Linda Zimmerman, who authored books on ghosts, historic haunted sites and , now wants to add UFOs to her list.
Zimmerman said over the 15 years that she has been writing about the history of the Hudson Valley, people have been telling her about their UFO sightings—and she wants to find out about more of them.
“I was surprised to find that the Hudson Valley generally ranks third highest in the country for the number of sightings,” she said. “There have been tens of thousands of witnesses to unexplained objects in the skies over the region.”
Zimmerman has strong connections to Rockland. Her parents and grandparents are Nyack natives and she grew up in Pearl River and lived in Nanuet. She has spoken at the New City Library at Halloween about ghosts. Currently a resident of Blooming Grove, Zimmerman has interviewed many people, collected numerous UFO reports and is looking for more eyewitnesses to interview.
“Rockland is one of the most active areas for sightings, and reports include the “classic saucers,” egg-shaped craft, and the giant triangles, all ranging from the 1950s up to the present,” she explained “The most stunning report I received was from a woman who has also seen “small people with large white heads and huge, dark, almond-shaped eyes,” and her first encounter was in Rockland way back in 1937.”
Zimmerman said some of the better known episodes are called the Triangle sightings in Westchester and Putnam counties. She said official explanations claimed they were only planes flying in formation, but she has been told otherwise.
“I have interviewed many credible eyewitnesses who said what they saw were massive, solid objects that hovered silently in place, she related. “I just interviewed three teachers who had this silent triangle the size of a football field hanging motionless above them at treetop level for 20 minutes. They clearly weren’t planes, the government won’t tell us what they really were, so what are we to think?”
She noted there were UFO sightings of saucer-shaped crafts in Pine Bush in Orange County in the 1960s and 1970s. Then in the 1980s and 1990s people reported triangles and later pulsating lights that did not appear to be coming from any object. Once the area was built up, the reports of sightings stopped.
For her research, Zimmerman looks for eyewitnesses who have compelling stories with photographs or drawings to illustrate what they have seen. She checks out possible causes such as military aircraft in the area before determining if an incident can be considered an unidentified flying object. As she conducts the research for her latest book, her work is being documented for a film, “In The Night Sky: I recall a UFO” by Big Guy Media.
Zimmerman has written dozens of books, most of them non-fiction and describes them as trying to make sense out of things that are bizarre and unlikely. Anyone who has a UFO story to share with Zimmerman can email: linda@nightskyufo.com or write: Linda Zimmermann, PO Box 192, Blooming Grove, NY 10914
