WEBVTT 00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:17.089 Hey everybody, welcome to Seneca Lake Mysteries, 00:00:17.089 --> 00:00:20.550 the podcast where we explore the unusual, strange, 00:00:20.769 --> 00:00:24.230 and unexplained on New York's largest finger 00:00:24.230 --> 00:00:28.190 lake. If this is your first time listening, thank 00:00:28.190 --> 00:00:30.250 you. I'm glad you found your way to the podcast 00:00:30.250 --> 00:00:32.789 and I'm happy you're here. And if you've been 00:00:32.789 --> 00:00:35.189 listening for a while, as always, thank you so 00:00:35.189 --> 00:00:38.229 much for supporting the show and being a part 00:00:38.229 --> 00:00:42.630 of this excursion into the offbeat, weird, and... 00:00:42.890 --> 00:00:46.750 mystifying history around the seneca lake area 00:00:46.750 --> 00:00:50.329 and if you enjoy the show please share it like 00:00:50.329 --> 00:00:55.009 it comment follow rate and review it all goes 00:00:55.009 --> 00:00:58.210 a long way and in case you missed it the best 00:00:58.210 --> 00:01:01.700 way to stay up to date on the podcast, and any 00:01:01.700 --> 00:01:04.040 other Seneca Lake Mysteries related news and 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.760 updates is to get over to SenecaLakeMysteries 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:10.060 .com and subscribe so you'll be the first to 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:13.120 know everything that's going on. And again, keep 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:15.359 those emails, messages, and voicemails coming. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:17.719 Let me know what's on your mind. If you have 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:20.700 suggestions or questions or any feedback at all, 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.120 let me know and we'll keep this thing rolling. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:27.340 Seriously, I love to hear from you guys. One 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:29.879 quick update, as I mentioned in the last episode, 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.459 I recently took a trip up to the Alpine Portal, 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:36.920 also known as Connecticut Hill, a spot with a 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:41.340 long and varied history of wild paranormal and 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:45.939 unexplained reports from Bigfoot to orbs to hauntings 00:01:45.939 --> 00:01:49.200 and high strangeness and a lot more. I was invited 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:52.750 by a listener named Rick who has hunted on Connecticut 00:01:52.750 --> 00:01:56.310 Hill for many years and is deeply familiar with 00:01:56.310 --> 00:01:59.469 the area. So Rick generously took a big chunk 00:01:59.469 --> 00:02:01.530 of time out of his Sunday morning and afternoon 00:02:01.530 --> 00:02:04.250 to show me a few places up on the hill, including 00:02:04.250 --> 00:02:08.009 something very unusual and intriguing that he 00:02:08.009 --> 00:02:11.250 had found. We ended up finding something quite 00:02:11.250 --> 00:02:15.909 unexpected and far wilder than I had anticipated. 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:19.400 Last time I promised to tell the story in a future 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.460 episode, and now I can tell you that it will 00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:25.879 be the next episode of the podcast on the 27th, 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:28.800 and I'll tell you guys all about the crazy day 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:32.259 we had up there at the Alpine Portal. However, 00:02:32.379 --> 00:02:36.039 for this episode, as a bit of a preview, I'll 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:39.479 be sharing a very strange experience that a listener 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.419 shared with me that they had up on Connecticut 00:02:42.419 --> 00:02:47.349 Hill a few years ago. But first... In light of 00:02:47.349 --> 00:02:52.030 the recent viral appearance of a large cat, most 00:02:52.030 --> 00:02:56.050 likely a cougar, who was spotted wandering through 00:02:56.050 --> 00:02:59.129 a residential neighborhood in Rochester, New 00:02:59.129 --> 00:03:02.189 York, which is about 40 miles northwest of Seneca 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:05.830 Lake. It happened earlier this month. I'm going 00:03:05.830 --> 00:03:08.050 to get into some stories about similar reports, 00:03:08.389 --> 00:03:11.949 which are known in the paranormal and cryptozoology 00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:15.629 communities as alien big cat sightings that have 00:03:15.629 --> 00:03:18.860 happened. On the west side of Seneca Lake, specifically 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:22.360 reports of a large black cat similar to a panther 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:25.360 that was spotted in a field and in the woods. 00:03:25.860 --> 00:03:29.219 Then next up is a story that has been written 00:03:29.219 --> 00:03:31.319 about in various books and websites, probably 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:34.039 the most widely known UFO sighting in the history 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:38.300 of the area, which was the 1952 sighting by multiple 00:03:38.300 --> 00:03:43.240 witnesses of... aerial round silver spheres that 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:45.939 floated over a Watkins Glen neighborhood with 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:49.340 one object seen just a few minutes later plunging 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:53.039 and disappearing into Seneca Lake a short distance 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:57.539 away but in all the places I've seen this story 00:03:57.539 --> 00:04:00.379 there are some pretty important details missing 00:04:00.379 --> 00:04:02.659 details that came to light a few weeks after 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:06.500 the event that for me really add to the impact 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:11.280 and the credibility of this famous sighting so 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.900 i'm excited to tell you guys this story along 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:17.819 with this quote -unquote new information and 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:21.660 finally as i mentioned i'll share a report verbatim 00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:24.519 that was sent to me by a listener of something 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:27.839 that happened to them when they visited connecticut 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:32.060 hill cemetery a few years back now honestly i 00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:34.339 personally think that all three of these stories 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:37.269 are bangers and i wanted to Almost wanted to 00:04:37.269 --> 00:04:39.509 save one or two of them for a future episode. 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:42.790 But then I figured, you guys have been so supportive 00:04:42.790 --> 00:04:45.110 and so cool to me, so why not do all three stories 00:04:45.110 --> 00:04:48.209 now and think about future episodes when the 00:04:48.209 --> 00:04:51.269 time comes. So that's what I'm going to do. And 00:04:51.269 --> 00:04:54.230 one more thing, I want to remind everyone out 00:04:54.230 --> 00:04:57.509 there that I'm always looking for stories and 00:04:57.509 --> 00:05:00.970 guests for the podcast. So if you or someone 00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:04.620 you know has had an unusual experience, whether 00:05:04.620 --> 00:05:07.779 paranormal or spiritual or odd or mysterious. 