Blueberry Hill, Winsted, Connecticut, July 28, 1976 — A silvery disc with a red dome hovered silently at treetop level above fourteen Camp Delaware hikers before departing vertically in under two seconds.
THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTING REPORT
1976: Fourteen young hikers encounter saucer-shaped object
On the afternoon of July 28, 1976, fourteen people — thirteen campers aged 14 and 15 and a 24-year-old college-graduate counselor — were hiking on Blueberry Hill outside Winsted, Connecticut when a high-pitched screech ripped through the woods. A silvery, metallic, saucer-shaped object appeared at treetop level, hovered silently above them for roughly 20 seconds, then screamed back to life and shot vertically out of sight faster than anything any of them had ever seen. APRO field investigator Paula Holmes conducted an on-site investigation, recorded fourteen independent statements that matched in every material detail, and declared the sighting “bonafide.” She found no physical traces — no ground imprints, no scorched vegetation, no radiation — but she also couldn’t find a single reason not to believe them.
Date: July 28, 1976
Sighting Time: 3:45 PM
Day/Night: Daytime
Location: Blueberry Hill (elevation 1,460 feet), Winsted, Connecticut
Urban or Rural: Rural (wooded hilltop)
No. of Entity(‘s): None reported
Entity Type: N/A
Entity Description: N/A
Hynek Classification: CE-I (Close Encounter I) — Observation of an object in close proximity to the witness (within 500 feet), with no physical traces or physiological effects.
Duration: 15 to 25 seconds (hover phase); approximately 2 seconds (departure)
No. of Object(s): 1
Description of the Object(s): Saucer-shaped / disc with a red, dome-shaped top. Silvery, metallic surface. Counselor reported changing reflections suggesting the entire surface was rotating; younger witnesses reported only the red dome was rotating. No wings, exhaust, or visible propulsion.
Size of Object(s): Not precisely estimated
Distance to Object(s): Treetop level, directly above witnesses
Shape of Object(s): Saucer-shaped / disc with a dome
Color of Object(s): Silvery, metallic; red dome-shaped top
Height & Speed: Treetop level (directly above witnesses on a 1,460-foot hilltop). Departed vertically and disappeared from view within approximately 2 seconds — described as “faster than anything they had ever seen.”
Number of Witnesses: 14 (thirteen campers aged 14–15 and one adult counselor, age 24)
Special Features/Characteristics: High-pitched screech preceded appearance; silent during hover phase; screech/whine returned before departure; vertical ascent at extreme speed (estimated under 2 seconds to disappear from view); counselor reported rotating surface reflections suggesting spin; younger witnesses reported only the red dome top was rotating
Source: Winsted Citizen (Winsted, CT), August 23, 1976; APRO field investigation by Paula Holmes, Northwest Connecticut Chapter
Case Status: Unexplained
Summary/Description: On July 28, 1976 at 3:45 PM, fourteen young hikers from Camp Delaware — thirteen campers aged 14–15 and their 24-year-old counselor Ira Leifer — were hiking on Blueberry Hill (1,460 feet) near Winsted, Connecticut when a high-pitched screech preceded the appearance of a silvery, metallic, saucer-shaped object with a red dome top at treetop level. The object hovered silently above them for 15 to 25 seconds, then the whining noise returned and it ascended vertically, disappearing within two seconds. APRO field investigator Paula Holmes (Northwest Connecticut Chapter) conducted an on-site investigation, recorded fourteen independent statements that matched in all material details, found no physical traces, and declared the sighting “bonafide.” Reports were forwarded to APRO headquarters, the Center for UFO Studies, and MUFON.
Related Cases: 1957: Cigar-Shaped UFO with Occupants Viewable (Old Saybrook, CT) | 1973: Kent Connecticut Sighting | 1978: Long Cigar-Shape Object Flying Above Treetops (CT) | 1979: Multi Colored Lights in Baltic, Connecticut
Detailed Report
Fourteen members of Camp Delaware — thirteen campers between the ages of 14 and 15 and their 24-year-old counselor, Ira Leifer — were on an afternoon hike on Blueberry Hill, a 1,460-foot elevation near Winsted, Connecticut, on July 28, 1976. At approximately 3:45 PM, the group heard a high-pitched screech. A silvery, metallic, saucer-shaped object appeared at treetop level above them.
