2019 An Epic Year for UFO and Cryptid Encounters in Pennsylvania
From Researcher: Stan Gordon
The year 2019 was very active with reports of UFO sightings, Bigfoot and cryptid encounters as well as other phenomena across Pennsylvania.What was interesting was that many of these reports concerned detailed observations with some at close range and others taking place in daylight.
The 2019 year also marked 60 years of my research into the UFO phenomena and cryptozoology. Many readers will find it of interest that I have never personally seen a UFO or Bigfoot, however, I have interviewed thousands of witnesses over the years and I have seen some interesting physical evidence while out in the field investigating such incidents.
Stan in his weather and radio communications monitoring room.
My research into the UFO and Bigfoot phenomena began in 1959 when I was 10 years old. I began field investigations of these anomalies after the Kecksburg incident in 1965. I have been taking calls from the public concerning these reports since 1969. It became apparent soon after my investigations began that many of the strange observations reported could be explained with proper research. Many UFO sightings were misidentifications of natural or manmade sources. Some of the sightings were explained as bright meteors, sky lanterns, bright planets, and odd meteorological events. Some Bigfoot sightings were explained as bear, large shaggy dogs, or hunters in camouflage.
During 2019, there were reports of large triangular, cigar, spherical, and rectangular shaped objects observed from various areas such as locations in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Armstrong, Washington and many other counties. There were reports of the “mini-UFOs” that I have been investigating since the 1960s. They are generally small in size and quite often spherical in shape. They have approached close to observers, and have entered homes and cars through open windows.
In the past, there have been annual reports of both UFOs and cryptids, and various other strange encounters from credible eyewitnesses that could not be so easily dismissed. Witnesses to these various phenomena come from all walks of life including men, women, and children. Some were educators, engineers, police officers, hunters, and pilots. They had nothing to gain by reporting these accounts, and most want no publicity.
I receive current UFO, Bigfoot, cryptid, and other anomaly reports on a regular basis via phone and email reports. I also maintain contact with many research groups and independent researchers in the field who also receive incident reports from their local areas.
The following is a synopsis of some of the interesting cases that came to my attention from across Pennsylvania during 2019:
January 2019– I received a number of reports of possible Thunderbird encounters from various locations. One report from the Mon Valley area described a huge black bird that had a bulb shape appendage on the end of its tail. The creature made slow wing flaps as it moved across the sky.
January 21, 2019- During the early morning hours a series of strange footprints were seen in the snow in Derry Township. These tracks were similar to others that have been found over the years around Derry Township near the Chestnut Ridge.
Footprint in the snow in Derry Township, PA on January 21, 2019. Photo used with permission of the witness.
January 22, 2019- During the afternoon in Tioga County, witnesses observed a luminous orange sphere that maneuvered around the sky, then hovered and ascended into the sky and was gone.
January 24,2019- Near Hopwood during a heavy snow in the afternoon, a witness shoveling snow during the snow storm observed a black sphere hovering about 300 feet over some trees in the area. The object seemed to diminish in size rather then move off. The witness watched the object for about 5 minutes, and tried to take a picture, but the snow was so heavy he was unable to capture the image.
February, 2019– During the dark early morning hours on Route 130 several miles outside of Greensburg, a 7-8 feet tall, hair covered creature with long arms that hardly moved walked across the road about 50 feet in front of a car. A witness told me that the creature seemed to suddenly just appear, walk across the road and was just gone from sight. Also during February, I received several reports of mystery booms that reportedly shook homes in Westmoreland County.
February-March 2019– Reports were received from various counties in Southwest Pennsylvania of loud screams and howls from wooded areas. In one report from Butler County, residents heard coyote howls, and at the same time heard a much louder and longer howl.
February-March– More reports of odd lights in the sky, loud screams and howls, and giant bird reports.On March 19th in a suburb of Pittsburgh, a witness reported seeing a large triangular object low in the sky with three non-blinking white lights at each point, and a large red light beneath the object.
March-April 2019– Numerous reports of strange howls and screams from rural Delmont, Apollo, and other locations. In early April, a witness in rural Allegheny County reported observing a 4-5 foot tall Bigfoot with dark hair and long swinging arms near the woods behind his home.