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:10.839 I'd love to hear from you. I'll protect your 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:14.019 anonymity. If you prefer, just let me know. Also, 00:05:14.100 --> 00:05:17.939 if you are someone who investigates or studies 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:22.540 anything considered fringe or arcane or strange 00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:25.600 around Seneca Lake, hit me up. I'd love to hear 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:27.560 what you're up to and talk about it on the podcast, 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:30.430 if you're all right with that. Because ultimately, 00:05:30.509 --> 00:05:33.110 I want this podcast to be more than just a way 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:36.610 for people to learn cool history and folklore 00:05:36.610 --> 00:05:40.430 about the area. I really want it to help connect 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:42.550 us together and build a community of people who 00:05:42.550 --> 00:05:46.370 are open -minded and curious about this beautiful 00:05:46.370 --> 00:05:50.129 and mysterious spot in the middle of New York 00:05:50.129 --> 00:05:53.949 State. Of course, I love the wineries and the 00:05:53.949 --> 00:05:56.470 waterfalls and the breweries and the restaurants 00:05:56.470 --> 00:06:01.040 and the state parks. and the boats and the recreation 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:05.860 and the farms. But I also think it's time more 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:08.800 people knew that there's a lot more to this area, 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:12.959 a lot more this area has to offer for those who 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:17.600 believe that there's more than meets the eye 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.699 in our world and that there's something enigmatic 00:06:21.699 --> 00:06:27.399 and mystical in the landscape in and around Seneca 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:31.660 Lake. So again, I appreciate you all. Let's get 00:06:31.660 --> 00:06:43.579 to it. So on the evening of July 9th, 2025, a 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:46.819 resident of Rochester, New York, about 35 miles 00:06:46.819 --> 00:06:49.420 northwest of Seneca Lake, captured something 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:52.759 completely unexpected on their... Ring doorbell 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:55.740 camera. The video caught what appears to be a 00:06:55.740 --> 00:06:59.220 very large cat, possibly a mountain lion or a 00:06:59.220 --> 00:07:02.899 cougar, walking down the street in a residential 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:06.339 neighborhood. The local police received reports 00:07:06.339 --> 00:07:09.759 from numerous witnesses and the video clip and 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:13.939 story went viral and Big Cat Mania has been all 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:18.079 the rage in Rochester since then. After a day 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:20.959 or two, the New York State Department of Environmental 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:24.199 Conservation issued a statement saying that if 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:28.040 the video is unaltered, then it appears to show 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:32.100 a cougar. Now, because there is no wild population 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:35.920 of cougars in New York State, or there hasn't 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.879 been since the late 1800s, it's believed that 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:42.819 the cat sighted in Rochester was a wild pet that 00:07:42.819 --> 00:07:46.509 had escaped. They checked with the local zoos 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:49.149 and all the local zoos reported that no big cats 00:07:49.149 --> 00:07:53.050 were missing. So in light of this story, I was 00:07:53.050 --> 00:07:56.430 wondering, is there any history of out of place 00:07:56.430 --> 00:08:00.189 big cats being seen near Seneca Lake? And it 00:08:00.189 --> 00:08:02.949 turns out the answer is yes. And I'll get to 00:08:02.949 --> 00:08:05.370 that in a minute. But first of all, I want to 00:08:05.370 --> 00:08:08.399 give a brief summary. of what's known in the 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:12.360 cryptozoological and paranormal circles as the 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:16.639 alien big cat phenomenon. So the alien big cat 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:21.540 phenomenon, or ABC, refers to sightings of large 00:08:21.540 --> 00:08:26.480 cats in unusual locations or circumstances, often 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:29.899 accompanied by reports of strange behavior or 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:32.860 unexplained events. Now, these sightings have 00:08:32.860 --> 00:08:35.740 occurred all over the world for well over a century. 00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:40.419 And while the locations around the world are 00:08:40.419 --> 00:08:43.500 varied, the United Kingdom is considered a hotspot 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:46.500 for these ABC sightings, especially locations 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:51.059 such as Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor, and Surrey. And 00:08:51.059 --> 00:08:54.159 in the U .S., multiple sightings have been reported 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:56.879 in several states, including Connecticut, Delaware, 00:08:57.159 --> 00:09:01.620 Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:06.240 Now these cats are frequently described as appearing 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:10.559 out of place with some witnesses suggesting that 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:14.179 these cats seem to glitch or phase in and out 00:09:14.179 --> 00:09:18.559 of existence. Some reports include descriptions 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:21.539 of the cats having unnaturally large eyes or 00:09:21.539 --> 00:09:26.220 exhibiting unusual agility or disappearing suddenly. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:31.250 Some of the more unusual theories Explaining 00:09:31.250 --> 00:09:33.889 these cats range from the cats being interdimensional 00:09:33.889 --> 00:09:38.409 beings to the result of government experiments. 00:09:39.409 --> 00:09:44.309 Now, the reports frequently originate from rural 00:09:44.309 --> 00:09:49.049 areas, forests, and near bodies of water, suggesting 00:09:49.049 --> 00:09:53.669 some kind of connection to wild or remote environments. 00:09:54.470 --> 00:09:57.230 Specific locations mentioned in various reports 00:09:57.230 --> 00:10:02.649 include Areas near military bases, locations 00:10:02.649 --> 00:10:06.929 with historical paranormal activity, and regions 00:10:06.929 --> 00:10:11.970 with high rates of UFO sightings. Hmm. Now, with 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:15.330 that in mind, I want to move on to the article 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:19.289 from the Canandaigua Daily Messenger. It was 00:10:19.289 --> 00:10:24.289 published on April 7th, 2021. Written by Len 00:10:24.289 --> 00:10:28.559 Lissenby, the outdoor columnist. for the Daily 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:31.740 Messenger. The title of the article is Cougars 00:10:31.740 --> 00:10:33.720 in the Finger Lakes? Of course they're here, 00:10:33.860 --> 00:10:40.659 at least kind of. So the article goes over the 00:10:40.659 --> 00:10:44.639 more recent history of big cat sightings in and 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:48.379 around the Finger Lakes area. And one of them 00:10:48.379 --> 00:10:52.679 specifically is from the town of Benton, which... 00:10:53.259 --> 00:10:55.600 The town of Benton, the southern border of the 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.820 town of Benton is just north of Penyan and it 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:03.700 extends northeast to Benton Center and Bologna. 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:07.039 And then it hits the western shore of Seneca 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.080 Lake about three or four miles north of Dresden. 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:15.600 So here's the sighting that is described in this 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:19.120 article. Quote, three young Mennonite women, 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:23.429 all daughters of Earl Martin. were visiting in 00:11:23.429 --> 00:11:25.730 the kitchen of one of their homes in the town 00:11:25.730 --> 00:11:28.549 of Benton. The lady that lived there happened 00:11:28.549 --> 00:11:32.289 to look out the window and she said a large black 00:11:32.289 --> 00:11:36.009 animal and she saw a large black animal walking 00:11:36.009 --> 00:11:40.210 on the edge of a hay field less than 100 yards 00:11:40.210 --> 00:11:44.169 away. She had a clear view of the animal. She 00:11:44.169 --> 00:11:48.190 also had a pair of 10 by 50 binoculars. She and 00:11:48.190 --> 00:11:51.110 her sisters spent nearly 15 minutes watching 00:11:51.110 --> 00:11:54.669 the large critter mouse in the field. According 00:11:54.669 --> 00:11:57.429 to all three of those women, they watched a large 00:11:57.429 --> 00:12:01.389 cat. Its body was about four feet long and its 00:12:01.389 --> 00:12:04.009 long slender tail was about three feet long. 00:12:04.230 --> 00:12:08.429 It had a cat's face and ears and it was jet black. 