Well, maybe not a UFO (altho' it wouldn't be the first time one has been spotted in our skies), but community correspondant John Heinsen tells about this close encounter:
At about 4 PM Sunday, I noticed from my front door what looked like a red parachute floating down near the mountains in front of me. I have never seen that before in my eight years in Altadena, so I knew it was something special. My son Wulf and I jumped into the car and raced up to the top of Lake. We parked and watched what proved to be a paraglider loop around for about fifteen minutes before safely landing at the Cobb Estate.
But who could this person be???? Not seeing a kilt, I knew it wasn't artist Gary Thomas pulling one last stunt before retiring to NoCal. No fork on the parachute, so it wasn't Bob Stane. How about Julie Sandoval, making the ultimate coffee delivery? Alas, no. We Altadenans are pretty low-key.
Paraglider "James" said it was the first time he had launched from Echo Mountain and was about 88.7% sure he was not breaking any laws. (I laughed, asking if he had a conditional use permit from LA County.) He quickly packed up.
I had heard that in the 80s it was common to see hang gliders launch off of Mt. Wilson and land near Eaton Dam. Perhaps this will be a new thing for Altadena or just another "sighting" to keep the UFO nuts hiding in their broom closets.
