Reflections on Strangeness of 2011

This is the week that many will be thinking back on 2011, so it seems only fitting to offer a little reflection on the strangeness of the last year. While the year didn’t top the charts for reports of weird happenings in our state – that honor is held by 2005 when there was over 700 weird incidents reported – 2011 has been a year that featured the most broad range of strangeness since we started keeping a record 15 years ago. From unusual lights in the skies, to creepy creatures reported in the woods, to an increasing number of haunting encounters, we’ve been kept busy throughout this past year.

In the Northwest woods of Litchfield County there have always been steady reports of strange encounters with creatures in the woods, but when we began getting calls this summer from people describing strange animal deaths and hearing terrible screams coming from the woods our interest peaked. Residents of Milford, Woodbridge, and Bethany had something strange lurking in the woods (see Blood curdling screams, Dark Woods, And Monsters…in Bethany???) and this unseen creature was frightening many. These reports were all similar to reports that dated back to the colonial days in Connecticut where people claims there were devils in the woods because of screeches that they would hear at night, and strange glowing eyes they would see. Unlike Bigfoot, these creatures were most likely not an undiscovered species, but an animal called a Fisher Cat, which looks more like a cuddly weasel than a blood-thirsty monster (although, one has yet to be proven as the culprit in these cases… so you never know).

Another mysterious creature that made the strangeness scale for this year is the Connecticut Mountain Lion (oh, I’m sorry DEEP, I know you keep telling us there are none). An aspect of study here at SGRA is a field called “Cryptzoology,” which is the investigation into reports of unusual creatures. Most people would think of the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, African Dinosaurs, etc. when it comes to this category, but any creature which is claimed to not exist in an area falls into this category – including the Connecticut Mountain Lion. For years – long before 2011 – Connecticut residents have reported credible encounters with Mountain Lions in our state, and yet repeatedly the DEEP says they are all mistaken. Then, in June, a Mountain Lion is struck and killed on the Merritt Parkway in Milford. Ah, but the DEEP has an explanation, not only is it a wonderer from the West, but, of course, it *must* be the last one. And yet the reports continue to come in as they always have, so until another “last one” of these Mountain Lions are found, this “nonexistent” creature will remain on the SGRA radar and take its place in the strangeness stories of 2011.

Moving from the ground to the sky, reports of strange objects being sighted zipping around our airspace have risen a great deal in 2011. In fact, 2010 only saw 139 local UFO reports compared to 349 in the last year! What set this year’s sightings apart from other years was the fact that many of the sightings reported to us came from multiple eyewitnesses on the same dates, but from different locations. The greatest of these sightings took place in November and was reported by witnesses in Stamford, Norwalk, Westport, Stratford, and Milford, all on the same evening within approximately three hours of each other. These witnesses all reported observing a pulsating red light traveling speedily along Connecticut’s coast, and just a short distance off shore. The first sighting took place at around 3:00pm in Stamford, and the final one was recorded around 8:30pm in Milford. According to the FAA there were no objects recorded on radar for those times and locations, however on Air Traffic Controller at Sikorsky Airport in Stratford, and an employee at Tweed Airport in New Haven, both reported to us that they had received calls that evening from residents and even a few town officials who had seen, or heard of some object being reported.

One particular sighting which took place in Newtown in November provided us with a great opportunity to educate the public and the media on how not to overreact to UFO reports until all the information can be gathered. Known as the “Newtown Lights” a video showing what appeared to be several “orbs” floating silently over the town wound up on YouTube and went viral. People from near and far commented on how amazing this “cluster of alien ships” was. It was baffling how they seemed to just float by, making no noise at all, and moving in what must clearly have been a controlled pattern. But looking at the video from a trained perspective caused us to question, and as is a common phrase at the SGRA Center, we all said it must be “off to analysis.” After only a few minutes of examining the video, comparing it with others in our database, and taking a closer look to “alien ships” were easy to identify as paper lanterns, something which has caused many similar reactions all around the world. Even so, while one case can be discounted there always remain others that defy explanations, so hope is not lost that some strangeness out there is genuine.

2011 has had its share of spooky encounters as well. Spectral figures reported in homes, disembodied voices (and even music) being reported at local sites, and a haunted farm, all made the strangeness scale for us in this last year. Having fully established our Research Center now in Orange we have had the great opportunity of increasing our outreach to the public, and are being regularly visited by people (real people, mind you, not ghosts) from the local area who have stories to share. We’ve conducted several investigations of homes in Milford, Orange, Woodbridge, and Bethany, in 2011, and some of them revealed interesting results for our team and the clients who asked us in. With television shows continuing to make the idea of ghosts a more accepted notion, more people are willing to share their experiences and see if anything can be detected and presented to them. This is a trend that has increased steadily over the last five years or so, and we expect it to continue into 2012.

So there you have it. Three categories of weird stories that have made it onto the strangeness scale for 2011. With 2012 being… well, 2012… we expect that things are going to get even stranger around these parts. Whether this next year is going to be the last year for the strangeness scale (now THAT would be strange), or it’s going to be a shift in consciousness of some sort, we know that the mystery of 2012 will inevitably open minds to the possibilities of things in our world and outside of our world, and that is really something to look forward to!