00:12:08.970 --> 00:12:12.009 They all felt it was about the size of a Labrador 00:12:12.009 --> 00:12:15.629 retriever. Earl went over to the house two days 00:12:15.629 --> 00:12:18.830 later, hoping to find some tracks. Despite what 00:12:18.830 --> 00:12:21.169 his daughters had described, he was still skeptical. 00:12:21.769 --> 00:12:25.210 Well, he found tracks. Lots of them, if the truth 00:12:25.210 --> 00:12:28.110 be known. He followed them for quite a distance, 00:12:28.250 --> 00:12:30.990 observing them in snowdrifts and muddy places. 00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:35.210 And Earl knows his animal tracks very well. Photos 00:12:35.210 --> 00:12:38.110 of the tracks were taken, by the way. He described 00:12:38.110 --> 00:12:41.789 those tracks to me. He said, They were about 00:12:41.789 --> 00:12:45.789 three fingers wide, roughly three inches, and 00:12:45.789 --> 00:12:48.409 a little longer, possibly three and a half to 00:12:48.409 --> 00:12:52.110 four inches long. And they were definitely cat 00:12:52.110 --> 00:12:55.850 tracks. Over the past few years, I have received 00:12:55.850 --> 00:12:58.950 more than a dozen other unconfirmed sightings 00:12:58.950 --> 00:13:02.909 of cougars, both black and tawny colored. The 00:13:02.909 --> 00:13:05.929 black cat sightings seem to range from around 00:13:05.929 --> 00:13:10.320 Pen Yen and Dundee, north to Benton Center. and 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.759 from Seneca Lake west to Rushville, end quote. 00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:17.700 Now keep in mind this article is not just about 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:20.820 the Seneca Lake area. It also extends over to 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:24.500 the South Hill, East Hill area of Canandaigua 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:28.539 Lake. So a little further in the article, the 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:33.039 author says, quote, The sightings of large tawny 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:35.860 cats come from all over, but seem to be most 00:13:35.860 --> 00:13:38.500 common around the South Hill, East Hill area, 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:41.580 and many, if not most of them, are really hard 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:45.220 to refute. Like the two spring turkey hunters 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:48.059 who were walking to their hunting area when they 00:13:48.059 --> 00:13:51.220 heard a loud animal -like scream. A few seconds 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:54.659 later, a large black cat ran directly in front 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:59.000 of them and jumped eight feet up in a tree. Then 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:01.620 it sat there as they observed it from a few yards 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:05.700 away. I'd bet they had their turkey guns loaded 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:09.360 and ready. They finally walked away with it still 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.120 in that tree. Now that's hard to refute. End 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.879 quote. Now it's unclear from the article if the 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:21.080 sightings from the three women in Benton were 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:23.679 at around the same time as the sightings by these 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:28.690 two turkey hunters. But regardless, it's certainly 00:14:28.690 --> 00:14:32.970 intriguing and it certainly implies that there 00:14:32.970 --> 00:14:37.990 may have been or could still be a large black 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:43.090 cat running around in the area west of Seneca 00:14:43.090 --> 00:14:46.950 Lake and east of Canandaigua Lake. Now, further 00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:52.669 in the article, the author, Mr. Lisenby, who 00:14:52.669 --> 00:14:56.179 was a former, I believe, Department of Fish and 00:14:56.179 --> 00:15:00.159 Wildlife law enforcement officer, retired, gives 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:05.360 his professional opinion on what exactly would 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:10.259 explain the sightings of this large black cat. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.399 Quote, I believe it is someone's pet leopard. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:19.100 It may have grown too large to safely handle. 00:15:19.419 --> 00:15:23.340 Then it either escaped or they foolishly let 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:26.840 it go. rather than suffer the personal pain of 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:30.539 having to put it to sleep. That would also explain 00:15:30.539 --> 00:15:33.500 why it was not afraid of the two turkey hunters. 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:36.840 And the reason I believe it is a leopard and 00:15:36.840 --> 00:15:40.240 not a black cougar is the footprints that were 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.259 carefully observed and measured in the mud and 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:47.639 snow. A cougar has very broad footpads that enable 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:50.820 it to move over any type of surface, including 00:15:50.820 --> 00:15:55.220 deep snow. African leopards never encounter snow 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:59.360 and their feet are noticeably smaller. And there's 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:02.500 one other thing. While cougars are fairly good 00:16:02.500 --> 00:16:05.860 tree climbers, leopards literally live in them. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:09.799 That would explain why the black quote cougar 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:13.000 end quote jumped eight feet up in a tree and 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.620 sat there while the two hunters watched. There 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:19.340 is a very good chance that this cat has undergone 00:16:19.340 --> 00:16:23.299 the same inhumane treatment. most large pet cats 00:16:23.299 --> 00:16:26.600 are put through. Its sharp canine teeth were 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:30.580 probably removed, as were its claws. That would 00:16:30.580 --> 00:16:33.559 explain why it had to jump into the tree and 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:38.100 not climb it, or climb higher in it. Such a condition 00:16:38.100 --> 00:16:41.340 would also explain why a large cat was observed 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:45.639 mousing in a field. Small animals are all it 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:48.480 can hunt. because it cannot easily kill a deer 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:54.360 without canine teeth and claws, end quote. Now, 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:57.759 I absolutely can see how the author's theory 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:01.320 on this large black cat, the species being a 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.440 leopard, the reasons for its behavior, all make 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:07.319 sense. It's not out of the question that someone 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.119 in the area was illegally keeping an African 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:13.519 black leopard as a pet, and that the animal somehow 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:16.789 escaped. And the observations of the cat's behavior 00:17:16.789 --> 00:17:22.269 seem to point toward Mr. Lisenby's theory being 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:27.410 plausible or even likely. But still, I