You know, I've been in the mid-Atlantic states and New England too many times to count, and observed lots of things.
In fact, it's very likely franksolich was in Springfield, Massachusetts, the same summer Atman had his "art studio" across the street from some famous house there, where an illustrator of children's books had lived. This would've been the summers of 1978 and 1979, and I walked by that house many times.
One thing, though--of all that I ever saw in the mid-Atlantic states and New England, I don't ever recall paying particular attention to the skies.
Are aircraft flying overhead easily visible there?
They are here, of course, but we're not crowded and congested.