Did the FBI cover up the "unexplained phenomenon" that's featured in the Unsolved Mysteries episode "Berkshires UFO"? Based on new evidence, there's reason to believe that the American government wanted to minimize media reports, specially on the radio and in newspapers, about an unidentified flying object that appeared in Massachusetts 50 years ago. But why? The answer could be connected to the space race.
"Berkshires UFO" on Netflix begins with 85-year-old Jane Green recalling her experiences on September 1, 1969. She and a friend witnessed a "huge object" floating in the sky, one that didn't make any noise whatsoever. The UFO then lifted up, twice, and disappeared over a mountain. For interviewee Tom Warner, his encounter on the same day was much more intense. In fact, Warner remembers running in place for several minutes before spotting a UFO and being hit with a beam of light. Two miles away near Lake Mansfield, Melanie Kirchdorfer witnessed a "brilliant, bright aura" and was allegedly taken aboard some type of craft where she saw figures that resembled "young children." The aforementioned Warner claims that he even saw Kirchdorfer aboard the UFO, and that he was later struck with another beam of light after being left near his home. Unsolved Mysteries also includes interviews with witnesses Thom Reed and his mother Nancy, who saw a "disc-shaped" object before experiencing the phenomenon known as "lost time."
Unsolved Mysteries reveals that WSBS DJ Tom Jay received numerous calls about UFO sightings on the evening in question. In the present, WSBS brand manager Jesse Stuart states that a broadcast recording from September 1, 1969 doesn't exist, seemingly because Jay and local authorities didn't take the matter seriously, and followed usual protocol by not saving an audio copy. According to Eddie Gulotta, his father Santi - the Sheffield chief of police in 1969 - did indeed receive phone calls about a mysterious object in the sky but didn't believe the reports. It's also worth noting that Unsolved Mysteries doesn't address the fact that Thom Reed - one of the witnesses - claimed that he had been taken aboard a spacecraft with his brother three years prior. If there was indeed an FBI cover up in 1969, Unsolved Mysteries suggests that newspaper reports were figuratively killed, along with the WSBS radio broadcast, to ensure that Americans wouldn't discover the truth about an extraterrestrial craft. But perhaps the FBI wanted to protect information about advanced technology that could have affected the on-going space race.
Now streaming on Netflix, the 2018 documentary Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers investigates an American man's claims that he was hired to reverse-engineer extraterrestrial technology in the late '80s. Las Vegas reporter George Knapp investigated Bob Lazar for several months, and produced an extensive news series that became wildly popular all over the world. Knapp and filmmaker Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell recently discussed their experiences with Lazar on "The Joe Rogan Experience," and believe that the U.S. government not only had acquired various spacecrafts by the late '80s, but had also been testing them out and was trying to develop technology that technically didn't exist on earth. Knapp and Corbell also theorize that the FBI may have been concerned about other countries acquiring advanced technology that undoubtedly would've threatened the safety of Americans. "Berkshires UFO" on Netflix references the U.S. Navy's 2017 release of video that show pilots encountering a UFO.
The Berkshire UFO sightings happened just weeks after American astronauts landed on the moon. If the FBI was already familiar with extraterrestrial crafts and advanced technology, then it would've made sense to cover up a mass UFO sighting that would've detracted from the moon landing and attempts to develop, or understand, universe-changing technology. None of the Unsolved Mysteries interviewees can explain what happened to them or what they saw, but they are collectively adamant that the experience was real. So, what really happened in Berkshire County? Based on various theories presented by Knapp and Corbell - and based on videos released by the U.S. military - an alien race has technology that allows crafts to drop and ascend within seconds. Because the FBI still doesn't understand the advanced technology, they're unable to understand the motivations of the unidentified pilots. Naturally, the Berkshire UFO witnesses in Unsolved Mysteries remain confused as well.