Official Archive: the 1969 Berkshires UFO Incident
Thom Reed UFO Incident: Historical Record and Primary Source Archive
"Berkshires UFO" Official United States State-Archived Repository. Established to Preserve Archived History
Reed owns “Berkshires UFO” trademark & BerkshiresUFO.com
How & Why Thom Reed’s UFO Incident Was Trademarked as “The Berkshires UFO” in 2015.
Sheffield was a town of only about 3,000 people, yet Reed’s local diner had become a hub for UFO discussion that reached across the county, with regular customers and engineers who worked on the Space Race. The region was filled with government-connected activity, and the impact of the diner reached far beyond Sheffield. The “Berkshires UFO” branding mattered because it reflected the event’s countywide impact and gave the nearby Great Barrington Historical Society the regional connection it needed to archive Thom Reed and his event. This historical and regional connection forms the basis for Thom Reed’s ownership of the “Berkshires UFO” trademark and the BerkshiresUFO.com domain name.
The Thom Reed UFO Incident, aka the Berkshires UFO, is defined by its connection to the Space Race, Nancy Reed’s 1960s diner, and a historically documented encounter in Sheffield, Massachusetts, that was reported in local newspapers and broadcast on WSBS AM Radio.
THE DINER’S SPACE RACE CONNECTION: Reed’s local diner was a regular gathering place for engineers and employees connected to the Space Race, including those associated with Sprague Electric and GE. With the Reed UFO incident appearing in local newspapers, homemade food, a jukebox, and a private setting, the diner became an informal closed-door hub where UFO activity and the Space Program were discussed. Those conversations included the idea of leaving a “calling card” on the Moon—an idea that later became associated with the Apollo 11 Goodwill Message. The diner therefore became a direct local point of connection between Sheffield’s UFO activity, Berkshire County’s Space Race workforce, and the emerging history of human exploration beyond Earth.
Official Archived Documents a first in U.S. History
Thom Reed UFO incident is Officially Archived in U.S. History by the Governor as Historically True
Thom Reed UFO incident is Officially Archived in U.S. History by the Governor as Historically True
Thom Reed UFO incident is Officially Archived in U.S. History by the Governor as Historically True
Thom Reed UFO incident is Officially Archived in U.S. History by the State's Historical Society
Thom Reed UFO incident is Officially Archived in U.S. History by the Governor as Historically True
Thom Reed UFO incident is Officially Archived in U.S. History by the Governor as Historically True
Reed's Officially Archived 1969 UFO Incident is U.S. History
Berkshires UFO IMDB based on the Thom Reed family UFO incident of 1969 in Sheffield, MA.
Berkshires UFO IMDB based on the Thom Reed family UFO incident of 1969 in Sheffield, MA.
Berkshires UFO IMDB based on the Thom Reed family UFO incident of 1969 in Sheffield, MA.
Mass Live Interview "Berkshires UFO" 1st used by Thom Reed in July 2016
Berkshires UFO IMDB based on the Thom Reed family UFO incident of 1969 in Sheffield, MA.
Berkshires UFO IMDB based on the Thom Reed family UFO incident of 1969 in Sheffield, MA.
Labeling Reed's UFO Incident a Claim Defies State Record's
Berkshires UFO a public media brand used by Thom Reed since 2016
Declaration of Brand Origin and Use
"Berkshires UFO" is a brand created and owned by Thom Reed, in continuous public use in media since 2016. The brand serves to educate Berkshire County, the broader public, and other interested parties regarding the impact of the Reed family's 1969 UFO incident, including its documented ties to the era's space race.
The underlying incident achieved recognition in U.S. history in 2015, the year in which Reed coined and began using the "Berkshires UFO" brand to identify and promote the historical record. The incident itself was officially archived as a historically true event, and its occurrence permanently altered the historical and cultural narrative trajectory of Berkshire County.
The Berkshires UFO: How Reed's Brand Started
Sheffield, Massachusetts: population roughly 3,000.
Berkshire County, per the 1970 U.S. Census: 149,402 — the county's all-time peak. Nearly 150,000.