have to 00:17:27.410 --> 00:17:30.470 wonder, were there more reports of this black 00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:33.849 leopard in the area, considering it was spotted 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:36.849 in the town of Benton, which is mostly flat farmland 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:40.329 with... only pockets of forested areas, it would 00:17:40.329 --> 00:17:43.130 seem at least possible that someone else would 00:17:43.130 --> 00:17:45.750 have seen it, especially in the winter when a 00:17:45.750 --> 00:17:48.910 big black leopard would stand out against all 00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:53.589 the white snow. Also Benton is at least 10 to 00:17:53.589 --> 00:17:57.210 12 miles from the wooded area where the turkey 00:17:57.210 --> 00:17:59.849 hunters got screamed at by a large black cat 00:17:59.849 --> 00:18:02.730 that then jumped up into a tree and sat there 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:06.650 watching them. And where did it go? Did it eventually 00:18:06.650 --> 00:18:12.650 starve and die deep in the woods? Or was it something 00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:16.829 else? Was it an alien big cat, some sort of glitch 00:18:16.829 --> 00:18:19.930 in the matrix, a creature that pops in and out 00:18:19.930 --> 00:18:22.849 of our reality in the fields and meadows around 00:18:22.849 --> 00:18:26.289 Seneca Lake, where unusual paranormal events 00:18:26.289 --> 00:18:29.630 and UFO sightings are just part of the landscape? 00:18:29.950 --> 00:18:32.170 I don't know. Let me know what you all think. 00:18:32.829 --> 00:18:35.549 In any case, it's just one more piece in the 00:18:35.549 --> 00:18:39.430 esoteric jigsaw puzzle around the mysteries of 00:18:39.430 --> 00:18:46.690 Seneca Lake. So this is the story of the Watkins 00:18:46.690 --> 00:18:52.849 Glen Silver Sphere Splashdown from 1952. Now, 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:56.069 it's helpful to provide some context into the 00:18:56.069 --> 00:18:58.670 events that were happening around the United 00:18:58.670 --> 00:19:03.569 States at the time of the... Sighting in Watkins 00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:06.390 Glen. So that's where I'm going to start. Now, 00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:09.809 just under a month before the sighting in Watkins 00:19:09.809 --> 00:19:14.910 Glen on July 29th, 1952, the United States Air 00:19:14.910 --> 00:19:17.890 Force Director of Intelligence, along with the 00:19:17.890 --> 00:19:20.190 United States Air Force Director of Operations, 00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:24.470 conducted the largest press conference at the 00:19:24.470 --> 00:19:28.089 Pentagon since World War II. In the historic 00:19:28.089 --> 00:19:31.099 statement, the Air Force. publicly acknowledged 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:36.019 for the first time their keen interest in flying 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:39.519 saucers or ufos and they revealed that they'd 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:42.799 investigated between a thousand and two thousand 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:48.880 ufo reports since 1947 now they stated that their 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.019 investigations found explanations for the vast 00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:55.200 majority of the reports however they admitted 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:58.670 there were a handful of reports for which no 00:19:58.670 --> 00:20:02.430 explanation could be found. But they went on 00:20:02.430 --> 00:20:05.670 to assure the public that none of the unexplained 00:20:05.670 --> 00:20:09.349 reports posed any threat to national security. 00:20:10.069 --> 00:20:14.569 Now, the reason for the Air Force's sudden transparency 00:20:14.569 --> 00:20:18.569 was in response to a massive increase in UFO 00:20:18.569 --> 00:20:22.269 sightings during the previous two or three months 00:20:22.269 --> 00:20:25.269 across the country, most notably in Washington, 00:20:25.430 --> 00:20:29.180 D .C. where multiple sightings over the final 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:33.460 two weekends of July had generated international 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:39.119 news headlines. The illuminated objects over 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:42.960 the nation's capital were simultaneously detected 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:47.779 on radar and observed visually by both military 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:51.700 and civilian pilots, which resulted in the scrambling 00:20:51.700 --> 00:20:55.960 of fighter jets and... undoubtedly a lot of freaking 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.720 out inside the White House and the Pentagon. 00:20:59.299 --> 00:21:03.299 Now, during that same time frame, numerous sightings 00:21:03.299 --> 00:21:06.019 were reported to the east of the Finger Lakes 00:21:06.019 --> 00:21:10.099 in central New York and to the southwest of the 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:13.539 Finger Lakes in the southern tier. But it wasn't 00:21:13.539 --> 00:21:18.220 long before the so -called flying saucers began 00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:24.130 showing up near Seneca Lake. So on July 28th, 00:21:24.150 --> 00:21:27.390 which was the day before the Pentagon press conference, 00:21:27.549 --> 00:21:32.630 and the morning after the final saucer sightings 00:21:32.630 --> 00:21:36.029 over the nation's capital, an elliptical object 00:21:36.029 --> 00:21:39.369 was observed hovering over Geneva, New York, 00:21:39.430 --> 00:21:42.470 at the northern tip of Seneca Lake. Witnesses 00:21:42.470 --> 00:21:47.650 watched as vapor trails, ostensibly from fighter 00:21:47.650 --> 00:21:51.279 jets, closed in on the objects, but before the 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.099 fighter jets could reach it, the object flew 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:56.980 upward, disappearing into the clouds. Now, the 00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:59.180 sighting was significant enough to draw the notice 00:21:59.180 --> 00:22:02.740 of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:08.720 Phenomena, NICAP, who included it in their 1964 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:12.500 book, The UFO Evidence, which was a detailed 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:16.470 examination of hundreds of UFO reports. the organization 00:22:16.470 --> 00:22:20.890 had compiled through 1963. And that book, The 00:22:20.890 --> 00:22:24.190 UFO Evidence, is considered one of the most important 00:22:24.190 --> 00:22:28.069 books written on the subject of UFOs in the 20th 00:22:28.069 --> 00:22:34.730 century. Then on Friday, August 1st, at around 00:22:34.730 --> 00:22:38.089 9 .45 a .m., just three days after the Geneva 00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:43.220 sighting, Byron Cronk of Dundee which is a village 00:22:43.220 --> 00:22:45.440 about 10 miles north of Watkins Glen and a few 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:49.440 miles west of Seneca Lake, was looking at what 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:52.819 he first believed to be a bright star in the 00:22:52.819 --> 00:22:57.200 northeast sky in the direction of the lake. Then 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:00.180 suddenly the light shot straight upwards, then 00:23:00.180 --> 00:23:04.539 briefly paused before traveling abruptly to the 00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:08.119 north while it was emitting what appeared to 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:10.920 be a smoke or a vapor behind it until it was 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:15.180 out of sight. The object made no sound, and then 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:19.720 within seconds, Byron Cronk saw what looked like 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:23.059 the same strange light moving southward until 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:26.839 he lost sight of it in the morning sun. And meanwhile, 00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:31.079 that same day, newspaper offices in Elmira were 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:34.839 inundated. Elmira, which is about 20 miles south 00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:38.259 of Watkins Glen, the