Here are some online references to this news story:
Video Photographer Shoots Apparent UFO
A video photographer at a local television station got more than he
bargained for when he went to shoot planes taking off at the Albany
International Airport on Sunday afternoon. The station employee of
WXXA-TV, not only got a video shot of Northwest Airlines Flight 1549
taking off for Detroit, but also shot what appeared to be a UFO
streaking across the sky at his Troy-Schenectady Road perch. The
object appeared rectangular in shape and flew above the clouds at
times at a high rate of speed. After reporting the incident, the
Albany County Sheriff's Department and FBI agents converged upon the
Albany station to analyze the tape of the object that did not show up
on radar. No official determination was released by authorities.
Digital City: Albany
http://www.digitalcity.com/albany/news/article.adp?article=1143285
---------------------------------
Strange Sighting over Albany Airport
A STRANGE SIGHT IN THE SKIES OVER THE CAPITAL REGION - NO ONE KNOWS
YET WHAT IS WAS - BUT IT WAS ENOUGH TO HAVE THE FBI SCRAMBLING TO TAKE
A LOOK.
ONE OF OUR VIDEOGRAPHERS WAS SHOOTING A PLANE TAKING OFF FROM THE
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - AT THE SAME TIME THE STRANGE OBJECT
STREAKED THROUGH THE SKY - IT WAS MOVING SO FAST, HE DIDN'T EVEN SEE
IT, UNTIL HE PLAYED HIS TAPE IN SLOW MOTION.
WE'RE TOLD THE OBJECT DID *NOT SHOW UP ON RADAR. AUTHORITIES WILL
CONTINUE TO ANALYZE THE VIDEO TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE FLYING OBJECT IS.
WE'LL KEEP YOU POSTED
WXXA Fox 23 News, Albany
http://www.fox23news.com/Global/story.asp?S=980142&nav=83rSBuM2
---------------------------------
Although WXXA initially had video footage available on their site (as
verifiable in a cached Google search,) the video clip has now been
deleted. However, I have found an extensive examination of the story.
The site listed below features several still photos and a downloadable
video (after downloading the clip, you will need to rename it with a
suffix of .mov in order to view it.)
FBI Grabs Fox UFO Video -
Expert Certifies Object Genuine
Preliminary NUFORC statement regarding the footage captured by FOX 23
television in Albany, NY, on Sunday, October 20, 2002.
By Peter Davenport
Director, National UFO Reporting Center
10-22-2
Albany, NY Fox TV UFO Case
At 07:30 hrs. (Pacific) on Monday morning, October 21, 2002, the
National UFO Reporting Center received a telephone call from a
television news reporter, Mr. Dan Bazile, with FOX 23 news (a Clear
Channel Communication-owned station), who apprised us that one of
their photographers had inadvertently captured brief footage of a very
bizarre object streaking across the sky near Albany, NY. He described
that one of their photographers had been out on Sunday afternoon,
October 20th, photographing aircraft at a nearby airport, and that the
peculiar object had been detected in the news studio when the footage
was being examined at slow speed.
From that first telephone conversation, NUFORC was not left with a
clear understanding of the nature of the object and its appearance,
but Mr. Bazile offered to forward to NUFORC still images from the
tape. NUFORC offered to help identify the object, if possible, and to
put the station in touch with photo analysts, who might be able to
assist in further analysis.
In a second conversation with Mr. Bazile on Tuesday morning, October
22, he apprised NUFORC that the original video tape of the object had
been forcibly "confiscated" from the "young photographer" by "four FBI
agents," from the Albany, NY, FBI offices, a statement which now is in
question. (Please see paragraphs below.) Mr. Bazile went on to
describe how the agents had invited the photographer outside the
station, and that the agents had then "taken" the "original" tape from
the photographer, who had it on his person at the time of the meeting
with the FBI personnel. When NUFORC suggested that such an act, in the
absence of a court warrant, might be illegal, Mr. Bazile averred that
he agreed with that assessment. However, he stated that the station
still had in its possession several copies of the original tape.
