Newark, New JerseySeptember 1962

Unidentified

Summary

# Newark, New Jersey UFO Sightings, September 1962

On the night of September 20-21, 1962, residents across northern New Jersey reported seeing unusual objects in the sky. The sightings prompted multiple calls to local police, newspapers, and the U.S. Air Force, triggering an official investigation.

The first reports came in around 2100 hours (9 p.m.) on September 21st, when officers at McGuire Air Force Base received word of UFO sightings in the area. A witness in Hackensack reported three objects hovering about 150 feet above the river. The objects remained motionless for roughly five minutes, then rose rapidly westward. Within moments, three more objects appeared at the same location, for a total of six. Police in Emerson also received reports from four teenagers, though officers gave little weight to their account.

The Air Force quickly identified a likely explanation. A strong thermal inversion (a layer of warm air trapping cooler air below) was present in the region at altitudes between 5,000 and 8,000 feet at the time of the sightings. This atmospheric condition can bend and reflect light in unusual ways. Investigators also noted that the Hackensack sighting location sat near bridge construction marked by red and white lights, and that the north-south runway at nearby Teterboro Airport aligned nearly directly with the witnesses' line of sight. Aircraft on approach or landing, combined with runway threshold lights, could account for the varied colors and apparent motions the witnesses described.

The Air Force concluded that reflected lights from aircraft and ground sources, distorted by the thermal inversion, were responsible for the reports. The full case file is reproduced below as held by the National Archives, 13 pages.

Reported location

Newark, New Jersey

Date of incident

September 1962

State / country

NJ / US

Page count

13 scanned pages

USAF evaluation

unidentified

Microfilm

T1206, Roll 46

hd FEC Fr Uae gL ENE URY . ” Lame ’ - \ : PROJECT 10073 RECORD CARD | : | A A Nr — ar a SE ————— i coe ~~ ten ere Ee eee ee ee PEt nt. Ua re eee =r ell Se vn EA Sr. ur 1. DATE 2. LOCATION 12. CONCLUSIONS 4 i 0 Was Balloon i 21 September 1962 Newark, New Jersey 0 yt 1 Bolloon | 3. DATE-TIME GROUP i. TYPE OF OBSERVATION dl donb Bhat . 3 0 Was Aircraft 1 Local RE ’ EiGround- Visual O Ground-Rodar 0 Probobly Aircroft GMT _~ 2/0<0 0Z Z Air Visual 0 Air-latercept Rador | © Possibly Aircraft 5. PHOTOS §. SOURCE 0 Was Astronomical QC Yeas 0 Probably Astronomical Bibs Civilian O Possibly Astronomicol ee es eee ee et ee a eee a, A tts Ste. 5 tee en et ete. ee ts Sts. ie te neti: AE § yoo re /T VRZ aN Cr po 7. LENGTH OF OBSERVATION | 8. NUMBER OF OBJECTS | 9. COURSE XXDthey 11258 INVEYrsSIign O Insufficient Date for Evaluation | : : i 4 5 0 Unknown t hour 30 min period multi varied 10. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SIGHTING 11. COMMENTS Multiple reports from Northern New Strong thermal inversion in area Jersey of objects with varied colors at 5000-8000 foot level, Various and movemsnt, lights reflected fm this inversidn (aircraft and ground lights) con- sidered as the cause of these / | : reports. ATIC FORM 329 (REY 258 5iP 52) ; Ah | : id) & : Jig 3 ss ps i | k aR i RSAC sas iA si id ug oe | | Ryne : AA is Ae yo 7 5