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Post by Graveyardbride on May 15, 2018 4:22:23 GMT -5
Controversy over Massachusetts Town’s UFO MonumentCitizens of Sheffield, Mass., a small town in the Berkshires overlooking the Housatonic River, find themselves wrestling with the future of a monument commemorating a controversial piece of its out-of-this-world history. The memorial, a 5,000-pound trapezoid of white concrete placed near the old covered bridge in 2015, bears a large state seal and a plaque featuring the signature of Governor Charlie Baker certifying the event it memorializes as “true and historically significant.” So what is the historical moment in question? An “off-world incident” that allegedly took place more than 50 years ago, when a family claimed to have encountered an alien craft in the shape of an inverted Hershey’s Kiss.
The town is now quietly considering whether the monument should be moved from what is believed to be public property and the governor’s office is walking back its imprimatur, saying the state certification was “issued in error.”
Naturally, perhaps, all this has triggered an intense backlash, both from the man whose name adorns the monument, who claims to have witnessed the close encounter as a 9-year-old boy, and an ardent international community of UFO believers. “We want it to be known definitely that this isn’t going to happen,” proclaimed Beth Wiegand, of the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, referring to plans to move the marker. “We’re not going to hold still on this.”
This is the town’s second review of the monument since its arrival three years ago. The first time, it was moved a short distance, but now the town is concerned it rests on public land near a town pathway. “No one decided it could go there,” Rhonda LaBombard, Sheffield’s town administrator, told the The Berkshire Eagle last month. “If we let one place put something up, then why can’t someone else?”
These comments have not been well-received by Thom Reed, a 58-year-old former Sheffield resident now living in Tennessee. He claims town officials approved the monument’s current spot and is threatening legal action. Any effort to move the monument, he said, is a slap in the face of his family, whose decades-old encounter, he insisted, helped put the town of Sheffield on the map. “We basically made this town famous, in a lot of ways,” he declared.
Reed was 9 and living in Sheffield when he and his family were driving home from a restaurant they owned in town on Monday, September 1, 1969. As their station wagon crossed a bridge just off Route 7 that hot, late summer night, Reed noticed a light glow shining between the bridge’s slats and when he turned in his seat to peer out the rear window, he saw a vessel rise from below the riverbank. Suddenly, he found himself in a room resembling an airplane hangar and the next thing he remembered, he and his family were back in the station wagon, though his mother and grandmother were in different seats.
As an adult – and in what he called an effort to preserve the facts of his family’s case – Reed began speaking publicly about the incident, traveling to UFO conventions and appearing on a variety of TV programs dealing with the paranormal. He won a following among UFO believers, his family’s case getting its own display at the UFO Museum in Roswell. Then, in 2015, he secured formal recognition by the Great Barrington Historical Society.
In a decision she now labels a “mistake” and “professional embarrassment,” then-society director Debbie Oppermann penned a short letter of testimonial on behalf of the historical society declaring the off-world event as “true” and “historically significant.” She added, “I have to say that me writing that letter really put it into a whole other arena.”
On Nov. 3, 2015, nine months after the historical society’s endorsement, Baker signed a state citation – a sort of ceremonial honor issued by the hundreds for birthdays, anniversaries, retirements and “other outstanding achievements” by state residents who request them – honoring the Reed family’s claim. Text from Oppermann’s letter wound up on the certificate and, ultimately, on the plaque affixed to the monument:
“On behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am pleased to confer upon you this Governor’s Citation in recognition of the off-world incident on September 1, 1969,” reads the certificate. “Your dedicated service to the incident was factually upheld, founded, and deemed historically significant and true by means of Massachusetts Historians.” Reed said he’s unsure how the governor came to certify his claim, but according to a staffer, a request for the citation was sent to the governor’s constituent services office.
Responding to inquiries from The Globe, Lizzy Guyton, a spokesperson for the governor, wrote in an email that the citation was “issued in error and was not authorized by Governor Baker.”
