A Brooklyn man has started a 24-hour UFO hotline, empowering NYers to testify to their close encounters with freaky creatures who don't live off the L. "How is anybody going to report this stuff if everyone is discouraging them? I'm looking at witnesses as a resource rather than someone to slam around," founder Joe Capp told the Post. We're relieved, since for too long, NYers have had nowhere to go with their dramatic tales and footage of unidentified objects...except for all the dallies, countless UFO websites and message boards, etc. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Yesterday afternoon we received this shocking photographic evidence of people looking up at a UFO in Chelsea. The tipster who sent it told us bystanders "saw two white dots that were just hovering. This seemed to convince them that it was a UFO because they were absolutely still. They were pointing east almost straight down 23rd. Myself and a number of other people were straining our eyes to see something, anything but no luck. One guy was like 'How can you not see it? It's right there!' While walking back to my work (and scanning the skies) I saw a white object hovering near the Empire State building but it looked like a balloon maybe catching the sun just right? I don't know. I want to believe." more ›

Free Williamsburg found this YouTube video taken by a UFO enthusiast, supposedly from his back yard in Williamsburg. Does it show an alien ship with pretty changing colors, or is this how a star looks when a stoned scenester messes with the auto-focus? It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether the alien star people will kill the hipsters or merely enslave them, but one thing is certain: there is no stopping them. And we here at Gothamist would like to welcome our new alien overlords, and remind them that we can be helpful in rounding up others to work in their underground ironic T-shirt factories. more ›

Are aliens checking out Manhattan? One man says he filmed a "red craft" UFO for four nights straight this month, and has some footage to back up his claim. He says he filmed from The Great Hill in Central Park, saying, "When I started filming, it hovers about then suddenly I descends near the Reservoir. Slowly and vanishes. After about 30 min, when I got home, It popped up again for about 40 more minutes and morphed into a Plane... I know its sounds crazy... Its been out for about 4 nights so far... For some reason it knows I'm filming it." more ›

There was a lot of chatter about strange lights in the sky last night, from the Bowery to Queens, with one tipster saying, "My boyfriend and I were eating dinner on our roof across from the New Museum and saw a strong point of light that slowly emitted a wash of light that grew then receded until it totally faded away. It was definitely NOT a chopper plane or anything we've ever seen." This took place around 8 p.m., prime time for an alien invasion. more ›

If providing the citizens of New Jersey with a new brand of vodka that comes packaged in a plastic skull wasn't enough to get them seeing stars, Dan Aykroyd has given local extraterrestrial believers some additional fuel to their speculative fire. While making a promotional appearance in Morris Plains in support of his new Crystal Head vodka, Aykroyd was asked about the recent UFO hoax in the Garden State. He said that he was glad to see the story because, as he put it, "It draws attention to the real cases. I've seen two of them." more ›

Two men who released helium balloons with flares attached into the night sky above Morris County, NJ say they were "on a mission to help people think rationally and question the credibility of so-called UFO 'professionals.' " But professionals in the field of law-enforcement have some questions of their own, and local prosecutor Robert Bianchi has filed disorderly person charges against Chris Russo, 29, and Joe Rudy, 28. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Bianchi said, "If there is a single word to describe this... it is in essence stupidity." more ›

The truth is out there, according to Google Street View. British newspaper The Telegraph reports, "A misty shape, bearing a distinct similarity to the movie alien, was captured behind a bush next to a mysterious beam of light. The spooky snap was caught by Google image cameras in the town of Berkeley Heights in New Jersey." Now, some people think it could just be, you know, an odd light thing, but one person points out, "Whatever it is, you cannot deny that it looks exactly like ET. The head is an oblong shape and it seems to have the same long neck and fat body. There is also a beam of light right next to him, who knows, that might be an unseen spaceship trying to make contact." Totally—NJ is a recent hotbed of weird, unexplained activity. [Via NJ.com] more ›

NJ residents have been seeing those mysterious red lights in the sky again. Besides having teeny earthquakes, the Daily Record reports, "Residents from several [eastern Morris Country] towns reported seeing what appeared to be between 8 and 10 red lights floating in unison in the same direction as the wind, starting at about 8:45 p.m. By 9 p.m. the lights flickered and went out, several witnesses said." These strange lights first appeared last month and back then the police suggested they were just road flares attached to balloons. While there's still no conclusive answer, the Michigan-based manufacturer of Sky Lanterns tells the Record that he thinks the lights are from his product. more ›

Two readers have e-mailed us with reports of strange, pretty lights over Brooklyn or Queens last night. Here's an account of one sighting:

I saw something weird in the sky last night, and a bunch of other people did, too. Disclaimer: I am NOT a U.F.O. person, nor do I think that's what I saw. I'm just very curious to figure out what exactly it was. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation of some kind. more ›

Some NJ residents spotted an odd formation of flashing red lights on Monday night (perhaps New Yorkers were smelling maple syrup) and wondered if we are not alone. Here's an excerpt of a MUFON report (via a YouTube video):

As an amateur astronomer of nearly 20 years experience, this is the second time I have seen something in the sky that is difficult to explain. I was on my apartment stoop smoking a cigarette when my neighbor, who was just coming home after parking his car in our complexs lot, called my attention to something around the corner of the building. more ›