New Jersey UFO Sightings
07-09-1947 Morristown, NJ
Mr. John H. Hanssen, aviation editor for the "Daily Record," saw and photographed six luminous discs or spheres in trail formation in a hazy sky. Four of them are shown in the photo taken. Mr. Hanssen was flying his own airplane when he took the picture. He described the objects seen as "strange Wraith-like circular craft with a flanged and projecting rim around the middle which was dotted with steamer-like portholes." A few weeks later, while again flying a light plane, two similar objects approached and held his airplane suspended in mid-air, both engines had quit running. When he was released he was able to start them again normally, and he continued his flight.
07-10-1947 Morristown, NJ
On the morning of July 10, 1947, Mr. John H. Janssen, editor of the Daily Record (an American aviation journal) was flying his own plane from Morristown Airport in New Jersey. He spotted six, luminous spherical craft with hazy rings around them flying in a trail high in the sky above him. He grabbed his camera and shot a picture. He was only able to get four of the six objects in the image frame. Two weeks later, on July 23rd, he had another encounter of what looked to him like the same or very similar aircraft. He was again flying his airplane out of Morristown and was at 6,000ft. "While my eyes played over the horizon, I became aware of a shaft of light that seemed like that of a photographer's flash bulb. It came from aloft, very high up. It was above that position over my plane's nose that flier's call 11 o'clock. At first I thought it was merely the reflected sun bouncing off the sides of an exceedingly high flying aircraft. I gave it no more thought. But then the engine of my own plane began to perform peculiarly. It coughed and sputtered spasmodically. So I pulled on the carburetor heat and gave it full throttle hoping to thaw any ice that might be accumulating in the carburetor. The engine emitted one final wheezing cough and then quit. Now, the nose of my plane, instead of dropping to a normal glide, remained... rigid... fixed on the horizon, in its normal level flight attitude. Abruptly, I became aware that my plane was now defying the basic law of gravity. I became frightened and close to panic at so weird a predicament. I saw that the airspeed indicator was at zero! There was now an odd prickling, electric-like sensation coursing through my body. I had an eerie feeling that I was being watched and examined by something that minutely studied my features, my clothing, and my airplane... I flicked a cold bead of perspiration from my eye. Then I saw it! Above and slightly beyond my left wing tip was a strange wraith-like craft. One of the flying objects! Its flanged and protecting rim was dotted on either side with steamer-like portholes. It seemed to radiate a dull metallic hue that conveyed an impression of natural strength, and a super-intelligence not of this planet. It was motionless. Perhaps a quarter of a mile away... beyond, and slightly higher, I could see another (similar) object, seemingly fixed in the sky. I assumed that the second strange ship was but waiting for the one nearest me to complete its examination. Then I had the most unaccountable urge to reach up and snap on the magneto switch. I had turned it off when the engine quit. I switched both magnetos to the on position. Slowly the propeller began to turn... then the engine burst into a steady rhythmic roar. The plane nosed up into a stall, dropped off, picked up airspeed and steadied under control," recalled Mr. Janssen.
1952 Picture
This happened in 1979, in Margate New Jersey......The night the Sands casino opened there doors for the first time in Atlantic City. I was at my bosses house with another co-worker and her two kids. It was 11pm and my friend sent her kids upstairs to go to sleep while we sat and talked. when the kids got to the top of the stairs they looked out the window and started screaming that there was something outside, and they sounded really scared, so there mom ran upstairs to see what was wrong..than I heard her say "oh my god, it is a UFO" . Well I ran out front just in time to see it glide over the house without making a sound! It was hugh.....coverd an area about as wide as half a football field, It was disc shape, metallic in color with a small dome in center bottom and a larger dome center top. Around the edge it appeared to have windows all the way around it but there was a white light like the kind on a string of xmas chaser lights going all the way around it, It didnt make a sound, just hovered there for a moment than began to float away towards the ocean...I stood there kinda frozen, more from the awe of it than anything else i think....It was so close I could have hit it with a stone. While I was outside my boss ran into the house to call the local airforce base, After I watched it fly out over the Atlantic and it became just a very small light in the sky, I ran back in the house, my boss was still on the phone arguing with the airforce...They were trying to tell her it was just a weather balloon or an advertisement for the Sands Casino...As she was repeating to me what they were saying I was trying to relay through her what it looked like, That there was no way it was what they were saying it was...Finally they just hung up on her and I ran back outside to find it back over her house again! I ran back inside and yelled for her to call them again it was back! She got them on the phone and brought the phone to the door so she could tell them what was going on...we were freaking out by now cause they were not believing us...It was right there and they wouldnt believe us...They hung up on her again! As I was watching it I was kinda yelling to it to stop to wait, Silly I know but I wanted to go with them...I had completly forgotten that my 6 month old daughter was inside the house! My boss was yelling at me to get in the house! I stayed out there till it glided upwards above her house and flew off into the distance. After it was gone we sat there for hours discussing it...I wanted to call the newspaper! To call everybody! But this was in 1979, a time when, if you said you saw this you were a crackpot....both my friends said if I called anybody they would deny it happened! That they had to much to lose if they were labled nuts or crazy! After that night they refused to ever discuss it with me...They wanted to pretend it didn't happen! The next day I called the weather service to inquire if they had a weather balloon in the area the night before...They did not...Than I called a friend at the Sands casino to see if they had an advertiseing blimp in the air...They did not...I knew it was neither of these things but I was trying to convince my friends we had to tell someone. They would not agree to it...and years later when I saw them again, they admitted to me they believe in what we saw but were afraid to admitt it then...So that is my story my friend...I remember it as if it were yesterday....It was what it was, there is no denying it, it was to close to be mistaken for anything else.
