James Everell

James Everell was a colonial American settler who, in 1639, together with two companions, reported a luminous aerial object over the Muddy River near Boston, Massachusetts — a large bright light that moved back and forth over the river for hours while, according to the account, the observers were carried back against the tide. The case was recorded by John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who described Everell as a "sober, discreet man".

• Colonial American settler
• In 1639, with two companions, reported a luminous aerial object over the Muddy River near Boston, Massachusetts
• Description of a large bright light that moved back and forth over the river for hours
• One of the earliest documented UAP sightings in North America
• Observation from a boat (lighter); light moved swiftly toward Charlestown and back
• According to the account, the witnesses were carried back against the tide
• Recorded by John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; several other credible witnesses reported similar lights

For the UAP timeline, Everell is the earliest nameable documented North American UFO witness of the settler era: his sighting turns Winthrop's journal entry into one of the oldest written UFO sources on the continent and takes its place in the pre-modern series that Jacques Vallée later drew on for his Passport to Magonia thesis.