So what, exactly, will become of the current monument? Hard to say. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, officials have been in no hurry to discuss the controversy publicly. Multiple messages left for LaBombard, the town administrator, last week, received no response. Reached at the local Gulotta’s Mobil service station, Andrew Petersen, who represents one-third of the town’s three-person Board of Selectmen, showed little desire to delve into the particulars. “All I’m going to say is it’s in the hands of the surveyors and lawyers,” he said.
In a recent interview, Mark Reich, the Sheffield town attorney, said the town is reviewing whether the recent land survey is accurate in its determination that the monument encroaches on town property. “The town’s concern here is not content-based,” he said of the idea that some in Sheffield might not be thrilled with the idea of a UFO monument. “It’s based upon the protection of public property and the use of public property.”
Reed confirmed he’s gearing up for what he said could be multiple lawsuits. He has demanded apologies from the town for smearing his family’s name in the press, and from a local columnist he claimed has made the issue personal by deriding the white concrete monument as ugly. And while he acknowledged he is unsure what will ultimately happen to the monument, there is at least one consequence of this episode that he can guarantee. “This,” Reed declared, “is going to change the whole ending to my book.”Sources: Dugan Arnett, The Boston Globe, May 9, 2018, and the Great Barrington Historical Society and Museum.
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Post by madeline on May 16, 2018 19:16:43 GMT -5
Why move it? It seems to be fine where it is. Why does someone always have to complain? The town should be thankful for the tourists it brings and the money local merchants make from them.
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Post by JoannaL on Nov 1, 2019 19:52:30 GMT -5
Town Removes UFO Monument, Now Facing LawsuitWhile the Navy “Tic Tac” UFOs and the Storm Area 51 fiasco get all the mainstream media attention, what has been memorialized by government officials as the “only historically documented UFO sighting in the United States” continues to be the Rodney Dangerfield of UFO sightings, getting no respect from the media nor local elected officials.
For reasons known only to themselves, town officials took a dislike to the tourist-drawing UFO monument, placed near the old covered bridge in 2015, and on the morning of Tuesday, June 4, 2019, a crew from the highway department arrived with a front-end loader/backhoe combination and hauled away a portion of the popular 5,000-pound trapezoid of white concrete, as well as a bench and row of crushed stone. The local powers-that-be decided the monument dedicated to the 1969 event should be moved out of sight and the surrounding park re-purposed to emphasize something of their choosing.
When questioned about the removal, Selectperson Nadine Hawver referred questions to Select Chairperson Rene Wood, who referred inquiries to Town Administrator Rhonda Labombard, who was unavailable for comment. In a brief interview, Selectman Martin Mitsoff told The Edge the town removed the monument and the portion of the park on the town right-of-way had been reclaimed. The other portion, including several benches and some solar lamps that were on Louis Aragi’s property slightly to the north, were not disturbed. “The monument was removed at considerable expense to the town,” Mitsoff admitted, though he could not, or would not, say precisely how much it cost in legal and surveying fees. “Unfortunately, the party responsible was not responsive.”
This explains why Thom Reed, who as a 9-year-old was “taken aboard a tarnished circular looking vessel where an image of a willow tree was displayed” and returned hours later, is livid. Reed fought to have the event memorialized, fought again when local officials claimed it was on public property and is now continuing his fight in court. After all, he has the supporting documents, the letter from the governor and the polygraph test results (verified by police) to prove it.
Mark G. Lavoie of Granville is a former nonprofit executive and horticulturalist who has been advising Reed. He told The Edge he considers the town’s removal of the monument and bench next to it as “theft of property. Town crews entered to take possession of someone else’s property,” he said. “This was a conspiracy by a few, an unlawful trespass, illegal seizure of property and, in my opinion, defamation.”
Lavoie heard of Reed’s project on a radio program and the two became friends. Lavoie later donated some of the trees and solar lights that remain on the northern portion of the property. There is a group in town waging a “vendetta,” he insisted, adding that Reed had received a “threatening letter” from town officials.
