Saw a UFO in 1984 Hudson Valley NY w/ a Skeptic who Stayed a Skeptic! (Until 2017)

“Must have been something from the government,” he would later say about our shared sighting that was also seen over nearby Danbury CT and reported on its rock radio station I-95. We saw it hover a while over the eastern horizon at c. 10:15 pm and insta-zip maybe 45 degrees of arc to reappear over the south-southeast. Then it dropped below our horizon. Subsequent reports from eyewitnesses at the Indian Point Nuclear Reactor in Peekskill NY publicly stated it hovered over them for a while. Indian Point is considered a dangerous reactor due to its location atop a geological fault line. But they get only a 2 level quake every couple decades or more.

Here’s the really weird part (UFOs are normal to me, but the human mind still weird):—the person I witnessed this with and who nevertheless remained a solid non-believer in UFOs until the 2017 NYTimes article, now claims that he has always believed in UFOs ever since our sighting in 1984! Total false memory easily disproven—his children distinctly remember his repeated “debunkers” and disbelief.

This is not a High Strangeness tale. It’s a sadly normal tale of High Ego-Protective False Memory Syndrome. And prior to his complete memory-revision after the 2017 disclosure, his obstinate skepticism/debunkery even after our encounter of 1984 is a tale Ego-Protective Disbelief.

The two are obviously related by ego-protection—if it’s too painful to be wrong, just remember being right (2017), and if something both strongly indicates you’re wrong and is too shocking to accept (1984), grasp at any unlikely counter-narrative. Yeah, the “government” tests its secret technology over the densely populated Tri-State Area! That’s much more plausible than advanced alien civilizations, let’s go with that story.

When the UFO drifted below the horizon, we got back in the car and drive to where I worked the night shift. As I’m walking in I hear everyone talking about the UFO, completely independent of me. The next morning when I tell my friend about it he tells me it was all over the popular Danbury radio station that night.

And yes, if you’ve sensed that the main point of this account is a Critique of Fake Reason (bad-faith skepticism and ego-crippled cognition) you’re right.