That gap is the whole story. The Reed family diner in Sheffield was never just a local stop. It became a meeting point for engineers tied to the space race, drawing people in from across the county. When the Great Barrington Historical Society formally archived Reed's 1969 incident, the broader geographic scope was central to the finding — the impact wasn't contained to one small town. It reached a county of nearly 150,000.
That scope is why the brand carries the county's name, not just the town's.
Thom Reed solely established "The Berkshires UFO" in 2015, following the State and the Historical Society's archiving of the incident based on Berkshire County. Reed since references Berkshires UFO to match the geographic reality the record itself supported via the Historical Society who was also from a neighboring township. The name reflects a county-wide historical finding, not a local one. Reed holds the trademark for "The Berkshires UFO" and operates berkshiresufo.com and ufopark.org. Reed's first public use of Berkshires UFO was in 2016. The brand's origin, naming logic, and ownership trace directly back to that 2015 decision — made in direct response to the scope the Historical Society itself established. The events aged. The documents didn't. Open them.
Click image for the full article
The 1960s news article
Clarifying the Berkshires UFO on Netflix
More info:
The Thom Reed UFO Incident of Sept 1st, 1969 is the Berkshires UFO. The Netflix, Unsolved Mysteries' episode was solely based on the Reed family UFO encounter as it had just been officially archived into U.S. history, in 2015.
The rebranding was unfortunate as it added confusion. The source documents and/or State issued documents can be found at: www.berkshiresufo.com
The Reed family incident, AKA the Berkshires UFO, is our families' incident and our families' alone, as all government documents cite. My late father, Selectman and Attorney Howard Reed, saw our incident cited at the United Nations in support of GA33/426 back in 1992. This led to the establishing of our UFO Park and its sponsor, the International UFO Museum in Roswell. My father lost his life on the anniversary of said address, and that is why our encounter resurfaced again in 2006. Unsolved Mysteries had filmed reenactments about my father. Some included a courtroom setting, with other reenactments filmed in my family’s stretch limousine. However, all would be left on the cutting room floor, along with the State Documents that Unsolved assured us would be shown.
So, to clarify, the Berkshires UFO was just the name of a TV show based on our incident that would unfortunately include someone who colorfully finagled their way onto the episode.
The Berkshires UFO name www.berkshiresufo.com was and remains my website. It was acquired long before Netflix began filming, as it was and will be the title of our memoir/book in 2026. Where a lot of this will be detailed in a book in 2027.
Note: My first public use of Berkshires UFO was in 2016.
Cindy, from Unsolved, had called me a year prior to filming and asked for names and numbers of those who might be interested in participating in said episode. With that, I gave her the number for the GBHS, as I had been interviewed by the director, and briefly spoken with Mr. Warner some years earlier. Mr. Warner was a volunteer assisting in the office and often jumped on the line when Debbie had me on hold or left the room. That is when and how Mr. Warner first became aware of the 1969 incident, as he stated more than once while taking notes (Common knowledge) My family's official research file, and witness statements were also in the office he shared. There was an opportunity there, and he took it. Many have pushed Mr. Warner to submit to a polygraph test however Mr. Warner declines.
However, to often we see individuals tarnishing the integrity of an incident, either by sensationalizing it and/or falsely inserting themselves into something they were not a part of. This history-making incident with its worldwide attention is no different and has to deal with hoaxers and unfair press. A shame, really, as it’s U.S. history. The root of the September 1, 1969, UFO incident has everything to do with my family's Diner in Sheffield, from its ties to the space race to witnesses who gathered there to talk in private.
If interested, a good source of reference is the International UFO Museum in Roswell, NM. as our incident is highlighted there. Interesting fact: the law firm that assisted the State of MA in the mining of source documentation used their UFO Research library to mine for source documents regarding our case. These documents were then sent to the historical society and the governor's office.
Emmy Award-winning news anchor Heather Kovar, from NY, originally covered the State induction and interviewed the Historical Society as well. WSBS Radio, is another solid reference as they aired our incident in 1969. There are also News Articles posted on the Berkshires UFO website, along with the State issued and/or Government documents. Yes, there were over 250 witnesses with 40–50 returning for the unveiling of the UFO Monument in Sheffield, in 2015.