April 2019– Reports were circulating around Butler County that a creature described as a giant black wolf that stood 3-4 feet tall had been attacking animals in the area. One witness told me that a large dark animal ran so fast in front of his car that it only looked like a blur.
May 2019- In a rural area near North Versailles in Allegheny County a man described to me seeing what appeared to be a small Bigfoot walk across his yard then went into a wooded area. Moments later at that exact location, a small sphere of light exited the woods and shined a beam of light from it and then vanished from sight. In Greene County odd 4 toed footprints were found in the vicinity of where a large amount of apples went missing.
June 4, 2019– A significant UFO incident occurred near the Youngstown side of the Chestnut Ridge outside of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Two people traveling through the area that evening saw something in the sky that evening that they couldn’t explain. The passenger saw it first and was confused about what she was seeing since it looked so unusual. She saw what appeared to be a glass tube cylinder among bright lights that seemed to be covered with a smoke or haze. The cylinder appeared to be attached to a large V shaped object with several rows of different colored lights.
The driver pulled over and observed a V shaped object hovering about 60 feet over the trees. The object was estimated to be about 40-50 feet long and was made up of 50 or more luminous white rectangular lights that would brighten and dim at times. Above the smaller lights were four larger round lights that were strobing and orange, blue, red, and green in color. The brightness of these colors appeared pale compared to the smaller rectangular white lights. These lights seem to strobe from left to right. There was a larger light that produced a beam that was scanning the sky above the object.
The driver lowered the windows as they continued to watch the object. The two observers were amazed that the hovering object was completely silent. As the witnesses continued to watch the object, some odd affects took place. The driver stated that it was as though “the electronic system of the car was having a seizure.” The radio was off at the time, however, they suddenly began to hear an odd clicking sound inside the vehicle but they were unable to locate the source. At the same time it was noticed that the dash lights were dimming on and off with the beat of the clicking sound. The driver also stated that soon after he was having a problem with his cell phone dropping its signal several times.
The observers watched the object for about 3 minutes but became very disturbed by the encounter and decided to leave the area and continue down the road. The passenger stated, “we were beside ourselves in awe.” They didn’t even think of trying to take a picture.
This sketch of the object was drawn by one of the witnesses. (Used with permission of the witness.)
The object was still hovering as they began to drive down the road going about 30 miles per hour. That is when something else strange occurred. About 30 seconds after they left the location of the observation, a deer ran out from the woods in front of their car. The driver of the car is an experienced outdoorsman and said the deer looked dazed and confused. As they continued down the road more animals were exiting from the woods as though they had been frightened by the object.
Also during June, more UFO sightings continued to be reported. There were also reports of possible Bigfoot activity. A possible footprint was found near Fairchance as well as odd tree damage observed. A healthy tree about 10 feet tall had a branch that appeared to be torn, twisted and broken. No other trees in the area showed anything similar. This same type of tree damage was also observed in the last couple of years in other areas of southwest Pennsylvania where Bigfoot activity had been reported.
A possible Bigfoot track was found on the evening of June 1, 2019 near Fairchance. The next day while looking over the area Stan noticed some odd tree damage to a healthy tree.
I also received reports from other sources that there have been more sightings of a tall, very skinny, humanoid creature with long arms. There have been a number of similar reports of this cryptid observed in southwestern sections of Pennsylvania since 2017.
Depiction of the skinny and tall humanoid creature reported since 2017 from various areas of PA. Copyright Stan Gordon
July 2019- A motorist driving along a rural road not far from Youngwood noticed something unusual. About 15 feet away stepping out from a series of bushes, he noticed a 3-4 feet tall hairless humanoid creature. The skinny being had an oval shaped head and black eyes. As soon as his headlights illuminated that area, the creature quickly moved back into the bushes.
On a property in Fayette County where there have been ongoing UFO, Bigfoot, and paranormal incidents for several years,witnesses reportedly saw a large Bigfoot observing two smaller Bigfoot creatures that were close by. In the Acme area, a creature described as 6 feet tall, covered with gray hair and long arms was reported on more than one occasion. In the area where the creature had been seen a strong unpleasant smell was also reported.
