NBC1O's R.J. Heim Interviews Bridgewater Triangle UFO Witness, Jerry Lopes

One of the strangest (and ironically most credible accounts) of all the stories of the Bridgewater Triangle is that of a UFO encounter in West Bridgewater at the off ramp of route 24 to route 106. Two men were on their way for a night out after a long day’s work. Their destination was Raynham-Taunton Racetrack for some dinner and betting. The encounter took place on March 23, 1979. Stuck in traffic exiting the ramp, the men were shocked to see a “baseball diamond shaped” UFO right over their heads. One of the men claimed it was so close, he could have likely thrown a rock at it. This man was newsman Jerry Lopes, who was working at the time for WHDH radio (now WEEI 850 AM). His friend was also a newsman at the station, making the story these two witnesses had to tell one that people finally took seriously after weeks of area residents claiming to have seen low-flying UFOs.

The story of Lopes’ sighting was made famous by Loren Coleman, the “father” of the Bridgewater Triangle. It was Coleman who coined the name of this strange area in the seventies. His book “Mysterious America” talks about Lopes’ story, although the story was first made public by Coleman in 1980, in an article featured in Boston Magazine.

Last Friday night, on his weekly installment “Freaky Friday,” newsman RJ. Heim brought Lopes out of the Bridgewater Triangle book of legends and into the spotlight when he interviewed him about his encounter. Heim is a meteorologist and science reporter for NBC10, who has ran stories of the triangle before on Freaky Fridays.

When Heim questioned Lopes about the size of the UFO, Heim asked him to describe it in terms of lengths of cars. Lopes answered that it was “two or three vehicles…long and wide.” Lopes described the shape of the object as looking like a baseball diamond.

“I know what I saw. And I swear to this day–33 years later–what I saw was not in our Air Force arsenal.”

“I probably could have thrown a rock at it, it was that low. As we pulled off the road, the thing was right over my head. And I saw some sparks fly off the back of it. And then “voom”…it was gone.

A big thanks to R.J. for a stellar job in getting some new facts to go with this old legend!!!!!

http://www2.turnto10.com/lifestyles/2012/feb/24/3/web-extra-bridgewater-triangle-56614-vi-38222/

rj heim