I have never, NOT once, said I was abducted, I have made it very clear we were all removed from our car by what appeared to be the government, and taken to what resembled a large airplane hangar. Also, there were cattle mutilations in 1969, and what were said to be crop circles, these were all covered by local papers in 1994, 2012, and 2013, and all in Sheffield. What is also unfair is the press writing there were no 1960s news articles. See above.
The 1960s newspaper, that is said not to exist via media
Even wiki sates there was no 1960s news coverage. Well here it is.
Thom Reed — "The Berkshires UFO" Brand First Public Use 2016
The historical connection is why Thom Reed owns the “Berkshires UFO” trademark & berkshiresufo.com
Wiki & media have it backwards
Here is the record, corrected. The Berkshires UFO brand and trademark belongs to Thom Reed. He is the origin. Every derivative use — including the Netflix episode — flows from him. Reed is the Berkshires UFO — he is the sole source of documentation, the brand originator, and the individual whose 1969 encounter was officially archived by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A first in United States history.
Wiki & Press Errors
Any framing that positions Reed as one witness among peers, or treats "The Berkshires UFO" as a pre-existing regional label that Reed is associated with, inverts the factual chain of custody. The brand preceded the secondary coverage — not the other way around.
Misrepresentation of ownership
Reed is framed as a participant — not the sole origin. Wikipedia and multiple media outlets position Reed as one of several associated with "The Berkshires UFO." This is factually inverted. The brand, the case, and all documentation originate solely with Thom Reed. There are no co-equals. There is no shared origin.
Brand misappropriation
"The Berkshires UFO" treated as a pre-existing regional label
The term is Reed's personal brand, publicly in use since 2015 — not a generic geographic descriptor. Coverage that uses it as a category name rather than a proper brand severs it from its sole owner and opens the door to fraudulent rebranding by others.
Streaming exposure amplified errors at scale — with potential legal ramifications
The Netflix episode derived solely from Reed's case. Yet its production and promotion failed to establish him as the sole source of all documentation and involvement. More critically, the series "Unsolved Mysteries" actively removed U.S. documents pertaining to Reed — an act that diluted his documented record, inverted the chain of provenance for a mass global audience, and created conditions for potential legal ramifications. This was not an oversight. The removal of source documentation is an actionable matter.
The origin of "The Berkshires UFO" — how the name came to be.
The name wasn't invented for branding convenience. It grew organically from Reed's documented, verifiable impact.
It started in Sheffield — a town of 3,000
Reed's Diner in Sheffield became the epicenter. Engineers working on the space race gathered there, and private conversations behind closed doors about the Reed UFO incident spread county-wide. These engineers lived in the surrounding towns of Berkshire County — they carried those conversations home with them. That's how the impact moved outward, town to town, carried by the people most qualified to recognize the weight of what they were discussing. The ripple effect was significant enough that historians and contemporaries noted the incident had visibly altered the natural progression of a town of only 3,000 people — and ultimately the natural progression of an entire county of 120,000. That's a measurable cultural disruption to a tight-knit community that earned its geographic designation.
The GBHS bridge — from Sheffield to Berkshire County
The Great Barrington Historical Society, based in another town, recognized that the incident's reach exceeded Sheffield's borders. Their position was that Reed's encounter didn't just alter a town of 3,000 — it altered the natural progression of an entire county of 120,000 people. That scale of impact is what justified their induction and what drove the geographic broadening from "Sheffield" to "The Berkshires." The county reference wasn't Reed's invention — it was the historical society's own assessment of the incident's footprint.
The Reed family were Berkshire County residents
The family name is buried in the Great Barrington time capsule. They held a residence at 19 Pine Street, Great Barrington, MA. This is not a tenuous geographic association — the Reeds were documented residents of Berkshire County. The name belongs to them in the most literal sense.
The conclusion
"The Berkshires UFO" wasn't a marketing label dropped onto an incident after the fact. It is the historically accurate geographic descriptor of an encounter whose documented impact — from a diner in Sheffield to a county of 120,000 — earned that name organically. Thom Reed didn't reach for the Berkshires label. The Berkshires reached for him.
Berkshiresufo.com - owned by Thom Reed
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