When NUFORC asked Mr. Bazile whether FOX 23 was planning to do a news
report on the incident with the FBI, he responded that the station was
"considering" that possibility, but such a decision was out of his
hands. He then stated that in order to answer that question, he would
like first to speak with his "supervisor" about the matter, and that
he would call back "in a few minutes."
After approximately 45 minutes had elapsed, NUFORC telephoned FOX 23
and requested to be put in touch with Mr. Bazile. After a short period
of time, he came on the line, but after only a very short conversation
he said he would like to put his supervisor, Mr. Dave Brown, Station
News Director for FOX 23, on the line.
During our 7-minute conversation with Mr. Brown, he stated that a copy
of the tape had been provided to the personnel from the FBI by his
station voluntarily, because his station "willingly co-operated with
members of law enforcement." He added that he personally had provided
the video to the FBI, that it had not been "taken" by them, as had
been suggested by Mr. Bazile. Mr. Brown stated that he had arrived at
work on Sunday evening "at about 8 or 9 o'clock," and that FBI
personnel had been photographed in the station while they watched the
tape, and that that footage had been aired by the station on Sunday
night as a news report. Mr. Brown implied that this fact illustrated
that there had been no "mystery" surrounding the FBI's interest in the
footage, and that, in his opinion, no impropriety surrounded the
transfer of the tape to the FBI personnel.
Mr. Brown also added that he did not know whether the original tape
had been provided to the FBI, or whether they had received a copy.
However, he said that with digital tape, it really did not matter,
since very little fidelity was lost in a copied tape.
When asked how many representatives from the FBI had been present at
the station on Sunday night, he said that he did not know, but there
were at least two representatives from that office present. He said
there might have been more, but he could not be certain, since "there
were so many people present in the station that night."
Mr. Brown closed the conversation with the statement that FOX 23 would
not be devoting any more news coverage to the footage, suggesting that
the story was now old news, and that, in his opinion, it did not
warrant any further attention by his station.
Following our conversation with Mr. Brown, NUFORC contacted the FBI
offices in Albany [(518) 465-7551]. We spoke with Lisa Massaroni, a
public affairs spokeswoman, who apprised us that to the best of her
knowledge, the FBI office did have a copy of the tape, that their
personnel were planning to analyze it, but that she did not know the
status of the investigation. She directed us to her supervisor for any
further questions, and added that he would be out of his office until
October 24th.
NUFORC also was contacted by a gentleman from Birmingham, AL, Mr.
Brian Huff, a forensic video analyst, who had captured the video from
the FOX 23 website, and who has analyzed the tape. We provide elements
of his video analysis with this statement. Mr. Huff has stated to
NUFORC that, based on his analysis of the footage, the object is
genuine, and that it is not a superimposed image. He also stated that
the object is on the other side of the clouds, which provides some
perspective as to the size of the object, and its velocity, which Mr.
Huff concludes is considerable. We extend our gratitude to Mr. Huff
for sharing his analysis with NUFORC and Jeff Rense.
Rense.com: FBI Grabs Fox UFO Video - Expert Certifies Object Genuine
http://www.rense.com/general31/nyalb.htm
---------------------------------
My search strategy:
Google News Search, "sighting" + "albany"
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=sighting+albany&btnG=Google+Search
Google Web Search, "ufo" + "albany"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=ufo+albany
Google Groups Search: "ufo" + "albany"
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ufo+albany&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en
---------------------------------
I certainly hope there will be follow-ups to this intriguing story. So
often the news media leave us feeling as if we're waiting for the
other shoe to drop.
If anything above is unclear, or if any of the links do not function,
I'll gladly offer further assistance if you request a clarification
before rating my answer. On the off chance that the video clip at
Rense.com is deleted, I have saved a copy of the clip on my server,
and will try to arrange access somehow, if needed.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |
