 Updated: 07/19/2010
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Sightings Archive —
1999
The following incidents were among the
sightings of alleged UFOs and the Unusual reported to
researcher Stan Gordon throughout Pennsylvania and
neighboring states (when available). These cases have
come to Stan Gordon’s attention from various
sources. Many sightings that have already been identified
as natural or manmade in origin are not listed. Some of
these reports are still being investigated.
January 7, 1999
Williamsport
Witness reported seeing at 8:25 P.M. five lights
of various colors in the sky that were making various
odd maneuvers. The lights at times pursued one
another, and later another group of lights displayed
one object catching up to one in the front. Then the
two lights suddenly backed apart from each other as
if being repelled.
January 19,1999
Sheakleyville
Around 6:20 A.M., several witnesses in Mercer
County observed a strange early morning glow in the
sky. The people were looking north, and the entire
horizon looked fiery red in color. The red glow at
times seemed to get brighter and dimmer as though a
huge fire was blazing in the distance. The glow was
only apparent on the horizon, as no red color could
be seen in the upper section of the sky. Later in the
day after checking the local newspapers for a story
about a fire in that area, one witness was unable to
find anything that would explain what was observed.
She then contacted the police to see if they knew
what caused the glow. They also had no explanation.
One possibility is that the people were seeing the
northern lights even though I have not heard of any
other sighting reports, and at least one of these
observers has seen the northern lights previously,
and says that this was different in appearance.
February 2, 1999
Morgantown, W.VA.
In recent months there have been numerous reports
of unusual booms occurring in various locations
around the country. I was informed by researcher Jim
Brown, that he is investigating a report of a mystery
boom that shook the Morgantown area during the
afternoon on this date. Jim has provided the
following preliminary report. "A loud boom was
heard in the Morgantown, W.VA.. area about 1:30 P.M.
on 2 Feb. 1999. The emergency center received several
calls about it from Star City and the Mileground
areas. No emergency vehicles were responded however.
Local radio stations also received calls from areas
several miles from the city. A representative from
WAJR got calls from Brookhaven and Star City. I
contacted the station and arranged to do call-backs
on any calls they received. Several calls on the
afternoon talk show were about the boom. One caller
described it as a blast and stated it was heard in
the Core and Westover areas as well. It was also
described as "bad" in the Cassville area.
Another heard it on Point Marion road area and
attributed it to a local stone quarry. In a telephone
interview he commented that he felt the boom before
he heard it. Another witness said it definitely was
not a blast, but a sonic boom. She stated she lived
near an airfield several years ago and was familiar
with them. It should be noted that due to the large
area the boom was heard, it is unlikely a blast was
responsible since one would expect some sort of
damage in the immediate area of the source. MECCA 911
reported no such damage . Weather conditions were
cloudy and 45 degrees.Rain had ended about 4 hours
previous. Winds at 10-15 SW.
February 8, 1999
Turtle Creek
A man working on his computer looked out the
window at 1:54 A.M.and towards the southeast, he saw
the entire skyline lit up like a large fire. The
rosy-orange glow was pulsating brighter and dimmer.
The witness observed this for 2 to 3 minutes, when
suddenly in the center of the red glow, a brilliant
white diamond shaped light appeared for a second
"like a flash bulb going off." Instantly
after this bright flash, the sky went back to normal
darkness, and the fiery glow disappeared. There were
no reports of any fires in that area that night.
February 9, 1999
Finleyville
Observer reported in the late evening looking
towards the south, and observing 3 to 4 shooting
stars that were moving upwards in the sky. These
objects appeared 2 to 3 seconds apart, they just
suddenly appeared, and flashed upwards in the sky and
disappeared.
February 13-1999
Norristown
E-mail report that witness had seen on three
nights in the past week, during early morning hours,
an odd flashbulb type effect in the sky.
February 14, 1999
Parkersburg, W.VA.
(via researcher Jim Brown.) Jim received a second
hand report that a fireball was seen around 2 A.M. in
the Parkersburg area. The object was described as a
bright blue-white object which traveled in a
northeast direction. The observation lasted about 5
seconds, then disappeared near the horizon.
February 14, 1999
Latrobe
Two people looking towards the Latrobe area,
noticed above the Chestnut Ridge, a very bright white
light moving in a circular manner. This light was
extremely bright and was observed for about a minute.
The witnesses are quite familiar with aircraft lights
since they are close to an airport.
February 17,1999
State College
Witness was driving in a vehicle around 7 P.M.,
when he saw just above his windshield an object
moving fast. The object was described as a blue-white
light moving in a perfectly straight line from west
to east across the sky. The object had no tail, and
no sound was heard.
February 23, 1999
King of Prussia
A witness reported seeing a bright star-like
object from the far NW section of Philadelphia, which
seemed to be hovering over the King of Prussia area.
The object was white, and had multiple points on it
that made it appear like a Christmas ornament. What
made the light interesting was the appearance of a
white beam emanating from it at a 45 degree angle
towards the ground. Within this beam were several
thinner white thread-like structures. According to
the witness, the beam and the threads appeared to
come to a slight focus about 1/3 of the distance
between the bright object and the ground. The size of
the object was estimated at about 20 % of the size of
the full moon. The time of observation was about 30
seconds. The witness is an amateur astronomer.
April 10, 1999
Latrobe
The witness is a law enforcement officer for a
state agency who had taken a walk outside, when at
about 7:40 P.M., he observed a brilliant star-like
object very high in the sky. The observer said that
the object looked similar to the planet Venus, which
he is familiar seeing in the western sky. The sun had
just set, and he thought it a little early for stars
to be visible. He lined up the bright object with the
corner of a building, and was able to see that the
device was moving very slowly. Curious about the
shiny object, he ran inside and got his 10x50
binoculars. The object was moving very slowly, and
steadily from northwest to southeast. Through the
binoculars, the actual shape of the object
couldn’t be determined since the sun was
reflecting off the body, and it was extremely bright.
What was most interesting about the sighting, was
that hanging from the bottom of the brilliant object,
was a long appendage that "looked like a very
long pole." The witness felt that due to the
very high altitude of the object, this part would
have to have been very large for him to have seen it
so clearly. This straight device gave the man the
impression of a pendulum, since it was rotating under
the object counter-clockwise, but at times would
remain straight down and stop. This mechanism which
appeared solid, and always remained straight (tight)
was silver in color. There may have been some bumps
or irregularities along the appendage. This
observation lasted about 20 minutes. The witness was
distracted from the object for a short time, and when
he tried to locate the device again he was unable to
find it. This witness has seen NWS weather balloon
packages, and is sure that this wasn’t what he
observed. The winds were checked for speed and
direction at an altitude between 20,000-30,000 feet
for that general area. The 7 P.M. observations were
between 290 at 71 knots and 285 at 65 knots. So the
winds would have been from the WNW at the time.
Investigation continues.
April 21, 1999
West Mifflin/Pittsburgh
The observers live near the flight path of an
airport and are familiar with seeing various types of
aircraft at night. At about 9:15 P.M., The occupants
of a car say they saw an object that was described as
looking like an 1/8 slice of pizza, flying with the
crust end forward. This front section was reportedly
covered with numerous white non-blinking lights. The
witnesses could see no other detail except the
silhouette of the object against the sky. The nearly
triangular shaped object was reportedly seen in the
sky at the same time that an aircraft, believed to
have been a commercial airliner was moving towards
Pittsburgh. According to one of the viewers, the
object was above the airplane, and it stopped as the
aircraft continued on it’s course. Then suddenly
the object began to pace the aircraft, and quickly
caught up to it. During an interview, I was told that
the object was then in a diagonal position with the
plane. A bright beam of light was then emitted from
the side of the object, and was directed on the
aircraft. This beam of white light which at first was
narrow, began to expand, and it reportedly completely
illuminated the aircraft. Seconds later, the beam of
light vanished. The witnesses at that point pulled
into a driveway, and lost sight of the event, while
asking another person to come outside. When the other
person came out, all that could be was a bright light
moving in the distance. I have sent written inquiries
in an attempt to determine if any pilot reports are
on record concerning this incident.
April 25, 1999
South Park/Pittsburgh
The witness is a professional who works in a
scientific field. He had recently started a
photography course. He was out on a photographic
class project, shooting some landscape scenes, when
at about 7:25 P.M. he observed a V formation of six
or seven lights moving above the moon. The lights
were orangish-pinkish-white in color, very luminous
and non-blinking. The formation was moving slowly,and
the last lights were observed at 7:35 P.M. The
witness did take some photographs of the strange
lights, and is awaiting development of the film.
April 28, 1999
Pittsburgh
Witness observed a brilliant green fireball over
the city at 12:22 A.M., and says that he has never
seen anything like this before in his 25+ years of
stargazing. The object was a brilliant green,
appeared round, and possibly had a short tail. It was
seen for only seconds. The object was moving SSE to
due North.
May 16, 1999
Between Latrobe and Greensburg, PA
Around 12:35 A.M., two people in a car observed a
bright solid round white light over a hillside. As
they watched, the light went down below the trees,
then rose up again, and the object began to dim. They
pulled the car over, and watched as the object
dropped down again below the trees, but didn’t
rise back up.
