On April 18, 1962, at around 8:15 p.m., local time, witnesses in Oneida and Cuba, New York, saw a strange object streaking westward across the sky, variously described as looking like a red or blue fireball, “a red flaming sword,” a very bright white light with a bright white trail, or a long cylindrical shape like a cigarette. The object was soon tracked by NORAD, who then alerted the Air Defense Command and at the time no one could figure out what it was, and as they debated over what to do the object began its strange and inscrutable journey west, which would only end after it had crossed ten states and with an apparent explosion of a possible alien craft.
As the object streaked from east to west, it would be witnessed by thousands of people whose testimony soon showed that this was no meteorite. The mysterious object was often seen to change speed and altitude, with some witnesses reporting that it would pass just a few hundred feet from the ground. It also would occasionally surge ahead at great speed only to slow back down again, and its trail would sometimes change colors from a bright yellow to blue. In some cases, it was reported as casting off sparks, emanating a “whooshing” or a “gasping sound,” and there were some reports of the object causing several loud booms and flashing lights as it passed over to disappear from view. As people got a closer look at it they could see that it was very strange, indeed, with one witness even claiming that he had been able to discern a series of square windows on the object almost hidden in the glow of it.
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