newspaper offices there 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:41.589 were inundated with hundreds of calls. from people 00:23:41.589 --> 00:23:44.809 reporting shiny and round as well as pancake 00:23:44.809 --> 00:23:49.289 or disc -shaped flying objects. Also that same 00:23:49.289 --> 00:23:52.430 day in Afton, just east of the Finger Lakes, 00:23:52.630 --> 00:23:55.769 locals had gathered in the streets and watched 00:23:55.769 --> 00:23:59.329 round objects passing across the sky in large 00:23:59.329 --> 00:24:04.069 numbers for around two hours. And there were 00:24:04.069 --> 00:24:07.170 additional sightings reported in south -central 00:24:07.170 --> 00:24:09.369 New York State as well as the eastern and western 00:24:09.369 --> 00:24:13.029 regions. making it one of the largest single 00:24:13.029 --> 00:24:16.430 -day UFO flaps, if not the largest in New York 00:24:16.430 --> 00:24:20.589 State history. Then, just a few weeks later, 00:24:20.769 --> 00:24:25.650 multiple witnesses in two locations not only 00:24:25.650 --> 00:24:28.490 saw something strange above Watkins Glen, but 00:24:28.490 --> 00:24:32.730 also above and in Seneca Lake. And the story 00:24:32.730 --> 00:24:35.369 was so incredible, it ended up being reported 00:24:35.369 --> 00:24:38.170 by newspapers across the state. It's been cited 00:24:38.170 --> 00:24:42.769 in... UFO books over the years, and at the time, 00:24:42.789 --> 00:24:44.549 it even drew the attention of the United States 00:24:44.549 --> 00:24:49.210 Air Force. So the story begins at around 9 .30 00:24:49.210 --> 00:24:54.710 a .m. on Monday, August 25, 1952, when Watkins 00:24:54.710 --> 00:24:58.509 Glen resident Marion Granston looked up to see 00:24:58.509 --> 00:25:02.509 two objects gliding silently just above the top 00:25:02.509 --> 00:25:07.470 of the big elm tree in her yard on Glen Avenue. 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:10.539 They were large silver balls about four feet 00:25:10.539 --> 00:25:14.539 across with narrow platforms around their circumferences. 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:19.779 Now, Mrs. Granston wasn't the only person observing 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:24.039 these objects, though. There were three neighborhood 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:28.200 boys, ages 5, 8, and 9, who were also watching 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:32.759 these strange aerial spheres. Now, the boys got 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:34.599 excited. They ran home to tell their mother, 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.700 but by the time they returned, The objects were 00:25:37.700 --> 00:25:42.779 gone. Now, five minutes later, three carpenters 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:46.099 from Schuyler County were working on the roof 00:25:46.099 --> 00:25:50.000 of a house at Glen Eldridge Point on the eastern 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:52.559 shore of Seneca Lake, about two and a half miles 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:57.480 northeast of Marion Granston's home. The three 00:25:57.480 --> 00:26:01.759 men watched as a single, shiny, metallic silver 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:04.900 ball about four feet across floated through the 00:26:04.900 --> 00:26:08.180 air above the lake. When it was about 150 feet 00:26:08.180 --> 00:26:12.380 from shore, the object, which the men described 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:15.859 as shining like a big sheet of silver, abruptly 00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:20.940 plummeted down into about 40 feet of water, generating 00:26:20.940 --> 00:26:24.059 an 8 -foot splash before it vanished under the 00:26:24.059 --> 00:26:29.279 surface. So the New York State Troopers in Horseheads, 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:31.599 New York, about 18 miles south of Watkins Glen, 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:34.740 were contacted to investigate these reports. 00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:39.480 Marion Granston also contacted civil defense 00:26:39.480 --> 00:26:43.799 authorities. And meanwhile, in the town of Trumansburg, 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:46.980 about 15 miles northwest, or excuse me, about 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:50.640 15 miles northeast of Watkins Glen, multiple 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:55.559 witnesses saw five jets chasing a flying saucer. 00:26:55.640 --> 00:26:59.680 So before long, news reporters contacted the 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:04.339 United States Air Force at Hancock Field in Syracuse. 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:08.720 who confirmed that fighter jets from the 32nd 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:11.460 Air Division were on maneuvers in the Watkins 00:27:11.460 --> 00:27:15.440 Glen area, but they had no information about 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:20.539 anybody pursuing any flying saucers. Still, the 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:23.900 Air Force told reporters that they would, quote, 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:26.799 investigate the Seneca Lake incident, end quote. 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:31.160 So that evening, the troopers told reporters 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:34.019 that they were considering doing a grappling 00:27:34.019 --> 00:27:38.400 operation on Seneca Lake the next day to locate 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:41.579 and see if they could recover the Silver Sphere 00:27:41.579 --> 00:27:49.160 off of Glen Eldridge. However, the next morning, 00:27:49.319 --> 00:27:52.980 a trooper spokesman stated that they would not 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:55.599 move forward with the recovery effort, and he 00:27:55.599 --> 00:27:59.259 gave the following explanation. quote, we'll 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:01.460 have to look into the matter, but we can't say 00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:04.299 just how far this thing will go. If this thing 00:28:04.299 --> 00:28:06.440 did land in the lake, it would be pretty hard 00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:08.980 to find, as there are parts of the lake in which 00:28:08.980 --> 00:28:12.640 we have no idea how deep the water is. It would 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:15.799 be foolish to begin grappling operations until 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:19.380 such time as we can pinpoint the locale better, 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:25.119 end quote. Now, the troopers were well advised 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:30.470 to exercise some caution because although the 00:28:30.470 --> 00:28:34.750 object landed in about 40 feet of water the lake's 00:28:34.750 --> 00:28:38.690 depth drops to over 400 feet just a short distance 00:28:38.690 --> 00:28:43.130 from that point of entry still there were three 00:28:43.130 --> 00:28:45.809 witnesses no more than a few hundred feet away 00:28:45.809 --> 00:28:49.049 from the object when it dove into the lake and 00:28:49.049 --> 00:28:51.430 it would seem those witnesses could pinpoint 00:28:51.430 --> 00:28:55.549 the locale with enough accuracy to justify a 00:28:55.549 --> 00:28:58.670 grappling operation in the immediate area, but 00:28:58.670 --> 00:29:01.769 ultimately the state police would not do any 00:29:01.769 --> 00:29:07.950 grappling for a flying saucer. So how did the 00:29:07.950 --> 00:29:11.710 troopers attempt to explain the pair of four 00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:15.369 -foot -wide silver spheres that Marion Granston 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:17.569 and the three boys saw floating over Watkins 00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:20.849 Glen and the single four -foot -wide silver sphere 00:29:20.849 --> 00:29:26.329 that a trio of... Schuyler County carpenters 00:29:26.329 --> 00:29:29.130 saw flying over and diving into Seneca Lake. 00:29:30.269 --> 00:29:34.309 Well, Sergeant J. Edward Maloney of the Horsehead 00:29:34.309 --> 00:29:37.509 State Police offered one possible explanation, 00:29:37.809 --> 00:29:41.049 saying that one of the Air Force fighter jets 00:29:41.049 --> 00:29:46.309 flying in the area may have jettisoned an empty 00:29:46.309 --> 00:29:50.289 fuel tank, an occurrence that he said happened 00:29:50.289 --> 00:29:55.009 