UFO buff to speak in Potsdam

POTSDAM — There are an average of 25 UFO sightings reported each year across the north country, according to the state director of an organization that follows UFO activity around the world.

James G. Bouck of the Mutual UFO Network will give a lecture at 2 p.m. June 5 at the Potsdam Civic Center on the existence of UFOs and why people should care about the phenomenon.

Mr. Bouck, Schenectady, said he hopes to drum up enough public interest in and around Potsdam to start a local chapter of his organization. The state group has 150 members with 35 investigators.

"It's a remote part of the state, but we do get a number of sightings in that area, probably about 25 to 30 reports a year," Mr. Bouck said of the north country.

And while that number pales compared to other parts of the state, the sightings themselves tend to be higher in quality. Often, eyewitness reports are more detailed here because of the area's clear skies, he said.

"Some of my best reports have come from up in the Adirondacks," Mr. Bouck said. "There's no light filtering in from outside sources."

Mr. Bouck said his network processes hundreds of reports across the state annually, some as simple as reports of a bright light in the sky. Others UFOs, he said, fly closer to home.

"If it is just something that we call a flyby — somebody sees a light go by at night — we can do that over the phone," Mr. Bouck said. "But if it comes down to something more important, such as it gets real close to the ground, or it affects the environment or has some kind of automobile or electrical effects, we will definitely have somebody out there."