Pine Bush, New York

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pine Bush is a hamlet (and census-designated place) located in the Town of Crawford, in Orange County, New York, USA, roughly coterminous with the 12566 ZIP code and 744 telephone exchange in the 845 area code (both of which spill over into adjacent regions of the Town of Shawangunk in Ulster County (Another regional identifier, the Pine Bush Central School District, takes in part of the Town of Mamakating in Sullivan County as well). The population was 1,539 at the 2000 census.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 UFOs 4 External links

[edit] Geography

Pine Bush is located at 41°36′32″N, 74°17′55″W (41.608823, -74.298726).^GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²), all land.

Pine Bush is on the border of Ulster County, New York and Orange County. The Shawangunk Kill, a small river, marks this boundary.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,539 people, 612 households, and 411 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 283.0/km² (734.4/mi²). There were 654 housing units at an average density of 120.2/km² (312.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.74% White, 0.78% African American, 0.06% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.04% from other races, and 2.14% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.09% of the population.

There were 612 households out of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 85.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $47,679, and the median income for a family was $55,815. Males had a median income of $38,203 versus $30,577 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,626. About 4.3% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.2% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] UFOs

Though sightings of UFOs in and around Pine Bush date back to the 1950s, the period of time between the late 1970s and the early 1990s saw a huge increase in UFO activity throughout the Town of Crawford area, as well as within, or near, the Village of Pine Bush proper. At one point in the mid-1980s, UFO sightings along West Searsville Road was nearly a nightly event. Hundreds of UFO enthusiasts would line the road each night and revel in the shooting blobs of colored light that would streak across the sky at absurd rates of speed. The crush of sight-seekers became so intense that travel along the road was hampered, leading local authorities to pass a special ordinance prohibiting parking along the otherwise rural stretch of road. Local long-time residents interviewed in 2003 still remembered the throngs of UFO enthusiasts, parked every summer night in front of their houses, sitting in lawnchairs with early-model video cameras at the ready. Other long-time area residents on the other side of town also have testified to witnessing unexplained bright-colored lights seen through local forest trees late at night. Two residents interviewed testified to being restrained in their bed with a harmless "force field" while non-verbal communications were expressed directly into their conscious thought, warning them not to open their eyes or else "they would be afraid". When the "force-field" was lifted, the interviewee and her husband both sprang from their bed in time to see a medium-sized saucer-shaped craft with colored perimeter lights and tiny white orbiting tracers slowly lift off from the adjacent field and into the low cloud cover.

A number of books and articles have been written on the subject. Perhaps the best known book that addresses the Pine Bush UFO phenomena is "Silent Invasion" by the late Dr. Ellen Crystal. Vincent Polise also published a book The Pine Bush Phenomenon in 2005 in which he identified Pine Bush as the center of a series of UFO visitations going back over the last decade. But it was Whitley Streiber's "Communion" series of books, as well as the Christopher Walken movie of the same name, that greatly popularized the local phenomena to a global audience. Streiber's cabin, wherein he received repeated visitations and "friendly" abductions, was located not in the Town of Crawford, but, rather, just on the other side of Shawangunk Mountain, in Napanoch, NY. Streiber's alleged visitations occurred at a time when hundreds of regular sightings were experienced throughout the whole area, as well as on Shawangunk Mountain itself.

In more recent years, Pine Bush UFO sightings have dropped off considerably, though a die-hard group of enthusiasts still maintain vigils at such areas as the Old Jewish Cemetery along Route 52 between Pine Bush and Walden, NY. Monthly meetings of a local UFO sightings group took place in nearby Walker Valley, though the group now only meets infrequently. Such has been the strong association between Pine Bush and UFOs that some local businesses have capitalized on the perception, notably the Cup and Saucer Diner (as in UFO saucer), and Butch's famous UFO barber shop right on the main street in town; a colorful, old-fashioned establishment, packed with local UFO memorabilia and photographs.

[edit] External links

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 41.608823° -74.298726°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

• The Pine Bush UFO phenomenon
• Author of "The Pine Bush Phenomenon"