frequently. Now, while this might seem like a 00:29:55.009 --> 00:29:58.890 plausible scenario, it would also mean that an 00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:03.470 American military plane on maneuvers over a populated 00:30:03.470 --> 00:30:07.390 Watkins Glen area dropped an empty gas tank a 00:30:07.390 --> 00:30:10.329 couple hundred feet from a private home. So at 00:30:10.329 --> 00:30:13.309 minimum, this would have been some cause for 00:30:13.309 --> 00:30:15.490 alarm and a request for answers from the Air 00:30:15.490 --> 00:30:20.130 Force at Hancock Field. And that's not to... 00:30:20.440 --> 00:30:23.500 Not to mention that a jettisoned fuel tank would 00:30:23.500 --> 00:30:25.539 fall to the ground. It wouldn't travel across 00:30:25.539 --> 00:30:29.920 the sky as all the witnesses described. But regardless, 00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:34.839 the troopers evidently closed the book on their 00:30:34.839 --> 00:30:40.279 one -day investigation. Then on August 27, 1952, 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:43.680 two days after the Watkins Glen sightings and 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:48.109 the splashdown, one local news report. stated 00:30:48.109 --> 00:30:51.890 that local residents had come up with another 00:30:51.890 --> 00:30:55.589 theory to explain away the sightings, in which 00:30:55.589 --> 00:30:58.329 they hypothesized that some local children lost 00:30:58.329 --> 00:31:01.970 control of a kite which flew into the lake. Then 00:31:01.970 --> 00:31:05.109 the article went on to note that life on Eldridge 00:31:05.109 --> 00:31:09.789 Point had returned to normal, with kids swimming 00:31:09.789 --> 00:31:12.690 and adults fishing for panfish instead of mysterious 00:31:12.690 --> 00:31:18.990 flying saucers. And that would be the last news 00:31:18.990 --> 00:31:22.289 update for a little while from the state police 00:31:22.289 --> 00:31:26.410 or the United States Air Force. And no more newspaper 00:31:26.410 --> 00:31:30.190 stories about saucers flying over Watkins Glen 00:31:30.190 --> 00:31:34.589 and diving into Seneca Lake. Everyone seemed 00:31:34.589 --> 00:31:38.490 to have moved on from the Watkins Glen UFO story, 00:31:38.690 --> 00:31:44.220 except Marion Granston. And an article in the 00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:48.200 Watkins Glen Review on September 17th, 1952, 00:31:48.259 --> 00:31:54.319 23 days after the Silver Sphere sightings, provided 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:59.519 more background into Marion Granston and what 00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:04.700 she did after the local authorities refused to, 00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:11.440 or failed to, meaningfully investigate the event. 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:17.440 So it turns out that back in World War II, Marion 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:21.160 had been a trained observer in Pleasantville, 00:32:21.259 --> 00:32:25.539 New Jersey. Now, although the specific type of 00:32:25.539 --> 00:32:28.799 work Mrs. Granston performed is unclear from 00:32:28.799 --> 00:32:31.299 the article, there are two likely possibilities. 00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:34.420 One, she may have been trained as a weather observer, 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:38.359 monitoring weather conditions for various military 00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:40.500 flights and training activities in the area. 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:43.440 of Pleasantville, New Jersey, which included 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:47.160 the Naval Air Station Atlantic City and the Atlantic 00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:50.819 City Training Center for the U .S. Army Air Forces. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:56.259 Now, two, Marion may have been trained as an 00:32:56.259 --> 00:33:00.099 aircraft observer, monitoring and reporting on 00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:03.160 both U .S. military and other aircraft along 00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:08.599 the New Jersey coast, because in 1942, German 00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:11.529 submarines had attacked and sunk and sunk at 00:33:11.529 --> 00:33:14.710 least two dozen ships off the coast of New Jersey. 00:33:14.809 --> 00:33:18.910 So that area was under constant surveillance. 00:33:20.069 --> 00:33:24.450 But regardless of the exact nature of her job, 00:33:25.509 --> 00:33:30.049 Marion Granston would likely have developed above 00:33:30.049 --> 00:33:33.609 -average observational skills due to her receiving 00:33:33.609 --> 00:33:38.349 training during wartime at a major U .S. military 00:33:38.349 --> 00:33:42.900 hub. on the east coast of the U .S. So when two 00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:46.819 strange metal balls floated over her yard in 00:33:46.819 --> 00:33:51.279 the summer of 1952, Marion was able to provide 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:55.220 a more reliable and accurate firsthand account 00:33:55.220 --> 00:33:58.259 than the majority of people in Watkins Glen. 00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:04.099 And being trained to observe and report, she 00:34:04.099 --> 00:34:07.690 reported, she observed the... silver spheres 00:34:07.690 --> 00:34:11.650 and then reported her observations to local and 00:34:11.650 --> 00:34:15.429 state authorities but mrs granston didn't stop 00:34:15.429 --> 00:34:19.829 there it seems it seems that she believed that 00:34:19.829 --> 00:34:24.889 her experience was important enough to relay 00:34:24.889 --> 00:34:29.710 it directly and in great detail to the highest 00:34:29.710 --> 00:34:33.849 authority in the country so marion granston wrote 00:34:33.849 --> 00:34:36.039 a letter to the President of the United States, 00:34:36.239 --> 00:34:40.119 Harry S. Truman, describing her sighting of the 00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:44.280 floating metallic spheres. And just over two 00:34:44.280 --> 00:34:48.199 weeks later, she received a reply in the form 00:34:48.199 --> 00:34:51.519 of a letter, not from President Truman, but instead 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:55.639 from the Director of Legislation and Liaison 00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:59.699 of the Department of the Air Force, a General 00:34:59.699 --> 00:35:05.920 Robert E. L. Eaton. General Eaton's letter stated 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:09.199 that Marion's report was under evaluation and 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:11.920 had been made a matter of record by the Air Force. 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:17.300 The general also sent Mrs. Granston a lengthy 00:35:17.300 --> 00:35:22.360 report that mirrored the statements made in the 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:25.980 historic press conference in Washington, D .C. 00:35:26.019 --> 00:35:29.719 just a few weeks prior. And here's what the general 00:35:29.719 --> 00:35:34.039 relayed to Mrs. Granston. Quote, To date, the 00:35:34.039 --> 00:35:36.760 Air Force has undertaken to investigate and analyze 00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:40.119 about 1 ,500 reports dealing with these phenomena. 00:35:40.539 --> 00:35:43.300 Most of the reports were identified and disposed 00:35:43.300 --> 00:35:45.760 of as friendly aircraft erroneously reported, 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:49.800 known electronics and meteorological phenomena, 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:54.360 light aberrations, hoaxes, and other known natural 00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:58.559 occurrences or man -made objects. The unexplained 00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:01.989 reports, which are in the order of 20 % of the 00:36:01.989 --> 00:36:06.690 total cannot be definitely associated with these 00:36:06.690 --> 00:36:10.849 familiar things. The Air Force has stated in 00:36:10.849 --> 00:36:14.510 the past and reaffirms at the present time that 00:36:14.510 --> 00:36:18.190 these unidentified aerial phenomena are not a 00:36:18.190 --> 00:36:21.510 secret weapon, missile, or aircraft developed 00:36:21.510 --> 00:36:24.989 by the United States. None of the three military 00:36:24.989 --> 00:36:28.630 departments nor any other agency in the government 00:36:29.019 --> 00:36:32.159 is conducting experiments, classified or otherwise, 00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:36.159 with flying objects, which could be a basis for 00:36:36.159 --> 00:36:40.719 the reported phenomena. As far as is known, there 00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:43.699 is nothing in them that is associated with material 00:36:43.699 --> 00:36:47.119 or vehicles that are directed against the United 00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:50.739 States from another country or from another planet. 