what are they? The answer: Venus and Jupiter!”
This is the conclusion of the case:
CWWC Contacted B. Meinert and briefed him on the Unidentified Flying Object Incident that carried over from Dayshift. He was briefed that media was reporting it [sic] the lights in the sky as the forecasted astronomical event of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. Was instructed to send out the incident and it was not necessary to send staff. More information was found on the event from Astronomy Magazine which said that this will be going on from the 2/24/23 to 3/3/23.
The records show that the incident was “closed” on March 2, 2023.
An earlier case was not so easily resolved. This is the report that seems to have been repeated in a series of four calls received on December 19 and 20, 2021, from 1:32 p.m. on the 19th to 5:05 a.m. on the 20th:
Caller reporting a flying saucer over his development states it had 7-8 lights on the bottom and was round in shape.
The records indicate that the first step taken by police was to notify Pennsylvania based UFO (and Bigfoot) investigator, Stan Gordon. Then, someone from the National UFO Reporting Center asked if the “reporting party can submit a report to them or call them.” Finally, there is this:
INFORMATION FOR STAN GORDON WAS GIVEN TO THE REPORTING PARTY POLICE HAVE CLEARED AT THIS TIME NO FURTHER INFORMATION GIVEN (Sent from: SE) (Sent from: PEMA)
The records show that the incident was closed after this.
Although, his involvement in this case is not mentioned in the Capital-Star article, Gordon is profiled and described as operating a “24-hour UFO, Bigfoot and cryptid reporting hotline.” According to him, the phone “never stopped ringing” after he set up the hotline in 1969. He is quoted as saying, “There are a lot of cases that are very, very detailed that are not easy to explain away.”
12/19/21
0: Caller reporting a flying saucer over his development states it had 7-8 lights on the bottom and was round in shape.
2: UFO Reporting Center asked if they reporting party can submit a report to them or call them.
3: information for stan gordon was given to the reporting party police have cleared at this time no further information given (Sent from: SE) (Sent from:PEMA
1: Ntfd Stan Gordon’s UFO reporting
3/1/23 possible UFO 2032 – CWWC Contacted B. Meinert and briefed him on theUnidentified Flying Object Incident that carried over fromDayshift. He was briefed that media was reporting it the lights in the sky as the forecasted astronomical event of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.Was instructed to send out the incident and it was not necessary to send staffMore information was found on the event from AstronomyMagazine which said the this will be going on from the2/24/23 to 3/3/23
PER ABC 27https://www.abc27.com/local-news/what-are-the-two-bright-lights-over-pennsylvania/What are the two bright lights over Pennsylvania?by: Madison Montag Posted: Mar 1, 2023 / 08:21 PM ESTUpdated: Mar 1, 2023 / 08:21 PM EST SHARE PENNSYLVANIA (WHTM) — Lots of people have seen two bright lights in the night sky above Pennsylvania, so what are they?The answer: Venus and Jupiter! Although the planets are around 400 million miles apart, what’s called a Venus-Jupiter conjunction is happening as the two planets’ paths cross while they orbit the sun.Venus is the brighter of the two planets and can be seen on the right-hand side of Jupiter.
Notification SentFINAL – 56407 – UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT – LebanonCounty, Lebonan CIty Category: OtherEvent Type: OtherCounty: Lebanon CountyJurisdiction: LebanonIncident Summary:1902 – Multiple reports of suspicious lights and a hovering object making no sound were received by Lebanon County911 in Lebanon City, Cleona Borough, and North LebanonTownship areas of Lebanon County. Media is reporting people are seeing two bright lights in the sky overPennsylvania which is the astronomical event of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter happening. This occurs when the two planets’ paths cross while they orbit the sun sharing the same right ascension. This circumstance was a forecasted astronomical event which started 2/24/23 and will last until 3/3/23. Venus will officially pass Jupiter in the morning of 3/2/23 when both will no longer be above the horizon. “INCIDENT CLOSED” 3/2/23.
Category: Other Event Type: Other County: Perry County Jurisdiction: Buffalo Township Incident Summary:
9/21/23 Incident Summary:2135 – A 911 caller reported a UFO above the roadway(approximately 150′ – 200′) in the area of 5300 Spring Road in Buffalo Township, Perry County. There were eight lights, oriented vertically. The lights were white, yellow, and a hint of green. The caller was driving and pulled off the roadway to record them, and he stated he could not hear any sound associated with them. When he tried reviewing his recording, he realized it did not save. The lights then disappeared. This incident is closed
Stan Gordon, called and asked if he could be put in contact with the reporting party. I took his contact information and told him I would pass it along to the individual, but I could not give out that persons information Gordon said it was alright to pass along his information to the reporting party. I called the reporting party and gave him Mr. Gordon’s information. CWWC Daily Operations Closed Log Entry689903ManualOPS: Operations0628669/21/2023Event Log: 62866 acknowledged at 09/21/2023 22:22:03 by Deland is McCoy
3/1/23 Three reports have been received by the Lebanon County911 Center all reporting suspicious lights in the sky. Information was provided as follows: First caller at S 5th St, City of Lebanon, call received at1843. Stated it was located in a northern direction from her home. Reported seeing an oval shape that went from gray or black to a transparent type color. The object then remained stationary but caller was able to still see just the lights of the object. Saw about 5 minutes prior to the call. Second caller at Tunnel Hill Rd, Cleona Boro, call received at 1850. Caller reported that there were lights in the sky that were following her. Stated it followed her to her house and continued following her going to her husbands job. She could only see 2 white lights that were hovering lower than an airplane, no shape of object. Third caller at Pine St, North Lebanon Twp, call received at 1908. Caller also reported an object hovering in the same place for about 20-25 minutes. Stated that it did not make any noise.
1st 1843
2nd 1850
3rd 1908
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