Moriches Bay crash claim
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 9
| Date | 28 September 1989 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Crashes & retrievals (topic), Beings & bodies (topic), Secrecy & cover-up (topic) |
| People | John Ford, Ronald Reagan |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 104 |
| Year | 1989 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1989 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 13 |
The Moriches Bay crash claim is a story, circulated among Long Island UFO researchers, that on 28 September 1989 an unidentified craft was shot down over Moriches Bay off Center Moriches, New York, by an experimental "Star Wars" weapon, and that its occupants were taken to Brookhaven National Laboratory. The testimony attributes the shoot-down claim to an anonymous colonel. No physical evidence or official records support it.[1][2]
The Long Island UFO Network
The claim is associated with John Ford, a former court officer who in spring 1988 founded the Long Island UFO Network (LIUFON) and served as its chairman. Members watched the sky over Moriches Bay from Sea Breeze Park, and the group's early years were marked by internal disputes, including over Ford's decision in September 1989 to charge researchers for access to witness files.[2][3]
Southaven Park
Ford's best-known claim concerned Southaven County Park in Shirley. He said that at about 7 p.m. on 24 November 1992 an alien craft crashed in a remote part of the park, that roads were blocked, that the fire was handled by the Brookhaven National Laboratory fire department, and that his group later found burned ground and raised radiation levels and obtained a video showing uniformed men covering something with a shiny sheet. Park officials said the park had been closed that week for duck hunting.[1][4]
Ford's arrest
In June 1996 Suffolk County authorities arrested Ford and another man, Joseph Mazzuchelli, accusing them of plotting to kill local Republican politicians, including party leader John Powell, by placing radium in their cars and toothpaste; Ford believed the officials were part of a cover-up of UFO evidence. Ford was found mentally unfit to stand trial and was committed to a psychiatric hospital. His case later featured in a television documentary series.[1][5][6]
Status
The Moriches Bay and Southaven Park crashes remain unsupported.[1][2]
In the testimony
The testimony cites: Retrievals of the Third Kind presented at MUFON 1978, Leon Stringfield, p449.
People and topics
- Strategic Defense Initiative — President Reagan's 1983 missile defence program.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
- John Ford — Founder of the Long Island UFO Network.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Ronald Reagan — 40th U.S. president whose diary and speeches touched on space and alien threats.
- Department of Energy — The U.S. department that runs the nuclear weapons laboratories.
On the Timeline
- Vallée on the disinformation campaign (1989) (17 September 1989) — Vallée writes there is a large disinformation campaign around UAP.
- Oechsler–Inman phone call (October 1989) — A NASA mission specialist meets a retired admiral about a group said to manage UAP information.
See every 1989 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "UFO investigator: Long Island sightings soar", Long Island Press (Oct 2018) · longislandpress.com · archived copy
- Tanner F. Boyle, "Radioactive toothpaste and conspiranoia: the strange saga of ufologist John Ford, pt. 2" · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Tanner F. Boyle, "Radioactive toothpaste and conspiranoia: the strange saga of ufologist John Ford, pt. 1" · tannerfboyle.substack.com · archived copy
- Patrick Gross, "Southaven Park, New York, November 24, 1992", UFOs at close sight · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- "Top 10 failed terrorist plots", Time · content.time.com · archived copy
- "Where is John J. Ford now?", Sportskeeda · sportskeeda.com · archived copy
- The 1989 Moriches Bay crash claim — Sacred Texts · sacred-texts.com · archived copy
- Leonard H. Stringfield — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Stringfield's 1978 report — Patrick Gross · ufology.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Leonard Stringfield's status report at the 1978 MUFON symposium — Podcast UFO · podcastufo.com · archived copy
- Retrobituaries: Leonard Stringfield — Mental Floss · mentalfloss.com · archived copy
- UFO Crash Retrievals: Status Report I — Goodreads · goodreads.com · archived copy
- 5 facts about UFO enthusiast John J. Ford · thefilibusterblog.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Hangar 18 (the legend and 1980 film) — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 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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