Susan
11-17-1997
PILOT DEBUNKS JERSEY UFO-JETLINER HOAX
Airline pilot Bob Durant, a MUFON member who lives in New Jersey, says the recent report of an encounter November 17 between UFOs and two jetliners over Morristown, N.J. is most likely a hoax. The evening of November 17, a ham radio operator overheard a conversation on frequency 118.300 MHz, purportedly between the Newark Tower and a Flight 262. After looking into the matter on behalf of MUFON, Durant reported that the conversation "sounds like script written by someone who has seen the movies but never flew the planes." Durant cited several "procedurally incorrect" statements in the conversation as proof of his assertion. "For example, air traffic controllers never use the term 'Flight So-and-So,'" he said, "They always precede the flight number with the name of the airline, as in United 262 or Delta 1003 and so forth." Durant added that he was also suspicious "why this conversation could be taking place on 118.3, which is the Newark Tower frequency," pointing out that commercial aircraft are not handed over to the tower "until they are within five miles of the airport, typically descending through 1,500 feet." The presence of three "planes" on the frequency was also a gaffe. "Normally, there are only two airplanes on Tower frequency during landing approach, plus one which just landed." Durant pointed out that Morristown, N.J. is 20 miles (32 kilometers) west of Newark airport and not on "any approach path" to the airport. "Also, procedurally, the alleged Tower instruction, 'Flight 262, go to the emergency frequency. We will meet you there,' is all wrong." (Many thanks to George A. Filer and Bob Durant of MUFON for this report.)
02-27-1998
BLACK HELICOPTER SEEN BY UFOLOGIST AND WITNESS IN OCEAN GROVE, NEW JERSEY
Last week Dr. Bruce Cornet, a New York ufologist, and architect Allen Wahl visited the beach in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. At this site on February 27, 1998, while walking his dog, Wahl spotted a UFO he described as "a diving bell with fins, a bathysphere... a Jules Verne antique with rust stains running down the side" as it flew over the beach heading inland. According to Dr. Cornet, "As Allen was describing where he saw it, a black helicopter gun-ship flew near us, going north just over the beachfront. I got a picture of the helicopter, if it means anything." Wahl drew a very detailed sketch of the UFO he saw, which Dr. Cornet claimed is quite similar to a photograph of a UFO taken in Mexico back in 1973. "The resemblance is uncanny," Dr. Cornet reported. "Allen Wahl is an architect who is able to use his mechanical drawing skills to make a detailed drawing of the object." (See Filer's Files #11 for 1998. Many thanks to George A. Filer for this news story.)
NEW JERSEY
April 17, 1998: Sam Sherman writes: "Having seen a Flying Saucer and some other round anomalous aerial objects, I had no opinion either away about tales of long, tubular aerial objects that might be Mother Ships which carried smaller round scout craft to Earth. Tonight I believe I have learned otherwise. My wife and I were driving to dinner at 7:30PM in Old Bridge, NJ heading due West on Route 516 to East Brunswick. Directly overhead storm clouds were gathering, although low on the horizon the sky was still blue and the sun was shining brightly prior to setting. I looked up in the sky and saw what looked like a contrail between some dark clouds. It was like no contrail I had ever seen, as it moved forward in a northerly direction, but did not leave a trail of vapor or smoke behind it stretching out. This was of definite and finite length. To describe what I saw follows: At arm's length, it appeared to be about three to four inches long and tubular in shape. The color was white, but with luminescent color overlaid greenish-blue tinge. As the sun appeared to be behind it, the object did not appear to be reflecting the sun's rays, but instead produced its own bright illumination. This long tubular bright object was moving to the north and threading its way in the clouds. It eventually was lost behind a dark cloud to the north.
I have seen footage of objects like this going back to the 1940s and heard of observations of them from that era and up to date. I have heard these objects evaluated as being a mile long or longer. What I and my wife both saw was similar to recent footage from Colorado, New Jersey and South Korea. We did not film this, shoot this with a digital camera or produce any technical artifacts to create this image. We saw this object with our naked, unaided eyes. I don't think we have a big enough landing field for this craft in Old Bridge as much of our farm land is being developed for housing. This sighting may be added to anyone's catalogue of sightings of similar objects in the past or more recently. My wife and I will be glad to answer any questions posed on this sighting. By the way, the object was canted at an angle of about 100 degrees to the ground." Thanks to Sam Sherman.