John's mind-blowing, up-close-and-personal UFO sighting occurred on August 23, 1974, at 9 p.m. The setting was the small penthouse of the Tower Apartments on East Fifty-second Street overlooking New York City's East River, a place John shared with his personal secretary and then-girlfriend, May Pang.....
According to May Pang, she had just stepped out of the shower when she heard John scream for her. He was standing naked on the terrace of the apartment, looking toward the sky, pointing. "My eye caught this large, circular object coming towards us," said May. "It was shaped like a flattened cone, and on top was a large, brilliant red light, not pulsating as on any of the aircraft we'd seen heading for Newark Airport. When it came closer, we could make out a row or circle of white lights that ran around the entire rim of the craft---these were also flashing on and off. There were so many of these lights that it was dazzling to the mind. It was, I estimate, about the size of a Learjet, and it was so close that if we had something to throw at it, we probably would have hit it."
The UFO, which had a dark, metallic color, floated silently less than a hundred feet away from the couple.

(from the book "Alien Rock" by Michael C. Luckman)