The object then hovered silently, at an angle above the witnesses’ heads, for an estimated 15 to 25 seconds. After the silent hover, the whining noise returned, and the object ascended vertically and disappeared from view within approximately two seconds — described by the witnesses as “faster than anything they had ever seen.”
All fourteen witnesses provided independent statements to APRO field investigator Paula Holmes, president of the Northwest Connecticut Chapter. The statements were consistent in all material details with one discrepancy: counselor Leifer reported that the entire surface of the silvery, metallic object appeared to be rotating, as evidenced by changing reflections on its surface. The younger campers reported that only the red, dome-shaped top section was moving.
Holmes conducted an on-site investigation of the sighting area on Blueberry Hill. She found no ground imprints, no scorched or displaced vegetation, no residues, and no evidence of electromagnetic interference, broken branches, or other physical traces. The witnesses reported no physiological effects — no radiation symptoms, nausea, or other health impacts.
Copies of the investigation report were sent to APRO headquarters in Tucson, Arizona; the Center for UFO Studies in Evanston, Illinois; and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) for review.
Researcher’s Notes
“Fourteen Statements, One Discrepancy, Zero Traces”
- Hynek Classification Correction: The original page listed this case as CE-II (Close Encounter II), defined as an observation in close proximity where physical traces are left or physical effects are felt. However, the APRO field investigator explicitly reported finding no physical traces of any kind — no ground impressions, no scorched vegetation, no residues, no electromagnetic interference, no radiation, and no physiological effects on the witnesses. The correct classification is CE-I (Close Encounter I): visual observation of an object in close proximity without physical traces or effects.
- Witness Pool Quality: Fourteen independent statements matching in every material detail constitutes an unusually strong witness pool for a daylight CE-I. The single discrepancy — whether the entire craft was rotating or only its dome — is the kind of minor perceptual disagreement that actually supports authenticity. Perfect uniformity across 14 witnesses would be more suspicious than this pattern of agreement with one explicable variation. The adult counselor, Ira Leifer, had recently graduated from Windham College in Vermont with a degree in political science. Holmes assessed him as a “credible witness.”
- APRO Investigation: The Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) was one of the oldest civilian UFO research organizations in the United States, founded in 1952 by Jim and Coral Lorenzen and headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. Paula Holmes served as president of the Northwest Connecticut Chapter and conducted the field investigation with scientific instrumentation considerations — she noted that chemical analysis and radiation detection were not deployed because the object had not approached close enough to the earth’s surface to leave detectable traces. Her conclusion that the sighting was “bonafide” was based on witness consistency, Leifer’s credibility assessment, and the absence of any conventional explanation.
- Holmes’s Speculations: Holmes offered speculations in the newspaper account that warrant editorial notation. Her suggestion that the object might have been a “robot-controlled disc” prospecting for magnesium — based on her son’s geological survey finding magnesium deposits in Blueberry Hill and a reported crashed UFO in South America composed of magnesium — is speculative and unsupported by evidence. These interpretive comments are preserved in the source material as part of the historical record but should not be treated as investigative findings.
- Regional Flap Context: Holmes noted that several sightings had been reported in the area since July 20, 1976, suggesting the Blueberry Hill observation occurred during a local “flap” — a concentration of sighting reports in a geographic area over a short period. She mentioned a theory that flaps correlate with natural disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, severe weather), noting recent geological and meteorological activity, but did not commit to the theory.
What makes the Blueberry Hill case compelling is not complexity but consensus. Fourteen people saw the same thing, at the same time, at close range, in broad daylight — and when interviewed separately, they all said the same thing. The one discrepancy (whole-craft rotation vs. dome-only rotation) is exactly the kind of minor perceptual variation that actual group observations produce; perfect agreement would have been more suspicious. Holmes found no physical evidence, which cost the case its CE-II classification, but thirteen teenagers and a Political Science graduate don’t typically coordinate a hoax on a hiking trail and then pass independent scrutiny from an APRO investigator. The object remains unexplained.
