Paterson, New JerseyJuly 1962

# Paterson, New Jersey | July 1962

On the evening of July 9, 1962, between 10:15 and 10:26 p.m., young people in Paterson, New Jersey saw an unusual object in the sky. The witnesses described it as flat with a dome in the middle, roughly the size of a commercial airplane. The object was bright yellow and had square-shaped windows around its bottom. Some observers said they saw green lights on the front when they first spotted it. The craft traveled from west to east at a speed the witnesses compared to that of a commercial plane.

The group of observers ranged in age from about 14 to 18 years old. As the object moved across the sky, the witnesses tracked it until it disappeared over a nearby building. They reported it was visible for roughly the same amount of time it would take a plane to pass over their area. The witnesses noted that the object had no sound, and that light conditions were good for seeing it clearly. Multiple people across the neighborhood saw the same object, including some who spotted it from 14th Avenue.

The witnesses provided a rough drawing of what they observed and listed the names of those who saw it. One observer noted that people across the street also witnessed the event, and another group in a car reported seeing the object as it came toward them from the direction of 28th Street and 14th Avenue.

The Air Force marked this case as unidentified. The full case file, consisting of 13 pages, is reproduced below as held by the National Archives.