The Inspiration – by Scott Browne
This photograph is very important to me for a couple of reasons. When I first heard about it, I was sitting around a fire in my backyard with my daughter and her best friend back in October. My daughter’s best friend happens to be one of Sylvia’s close neighbors who also lives on Rt. 67 in Warren. She was very excited and told me the story which in turn led me to contact Sylvia.
My interest in the phenomena had slowed down in the last few years and my focus on the Warren area had all but faded away. This photo not only jump started my interest again, but was also the inspiration for the creation of this website. I would like to thank Timber, but most of all I would like to thank Sylvia for being open and friendly with me and sharing her experience with all of us.
The "Pyzocha Photo"
The Photo - by Sylvia Pyzocha
The sunrise photo was taken on Sat Sept 25, 2010 at 7:27 am. The conditions were dry, quiet, calm with a partly cloudy sky, and the sun was just coming up over Fenton Mt. My objective was to capture the sun's rays peaking over the mountain and back lighting the Alto Cumulus clouds. In the foreground I wanted to capture the details of the timothy grass, so I used a very low intensity flash that reaches at most 15 feet. I was not aware of the object until I uploaded the photo to my computer and zoomed. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
The location is in Palmer, Ma on Route 67 at mile marker 1 overlooking the Quaboag River Valley. I was shooting due East toward Brimfield which is on the far side of the river. Fenton Mt , in the background, is just about 1 mile away. It seems to me that the object is about 1/2 mile away, though could be less. I was at about 420 ft elevation. The terrain rolls down to the river which is at about 380 ft elevation.
I did not hear anything motorized, it was very quiet. I work outside all day and am very in tune to my surroundings. And, had I heard any sound, I would have brought my attention to it because I would not want to have a plane in the photograph. I live just down the road so I am very familiar with the lay of the land. There is a hot air balloon pilot that ends up sailing by in this valley, however, this most certainly is not one of them. Occasionally an ultralight will pass over. This is not an ultralight. I would have heard it, and I would have watched it until out of sight.
The clouds were back lit by the rising sun, but the foreground was still low light, yet the object itself was uncharacteristically bright considering the source of light. Also the object was lit from the left side with a very dark shadow on the right side. The moon was setting in the west, but I do not feel that it would have such an intense effect on the object. I can't figure out direction or speed. But, I took a series of 10 photos from the same spot in 7 minutes. The object does not appear in any of the other photos. I was shooting in low light using a film speed ISO 60, camera on a fixed surface. Any moving object, if captured at all, considering the distance, would be very blurred under these conditions. I have to wonder, was the object moving directly toward my position, or was it not moving much at all...hovering?
- Sylvia
LIST OF THINGS MISTAKEN FOR UFOs
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/ifo_list.htm
