CARBONDALE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — There's an urban legend dating back to the 70s about a UFO crashing into a pond in Carbondale and its 50th anniversary is Thursday!
It all began on November 9, 1974, three boys were hanging out at Russell Park in Carbondale when they saw a glowing ball in the sky and watched it crash into a silt pond, still glowing
"The boys didn't know what to make of this, they said it sizzled when it went into the water, it was a glowing orange kind of ball of fire sort of thing," said Mary Ann Savakinus the director of the Lackawanna Historial Society.
The boys called the police and soon the word spread that a UFO was glowing in the pond
"The police at first don't know what to make of it, there is one policeman who actually shot his gun at it, so chaos is unfolding," says Savakinus.
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Hundreds of people gathered near the pond, waiting to see what the glowing object was.
"This goes over several days, as this story unfolds, and then a scuba diver is called to go in and get whatever it is out, they're in a rowboat, and they call in some other Carbondale people to come in and help with them," explained Savakinus.
They finally pulled the object out and it was a lantern,
"It is explained that it's a hoax, that the boys threw the lantern into the pond, it was an old railroad or mining lantern that was the final story by the authorities in the area," continued Savakinus.
In the past 20 years, witnesses have come forward to say what they saw, was a UFO.
"Others who said yes they saw something glowing in the sky that night, people who lived in Waymart, people who lived in the Midvalley were coming out of restaurants that day, they saw something," added Savakinus.
Others have mentioned that during the chaos, a flatbed truck came to the site and drove away with something covered with a tarp.
"The mystery lives on, and that's what makes history fun because you get to keep uncovering the story as you go forward," mentioned Savakinus.
So, case closed? We may never know.
Carbondale will celebrate its alien mystery with its first-ever Carbondalien festival that kicks off Thursday morning at 11.