Asked whether the monument was indeed sited on town property, Lavoie replied, “That may be true but … even if it was town property, what’s the beef? This is a tourist opportunity for Sheffield.” The park, he added, is “a state-sanctioned historical site,” referencing a letter signed by Gov. Charlie Baker proclaiming the state recognizes the claim of the UFO sighting and abduction in Sheffield.
Reed has retained the services of a a prominent law firm and begun the process of suing the town of Sheffield, Massachusetts, and others for blatant malice and slander regarding their involvement in the selection of the site for the monument, which they later decided was on public property and that it was all Thom Reed’s doing. He is also filing a class action lawsuit, along with the many local television personalities and businesses who sponsor the UFO Monument Park, and there are other complaints under consideration. Needless to say, Thom Reed is upset – not only about the monument and park, but his good name as well.
Local radio station WSBS verified it broadcast news of a UFO sighting on September 1, 1969, witnessed by many people who called the station to report it. Additionally, the encounter has been the subject of numerous documentaries – the History Channel filmed an episode of Ancient Aliens at the park – and the dedication of the monument in 2015 received national and international coverage.
Thom Reed is now working on his own documentary and book which will no doubt include additional details of his fight for the monument and park memorializing his abduction and experiences because it’s still the “only historically-documented UFO sighting in the United States.” Furthermore, the incident was factually upheld, founded and deemed historically significant and true by state historians and the records highlighting the event are now officially part of the Great Barrington Historical Society’s collection.
Over the years, the Sheffield UFO story has attracted considerable media coverage. For example, a crew from the television documentary series Unsolved Mysteries reportedly traveled to Sheffield in the spring with the intention of producing a segment on the UFO story and park. Contacted by The Edge, Cindy Bowles, a producer for the show, would neither confirm nor deny production of the segment. “Unfortunately, we are not able to confirm anything at this time,” she said. “More will be announced about the series at a later date.”
Sheffield resident Trevor Young was sad to see the UFO monument’s removal. Another resident who enjoyed the UFO park also was unhappy about what happened.
“Heavy-handed” is how Trevor Young, a British native who has lived in Sheffield for 40 years, described the town’s actions. “Before, it was all grown over with weeds, but now you can see the river,” Young said in an interview. “I didn’t like it at first but after that, he started landscaping and I thought, ‘This is pretty good.’” He added the more human thing would have been for the town to move the monument slightly to the north onto Argai’s property rather than cart away the huge concrete slab. “This looked like guys just flexing their muscles,” he observed. Sources: Paul Seaburn, Mysterious Universe, October 30, 2019, and Terry Cowgill, The Berkshire Edge, June 6, 2019.
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Post by Sam on Nov 2, 2019 4:43:13 GMT -5
Why didn't the town just move it a few feet onto the other property? This has more to do with the town showing everybody who's boss than moving the monument off of town property.
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Post by steve on Nov 2, 2019 11:14:31 GMT -5
Why didn't the town just move it a few feet onto the other property? This has more to do with the town showing everybody who's boss than moving the monument off of town property. You're right. This goes further than what the town is saying.
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Post by kitty on Nov 2, 2019 13:13:26 GMT -5
I've never heard of the Thom Reed UFO abduction.
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Post by steve on Feb 7, 2024 15:07:43 GMT -5
Does anyone know what happened with this monument?
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Post by JoannaL on Feb 7, 2024 18:54:08 GMT -5
Does anyone know what happened with this monument? The monument is still missing and I couldn't find any evidence of a lawsuit filed by Thom Reed or anyone else. However, a couple of years ago, the bench removed by the city was returned to the park.
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Post by snowfairy on Feb 7, 2024 23:36:03 GMT -5
If I'm ever in that area, I'd like to visit the location. I don't believe everything that Thom Reed says but I like visiting places where mysterious things happened.
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