Metuchen, New JerseyJuly 1962

Unidentified

Summary

On July 19, 1962, around 4:30 p.m., a witness at the beach in Metuchen, New Jersey, spotted unusual lights in the hazy evening sky. The objects looked like bright stars that were moving, numbering somewhere between four and five. They shone brilliantly with no tail or trail.

The witness watched for approximately seven to ten minutes as the objects moved in startling ways. They would dart suddenly across the sky at speeds exceeding what the witness had ever seen from jet aircraft. At times they would nearly stop in mid-air before shooting forward again. One object in particular followed a zigzag path as it moved northward, while the others seemed to travel in straight lines from various parts of the sky with no clear pattern. The witness noted no sound accompanied the objects. The lights would fade until invisible, then glow brightly again as the objects accelerated.

The sighting occurred about forty minutes before moonrise. The night was hazy, though stars were visible, and the moon was roughly three quarters full. The witness's brother-in-law was present and also saw the objects. When asked about the height and distance of the objects, the witness described them as appearing to be at a great distance, traveling across multiple directions before fading out completely.

The witness filed a questionnaire with the Air Force in response to an inquiry from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. The case was forwarded to the Air Technical Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for further investigation and was marked as unidentified, with no definitive conclusion recorded in the file. The full case file, comprising ten pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.

Reported location

Metuchen, New Jersey

Date of incident

July 1962

State / country

NJ / US

Page count

10 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 46

Original case file scans

Original case file · scanned by NARAPage 1 of 10

View transcribed text

Bia IEPA p—————————————————— i eT I = Sede at my Jer mT meyer wre
EA PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD
I. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS
O Was Balloon
19 July 1962 Metuchen, New Jersey o rt A A Ho
3. DATE-TIME GROUP 4. TYPE OF OBSERVATION O Possibly Bolloon
i ET 2130 XX Ground- Visual O Ground-Radar a Probably Alreray
: GMT 20/ 023072 0 Air Visual O Air-Intercept Rader | DO Possibly Aircraft |
5. PHOTOS 6. SOURCE O Was Astronomical i
: O Yes Oo Ard 4 fib ange
i Jams O Possibly Astronomica
3 X% No Civilian |
7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE 0 Other UNIDENTIFIED |
3 ; O Insufficient Doto for Evaluation
| RX Unknown
4 Bi 7-10 minutes 4-5 | zig-zag
3 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING Objects appearing 11. COMMENTS
| like stars wie bf ti they were moving. Lights Very little detail, 4-5 |
J ii e ies Md tet Toe objects w/random movement.
i ST : > : 2¢ : &£ ow mo 1 = 3 i
orilliantly. No tail or trail, Objs'motion hi Pattee deen 1 dha
i ine luded complete stops. No sound, Speeds i ] Api : :
in excess of jet a/c. 4-5 objs coming f No conclusion case listedas
various parts of sky & no pattern to moye- unidentified,
ment, Zig zag at random. Obj on northerly
course darted, Motions a 4 Rodgid BL a
] straight line, 3/4 moon night slightly hazy
3 except stars visible, Objs sighted 59 to
1 moonrise, Objs seemed at great height,
: Moved in 4 different directions,
i ATIC FORM 329 (REV 26 SEP 52)
3 -
]
Bis A a ali ra ai RE Gt ea HRP is 4 : oa

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Source: National Archives Catalog · NAID 28998319