Jersey City, New JerseyJanuary 1955

Insufficient Data

Summary

# Summary: Jersey City UFO Sighting, January 1955

On the evening of January 11, 1955, a civilian observer in Jersey City, New Jersey reported seeing a bright, fast-moving object streak across the sky. The witness was standing on Main Street near the city limits, facing west, when the object caught their attention. The Air Force case file records that the witness described a ball-shaped, flame-red object with a luminous appearance.

The object approached from the southwest at roughly a 45-degree angle above the horizon. It traveled in a straight line toward the northeast, showing no signs of banking or maneuvering. The entire sighting lasted approximately four seconds before the object faded out of sight. Weather conditions at the time were clear, with good visibility. The temperature was 34 degrees Fahrenheit, and winds were blowing from the north at 14 miles per hour.

The Air Force investigators noted that the object had been described in ways consistent with a meteor. The case file lists "possible meteor" as the likely explanation. According to the brief summary in the official record card, the sighting "fits the description of a meteor." The file does not identify any radar confirmation or additional corroborating witnesses. The Air Force evaluator marked the case as "probably balloon" on one form, though the investigating officer's written comments suggest they favored the meteor explanation.

The full case file, consisting of seven pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Jersey City, New Jersey

Date of incident

January 1955

State / country

NJ / US

Page count

7 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unknown

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 22

: i 7 3 : ; | PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD 1. DATE 2. LOCATION ; 12. CONCLUSIONS 0 Yos Belloon , , [~~ cs Ng 2 $s po 00 Probably Bolloon : & Ad J anuar y 1995 Fre ER. BOI JQ rSQy Ci ty, New Jersey [1 Possibly Balloon 3. DATE-TIME CROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION ; 0 Was Ai Te Ee EE Ve Ep XM Ground- Visual 0 Ground-Radar 8) AR RT ith OD aN : emt 11/233 LZ SERIE | 0 Air-Visual 0 Air-Intercept Radar 0 Possibly Aircroft % PAGYTOS: Te é. SOURCE vs 0 Was Astronomical 0 Yes XK Probably Astronomical \ " ® . Sh) i i Va Va <4 ps SRD, TEER Ab: Lot Ci Vd 1 Cr SR eS RS CR ARO GRAN 47 Possibly Astronomicoy = 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE A I ER ARR Ro 0 Insufficient Dota for Evaluation : | 0 Unknown EEC ae HOR EMRE ics 10. BRIEE SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS | 1) Round, bluish green & flaming red Possible meteor. sparks flying. Faded out of sight, 2) Ball shaped, firey red, luminous fire following. 3) Shape of ball, flaming red. Straight fl1t course, Faded out of sight, 4) Object 1lit up & went out. | | 02S EEC. RS ay AO SCD A EE ARO ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52) | .