2016 Was Very Busy with UFO Sightings, Bigfoot and Cryptid Encounters across Pennsylvania

From Researcher: Stan Gordon

 Many Pennsylvanian’s reported encounters of the mysterious kind during 2016.  Witnesses reported strange formations of lights in the sky, and loud booms that shook houses in some areas.  There were also reports of strange footprints, odd animal screams and cries, low level sightings of mysterious objects in the sky, odd field formations, and close range encounters with Bigfoot and other cryptids (creatures whose existence have not been confirmed ) from across the state. Residents reported various paranormal incidents and in some cases, strange lights and images were captured on digital cameras.

Since I began researching and documenting such oddities from across Pennsylvania in 1959 as a curious ten year old boy, many thousands of mysterious incidents have continued to be reported, and such cases occur annually. I began to conduct on scene research in 1965 after the UFO incident occurred near Kecksburg, PA.  During the 57 years that I have been investigating these anomalies, I have never had a personal encounter with a UFO or Bigfoot.

It became apparent to me long ago, that many mysterious encounters, when properly investigated, are found to have a manmade or natural explanation. UFOs quite often are misidentifications of such things as bright stars and planets, meteors, satellites, searchlights, Chinese lanterns and drones. Some Bigfoot sightings were identified as bear, large shaggy dogs, and hunters in camouflage. There are, however, UFO sightings and other strange encounters reported each year that can’t be so easily dismissed.

There were many sightings of UFOs reported statewide throughout the year. Observers reported sightings of spherical, cylindrical and triangular shape objects. There have been an increasing number of sightings in recent years of large solid rectangular objects that have been seen at low level.

Those individuals who have reported such sightings come from all walks of life and age groups. Many are professionals such as police officers, military and commercial pilots, engineers, and educators. The vast majority of witnesses I have interviewed were not seeking any publicity. Many of these people did not believe in the existence of these phenomena until they had their own personal encounter.

I have been taking calls from the public since 1969, and I receive sighting reports on a regular basis via phone and email. Across the country and in Pennsylvania, there are many other researchers and organizations who also receive Pennsylvania sighting reports. Some of those sources include the Keystone Bigfoot Project, The Pennsylvania Cryptozoology Society, The Center for Cryptozoology Studies, Jim Brown of Jim’s Destinations, Lon Strickler of “Phantoms & Monsters,” the National UFO Reporting Center, and the PA Chapter of MUFON. I continue to maintain contact with many sources from across the state and nation.

The following is a synopsis of some of the interesting cases reported during 2016:

 January 1, 2016- A man who was visiting in the area for the holidays, was traveling during the early morning hours between Trafford and Monroeville. The headlights of the car ahead of him struck a figure walking on the side of the road. The man noticed a brown hair covered creature that stood about 6 feet tall. Its arms hung down past the knees and it was walked hunched over. The most prominent feature was that the creature had two glowing red eyes. The witness said it was likely that the other motorists on that road also saw it.

February 4, 2016- Witnesses along Route 30 near Latrobe observed a formation of about 7 red-orange lights moving in the evening sky. Some observers reported that the lights broke formation and moved slowly up over the Chestnut Ridge and higher into the sky where they vanished from sight.

March 2016- The Lower Burrell area in Westmoreland County has had a history of sightings of what some witnesses have reported as “Black Panthers.” An animal sighted in a wooded area in March had an estimated body length with the tail at about 7 feet long. The animal had ears that appeared to be pointed and stood straight up. In September in this same general area, another witness came upon a series of what appear to be 4 inch cat tracks.

A rural road near West Newton, PA, where a witness reported encountering a Bigfoot in 2016.
Copyright 2016
Stan Gordon

April 17, 2016- During the evening, a woman was driving on a rural road near West Newton when she noticed ahead of her, a tall dark figure emerge from the right side and move up on the road just as she was approaching the area. She slowed down and looked at a 7 foot tall creature covered with long brownish-red hair. The witness noticed that the arms were very long and skinny, and that the creature had large red eyes that were glowing in the dark. The witness, who had no interest or belief in Bigfoot, became very frightened and left the area very quickly.

May 10, 2016- Two men were riding on a rural road in Fayette County outside of Fairchance. It was a foggy, and rainy evening when this incident took place.  Suddenly, an upright 7 feet tall hair covered creature emerged from the bank on the left side of the road and stopped in the path of the car 20 feet away. The driver slammed on the brakes, while the creature stared at the car with its glowing red eyes.

After a short time of staring at the creature, the driver slowly moved the car forward, and both men felt the car make slight contact with the hairy being. At that point the creature placed its hands on the front of the vehicle, with the bumper against its legs. Soon after, the creature removed its hands from the car and walked into the woods below the road and was not seen again. This area has had a history of other Bigfoot encounters. Researcher Jim Brown investigated this incident.