July through September
During July through September, 1999, there was an
apparent surge of UFO sightings being reported in
Pennsylvania. While some of the cases are listed below,
you might want to check out the National UFO Reporting
Center (NUFORC) web site for additional reports.
July 10, 1999
Indiana County, PA
At 4:05 A.M.-Several people observed a red flash
of light in the west that lit up the sky above the
clouds. Immediately after the flash, two other lights
appeared in the east. These lights were shaped like
an hour glass, and white in color. They appeared to
rise from the ground, and looked as though they
touched the clouds. “On the third and final
light, a huge green spotlight-type thing rose from
the ground within the light and stopped in the middle
and remained visible until the light
disappeared.” The entire observation lasted
about 10 seconds, and no sound was apparent.
July 24,1999
Pittsburgh, PA
A resident was driving her car about 11:15 P.M. in
a suburb of the city, when suddenly a wide beam of
white light appeared from above, and illuminated the
interior of her car. The witness heard no sound, and
looked up but no source for the beam could be
observed. She stopped the car, and immediately got
out, but the beam which lasted about 10 seconds had
disappeared. No helicopters or other aircraft were
heard or observed. The witness who was frightened by
the experience, also mentioned that she was listening
to an FM radio station at the time the beam appeared,
and noticed that the radio signal faded during the
occurrence.
August 12,1999 (via NUFORC)
Herminie, PA
A man and his daughter were observing the Perseid
meteor shower when three lights were observed towards
the north. The lights were in an L formation (one
light at each point) , and were dim. The lights moved
towards the northwest. This observation occurred
about 3:30 A.M.
August 12, 1999
New Stanton, PA
A witness observing the meteor shower just before
5 A.M., observed a brilliant round white light in the
sky. As the observer watched, the light became
brighter, then shortly began to dim, then moved
towards the south and continued on until it was out
of sight. There was no sound from the object.
August 16,1999
Reading, PA
About 5 miles from Reading, a young man watching
some birds about 2:12 P.M., reported that his
attention was drawn to a silver disk shaped object
high in the sky above him. The witness noticed that
at the bottom of the disk, was a figure like a U that
appeared dark green in color. While under
observation, the object suddenly zoomed off at a high
rate of speed towards the south. The witness recalled
a low rumble as the object sped away, and was gone
from sight in seconds.
August 16, 1999
Butler, PA
A husband and wife relaxing in a swimming pool at
about 5:45 P.M., noticed in the eastern sky, a
circular object which appeared to be a dull gray
metallic color. At first the object was quite small
and high in the sky. Soon the object began to move
towards the direction of the observers, but remained
at a high altitude. As the object approached, it
appeared larger, and more details could be observed.
It was apparent that there were actually two round or
circular objects that appeared to be joined together
side by side, yet giving the impression that they
were individual objects. The silent objects were
“like quarters on edge” and they appeared
thin with little depth. The sun didn’t appear to
reflect off of the objects. As the couple watched,
the objects suddenly stopped, then made a sharp 90
degree turn towards the north, and moved behind a
tree which blocked their view. The objects were never
seen again.
August 18, 1999 (via NUFORC)
Nineveh, PA
A man and his wife at about 10:05 P.M., were
driving south on Route 819 when they observed two
very large triangular shaped objects about 100 feet
above the ground, and about 125 feet away. Amazed by
the sight, the car was stopped so that the passengers
could take a better look.
The objects were moving extremely slow, and a
slight humming sound could be heard. The two objects
appeared to be about 100 feet long, and about 20
yards apart. The objects appeared solid, with a
steady light at each corner. There appeared to be
numerous rectangular windows on each object that were
approximately 2x4 feet in dimension. There was light
visible in the windows which gave off illumination
similar to that produced from a 60 watt bulb. The
objects continued to move over the hills in the
distance towards the north.
August 20, 1999 (via researcher Jim Brown)
Morgantown, W.VA.
Around 2:20 A.M., Jim received a report of two
lights in the sky about 4 miles south of this
location. The two white lights were converging on
each other, one from the east, and the other from the
west. Witnesses stated that the lights were visible
for about 20-30 seconds until they met at about 60
degree elevation in the northern sky. When they met,
there was a brief flash of light and both shot off
away from the flash, one went north the other south.
They faded from view in about 2 or 3 seconds and were
not seen again.
August 22, 1999
Irwin, PA
Two men at 5:45 P.M., observed a black spot in the
sky in the northwest. No definite shape could be
discerned, but it was observed for about 7 minutes.
