Watkins Glen Saucer Splashdown
Over the course of 17 days in July 1952, a series of UFO sightings over Washington DC made front-page headlines around the US and world. One month later, one of the most-widely reported UFO incidents in the history of the Finger Lakes region occurred over Watkins Glen…and in Seneca Lake.
On August 25, 1952, New York State Troopers in Horseheads, NY investigated a strange report from Watkins Glen.
Around 9:30am, resident Marion Granston watched as two objects, which she described as “big silver balls about 4 feet across,” glided, without making a sound, just over the top of a big elm tree in her yard. Three neighborhood children also witnessed the objects with Mrs. Granston and excitedly went to find their mother, but when they returned, the objects were gone.
Five minutes later, three carpenters were working on the roof of a house on Glen Eldridge Point, about 2 miles north of Watkins Glen on the east shore of Seneca Lake. The three men witnessed a bright metallic ball, which they described as 4 feet across and shining like a “big sheet of silver,” float through the air before suddenly diving about 150 feet into the lake, leaving an 8-10 foot splash.
Meanwhile, about 15 miles northeast of Watkins Glen in the town of Trumansburg, several witnesses reported seeing five jets pursuing a saucer. Hancock Air Force Base in Syracuse confirmed that jets were on maneuvers In the area, but “had no information about the reported chase.”
Shortly after the incident, the New York State Police considered a grappling operation to retrieve the object from the lake, but announced the next day that there would be no retrieval, as the sighting was believed to have been caused by jet planes jettisoning empty fuel tanks.
Samson Air Force Base and Project Blue Book
Over the next years after the UFO splashdown in Seneca Lake, several sightings occurred over Sampson Air Force Base, located along the lake’s northeast shore, that were investigated as part of Project Blue Book.
Project Blue Book was code name for the United States Air Force’s secret, in-depth investigation of thousands of UFO sightings from 1952 until 1969. Although Project Blue Book covered UFO sightings from across the country, sightings that occurred near military facilities would be among the most significant.
On October 9, 1953, around 11:15am, the wife of an air force colonel at Samson AFB was outside hanging clothes when she heard an extremely loud roaring noise. Looking to the northeast, she saw a silvery object traveling west over the base. The witness then realized that the object appeared to be a circular disk on its edge. The witness ran to get a neighbor, who came outside and didn’t see the object but heard the sound. The noise was described as a constant, monotonous, deafening sound that hurt her ears for almost an hour after, and that it did not sound like an airplane or jet.
The witness was a self-described skeptic who stated “In almost ten years working on newspapers, I have never had such a terrifying or awe-inspiring experience: it is absolutely incredible.” The air force investigators concluded that the sighting was an aircraft and the “description was exaggerated.”
Strange Lights Over Seneca
In the fall of 1968, UFO sightings were reported around the Finger Lakes and surrounding counties.
On November 25, a farmer and his three children in Irelandville, about two miles north of Watkins Glen on the western side of Seneca Lake, saw an object hovering over lake around 6:30pm. The object changed colors from green, yellow, red and white. Yates County Deputy Sheriff Alex Cole investigated and also saw the UFO, but said it appeared black and white when he watched it. The object made no sound. The farmer telephoned some relatives about 4 miles north, and they were able to also see the object. The sighting lasted about 30 minutes.
A few nights later, police in Yates County were called to investigate a bright light hovering over Seneca Lake. At the same time, a Schuyler County deputy met up with a Seneca County deputy at the northeast Schuyler County line, on the east side of the lake, approximately 12 miles north of Watkins Glen. The unidentified bright light then moved quickly to the southwest without making a sound.
Over the years, national UFO sighting databases have recorded at least 20 sightings over or near Seneca Lake.