{"id":404,"date":"2014-08-01T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=404"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:16:35","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:16:35","slug":"ufo-sightings-near-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/08\/01\/ufo-sightings-near-pittsburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"UFO sightings near Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"February <\/a>
February 8, 1978: A 1978 map shows corridors in North Hills where UFO sightings are most frequent. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"October <\/a>
October 11, 1980: Jane Allyson – the woman who claims to have had communication with a man from the sun – at a UFO Convention at the YMCA in Downtown Pittsburgh. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"October <\/a>
October 7, 1980: Elgar Brom shows scroll and blue dust she claims she received during a close encounter with aliens from outer space. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"June <\/a>
June 30, 1987: Paul Johnson, the director of the PA Center for UFO Research, holds solution used in machine to test soil from UFO landing site. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Photographs aren\u2019t the only items enclosed in the Post-Gazette\u2019s archived folder labeled \u201cUnidentified Flying Objects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of tiny rocks lay at the bottom of this manilla folder, their origins unknown.<\/p>\n

Maybe they\u2019re space rocks. After all, Pittsburgh has a history of supposed \u201cout of this world\u201d encounters.<\/p>\n

While all of the encounters produced different descriptions of aliens, spacecrafts, and even kidnappings, each reporter had one thing in common: all were positive that what they saw was real and (truly) out of this world.<\/p>\n

Some reports remain more believable than others. Take Jane Allyson – a visiting New York UFO lecturer – for example, who claimed that she kept in contact with Cytron, a leather-skinned man who lives on the sun. Cytron, she reported in the 1980, could predict future events for planet earth such as global warming and warned about the dangers of nuclear devices. Allyson claimed that Cytron was right in his predictions \u201cabout 90 percent of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there were those with tangible proof of outer space visits. Elgar Brom of McKeesport reported in 1980 that \u201cvery tall, cinnamon-skinned humanoids from beyond Jupiter\u201d made contact with her 42 times in the span of six years and left behind \u201cblue dust\u201d and undecipherable scroll.<\/p>\n

Even \u201cdown-to-earth\u201d types were questioned and absolutely swore by their stories. In 1968 a World War II veteran described a spacecraft swooping over a parking area in the middle of the night near his home in Carnegie. In response, he was mocked with questions such as, \u201cDid the little green men wave back at you?\u201d and \u201cWhere can I get some of that LSD?\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Allyson and Brom shared their stories at the First North American UFO & Space Expo at the Downtown YMCA. Pittsburgh was host to several major UFO conferences, lectures, and organizations in the 1970s and 1980s aimed at better understanding outer space encounters happening in both in the area and throughout the country.<\/p>\n

Local scientist Stanton T. Friedman founded the downtown-based UFO Research Institute of Pittsburgh in 1968. The institute, which had more than 120 members in its inaugural year, served the purpose of researching any UFO sightings in the area, and challenged claims against studies that questioned the reality of UFOs.<\/p>\n

Another Pittsburgh-based organization was the Westmoreland UFO Study Group, founded in 1970. It later expanded to the Pennsylvania Center for UFO Research, but was best known in the Pittsburgh area for its investigation surrounding both UFO and Bigfoot sightings around 1973.<\/p>\n

Looking at the National UFO Reporting Center index (http:\/\/bit.ly\/Xlis9h<\/a>), UFOs continue to be reported on a daily basis in and around Pittsburgh to this day. In fact, there have been 65 reported UFO sightings in July 2014 in Western Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

However, just as reporting remains constant, speculation does as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pittsburgh has a history of supposed \u201cout of this world\u201d encounters.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesUFO sightings near Pittsburgh<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[946],"tags":[985,1218,1025],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tumblr_n9lhj6df6g1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C1244&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":776,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/11\/mad-men-of-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":404,"position":0},"title":"Mad Men of Pittsburgh","date":"April 11, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"No Don Drapers, but plenty of skinny black ties and crisp white shirts.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n3u5utDwMQ1rr5swxo7_1280.jpg?fit=1000%2C660&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2644,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/13\/oct-14-1925-world-series-at-forbes-field\/","url_meta":{"origin":404,"position":1},"title":"The 1925 World Series at Forbes Field","date":"August 13, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We found this crumbling print in an oversized folder labeled \u201cB\u201d (for baseball). A sea, an ocean of HATS.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tumblr_m8hvmrZ1fe1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":546,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/06\/18\/pso-rocks-the-jailhouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":404,"position":2},"title":"PSO rocks the jailhouse","date":"June 18, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It\u2019s unclear whether PSO ever returned to jail, but the photograph contains a scene for the ages.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tumblr_n7bltiJZtS1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C821&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2244,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/29\/christmas-shopping-in-1972\/","url_meta":{"origin":404,"position":3},"title":"Christmas Shopping in 1972","date":"November 29, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Downtown sidewalks were bustling and dressed in holiday style on December 22, 1972.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdr8mukqGt1rr5swxo1_500.jpg?fit=500%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2292,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":404,"position":4},"title":"Gas explosions in 1927 on Pittsburgh’s North Side","date":"November 14, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The tanks were never rebuilt. Today, the Rivers Casino occupies the site.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdeci1rxx31rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C905&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1256,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/10\/30\/possible-mad-butcher-victims-in-mckees-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":404,"position":5},"title":"Possible \u2018Mad Butcher\u2019 victims in McKees Rocks","date":"October 30, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A search of other cars in the yard turned up two more bodies, also headless.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_mvfvvrbyTW1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1152%2C734&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3866,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions\/3866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}