One of men said the object “went like hell”
and moved away towards the south.
August 28, 1999
Pittsburgh, PA suburb
At 11:30 A.M. man heard a propeller noise and
looked up to see a medical helicopter moving through
the sky. At the same time he observed a white sphere
that appeared silent. The object which appeared to be
in the path of the helicopter “made an upside
down V so as to get out of the way of the
helicopter.” The sphere then ascended upwards in
a swirling motion and continued until it was out of
sight. The event was witnessed by two other
individuals. About an hour later, what appeared to be
the same object was seen for over a minute before it
flew into the only cloud in the sky. The object was
never seen again.
September 14, 1999
Washington County, PA
A witness claims to have seen as many as 12
objects that appeared white and gold in color around
9 P.M.. The objects reportedly moved up and down, and
right and left in the sky for nearly 30 minutes.
September 14, 1999
Latrobe, PA
At 9:20 P.M., residents living on the top of the
Chestnut Ridge reported that their dogs were carrying
on unusually, and at the same time a bright white
light with 5 smaller lights that were lined up
vertically below it, were observed over the ridge
towards Donegal. The lights were observed for about
10 minutes.
October 8, 1999
Snyder County, PA
Residents in this rural area reported seeing odd
lights including 4 lights in a triangular
configuration which appeared to be about 40 feet off
the ground. Some of the lights appeared to move
quickly almost like fireflies, and no sound could be
heard. Other people up to 10 miles away also
reportedly saw odd lights in the area that night.
October, 1999
Pleasant Unity, PA
Around 5:30 P.M., a family driving down a rural
two lane road near this community in Westmoreland
County, claimed to have seen a Bigfoot creature. At
the time of the incident it was just getting dark,
yet not dark enough to use the car headlights. The
wife who was in the front passenger seat, was the
first to notice the large figure ahead. At about 40
feet ahead of the vehicle, crossing from the right
side of the road, was a hair covered, manlike
creature with long arms extending below the knees.
The woman stated that she had never seen anything
move this quickly. The creature was stooped over, and
it’s arms were swinging back and forth very
quickly. As it crossed the road in three giant
strides, it entered a wooded area.
The creature never looked towards the approaching
vehicle. It seemed intent on crossing the road, so it
was only observed from the side. No facial features
could be seen. The creature was estimated to be about
6 feet tall when it was in the stooped position, and
would have been much taller if it stood erect. The
hair which appeared smooth, and dark reddish brown in
color, seemed to cover the entire body. There did
appear to be an area of longer bushy hair around the
ankles and down towards the feet. The creature was
very broad across the shoulders which was estimated
at about 3 feet. The head was described as very
large, and seemed to slope back into a cone shape. It
was about 18 inches from the jaw to the peak of the
head. No neck was observed. Neither sound or any odor
was reported during the observation. The husband who
was driving stated “It seemed to be in a hurry.
It looked human but it wasn’t. What struck me
was how very fast it was and how it crossed the road,
and didn’t hesitate to go into the woods on the
other side. A human would probably hesitate and go
looking for footing and watching their step, but this
thing didn’t.”
November 11, 1999
Ligonier, PA
At 6:05 P.M. a witness reported observing a dim
star-like object high in the sky. The object was
moving straight across the sky at a fast pace towards
the west.
November 16,1999
Many sections of Pennsylvania and numerous other states
Just after 7 P.M., there were numerous sightings
of a formation of luminous objects crossing the sky.
There were many sightings from ground observers, as
well as from aircraft flight crews. Sightings were
reported through the PA UFO Hotline, the National UFO
Reporting Center, as well as to other agencies. Two
men from Butler County, PA which is north of
Pittsburgh had a good viewing of the objects. One of
the men who provided a detailed account, thought that
there were 10 to 12 solid objects which passed
overhead in a staggered formation and appeared to be
an equal distance apart. The silent objects which
were mostly white, with some orange, and a hint of
blue color, were round, had the same brightness, and
kept the same speed. The sighting appears to have
been the observation of a processional fireball.
December 8, 1999
Pittsburgh, PA suburb
The witness around 8:20 A.M. observed an elongated
object which was described as long and flat with the
sides rounded. The witness pulled off the road to
observe the device which was estimated to be about
150 feet long and displayed no tail section or wings.
The object itself was silver, not shiny, and the
bottom of the object showed a lot of details
including evenly spaced square windows. The object at
first moved rapidly just slightly above the tree
line. The object then glided gracefully and came to a
complete stop. It suddenly blinked out and
disappeared.
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