June 11, 2016- In a rural area near Jeanette, several people observed a series of orange objects that looked similar to meteors. However, they had no tails and were slow moving. While under observation, one object broke apart and separated into two similar objects that moved across the sky in different directions. A similar sighting occurred near Leechburg in Armstrong County on June 16^th, where other witnesses reported up to 10 luminous objects in the sky that were blinking orange then white in color. At one point, two of the objects joined together, then separated and moved off in different directions.

September 15, 2016- Witnesses saw what looked like a silver disc in the clear morning sky moving towards the southeast. About 20 seconds after the object was lost from sight, what appeared to be 5 military jets approached and circled over the area. Just three days earlier in Ohio, a witness I had talked with observed a semi-circular object that appeared to be metallic and gray in color. About 20 minutes later he heard the sound of a military jet in the area.

October 16, 2016- During the afternoon, a couple was driving down Route 43 in Fayette County outside of Uniontown. They were approaching the crest of a hill when a black misty smoke cloud appeared above some trees and began to form into a large black rectangular object. The object moved over the two left southbound lanes of the highway. It then quickly moved over the northbound lanes that they were traveling on towards Pittsburgh. As the object nearly cleared those lanes, it suddenly stopped and formed a circular shape that was not as solid as the rectangular object had looked. It quickly reformed back into the rectangular shape and moved back over the southbound lanes of the highway then suddenly just vanished from sight and was not seen again.

screen shot capture photo of the object seen in downtown Pittsburgh in November of 2016.
The picture is used with permission of the witness.

November 8, 2016- Pittsburgh-During the afternoon a man had just left work and was walking to his car in downtown Pittsburgh. He noticed high in the sky what appeared to be a cylinder shaped object that looked as though it was hovering but had some movement to it. The object then seemed to drop from that altitude and smoke appeared to be emitting from the object. As the object fell, it was blocked from view by the parkway.

The man started videotaping as he ran in that direction. The object was blocked from view at its lowest level but the witness saw it for a second over the Monongahela River. The object appeared to descend fast yet almost gliding.

The witness had the opinion that the object was metallic and he noticed some type of triangle near the rear section. The witness believes the object fell into the river. The witness was able to capture some screen shots of the object from the video footage he had taken.

Sketch of triangular object sighted in York County, PA. Sketch used with permission of the witness.

November 11, 2016- A man located in York County was outside talking on his phone that evening when he noticed an unusual object in the sky that appeared to be gliding. The object was three dimensional and looked like a very large metallic triangular object. The object was dark gray in color and appeared to have a white foggy mist surrounding it.

The witness could clearly see the side of the craft that was visible to him. He also had a very good view of the underside of the object. There were a number of lights seen on the object, including three white circular ones that were evenly spaced straight across along the rear underside.

The witness also noticed two bluish rectangular configurations which he felt may have been an exhaust system on the back of the object. The object made a slight sound similar to the low growl of a high performance sports car. (Sightings of these large solid triangular objects have been reported for many years across the state. During the last two years I am aware of a number of low level sightings of similar objects and some were observed in daylight.)

November 2016- During this month and occurring for about 4 months prior, residents that live along the Derry side of the Chestnut Ridge report having seen a luminous sphere of light about the size of a softball and sometimes accompanied by other small lights of various colors come up to a window of the house and slide across the glass and then move away. (The Chestnut Ridge has a long history of UFOs and cryptid encounters and similar smaller round objects have been reported for years.)

I received information concerning many cryptid sightings from widespread locations in the Keystone State. Bigfoot sightings were reported from many areas including Allegheny, Butler, Westmoreland, and Fayette Counties. There were Black Panther, thunderbird (huge birds with massive wingspans) and other  strange creature accounts reported.

There were some accounts from wide spread areas of an animal that witnesses were unable to identify.Some said it looked like a cross between a wolf and a very large dog. During a July morning, a motorist traveling on Route 66, between Greensburg and Delmont saw a strange animal emerge from the brush along the road. It was a dog-like animal that was running low to the ground. The hair on the body looked like that of a deer and it had a long black non-bushy tail. The witness noticed that the head was like a dog, but it had a long snout and a very pointed nose. The ears were pointed and stood upright. The animal ran up an embankment and moved out of sight.

In early December near Blairsville, a person driving in a car saw an animal that looked like a very large dog. However, it had some wolf-like features. The animal had medium gray fur that was thick like that of a wolf. It also had a tail similar to that of a wolf. On the same day, but on the other side of the state another strange animal was observed. In a rural area of Dauphin County, Two people saw a strange animal run in front of their vehicle. The animal was covered in a gray fur unlike that of a dog. It did however have features of both a wolf and a canine and it moved very fast on four legs. The animal reportedly had a large snout and wolf-like ears and an arch on its back. Some of these could be coywolf sightings however, some of the reports that are being received by various researchers seem somewhat stranger and are being investigated.

To report a UFO, Bigfoot, Cryptid or other unusual event from Pennsylvania, you can contact me at: 724-838-7768, or email me at: paufo@comcast.net. Keep checking my website: www.stangordon.info for updates on recent sightings. If you have any information on the 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident please contact me as well.