New Milford, New JerseyAugust 1959

On the night of August 19, 1959, at around 3:45 a.m., a civilian witness at Upper Greenwood Lake in New Milford, New Jersey saw a bright light moving across the sky. The object appeared round and was about the size of a silver dollar held at arm's length. It had a yellow-white color with a red rim. The witness reported that the object emerged from behind the moon and traveled in a diagonal path from southeast to northeast, seeming to climb higher as it faded from view. The entire sighting lasted about five minutes.

The Air Force asked follow-up questions to pin down details like the exact compass direction and angle of the object. In a September 1959 letter, the witness provided those answers. He reported the object was at roughly the same elevation as the moon when first spotted, around 40 degrees above the horizon, and appeared to climb higher before disappearing toward the northeast. The witness also mentioned that several other people had been present at the sighting and that similar objects had been reported by others in the area on two separate occasions, including once about two weeks before and again on Labor Day of that year, always around 11:15 p.m.

When the Air Force checked, they found that no weather balloons had been released from bases in the immediate area on the date in question. However, because wind patterns at various altitudes showed winds blowing from between 250 and 318 degrees, investigators noted it was possible that a balloon released from a base to the west could have drifted into the sighting area. The case file shows the Air Force evaluation was "unknown," meaning they did not reach a firm conclusion about what the object was. This 12-page case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.