In 1947, a sighting of an unidentified flying object (UFO) near Mount Rainier in Washington state introduced this phenomenon to the American public. Over a quarter-of-a-century later in December 1973, a mysterious aerial craft may have touched down on the shores of Warren County‘s Glen Lake in the Town of Queensbury.
The picturesque waterway is located four miles south of Lake George.
The owner of the property where an out-of-this-world encounter may have happened was Jack Bergeron, a successful restaurateur.
Bergeron said that in the morning of December 12, 1973, he discovered two large concentric circles, each about 18 to 20 feet in diameter, embedded into the gravel parking lot of his Glen Lake La Cabanna restaurant.
News stories reported that these rings were a few inches deep as if compressed from a very heavy object. The stones and dirt at these spots were literally pulverized into sandy particles.
Moreover, there were no tracks or footprints leading to or away from the rings. Some people wondered if a UFO may have landed in the popular eatery’s parking lot.
Though initially reluctant to tell local law enforcement, Bergeron finally contacted the police because he was upset at the property damage.
A neighbor reported hearing a grinding noise at about 4 am and another nearby resident said a helicopter was seen flying in the vicinity several hours earlier. The whirlybird report gave credence to the account that the two ground disks may have been created by a conventional aircraft. Local police investigated the case.
Another person that examined the unusual circles at Glen Lake was a well-respected Lake George attorney named William W. Millington. He believed the rings were made by an alien spacecraft.
For years, the lawyer had been fascinated by the worldwide UFO enigma and Millington often presented talks on the subject to area groups like the Zonta Club, Rotary, Optimist Club, and other civic organizations and school audiences.
Remarkably, the La Cabanna mystery circles was not an isolated incident. Over a year earlier in February 1972, an unusual ring was discovered cut into the ice of Buttermilk Creek in nearby Luzerne, NY.
That strange circle was not as wide as the two rings in the Glen Lake restaurant parking lot. Both events fascinated the Warren County populace.
In 1993, two decades after the two puzzling circles were pressed into La Cabanna’s parking area, Jack Bergeron reflected upon the occurrence. Bergeron wondered if the Glen Lake mystery rings might have originated from a secret government military aircraft.
The La Cabanna restaurant closed many years ago. Nonetheless, whether the 1973 La Cabanna rings were caused by an alien spacecraft, a helicopter, pranksters, or a military plane like a Harrier vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL) jet, this episode remains a mystery.
A version of this article first appeared on the Lake George Mirror, America’s oldest resort paper, covering Lake George and its surrounding environs. You can subscribe to the Mirror HERE.
Illustration, from above: A grainy 1952 photograph depicts a purported flying saucer hovering over Passaic, New Jersey.
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