The 1969 Berkshire County UFO Sighting In Netflix's 'Unsolved Mysteries' Is Recognized by History

Finally, it's here: The reboot of the beloved '90s crime show (opens in new tab) Unsolved Mysteries has hit Netflix. The show went off the air back in 2010, but the streaming service recently picked up a 12-episode reboot, six of which came out July 1. One of the most compelling episodes: "Berkshires UFO," which tracks an unidentified flying object that was spotted by multiple people on September 1, 1969, in Great Barrington, Sheffield, Stockbridge and Egremont—all part of Berkshire County, known as the Berkshires, in Massachusetts. The residents interviewed in the episode, specifically Thomas (Thom) Reed, his brother Matt Reed, Tom Warner, Nancy Reed, Jane Green, and Melanie Kirchdorfer, are candid about their experiences; several, including Thom, say they were taken and later returned by the UFO.

The Reed brothers say they've had other alien encounters.

It's unmistakably eerie how much the accounts line up. Even more spooky: The Reed brothers, Matt and Thomas, who were featured in the Netflix episode, say they've had four encounters with aliens since, per Iberkshires.com (opens in new tab). (They don't use the term "abductions," and have gone on the record (opens in new tab) as saying they don't like the term.) Three of those encounters were in the 1960s with their grandmother and mother, they say. The fourth one was in 2009, when Matt was in Indiana.

Thom Reed, (opens in new tab) widely thought to be the face of the sighting, has written about "being taken aboard a tarnished circular looking vessel where an image of a willow tree was displayed." He was nine at the time.

The Berkshires UFO sighting is recognized as a historical event.

In 2015, the Great Barrington Historical Society recognized the 1969 supernatural encounter as an official historical event, according to Engineering News-Record (opens in new tab). "From our perspective, it's a significantly historic event," Debbie Oppermann, the society's director, said to WAMC (opens in new tab). "Basically, because it's an event that was important to many people in South County at that time."

A memorial to the event was even erected by private supporters, but proved controversial and was graffitied and later removed. (opens in new tab) It featured a plaque that read: "The official induction of our nation's first off-world/UFO incident."

This isn't the first time the supernatural tale has been seen on TV. The Reeds' story about their encounter with a supernatural force was the pilot episode of Alien Mysteries (opens in new tab), on Discovery Channel Canada, and it's also been covered by Ancient Aliens on the History Channel. The event is well-known in UFO communities, and is a part of the International UFO Museum And Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico.

Sightings of UFOs continue to pour in.

The Reeds and other Berkshires County residents aren't alone in their sightings, though not every UFO report is as well-sourced as theirs. Since 2006 alone, according to the National UFO Reporting Center (opens in new tab), there have been more than 1,800 reports of unidentified flying objects in the sky since 2006. Are any of them legit? You can be the judge, but after that episode, I'm 100 percent in on the "Aliens are real!" hype.

For more stories like this, including celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, and fascinating features, sign up for the Marie Claire newsletter.

subscribe here (opens in new tab)