In the spring of 1966, Gale was interviewed by the Daily Freeman regarding a potential UFO sighting. On the evening of April 23rd, law enforcement was inundated with calls and reports about a bright, flare-like object burning through the sky. Gale, who was in flight near the Tappen Zee Bridge at the time, saw the object and stated, “It was high above us and it appeared as a bright green and yellow flare, traveling in a north northwest direction. A green and yellow flame appeared to be shooting from the UFO and it was traveling at a high speed, like a satellite.”
Astronomers at the Dominion Observatory in Quebec, part of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, also viewed the object. Member A.A. Griffin determined it to be “of asteroidal origin” in his report to the society’s journal. Griffin’s report stated “a bright meteor appeared over the north-eastern United States and travelled northward to the St. Lawrence River. As this took place in the early evening, and as it had a flat trajectory, long duration, and spectacular bursts as it entered the atmosphere, it was a memorable and well publicized event.”
The sighting was seen by so many people across the northeastern U.S. that it was featured in Life Magazine (May 1966) and Sky and Telescope magazine (June 1966). A photograph shared in Griffin’s report shows the brilliant burst of light in Springfield, Massachusetts through the use of motion picture film.
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Reference:
- Clark, Walter S. “See UFO’s In Area Last Night.” Kingston Daily Freeman, 23 Apr. 1966, pp. 1&6, Newspapers.com. Accessed 1 Feb. 2022.
- Griffin, A. A. “The Fireball of April 25, 1966. II, Photographic Observations and Orbit Determination.” Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, vol. 62, Apr. 1968, pp. 55–61.