Berkshire UFO incident
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🛸 Case
Contents 5
| Type | Case |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Labor Day 1969 UFO incident, Thom Reed |
The Berkshire UFO incident, also called the Labor Day 1969 UFO incident, is a claimed encounter with a UFO on the night of 1 September 1969 in southern Berkshire County, Massachusetts. Several people say they saw a large glowing craft, and some say they were taken aboard. Supporters say dozens or even hundreds of people saw it, but no police or press report made at the time has ever been found.[1][2]
The accounts
The best-known account comes from Thom Reed. He says that while his family was driving across the Old Covered Bridge in Sheffield they saw a disc-shaped object, which he later described as a white orb bigger than a football field. He says the craft followed them and that the car was engulfed in light and taken into the object.[1] Reed has told his story in many media outlets. In 2015 he said he saw a creature that looked like an ant with some human features, and he has reported other encounters as well.[2] He is said to have passed a polygraph test.[1]
Another account comes from Melanie Kirchdorfer, who says her family drove to Lake Mansfield in Great Barrington that night. She says a bright light engulfed their car, and that she later remembered floating, being aboard a craft in a room with other children, and waking alone by the lake. A man named Tom Warner said he remembered seeing her on the craft.[1] Witnesses have generally disliked the word "abduction" for their experiences.[1]
The monument and the governor's citation
In 2015 the Great Barrington Historical Society described Reed's account as "historically significant and true", and a 5,000-pound granite monument to the incident was installed that year in a small park beside the Housatonic River in Sheffield.[1][2] The monument carried a citation bearing the signature of Governor Charlie Baker that praised the Reed family.[2] In 2018 a spokesperson for Baker told The Boston Globe that the citation had been issued in error. A Baker spokesman later said it had been signed after Reed pressed the governor's staff.[1][2]
The historical society also backed away. Its executive director, Robert Krol, told WGBH that the society regretted that its words had been taken out of context, though he said he still considered the events of that night significant.[2] The town of Sheffield said the monument might stand on public land. It was removed in 2019 and replaced with a sign, and the town has been in a long dispute with a neighbouring landowner over the stone.[1][2]
Doubts
Despite claims that it was the most widely seen UFO event in the county's history, no contemporary report to police or the media has been found. Some local historians and journalists have questioned the story.[1]
In popular culture
The Netflix revival of Unsolved Mysteries devoted an episode to the incident, and the YouTube channel Yes Theory made a widely viewed documentary about it. In June 2024 the BBC Radio 4 series Uncanny featured interviews with Reed and Kirchdorfer.[1]
References
This page was last edited on 31 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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