00:36:51.019 --> 00:36:56.679 End quote. So while the 1952 silver sphere sightings 00:36:56.679 --> 00:37:00.849 and splashdown are remembered as an interesting 00:37:00.849 --> 00:37:04.050 and bizarre moment, little piece of folklore 00:37:04.050 --> 00:37:07.869 from 20th century history of Watkins Glen and 00:37:07.869 --> 00:37:10.829 Seneca Lake. This additional information to me 00:37:10.829 --> 00:37:15.250 provides some critical missing context from the 00:37:15.250 --> 00:37:18.690 story that's been repeated and republished for 00:37:18.690 --> 00:37:22.329 the last 70 years. It certainly seems to me that 00:37:22.329 --> 00:37:26.510 Marion Granston did not observe. A military jet 00:37:26.510 --> 00:37:30.570 fuel tank falling from the sky and misidentify 00:37:30.570 --> 00:37:33.670 it as two four -foot -wide shining silver balls 00:37:33.670 --> 00:37:36.469 with a small platform around their circumferences. 00:37:36.949 --> 00:37:40.590 Mrs. Granston was trained by the U .S. military 00:37:40.590 --> 00:37:43.570 to observe things in the sky. So if she says 00:37:43.570 --> 00:37:47.030 she saw mysterious silver spheres in the air, 00:37:47.150 --> 00:37:50.469 I believe her. And she obviously felt strong 00:37:50.469 --> 00:37:53.300 enough that... her sighting, about her sighting, 00:37:53.300 --> 00:37:56.340 to write a letter to the President of the United 00:37:56.340 --> 00:38:02.000 States. So to me, I think the 1952 sightings 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:05.760 were not only credible, but considering the numerous 00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:09.179 reports in the coming years of flying objects 00:38:09.179 --> 00:38:12.400 entering the lake, they were also deeply important 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:16.860 to our understanding of the subject of UFOs in 00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:23.920 the Seneca Lake area. So back in early June, 00:38:23.980 --> 00:38:28.960 I received a message from someone who lives in 00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:32.719 the Seneca Lake area. And they said they had 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:37.059 a strange story to tell me about their experience 00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:41.579 visiting Connecticut Hill. So I replied to them 00:38:41.579 --> 00:38:44.340 and said, sure, I'd love to hear the story. If 00:38:44.340 --> 00:38:46.760 you want, you can tell me the story here or you 00:38:46.760 --> 00:38:49.599 can send me an email. So they ended up sending 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:53.050 me an email. which I received in early June. 00:38:53.750 --> 00:38:59.750 And it's really quite a remarkable, intriguing, 00:38:59.909 --> 00:39:03.869 weird story. And I'm going to tell you the story 00:39:03.869 --> 00:39:08.550 here. Now, keep in mind, the author of this, 00:39:08.690 --> 00:39:10.510 the person who went through this experience, 00:39:10.610 --> 00:39:14.969 was very, very adamant that they did not want 00:39:14.969 --> 00:39:21.170 their identity used. or exposed in any way on 00:39:21.170 --> 00:39:24.630 the podcast. So I assured them of that. And that 00:39:24.630 --> 00:39:27.590 also, I believe that also had something to do 00:39:27.590 --> 00:39:32.670 with their sort of reticence to go into too many 00:39:32.670 --> 00:39:36.130 more further details on their experience, which 00:39:36.130 --> 00:39:39.429 I understand completely. This is a pretty crazy 00:39:39.429 --> 00:39:42.670 story. And I understand that not everyone wants 00:39:42.670 --> 00:39:46.309 to put themselves out there like that. Without 00:39:46.309 --> 00:39:50.929 further ado, let me read you the initial email 00:39:50.929 --> 00:39:55.809 that I got from this person. Quote, All right, 00:39:55.829 --> 00:39:57.809 this is the first time I've written this story 00:39:57.809 --> 00:40:01.309 down. This takes place in the late winter or 00:40:01.309 --> 00:40:04.449 early spring of 2020, right in the beginning 00:40:04.449 --> 00:40:06.889 of COVID when things started to shut down the 00:40:06.889 --> 00:40:09.949 first time. It was the week when our local officials 00:40:09.949 --> 00:40:13.539 actually requested a lockdown. Midway through 00:40:13.539 --> 00:40:16.280 the week, my wife and I, feeling a bit of cabin 00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:20.139 fever, decided to go for a drive or a hike. We 00:40:20.139 --> 00:40:23.260 live not far from the Connecticut Hill area but 00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:25.940 have never been up there. One of us had recently 00:40:25.940 --> 00:40:28.599 heard a story of a witch buried in a cemetery 00:40:28.599 --> 00:40:31.559 up on the hill and we thought we should go check 00:40:31.559 --> 00:40:33.900 out the area and maybe stumble on an old cemetery. 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:36.619 When we left the house, I think it was around 00:40:36.619 --> 00:40:40.599 11, maybe close to noon, but it was late morning. 00:40:41.309 --> 00:40:45.510 This is important for later. We drove up towards 00:40:45.510 --> 00:40:48.489 Alpine and navigated the few roads to get to 00:40:48.489 --> 00:40:52.289 Connecticut Hill Forest. Only about a 10 to 15 00:40:52.289 --> 00:40:55.349 minute drive from our home. Once you reach this 00:40:55.349 --> 00:40:58.849 area, it's all seasonal use dirt roads. I remember 00:40:58.849 --> 00:41:01.030 there was a small dusting of snow on the ground. 00:41:01.489 --> 00:41:03.769 Within a few short minutes, we were looking at 00:41:03.769 --> 00:41:06.670 a cemetery. We didn't have to search at all. 00:41:07.250 --> 00:41:10.369 We got out and walked up the path into the cemetery. 00:41:11.070 --> 00:41:13.550 The first thing I noticed was that there were 00:41:13.550 --> 00:41:16.909 already footprints in the snow up there. Didn't 00:41:16.909 --> 00:41:18.769 think much of it since I'm sure it's a popular 00:41:18.769 --> 00:41:21.869 spot to hike around. I walked some more into 00:41:21.869 --> 00:41:24.309 the graveyard and right up to a headstone that 00:41:24.309 --> 00:41:27.789 immediately gave me goosebumps. It was a headstone 00:41:27.789 --> 00:41:30.210 on the ground, broken to pieces, and had all 00:41:30.210 --> 00:41:32.530 kinds of offerings and little dolls and things 00:41:32.530 --> 00:41:35.829 like that on it. Very creepy. This was the grave 00:41:35.829 --> 00:41:38.730 of Elizabeth. If you Google this, you will see 00:41:38.730 --> 00:41:42.369 photos of exactly what I saw. I looked at it 00:41:42.369 --> 00:41:45.150 for only a few seconds trying to imagine who 00:41:45.150 --> 00:41:48.530 would do this and why. This feeling overcame 00:41:48.530 --> 00:41:52.210 me that seemed like the more I questioned why 00:41:52.210 --> 00:41:54.789 this happened, the more I felt like I should 00:41:54.789 --> 00:41:57.849 leave. So I turned around and met my wife who 00:41:57.849 --> 00:42:00.829 was already back at the car. She said she felt 00:42:00.829 --> 00:42:05.510 the same way. We drove down the road the way 00:42:05.510 --> 00:42:09.789 we came. and were quickly realizing things didn't 00:42:09.789 --> 00:42:12.710 look the same. The road to get to the cemetery 00:42:12.710 --> 00:42:16.530 was one road with maybe one turn in it. Not hard 00:42:16.530 --> 00:42:20.369 to backtrack. Sure enough, we were lost. Driving 00:42:20.369 --> 00:42:23.090 in one direction way too long, coming to a dead 00:42:23.090 --> 00:42:26.389 end or a bridge that was out, and turning back. 00:42:26.710 --> 00:42:30.849 This was very strange. But the moment when things 00:42:30.849 --> 00:42:34.250 really got strange is when the sun started to 00:42:34.250 --> 00:42:37.260 go down. From the time we left the cemetery, 00:42:37.500 --> 00:42:41.159 we were driving around lost for maybe 20 minutes. 