Per capita, Oregon has more UFO sightings than any other state besides Vermont, and Oregonians continue to see unexplained phenomena in the sky regularly. We’re coming for you in 2019, Vermont, and we figure that the best way to pack the skies with more UFOs is to report on them extensively. In that spirit, we’re having some fun and launching this new online exclusive column where we’ll highlight some of Oregon’s most interesting UFO sightings.
Jan 1: Tigard/Dundee
In January, twelve sightings were reported to National UFO Reporting Center, or NUFORC. On New Year’s Day, two sightings were independently reported in Dundee then Tigard, both of which describing similar characteristics. From the Dundee report: “I was facing South in my backyard when I saw two round red lights moving from South to North, I watched them for about five minutes. They were less than 30 degrees above the horizon. There was no moon and these lights were brighter and larger than any star in the sky or a passing airplane. They appeared to be coming towards us because they were getting brighter in red color… After getting brighter, the lower right one dimmed quickly and then turned white before disappearing. About two minutes later the upper left one did the same thing.”
NUFORC added a note to this report: “We spoke with the source of the report, and found him to be quite eloquent and sober-minded. We suspect that he is an excellent, and reliable, witness.”
About an hour later, just before 11 pm, the next sighting occurred 17 miles northeast of Dundee in Tigard. “I went to let my dog out before retiring to bed… I stepped out the door, and above me in the sky was a round object with red lights around the perimeter. The lights turned to white, flashed, and then turned red again. There were other lights going toward the center of the circle. These lights were red. Too large to be a drone.”
Jan 18: Junction City
On January 18, a sighting occurred on Pitney Lane in Junction City at around 7:30 pm. The witness stated that they saw a triangular object with flashing red, green, and white lights hovering just above the ground with a bright light “scanning” a field. “I’m used to jets flying around us, but this was silent, stayed put, and was scanning the fields,” said the witness.
Jan 31: Albany
The final Oregon sighting reported to NUFORC in 2018 happened in Albany. Dylan Breaw, who lives near the Highway 20 bridge, spoke with the Advocate about his experience, which lasted about 20 minutes. He witnessed four orange lights leave the ground from the direction of Mount Hood and fly into the night sky, hundreds of feet over Albany. He described the lights hovering and arranging themselves in different formations before forming a straight line, and returning to the ground near where he saw them emerge. He had a similar sighting on February 4 where the lights did not make the same formations, but he took a video of the incident. It turns out that this phenomenon is not new to Albany. We reported a similar incident in December, and this YouTube video from 2013 shows similar phenomenon.
Other January sightings occurred in Oregon City, Creswell, Hillsboro, and elsewhere, some reports being anonymous, while others provided contact information leading to questioning by NUFORC. Oregon’s full sighting report can be viewed here.
That’s what we have for you this month, but believe us when we say that there’s more coming. According to Oregonians, the heavens over this place are chock full of the unknown, and I can’t wait to read about it. Eyes on the skies, people!
See something? Report it here: http://www.nuforc.org. (Drop us a line as well.)
By Jay Sharpe
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