Bigfoot Statue in Fayette County. Stan Gordon Files
Beginning in July and continuing through October of 2019, I was receiving widespread reports from such areas as Ligonier, Mount Pleasant Township, and Delmont where observers at night were seeing bright light sources high in the sky that at times hovered, performed loops, and zig-zagged. On occasion more than one object would join another object in the sky then would take off at a high rate of speed.
August 15, 2019- A witness told researcher Jim Brown what he had observed near Markleysburg at around 4:30 PM. What caught his attention was what he described as a black ball about the size of a full moon that came out of the northwest and flew into a puffy white cloud. He noticed that was the only cloud in the sky at the time. He called his wife to come out so he could tell her what he saw. Both were on the porch looking at the cloud.
About 5 minutes later they saw two more black balls appear that came from different directions and flew into the same cloud and also never came out. His wife went into the house to get a camera and while she was gone a fourth object came out of the west and entered the cloud. This one was larger than the other ones. It had four spikes sticking out of each side of it. Almost as soon as it entered, the cloud turned a slightly yellow color then seemed to just “wash itself out of the sky”.
During late August in Armstrong County, a witness on a beautiful morning observed what appeared to be a solid silver oval shaped object hovering in the clear sky. The silent object, estimated to be 80 feet long, was hovering then moved off slowly. The solid object suddenly began to slowly fade from view beginning at the back end of the object and extended towards the front until it vanished from sight.
September 2019- During the early morning near Brownsville, a large cigar shaped object was observed moving slowly through the sky. The object had 8-10 lights in a row that were red and blinked on and off. The object was estimated to be about 100 feet in length. During the observation, something similar to a fluorescent tube emitted from the main object and went under it then returned back up to it. During September there were many other UFO reports. Bigfoot activity was being reported from eastern Pennsylvania.
October 2019– On the evening of October 3, 2019, a series of UFO encounters began in Cambria County near Johnstown. Witnesses near South Fork reported seeing a large metallic cigar shaped object with many bright lights moving very low above the ground. Later that evening another report came in from the Nanty Glo area. A witness reported seeing a cigar shaped object that looked metallic and was completely illuminated and very bright. The object seemed to be about 60-70 feet long and was moving through an area of fog. The object began to fade in and out and alternated from very bright to dim then just vanished from sight. Over the next week, other UFO sightings were reported from around the same area.
Near Scottdale a large elongated object with many very bright white lights moved very fast across the sky making a loud high pitched sound. There were many other UFO reports from other locations in the state. In Erie County a witness reported observing a conical bright beam of light in the sky that projected to the ground. There were several bright white flashes and a bright illumination, then suddenly it zoomed across the sky and was gone in seconds.
November 2019– During the afternoon of Nov 8, 2019 a man traveling on a rural road outside of Masontown observed a silver gray sphere about 2 feet in diameter on the ground and blocking the road ahead of him. The man couldn’t figure out what it was, but decided to approach the object and move it so he could continue his journey. He was about 50 feet away from the object when he opened the car door and noticed that the object was starting to fade away. It slowly began to continue to fade away and completely disappeared.
December 19, 2019– A motorist driving near Harrison City during the early morning observed what appeared to be a hovering large solid object that had a huge round light on its flat bottom and two red blinking lights at each corner. That same afternoon, a report came in from Jefferson County of possibly 30 silver or translucent objects moving in a V formation across the sky. The witness was certain what was observed were not geese at the altitude the objects were moving at.
There have historically been many UFO and cryptid encounters reported in Fayette County along the Chestnut Ridge. Researcher Jim Brown www.jimsdestinations.com has investigated several of the Fayette County incidents mentioned in this report.
The summary of the reports you have read are some of the strange incidents that were reported during 2019. A surge of UFO, and cryptid activity actually began in January of 2018 throughout Pennsylvania and continued throughout 2019. Check out my website: www.stangordon.info for more details about some of these incidents. I have also heard reports of sightings of black panthers, mountain lions, and Dogman encounters.
To report a UFO, Bigfoot, Cryptid, or other strange occurrences from Pennsylvania, you can call me at 724-838-7768 or email me at paufo@comcast.net. You may remain anonymous if you prefer.