Must See Videos Show ‘Odd Sighting’ in the Hudson Valley Sky

Videos show something in the sky "falling abruptly." We believe we know what the "odd sighting" was in the Hudson Valley.

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On Friday, Jason Bensetler sent Hudson Valley Post videos of an "Odd sighting" in the sky in Orange County on Thursday. The videos were taken between between 5:45pm and 5:57pm on Route 207, Route 300 and Route 208 entering Maybrook, according to Bensetler.

"Object trailed downward until leveling out then falling again abruptly," Bensetler wrote in an email.

Below are the videos. Warning, some of the videos contain curse words.

[video width="960" height="1744" mp4="https://townsquare.media/site/854/files/2021/02/Skyobj2.mp4"][/video]

[video mp4="https://townsquare.media/site/854/files/2021/02/Skyobj3.mp4"][/video]

[video width="960" height="1744" mp4="https://townsquare.media/site/854/files/2021/02/Skyobj4.mp4"][/video]

[video width="960" height="1744" mp4="https://townsquare.media/site/854/files/2021/02/Skyobj1.mp4"][/video]

The video appears to show what others saw in the sky across the Hudson Valley on Thursday. Around 6 p.m., many social media users posted photos wondering what was in the sky. Megan Messina was in Newburgh trying to catch the sunset when she spotted something interesting, her photo is posted below.

Ross Stephens told Messina he believed it was an "optical illusion that the jet is going straight up."

Nicole DeCaprio shared a similar photo to the Hudson Valley in pictures Facebook group that was taken around 5:45 p.m. in Hopewell Junction.

"Did anyone notice this weird...cloud?" she asked.

Eric Lutz commented with another photo taken from New York Stewart International Airport saying it was a "contrail" but "didn't look like one." Brett Castro agreed.

"Yes, it's definitely a plane contrail. I actually watched the airliner approach and pass over. If a plane is flying over the horizon directly toward you, it will produce the illusion of increasing height. In reality, the plane is getting closer and your viewing angle is increasing. It's a trick of perspective," Castro commented.

Sue Alon also posted a similar photo to the group that she noticed while driving on Route 211. Others said they saw the same sighting in Pine Bush, Goshen, Middletown, Monroe, Millbrook, Pine Island, Beacon, Pleasant Valley, Wingdale, Fishkill and Salt Point.

"It's a jet contrail... The angle is just creating the illusion that it's straight up and down... it's NOT aliens and NOT an inverted roll cloud," Joe DeGregorio said.

Richard Jones provided more insight.

"My take on this is that it is a jet aircraft flying at such an altitude that the contrail has widened considerably so that the light from the setting sun produces this dramatic effect. The reason it looks like a missile launch has to do with the angle at which the photo was taken... The person taking the photo is almost directly under the aircraft as it is passing over. A similar effect produced a flurry of UFO reports in California recently during a SpaceX launch from the west coast," he commented.

A spokesperson from New York Stewart International Airport told Hudson Valley Post he couldn't comment on the situation and suggested calling the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Port Authority officials haven't responded to our request. We will update if we learn more information.

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