Pine Bush – New York’s “Secret” UFO And Paranormal Hot-Spot?

We have examined before the mysterious and intriguing UFO sightings of the early-1980s in Hudson Valley, New York. And how these sightings are still happening today. However, while Hudson Valley is perhaps one of the first places that might come to mind when thinking of UFOs and strange activity in the state of New York, it would appear that the true epicenter of such bizarre activity is the apparently typical and quiet suburb of Pine Bush.

A depiction of the Pine Bush UFO

Indeed, while the locals are happy to talk of their latest strange sightings, such is their normality to Pine Bush residents, outsiders regularly travel to the area, risking (and receiving) fines for trespassing, in order to catch a glimpse of these apparently otherworldly visitors. And to investigate for themselves the multiple conspiracies connected to the region.

Before we look at this seemingly darkly unique location a little further, check out the short video below. It shows a number of strange UFO sightings in the area captured on video.

The Initial Investigations Of Ellen Crystal

Perhaps the first person to begin to draw widespread attention, albeit slowly, to the Pine Bush region was author and UFO researcher, Ellen Crystal. ^[1] Following an eleven-year investigation in the region, Crystal released the book Silent Invasion in 1991. In it, she detailed several close encounters with UFOs, some of which she witnessed landing or taking off from some of the region’s open fields. She even offered several pictures of some of these incidents. They were, however, extremely unclear, something many used against her and her research. In her defense, she would offer that this was “due to intentional magnetic or microwave disruption focused on the camera (or) film by the aliens in order to camouflage their craft”.

Not surprisingly, many dismissed her claims unreservedly, even some in the UFO community. However, over time, many other paranormal and UFO researchers began to visit the area. Slowly and quietly, the word began to spread that there was “something strange” about Pine Bush. These initial researchers into all-things-strange formed a loose and unnamed organization that would regularly travel to the area in the early nineties. They would watch the skies, and discuss, swap, and compare notes of strange accounts they had heard from the locals.

By the mid-to-late 1990s, and on into the 2000s, the strange activity in the region continued. And while widespread attention was still a little way off, the researchers who were paying particular attention to Pine Bush treated the incidents with seriousness. As they might, considering they were increasingly strange, further blurring the lines between different fields of research.

Incidentally, Ellen Crystal passed away from Cancer in December 2002 at the age of just 52-years-old. Her initial investigation into the Pine Bush area continues through other researchers today. The video below features Crystal’s work.

Lights, Phantom Beings, And Strange Animal Sightings

The more those initial researchers began to study the area, they began to form a fuller picture of the truly bizarre goings-on at Pine Bush. In scenes reminiscent of Skinwalker Ranch all manner of truly astounding activity was noted. Reports of strange lights in the sky, for example, were regular and persistent. However, strange “phantom beings” were also reported – some so strange they defied description. Perhaps stranger still were the numerous reports of strange and bizarre animals – again with descriptions that resembled the results of some hideous breeding program.

Even more disturbing were the “strange mechanical rumblings” that appeared to come from deep under the ground. These particularly strange noises arguably led many to pursue theories of underground facilities in the area. This would also, in theory, explain the explosion of UFO sightings in and around Pine Bush and the state of New York as a whole.

Many farmers in the region would often witness these strange glowing UFOs over their fields. Often, when exploring them the next day they would find huge mounds of earth piled up as if by a tractor. Then, there is the strange activity on record from the surrounding woodland.

Strange “white orbs of light” were regularly seen and reported. Even stranger, when people would attempt to capture these orbs on film (referred to as Tesla Globes) they would discover a strange red mist in their photographs. This red mist is apparently invisible to the naked eye. Even more disturbing is the “warm gusts of air” that reach out of the woods. Even in winter when in freezing cold conditions.

Claims Of Alien Abduction In Pine Bush

It wasn’t long before local newspapers began to pick up on the increased presence of these researchers, and the bizarre encounters and incidents they were recording. ^[2] Many local residents and even visitors to the area would begin sending in images they had captured of strange aerial objects to various local publications, while others would tell of their bizarre close encounters with the occupants of these strange crafts.

In 1993, for example, The Poughkeepsie Journal ran an article on a local group, the United Friends Observer Society, whose members included people who claimed to have been the victims of alien abduction. One such member would tell the Journal that he had recently been abducted and that “it started like it always does, with the noise in my ears”. The alleged abductee would go on to tell how he would become paralyzed. Only able to move his eyes he would soon find himself in a strange room “filled with entities”.

Another local publication, The Times-Herald Record, would tell of the account of Jim Smith. Smith was a long-time Pine Bush resident and a sergeant at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility. According to Smith, he had “seen so many of the beings” that he knew much about them. From how they moved to what different sizes and shapes of the entities there were. He would tell the paper, “when you see them so much, you know they are not of this Earth”.

These types of claims appeared to come thick and fast out of Pine Bush in the early nineties. And while some were undoubtedly motivated by money or the need for attention, many others are very likely genuine. As you might imagine, not everyone was happy about the increased attention on the region. Not least, the original researchers of the area.

Depiction of UFOs overhead

An “Exact Scale Replica” Of Cydonia!

More and more reports came out of the Pine Bush area of New York. And more and more people began to take an interest in the region. Perhaps more noteworthy, many apparent alien abductees, possibly spurred on by the slow acceptance that something untoward was occurring in Pine Bush, would come forward and report their encounters. Arguably, although still several years away, the most well-known of these would be Whitley Strieber. In the publication of Communion he details his own abduction accounts. He would declare publicly that many of his encounters took place in the Pine Bush region.

The initial group of Pine Bush researchers, whether through inward protectionism or wanting to secure against charlatans, would largely close themselves from this second wave of interested researchers and abductees.

One of the more interesting researchers to conduct investigations in the area was Dr. Bruce Cornet, who following meeting with Ellen Crystal in the early-1990s, began to spend more and more time in the region. He would conduct magnetic and geological experiments and surveys of the area. He would ultimately declare to have discovered the presence of underground transmitters. These were firing off “polarized magnetic photo beams” into outer space. After claiming telepathic communication with the intelligence behind this strange technology, he would go on to state that the entire Wallkill River valley region was an “exact scale replica” of the Cydonia region of Mars. Rightly or wrongly, many struggled with Cornet’s assertions.

That was until May 1997 that is. Then, along with two colleagues captured footage and pictures of a bizarre triangular UFO crossing over the region. Although it didn’t support his earlier claims, it did show that the strange activity he spoke about was very real.

radar image reproduction

Questionable Crackdown?

In more recent years, although the sightings certainly haven’t ceased, nor the tales of the strange activity in Pine Bush, being able to watch and record them has. Watching for UFOs – or “skywatching” as per Orange County’s term – was banned in the area by the early-2000s. This is partly due to the increased urbanization of the area. Wide open spaces that once allowed anyone who wished to go there, are increasingly subject to “Private Property” signs and warnings of “Trespassing”.

While this explains some of the land encroached upon, other areas appear to be subject to question. And many question whether an apparent understandable law with regard to private property has been taken advantage of. Perhaps in order to stop those who may wish to film, documenting, and gathering proof that something strange and bizarre is indeed taking place in the Pine Bush area of New York.

Many still do venture into the area, though. And the cosmic fruits of their risky work continues to find their way online and out into the wider world. Check out the short documentary below. It looks at Pine Bush and the strange and intriguing activity that occurs there.