1968

January

 * January 19th, 1968 - A Friday, in lower Manhattan, New York City: Starting around 8:00 P.M. local time, a rolling cloud of "acrid, eye-smarting, throat-burning fumes" covered the area, choking pedestrians out in the streets. It is said the oil refineries of New Jersey were blamed at the time, although it was after their peak operating times. It is noted that one week previously, "in the vicinity of nearby Jones Beach," there had been a sighting of "fifteen large luminous objects," and that coinciding on Jan. 19th, 1968, from 6:30 to 8:00 P.M., the phones of of neighboring towns in Long Island were "out of action."