Alternate Perceptions Magazine, October 2026
A Curious Occurrence in Anson, Maine
By: Nomar Slevik
Within an approximately one-hundred-square-mile stretch of Somerset and Franklin Counties, Maine, driving west to east takes you through Farmington, Industry, New Sharon, Starks, Anson, Madison, Skowhegan, and other nearby towns. These communities are connected by Route 43 and its offshoots, which cross the scenic Kennebec River. To locals and casual travelers alike, these roads may seem quiet, yet the region has been linked to numerous reports of UFO activity.
Between 1981 and 2009, the area I have dubbed the “Somerset Triangle” produced more than two hundred reported sightings. Documented by NUFORC, MUFON, the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department, the Portland Press Herald, the Morning Sentinel, and the Sun Journal, reports continue to this day.
I have previously written about several towns within the Somerset Triangle, including strange accounts from Starks and Industry in my book UFOs Over Maine. Another noteworthy encounter, this one from Anson, occurred at the home of Gheri Rinaldi and her family. I spoke with her in June 2016. This is her story.
In February of 2007, the Valentine’s Day blizzard was in full swing in the Midwest United States. The storm eventually made its way east and caused an inordinate amount of ice to fall throughout New England. The small town of Anson avoided the bulk of the storm, though a fresh, thin layer of snow had blanketed the ground.
Snow and ice were the last things on Gheri’s mind as she celebrated her son’s fourteenth birthday. After cake and presents, she stepped outside for a cigarette. As she stood on the deck and exhaled her first puff of smoke, a strange light behind the trees caught her attention. It seemed to move through the branches with purpose. Confused by what she was seeing, she called out to her son.
“Honey, look over there... What is that?” she said, pointing toward the trees as he walked outside.
He saw the light but had no explanation to offer his mother. After a few moments, its movement became erratic, darting in and out of the trees, as if playing a game. It glowed an orange-yellow color with an aura-like halo around it. The boy looked at his mother and noticed she was still wearing the camera from the party around her neck.
“Mom, take a picture!” he said excitedly, pointing at the camera.
Gheri looked down, lifted the camera, and aimed it toward the light. She focused, pressed the shutter, and... nothing. The camera wouldn’t work. She tried again, but it failed once more. Frustrated and annoyed, she assumed the batteries had died and went inside to replace them. But as soon as she stepped through the door, something curious happened – the camera fired off a picture.
“Wow, I must have done something wrong,” she thought, and went back outside.
She raised the camera again and pressed the shutter, but it still wouldn’t work. This time, she and her son went inside together and replaced the batteries. Once installed, her son took a test photo, and the camera worked just fine. They hurried back outside, hoping the light was still there. Instead, they were shocked to see four lights hovering behind the trees.
“Mom, there’s more of them!” he yelled.
He attempted another photo but the camera malfunctioned again, and the pair decided to give up on it. Suddenly, the four lights shot out of the trees and into view. They hovered side by side for a moment and then went vertical, one on top of the other. A second later, they shot back into the trees.
A similar aerial action with unexplained lights occurred in Stephenville, Texas in 2008 with numerous eyewitnesses. A great retelling of that story, including a reenactment of the lights, was made courtesy of the Alien Mysteries television program which can be viewed in full by scanning the QR Code below:
Back in Anson, as mother and son watched the lights, a sense of dread settled over Gheri.
“Go grab my phone,” she told her son, “I’m calling 911, this is crazy.”
At the Somerset County Communications Center, the operator had already fielded multiple calls about the lights. People throughout the surrounding area wanted to know what they were. When Gheri called, the operator could hear the excitement and fear in her voice:
“There’s something in the sky right now,” Gheri said. “Do you have any idea what it might be? Are there any military maneuvers happening?”
The operator explained that numerous calls about the lights had already come in.
“So, I’m not crazy?” Gheri said with relief in her voice.
The operator told Gheri that she was not crazy and that a Deputy Sheriff was on his way to the location.
The Morning Sentinel, in an article titled “They Saw Strange Lights in the Sky,” reported that Deputy Richie Putnam, who did not see the lights himself, contacted both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Brunswick Naval Air Station. According to the report, neither agency had any trainings or flights in the area. He did learn, however, that the Vermont Air National Guard had conducted training exercises that evening in the general vicinity.
A spokesperson for the Guard, Marie Endsley, in response to the Morning Sentinel’s inquiry, advised, “We were conducting our normal training missions and were flying through there.”
She did not confirm the towns or counties where the maneuvers took place.
When speaking with me, Gheri remained convinced the objects were not jets, saying, “They were silent, just hovering, and lasted for about an hour. Jets and flares cannot do that.”
In August 2016, I called the Sheriff’s department multiple times about the incident, but messages left for Deputy Putnam were not returned.
After talking with Gheri, I looked into other reports in the region and found a similar cluster in Farmington about a week prior. Witnesses there also observed lights and offered two explanations. Some said they were flares from military aircraft (often seen during night maneuvers in the area). Others noted that despite the similar color, the lights’ behavior, appearance, and duration did not match flares.
Endsley advised, “F-16s fly lower than seven thousand feet. Flares might look reddish-orange, but they would disintegrate well before hitting the ground.”
Somerset County Sheriff Barry A. DeLong, who also looked into the Anson lights, personally takes the UFO phenomenon seriously due to his own encounter about thirty years prior.
“They were hovering about fifteen feet from my cruiser,” he told the Sentinel. “It had fixed lights that were spinning. It was huge and oval-shaped. I knew it wasn’t a jet fighter. It slowly started backing off toward Sugarloaf, and then at a terrific speed.”
While the Air National Guard was the official explanation provided by authorities, I could tell Gheri disagreed. What struck me most about her was how genuine she came across, especially as someone who never thought twice about UFOs. Before ending our call, I asked her if she’d had any other sightings since.
“No,” she answered, “but my eyes are always to the sky now!”
Same here, Gheri. Same here.
