Update concerning the Loud Booms Heard in Southwestern Pennsylvania
January 2, 2022
From: Researcher Stan Gordon
I have continued to receive additional information concerning the two separate loud boom incidents that were heard and felt by many residents in various areas of Southwestern Pennsylvania on two successive days.
The first incident occurred on December 31, 2021, around 1:30 PM. The second Incident occurred January 1, 2022, at approximately 11:30 AM.
Concerning the January 1, 2022, incident, I have received information that the boom was heard across additional counties in Southwestern sections of Pennsylvania. I also have received reports that a boom was also heard in West Virginia within the same time frame.
In addition, the (AMS) American Meteor Society has now posted a reported sighting of a fireball over the Belle Vernon area at the time the boom was reported in that region. So- the mostly likely source of the boom reported was a fireball meteor that at times can produce a sonic boom.
An explanation for the December 31, 2021, incident has yet to be determined.
Mystery Booms Reported On Two Successive Days in Southwestern Pennsylvania
December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2022
From: Researcher Stan Gordon
For many years, there have been reports of loud booms that have shaken structures and caused alarm across Pennsylvania and across the country. In the 1960s, we called these incidents “Skyquakes.” There have been explanations for some of these incidents. Local earthquakes, thunderstorms and other weather related phenomena, large meteors, local fireworks, and sonic booms are among some of the causes. In some cases in past years, no explanations have been found for some of these types of reports.
I am receiving many phone calls and emails concerning two very loud mystery booms that took place in recent days. I understand that hundreds of people are discussing their experiences on social media concerning both incidents. I am talking with witnesses and trying to find an explanation for what took place. From what I have learned, both booms were extremely loud and heard over many miles covering several counties. Witnesses were shaken and I have heard that animals were frightened by the experiences as well.
The first incident occurred on December 31, 2021, around 1:30 PM. From the information I am receiving, that boom was heard and felt from Latrobe throughout the Derry area. I have been told that many people in communities along that area of the Chestnut Ridge and into Indiana county also felt it. One couple near Derry were sitting in their living room when they felt and heard the boom. They ran outside thinking a car had hit their house. There were other reports from as far away as Allegheny and near Armstrong county. One witness who contacted me was a former combat engineer who worked with explosives and stated that what he heard “was not normal.”
This is a view of the northern side of the Chestnut Ridge from Westmoreland County, PA. Many residents along this area reported hearing and feeling the loud mystery boom on December 31, 2021. (Photo Credit: Stan Gordon)
The second Incident occurred today at about 11:30 AM. I am hearing about reports from widespread areas from Westmoreland , Allegheny and Armstrong counties. I was told there were social media reports of the boom as far away as Beaver County.
I have been looking into some of the usual sources for such cases, and so far I have not found an explanation. The National Geological Survey website shows no earthquake activity in this area for these reports. There was no weather activity in the area that could account for these incidents. I have not received any meteor sighting reports nor do I see any such reports listed on the American Meteor Society website of any such activity in this area. On occasion, unusually bright fireball meteors can create a sonic boom. Some witnesses I have interviewed say this was one huge boom and not a rumble such as would be related to an earthquake.
I expect that other explanations might be forthcoming. I am continuing to receive information on these incidents, and I would be interested in hearing from anyone who experienced this event or anyone who has knowledge as to a possible source.
I am continuing to receive reports of other unusual activity in recent weeks from throughout the Pittsburgh area and other sections of the state including UFO sightings.
I can be contacted at 724-838-7768 or via email at: paufo@comcast.net.
I remember that Thursday evening very well. It was December 9, 1965, and I was listening to the Contact talk show on KDKA radio in Pittsburgh. The host of the show, the late Mike Levine, was talking about the breaking news story concerning the numerous reports of a bright fireball that had been observed moving across the sky over a widespread area. Levine was talking about the news wire stories that discussed that sightings had taken place from as far away as Canada, and over states such as Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. He was talking with witnesses who were calling in. Newspapers, radio, and TV stations, as well as police departments were swamped with calls from area residents who saw the fiery object as it passed over the Pittsburgh area earlier that afternoon at 4:47 PM.
