THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1955: Bash Bish Reservoir, New York  A UFO That Responded to a Rowboat

A New York couple fishing after dark on September 17, 1955 spent an extended stretch of the night watching a partially-submerged, lighted object that seemed to respond directly to their movements — advancing when their boat approached, retreating when they pulled back. No searchlight, no boat motor, no explanation the Bordes could account for; just turbulence, two parallel lights, and a pattern of behavior that repeated as long as they were willing to test it.

Date: September 17, 1955

Sighting Time: Night

Day/Night: Night

Location: Bash Bish Reservoir, New York

Urban or Rural: Rural (reservoir)

No. of Entity(‘s): Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: Not Applicable under standard Hynek categories — a USO (Unidentified Submerged Object) case, a related but distinct classification used elsewhere in this archive

Duration: Extended — from the initial mushroom-shaped object sighting through the couple’s later approach-and-retreat testing, likely 30-60 minutes in total

No. of Object(s): 1 (possibly 2 distinct phases of the same phenomenon — an initial small mushroom-shaped emergence, followed by a larger, partially-submerged elongated object)

Description of the Object(s): Initially, an iridescent pink, mushroom-shaped object rising about 2 ft above the water before submerging; subsequently, an elongated object roughly 15 ft long, partially submerged, marked by a brightening light and two long parallel lights beneath it, surrounded by significant water turbulence

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Mushroom-shaped and iridescent pink in its first appearance; elongated, approximately 15 ft, in its later appearance, marked by lights rather than a clearly seen hull

Distance to Object(s): Approximately 100 yards from shore when the couple first observed the brightening light; distance closed and increased repeatedly as the Bordes tested the object’s responsive behavior by rowing toward and away from it

Height & Speed: Object remained largely stationary or slow-moving during the responsive testing phase, then departed down the lake at high speed until its lights faded from view

Number of Witnesses: 2, named: Eileen Bordes and Frank Bordes

Special Features/Characteristics: Demonstrated behavioral responsiveness — the object advanced when the Bordes rowed toward it and retreated when they pulled back, a pattern that repeated consistently; continuous water turbulence throughout the encounter; no visible light beam (ruling out a searchlight or flashlight); no motor or other conventional boat noise, only turbulence; ability to reverse direction without turning, an unusual maneuvering characteristic explicitly noted by Frank Bordes; neither witness had any prior interest in UFOs or “spirit phenomena” before the encounter

Case Status: Well-documented two-witness case with an unusually detailed, internally consistent account of interactive/responsive object behavior, compiled by a noted UFO researcher

Source: Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia, case 376

Summary/Description: On the night of September 17, 1955, Eileen Bordes, fishing with her husband Frank at Bash Bish Reservoir, New York, saw an iridescent pink, mushroom-shaped object rise about 2 ft above the water before disappearing beneath the surface. Frightened, she asked to be rowed ashore. From the shoreline, the couple then observed a brightening light roughly 100 yards away, beneath which two long parallel lights became visible, apparently belonging to a partially submerged, elongated object about 15 ft long, surrounded by considerable turbulence. Persuaded to investigate further, the Bordes found that the object consistently advanced when they rowed toward it and retreated when they pulled back, with no visible light beam and no sound beyond the turbulence — ruling out a motorboat. The object eventually moved off down the lake at high speed until its lights faded from sight.

Related Cases: None identified

Detailed Report

On the night of September 17, 1955, Eileen Bordes was fishing with her husband Frank at Bash Bish Reservoir in New York. While Frank was occupied disentangling fishing lines in the bottom of their boat, Eileen, peering into the darkness toward an unusual noise, saw an iridescent pink, mushroom-shaped object rise about 2 ft above the water’s surface before disappearing beneath it. Describing the sighting to her husband, she noted she knew of no fish of that size in the reservoir, nor any that behaved in such a peculiar manner.

Unsettled by what she’d seen, Eileen asked to be rowed to shore. From land, the couple peered out across water lit only by starlight and, about 100 yards distant, made out a brightening light. Below this first light, two long parallel lights then became visible, apparently belonging to an elongated object roughly 15 ft long that was partially submerged, surrounded by a considerable amount of turbulence in the water around it.

Despite Eileen’s apprehension, Frank persuaded her to climb back into their dinghy so they could investigate more closely. As they rowed along the shoreline, both had the distinct impression of being watched — and tested that impression directly: whenever they steered toward the object, it sped toward them in turn; when they pulled back, it slowed and retreated as well. This pattern held consistently throughout their approach, with the underwater turbulence continuing the entire time.

Frank Bordes specifically noted several details that ruled out mundane explanations: the object reversed direction without appearing to turn around, an unusual capability for any conventional watercraft; the only sound the couple heard throughout was the ongoing turbulence, with no motor noise of any kind; and critically, there was no visible light beam projecting from the object, which ruled out the possibility that they were observing another boat equipped with a searchlight or handheld flashlight. Frank added that whatever it was moved faster than any motorboat he had ever personally witnessed on the water.

Eventually, the object moved off down the length of the lake at high speed, its lights gradually fading into the distance until they were no longer visible. Notably, the source material specifically records that neither Eileen nor Frank Bordes had any prior interest in flying saucers before this encounter, had never previously witnessed anything of the kind, and were, in Frank’s own words, not remotely interested in “spirit phenomena” either — a detail included, evidently, to preempt any suggestion that the couple were predisposed toward such an experience.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

The Bash Bish Reservoir Case — 1955 New York and a Demonstrated Behavioral Response

• Repeated, Tested Responsiveness. Most UFO accounts describe a single trajectory or a passive hovering object; this case is unusual in that the witnesses actively tested the object’s behavior multiple times — approaching and retreating — and recorded a consistent responsive pattern each time, rather than a single ambiguous movement open to more than one interpretation.
• Specific Details Ruling Out Mundane Explanations. The witnesses’ own account addresses the two most obvious conventional explanations — another boat with a light, or a motorboat — and rules each out with a specific observed detail (no light beam, no motor sound, only turbulence and a reversal-without-turning maneuver).
• Two Independent Witnesses With No Prior Interest in the Subject. The account’s explicit note that neither Bordes had prior UFO interest is itself a piece of internal evidence worth weighing — a couple with no stake in the phenomenon, describing consistent and specific detail between them, differs meaningfully from a report filed by a committed UFO enthusiast.
• A USO Case Among Several in the Archive. This joins a small cluster of Unidentified Submerged Object cases elsewhere in the 1955 archive (the Torbay, Newfoundland and Niagara Falls, New York cases among them), worth cross-referencing for anyone tracking water-associated UFO phenomena across the year.

Bash Bish Reservoir stands out for its unusually interactive quality — not a single fleeting glimpse, but an extended, actively-tested encounter with a consistent behavioral pattern, reported by two witnesses with no apparent motive to embellish or fabricate. It remains, in the end, an unexplained phenomenon, but one described with an uncommon degree of specific, falsifiable detail.

“Whenever they headed in the direction of the object it would speed towards them. When they retreated, it would stop and gradually retreat, too.”
— Jacques Vallee, Passport to Magonia, Bash Bish Reservoir, New York, September 17, 1955