00:42:41.380 --> 00:42:45.019 It should have only been around 1 or 1 .30 in 00:42:45.019 --> 00:42:48.960 the afternoon, but it was getting dark. My gas 00:42:48.960 --> 00:42:52.400 light came on and we had no cell service. This 00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:55.480 was really weird. We drove around a little more 00:42:55.480 --> 00:42:58.440 and finally popped out into a spot we recognized 00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:03.260 and got home as the sun was setting. Now, I know 00:43:03.260 --> 00:43:06.099 I took photos on my phone and I wanted to reference 00:43:06.099 --> 00:43:09.519 those for the timestamp. The photos were gone. 00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:14.179 Nothing on my phone or hers from that time. I'll 00:43:14.179 --> 00:43:16.639 end my story here as I'm not going to speculate 00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:19.619 on what I think happened. It was very strange 00:43:19.619 --> 00:43:22.159 and I still feel like I don't want to go back 00:43:22.159 --> 00:43:26.900 there, even as curious as I am. If you have questions 00:43:26.900 --> 00:43:29.199 about the story, please let me know. But this 00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:33.300 is the basics of it. So after I read this, I 00:43:33.300 --> 00:43:36.340 immediately checked to see approximately the 00:43:36.340 --> 00:43:42.519 time of sunset in the month of March in this 00:43:42.519 --> 00:43:45.699 area. Because this event would have happened 00:43:45.699 --> 00:43:51.659 in mid to late March in 2020. And at that time 00:43:51.659 --> 00:43:55.739 of year, sunset is around, it's after 7 o 'clock, 00:43:55.820 --> 00:43:59.800 somewhere between 7 and 7 .30. So right off the 00:43:59.800 --> 00:44:04.039 bat, we're looking at... a loss of hours of time, 00:44:04.159 --> 00:44:08.500 four, five hours of time that this individual 00:44:08.500 --> 00:44:13.280 lost while driving around on Connecticut Hill 00:44:13.280 --> 00:44:17.940 when it only felt like 20 minutes. Also, the 00:44:17.940 --> 00:44:21.780 issue with none of the photographs coming up 00:44:21.780 --> 00:44:26.119 in the phones after they left, the gas light 00:44:26.119 --> 00:44:30.699 coming on, the loss of cell service. These are 00:44:30.699 --> 00:44:34.340 all kind of things that have been reported around 00:44:34.340 --> 00:44:37.739 Connecticut Hill before. Vehicles, batteries, 00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:40.659 electronic failures, time distortions, getting 00:44:40.659 --> 00:44:44.800 lost and disoriented, and odd experiences around 00:44:44.800 --> 00:44:49.019 the cemetery. So I had a lot more questions. 00:44:49.039 --> 00:44:53.199 So I asked this individual several more questions, 00:44:53.260 --> 00:44:57.800 and they gave me a response. It didn't seem like 00:44:57.800 --> 00:45:00.030 they wanted to go into... any more details, which 00:45:00.030 --> 00:45:04.449 they mentioned in a future email. But I'll also 00:45:04.449 --> 00:45:09.489 give you the last few details that this person 00:45:09.489 --> 00:45:14.989 gave me when I asked more questions. Quote, to 00:45:14.989 --> 00:45:17.849 start, I want to emphasize that the big takeaway 00:45:17.849 --> 00:45:20.610 I have from this is how quick and effortless 00:45:20.610 --> 00:45:24.530 it was to find not only the cemetery, but the 00:45:24.530 --> 00:45:28.539 grave. It was like we were being led to it. However, 00:45:28.599 --> 00:45:32.559 the return was not that at all. In the moment, 00:45:32.679 --> 00:45:37.119 nothing seemed really too strange. Our mood during 00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:41.619 it was, well, this is weird. Not nervous or uncomfortable 00:45:41.619 --> 00:45:45.800 feeling like you may expect. I would say amused. 00:45:46.280 --> 00:45:48.639 When we returned home, we went about everything 00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:51.980 as normal. I only think of this story every once 00:45:51.980 --> 00:45:56.420 in a while." So to be honest, when I started 00:45:56.420 --> 00:45:59.199 reading the story, up until the part where this 00:45:59.199 --> 00:46:02.239 person and their wife got lost, I was kind of 00:46:02.239 --> 00:46:04.400 thinking that it could have just been a case 00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:07.260 of someone getting weirded out when they went 00:46:07.260 --> 00:46:09.760 to an unfamiliar area deep in the woods that 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:12.460 has a lot of folklore about ghosts and a haunted 00:46:12.460 --> 00:46:17.010 cemetery. I figured it was possible that... They 00:46:17.010 --> 00:46:20.210 simply stumbled upon the cemetery, saw the creepy 00:46:20.210 --> 00:46:24.309 old overgrown forgotten graves, including the 00:46:24.309 --> 00:46:27.150 well -known grave of Elizabeth and her shattered 00:46:27.150 --> 00:46:30.190 tombstone and all the little trinkets, and their 00:46:30.190 --> 00:46:33.769 imaginations got carried away. Then being somewhat 00:46:33.769 --> 00:46:36.690 shaken and spooked, they got in their car, took 00:46:36.690 --> 00:46:38.829 a wrong turn, and got lost, which is entirely 00:46:38.829 --> 00:46:42.650 possible up on that hill. They had no cell service, 00:46:42.809 --> 00:46:47.150 which is... common on connecticut hill and they 00:46:47.150 --> 00:46:49.550 coincident and maybe they coincidentally were 00:46:49.550 --> 00:46:53.389 low on gas causing their gas gauge alarm to go 00:46:53.389 --> 00:46:56.630 off all of that i thought could be explained 00:46:56.630 --> 00:47:01.150 but the lost time part i can't think of a reasonable 00:47:01.150 --> 00:47:04.349 explanation because we're not talking about a 00:47:04.349 --> 00:47:07.530 half hour or just a simple case of losing track 00:47:07.530 --> 00:47:11.920 of time it was possibly five or six hours Also 00:47:11.920 --> 00:47:14.340 very weird is the fact that neither of the two 00:47:14.340 --> 00:47:17.659 people in the car were even remotely freaked 00:47:17.659 --> 00:47:20.780 out by all that lost time. If it was me and I 00:47:20.780 --> 00:47:24.000 realized that four or five, six hours had gone 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:27.699 by, I would be wondering what happened. But they 00:47:27.699 --> 00:47:30.920 got home and went about their lives like the 00:47:30.920 --> 00:47:32.900 only thing that happened was a visit to a creepy 00:47:32.900 --> 00:47:36.480 cemetery that led to them temporarily getting 00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:39.610 lost on the way home. And with the lost time, 00:47:39.710 --> 00:47:42.190 I also had to reconsider the way they found the 00:47:42.190 --> 00:47:45.710 cemetery, which isn't terribly easy to find if 00:47:45.710 --> 00:47:48.590 you're just driving up that hill with no direction 00:47:48.590 --> 00:47:51.269 and not knowing exactly where you're going. So 00:47:51.269 --> 00:47:53.269 I really want to thank this person for telling 00:47:53.269 --> 00:47:55.590 me this story. In my other messages to them, 00:47:55.630 --> 00:47:57.869 I could tell that they still felt very uneasy 00:47:57.869 --> 00:48:03.050 about what happened on that day. And in my opinion, 00:48:03.150 --> 00:48:05.309 I think that these two people are just part of 00:48:05.309 --> 00:48:08.199 a long history of... people having experiences 00:48:08.199 --> 00:48:10.980 of high strangeness at the Alpine Portal, which 00:48:10.980 --> 00:48:14.340 is another name and actually my preferred name 00:48:14.340 --> 00:48:17.820 for the Connecticut Hill area. So what do you 00:48:17.820 --> 00:48:19.900 guys think? Have you had anything strange happen 00:48:19.900 --> 00:48:24.119 up on the Alpine Portal? What could explain such 00:48:24.119 --> 00:48:28.199 a loss of time? Let me know. And also keep listening 00:48:28.199 --> 00:48:31.079 because I'm going to be looking into the Alpine 00:48:31.079 --> 00:48:34.500 Portal a lot more in future episodes of the podcast. 00:48:35.219 --> 00:48:38.679 And... If you haven't been there and you live 00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:41.019 close enough, it might be a good time for you 00:48:41.019 --> 00:48:43.900 to take a trip up on Connecticut Hill and see 00:48:43.900 --> 00:48:46.920 what the Alpine Portal has in store for you. 00:48:48.760 --> 00:48:51.199 Well, that's it for this time around. I hope 00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:52.820 you enjoyed it. Thanks so much for listening. 00:48:52.940 --> 00:48:55.679 And if you have any thoughts on any of the topics 00:48:55.679 --> 00:48:58.300 in this episode, please let me know. And remember 00:48:58.300 --> 00:49:00.559 to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts 00:49:00.559 --> 00:49:02.940 and get over to SenecaLakeMysteries .com and 00:49:02.940 --> 00:49:05.119 subscribe to the email list so you don't miss 00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:08.320 anything. A new podcast comes out every month 00:49:08.320 --> 00:49:10.239 on the sevens. I'll talk to you then.