I was sixteen years old at that time, and I had an interest in science and electronics, and I was already curious about reports of UFOs. I spent the rest of the evening listening to my radio and watching our black and white console TV for any news accounts about the sighting around the area. That evening on KDKA-TV, the late Bill Burns, a well known TV reporter, broke into regular programming with a special report that the military was arriving in the Kecksburg area to search for an Unidentified Flying Object that had reportedly fallen near that community.
I had been writing down the details that I was hearing that night. The next day I made a trip to the local newsstand and picked up copies of several local newspapers. The county edition of the Greensburg Tribune-Review ran the headlines, “Unidentified Flying Object Falls Near Kecksburg, Army Ropes Off Area.” The city edition of the Greensburg Tribune-Review had other stories such as “Unidentified Flying Object Report Touches Off Probe Near Kecksburg” and “Searchers Fail To Find Object.” Many other local and national newspapers carried stories on the incident as well. The local authorities stated that a search had been conducted in the wooded area where the object had reportedly fallen and nothing was found. Government sources and astronomers suggested that the object observed in the sky was a meteor, and nothing had fallen to the ground.
In the days after the occurrence, I attempted to track down witnesses to the occurrence but there were few names in the newspaper. It was over months and years that I received significant information about that 1965 incident. As time went on, I was contacted by some people who were directly involved in that incident. I would at times have friends, relatives, and neighbors of witnesses contact me and provide leads on the case. I would on occasion receive anonymous tips concerning witnesses as well.
It became very apparent that the witnesses and others who were involved in various aspects of the case were from all walks of life. Some of them were military veterans, police officers and news reporters. Others were youngsters and teenagers who grew up to hold responsible positions such as teachers and engineers. Most of these people, for various reasons, asked to remain anonymous over the years which is why their accounts were never in the news at that time. Witnesses told me that they knew what they saw and experienced in 1965, however, after reading the news stories the next day that nothing had been found, they just shared their experience with some close friends and relatives.
Over the years, I tracked down hundreds of people who were involved with the Kecksburg case. In time, many individuals did break their silence and discussed what they had experienced. During my 56 years of research into this case I have learned a lot of details about what apparently did take place at the time but was never made known to the public. I have absolutely no doubt that an object did fall from the sky that afternoon in December of 1965 and was apparently recovered by the military. During my many years of investigating the case, there were some details that surfaced that were associated with the incident that were quite interesting. However, I never discussed those subjects publicly until years later when I had enough independent confirmation from other sources that could confirm that such an event did occur.
The following are just some of some very interesting details that I have learned about the case.
* The object was moving roughly SE from Allegheny county into Westmoreland county and over the city of Greensburg. It moved toward Route 30 east near what was then the Gee Bee department store and made a turn to the south. The object was observed from such areas as Margurite, Norvelt, Mammoth, over the outskirts of Kecksburg, and continued to move toward the mountains of Laurelville about 3.5 miles away. The object seemed to hesitate over the mountain, turned and began to travel toward the NE and passed near the outskirts of Kecksburg, then turned again and dropped down into the woods. Area residents who saw the object fall said that it was moving quite slow and went down as though it was making a controlled landing. There were no parachutes reported at the site during or after the landing.
* Some witnesses reported seeing the fiery object as it moved across the sky. Some local witnesses, however, had a better view of the object as it passed low overhead before it fell. The late Randy Overly was playing near Norvelt, that afternoon when he heard a hissing sound and noticed an object in the distance moving slowly toward his location. The object passed only about 200 feet overhead giving him a good view of the object. The object was moving steadily, at about the speed of a single engine airplane. The object was acorn shaped with a goldish-brown color and had a vapor around it. The witness noticed green flames around the back of the object. He watched the object as it continued to move off in the distance.
* Moments after the object fell, some local people went down into the woods to see what the object was. They came across a large metallic acorn shaped object semi-buried in the ground. Those people apparently never reported this to any agency at that time.
* As a result of many area residents reporting to local authorities the sighting of the object in the sky, volunteer firefighters from Kecksburg and other communities of Westmoreland county were activated to conduct a search for a possible downed aircraft in the Kecksburg area.
* A team of firemen came across the object acorn shaped object. The late James Romansky, a young volunteer fireman at the time, stood only a few feet away from the object. According to Jim, the object was large enough for a man to stand up inside of it. The object was a bronze-gold color, and appeared to be one solid piece of metal, displaying no rivets or seams. At the back of the acorn shape was what Jim called the bumper area. Upon that section of the object were unusual symbols that Jim said looked similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Romansky, who was a machinist for many years, said the object itself looked as though it had been constructed from liquid metal that had been poured into an acorn-shaped mold.
Stan Gordon near the mockup of the Kecksburg UFO
* During the mid-1980s, my team was searching the woods where the object was said to have fallen and found a pattern of tree damage and trees knocked down in the same direction that suggested a possible trajectory of where the object had entered into the woods. Several years later in that same area, the exact location of the crash site was located when three independent witnesses, unknown to each other, separately took my team deep into the woods to the same exact location from different vantage points. John Hayes and his brother, who lived near the impact site, watched the activity taking place that evening. The next morning the two boys went down into the woods where the military had been to look around. They played in those woods daily, and quickly noticed that trees had been knocked down and damaged. They had not seen that damage previously.
Trees knocked down in the area where witnesses reported the object had fallen. Copyright: Stan Gordon
* The military set up a command post at the Kecksburg V.F.D. truck station. Some military brass asked firemen to take them down to the woods and the landing area. They were driven down on a Kecksburg V.F.D. four wheel drive pumper fire truck. The military sent the firemen back and walked into the woods as they approached the landing site.
* There were two military flatbed tractor trailer trucks observed in the area of where the object fell that evening. Many witnesses reported observing military jeeps and trucks as well as military personnel in the area around Kecksburg that evening.
* I have independent confirmation from various sources, including former military personnel, that the object from Kecksburg was transported to Lockbourne Air Force Base near Columbus, Ohio, during the early morning hours of December 10th. It only stayed there for a short time under heavy security then continued on to Wright Patterson Air Force Base where I was told that the object was stored in a building on that facility.
* For years, I had information from witnesses who told me that the next day (Friday) after the incident had taken place, that a smaller group of personnel returned to the location and were observed entering the woods where the object had fallen. For example, one witness told me of seeing men in white moon suits carrying equipment entering the woods. Another instance was when two boys playing in the woods the next morning were stopped by a man with an instrument, possibly a metal detector or Geiger counter, and were told that they better leave the woods since there was the chance of radiation. Additionally, independent newspaper stories confirmed the search of the area the next day where the object had fallen, and mentioned the military being there. However, in Friday’s newspapers, the officials indicated that the search was over on Thursday night, and that nothing was found.
* My investigation of the Kecksburg case started as the news was breaking that evening in 1965 and has uncovered a massive amount of information from many independent sources that an object did fall from the sky into a wooded area near Kecksburg and was recovered by the military. What that object was remains undetermined. I never tried to prove that the object that fell was ET in nature. For years I suggested the possibility that the object could have been a highly advanced man-made space probe with some controlled re-entry capability or a secret military or government experiment. It also should not be ruled out among other more common explanations the possibility that the object was an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
It has been 56 years and the government has not told the public what the object was that was recovered near Kecksburg that day in 1965. Many witnesses have now passed away and never learned the truth about what they saw or experienced. The public deserves an answer.
Residents around the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area this evening reported seeing numerous lights in a straight line moving across the clear skies around 6:28 PM. The observation while looking quite unusual has an explanation.
What witnesses saw were the Starlink G4-3 group of satellites that were launched into space by a Space X Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening. Tom Barnes IV, watched the satellites from Richland Township in Allegheny county, and was able to obtain a video of the objects as they passed over the area.
Used with permission of Tom Barnes IV.
The Space X Tracker reported that the formation could be seen around Allegheny county this evening at about 6:25 PM. The Starlink satellite processions have been observed numerous times in the past in the Pittsburgh area, and across Pennsylvania and other parts of the country. The Starlink satellites have often been reported as UFOs.
Addendum:
While many UFO sightings can be explained, there are have been other UFO incidents reported in recent weeks and months throughout the Greater Pittsburgh area that are not so easily explained away. If you have seen anything unusual, please contact me at 724-838-7768 or via email at: paufo@comcast.net.
Low Level UFO Activity Reported in Pennsylvania During October and November 2021
From Researcher: Stan Gordon
There has been a number of UFO incidents reported during October and November, 2021 from areas of Pennsylvania. Low level UFO encounters have been reported from Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland counties. Other UFO sightings have reportedly taken place in other sections of the state including in the eastern part of Pennsylvania.
I am still gathering information on some of these reports, and I will be posting more details as they are available. A significant close range UFO incident is currently being investigated that occurred in Fayette county last week.
Please contact me if you have seen anything unusual relating to UFOs, Bigfoot, cryptids, or other anomalies. I can be called at 724-838-7768 or email me at: paufo@comcast.net.
October 24, 2021, Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania- Cloud-Like UFO Making Erratic Movements
From Researcher Stan Gordon
On October 24, 2021, a man driving north of Route 119 near the Scottdale-Mount Pleasant exit in Westmoreland county noticed something unusual in the sky. It was cloudy and overcast at the time, but what he saw was easily discernible. What he noticed was a round gray cloud that was lighter in color than the surrounding clouds.
This is a photo of Route 119 in South Greensburg. There has been a long history of both UFO and Thunderbird sightings along and near Route 119 in this area ,and for miles along this route heading into the Fayette county area.
It looked to be about the size of a school bus from the distance he was observing it from. But the cloud-like object was flying erratically right, left, and up and down in the sky. The witness described its movements as similar to a school of fish following a lead fish.
The object was only about 300-400 feet in the sky and well below the cloud layer. The man observed it for about 10-15 seconds and didn’t have time to get out his cell phone to take a picture. Just as the witness was about to go under the Route 819 overpass the object began to fade away and just suddenly disappeared. Moments later after exiting from the overpass the object was no longer in the sky.
The witness is sure that other motorists also saw the object. When he first noticed the object five to six cars ahead of him all jammed on their brakes at the same time.
If you saw this object or anything else unusual, please let me know.
Giant Flying Creature Observed on Route 30 Between Greensburg and Latrobe, PA-September 6, 2021
From Researcher: Stan Gordon
A man was pumping gas at a filling station on Route 30 in the vicinity of Mountain View. It was about 6:30 AM when he happened to look up at the sky and his attention was drawn to a huge flying creature that was flying low just over the treetops across the road.
The witness told me during the interview we had about his observation that when he looked up it was “like Jurassic Park over the trees.” The witness only saw the creature for about 10 seconds and didn’t have time to grab his phone to take a picture. He told me that it looked like a flying sting ray.
Sketch of flying creature used with permission of the witness
It was just getting light out at the time. The man described the creature as all dark in color. It had very long legs and tail and had a very wide wingspan. The witness said it occasionally flapped its wings very slowly and also just soared while under observation before it moved out of sight toward White School Road.
The witness who is familiar with turkey vultures and blue herons in the area said this creature was much larger. He stated that he had never seen anything like it before. He also mentioned that another man who was pumping gas nearby was also looking at the huge creature in the sky.
Addendum:
The next day, a very large dark bird was reported from East Huntingdon Township.
More UFO Activity and Other Anomalies Reported From Pennsylvania -September 10, 2021
From Researcher Stan Gordon
Reports of UFO sightings have continued throughout 2021 from various areas of Pennsylvania. In recent weeks UFO reports have been steadily increasing. Some of the sightings have taken place in daylight and some pictures are being evaluated at this time. There were three UFO sightings reported yesterday from three different counties.
Many of the sightings are of wingless cigar-shaped objects or triangular or V shaped objects. UFO reports have originated from such locations as the Mon Valley, Washington county, Fayette county, Westmoreland county, Armstrong county and Cambria county. I have information of other UFO sightings from other locations in the state as well.
During August, I was receiving reports of strange continuous sounds that seemed to originate from the sky over a widespread area and also a loud mystery boom in Westmoreland County.
There have also been two possible Thunderbird (huge bird) sightings reported from different locations in Westmoreland county during September.
If you have seen or experienced anything unusual feel free to contact me. I can be called at 724-838-7768 or via email at: paufo@comcast.net.
Kecksburg UFO Witness- James Romansky- Passes Away
From Stan Gordon
Jim Romansky standing next to the mockup of the Kecksburg UFO when Unsolved Mysteries was filming the segment on that case that aired in 1990. (Copyright Stan Gordon)
I was sad to learn that James R. Romansky passed away on August 18, 2021, at his home in Derry, Pennsylvania. Jim was 76 years old.
Jim was a volunteer fireman in 1965 when the Kecksburg UFO incident occurred. I met Jim in 1987 when my research group was holding a large UFO display at the Westmoreland mall in Greensburg. Jim was not from Kecksburg, but he went to that area when his volunteer fire company was called out along with other departments to respond to search for a possible downed aircraft. A search was conducted in a large, wooded area outside of that rural community. Firemen reportedly came across a large metallic acorn shaped object semi buried in the ground.
According to Jim, the object was large enough for a man to up stand inside of. The object was a bronze-gold color, and appeared to be one solid piece of metal, displaying no rivets or seams. At the back of the acorn shape was what Jim called the bumper area. Upon that section of the object were unusual symbols that Jim said looked similar to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. Romansky, who was a machinist for many years, said the object itself looked as though it had been constructed from liquid metal that had been poured into an acorn-shaped mold.
After our initial meeting, Jim agreed to meet with my team and try to find the location in the woods near Kecksburg where he saw the object on the ground in 1965. He had not been out to that location since that day in 1965. He recalled certain landmarks from that area and he took us into the woods near a dry wash where he felt the object had fallen. In the years to follow, other independent witnesses unknown to each other took me to that same exact location from different entry points.
Over the years I conducted numerous interviews with Jim. I met his family and talked with people who knew him during his life. For years, Jim kept his involvement in the Kecksburg incident confidential until he went public to tell his story in 1990 when Unsolved Mysteries featured the case. Jim never changed his story and he believed that what he saw on the ground that day was something that was not man-made. Jim was always hopeful that the government would someday confirm that an object did fall from the sky that day in 1965. We are all still waiting for that to happen.
My prayers go out to Jim’s family. May he rest in peace.
On May 26, 2021, I was contacted by a witness who had a very strange experience the previous month and has been shaken ever since. On May 28th, I conducted a long interview with the woman involved who provided me with the details of the incident that she said she would never forget. I have had other communications since that time with that witness as well. On July 29, 2021, I was able to interview the gentleman with which the witness had the appointment with that day in April. That man, who is a professional, does not want to be identified, and it turns out that he has also seen what may have been the same huge flying creature in the same area in past years.
In early April of 2021, the woman was just pulling into a parking lot for a scheduled appointment at a location in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She was a few minutes early, so she was talking with a friend on her cell phone. Suddenly, something flew over her vehicle that shadowed the entire car. Even though she was in her car she ducked her head thinking it was a small plane about to crash. She commented to her friend about what had just happened. Seconds later, she saw the biggest bird she had ever seen flying in front of her car. She told her friend that the size of the bird was unimaginable.
The giant bird that never flapped its wings, just soared toward the office where the woman was going to, and it looked like it was going to landed on the roof. She told her friend that she was going to try to get a picture of the huge bird. The woman exited her vehicle and began to walk toward the back of the building where she felt that creature had landed. The huge flying creature was perched on the highest point of the chimney. She looked up for only a moment. At the same time, the giant bird looked down at her and made eye contact with what she told me were piercing fiery eyes. The eyes were large and round even from the distance up on the roof. They were vivid and green-red and orange in color.
The witness stated that the size of the creature was the most amazing thing that she had ever seen. The moment it looked down she realized that it had made direct eye contact with her she knew she had to run. She immediately turned and ran in panic and disbelief. As she turned the corner, she looked back for a second. The huge, winged creature was gliding toward her at an angle. It was only about eight feet behind her, and its talons were out. The woman made it to the door and rushed into the private office and yelled that she was being attacked by a huge bird. She told me that she ran for her life fearing what this huge winged creature might do to her.
She only had seconds to obtain a close look at the creature which she estimated had at least an 8 to 10 foot wingspan. The body and wings were either brown or black in color and were not shiny in appearance. It was not feathery, and she was not sure if it actually had feathers. The head was as large as a grapefruit and red in color. The beak had an odd looking hook that was also red made up of bone and featherless. The legs appeared to be tucked underneath and she was never able to view the tail. The witness said that it was the fiery pupils of the eyes that were most frightening. They looked almost demonic. The woman also stated that the times that she saw the creature flying, it never flapped its wings, it just glided through the air.
The witness said that when she looked up at the creature on the roof, she had the impression that she had disturbed it. She never noticed any odd sounds or smells while the encounter took place. She told me that this was a horrific experience, and that she was shook up for days. She will always wonder what would have happened if the huge flying creature had caught up with her before she rushed into the building. The witness thinks that she had an encounter with a Thunderbird.
On July 29, 2021, I was able to interview the gentleman that the witness had the appointment with that day in April. That man who is a professional, does not want to be identified, and it turns out that he has also seen what may have been the same huge flying creature in the same area in past years. The man confirmed to me that the woman did indeed burst into his office that day and told him that she had been attacked by a huge bird. He soon went outside and found some bricks from the chimney on the ground that apparently had been knocked over by the creature.
Other Thunderbird Sightings In the same area in past years.
During my interview with the man, I learned that he had also had three previous encounters with the thunderbird. His first encounter took place around April of 2016. He was on his lunch break around 1 PM, when a huge shadow came over and he looked up. That’s when he saw the huge bird for the first time. It landed on the chimney on the roof of his office, and he ran inside quite shaken by what he saw.
That witness told me that what he saw looked like, “an ugly dark giant eagle.” He said it had a wingspan of at least 12 feet, and the wings and body were dark in color. The body appeared to be about a foot in diameter. The creature appeared to stand about 4 feet tall.
The head had an odd faded or plastic look to it and was a reddish color. The beak was large- about 3-5 inches long. The tail was fan shaped with dark feathers, and the talons were very large. This witness also stated that it was the eyes of the creature that really stood out. He said it was like watching something from a horror movie and that it was somewhat difficult to explain. The eyes were dark but had a color to them. He stated that, “It had fiery eyes”.
The second encounter took place in 2018, also around April. The creature seemed to take a liking to the chimney on the roof of the man’s office. It was also around lunch time when he saw it up on the roof again and this time it raised up its wings. His third sighting occurred in 2020 and about the same time of the year as his previous sightings. It was early evening when he saw the thunderbird again up on the chimney. It then flew towards him, and he ran to his car and got in. So during those years this very large creature flew twice toward this man at close range.
The man is of the opinion that these creatures are originating from the Pocono mountain area. He feels they are visiting his area to hunt deer and other wildlife. He was glad that the other witness confirmed what he had seen.
The area where this is taking place is about forty some miles from Philadelphia. It is described as being in a populated area with some nearby woods. There are a lot of energy sources in the area including high tension power lines. I have mentioned in my past writings that a pattern I noticed years ago was that thunderbirds and other cryptids are commonly seen in the vicinity of energy sources.
Addendum:
During April and May, 2021, I heard reports of other possible Thunderbird sightings.
Please contact me if you have seen anything similar to what was reported or anything else unusual. My phone is 724-838-7768 or email: paufo@comcast.net.
