NUFORC Sighting 111894

Occurred: 2014-07-25 22:30 Local
Reported: 2014-07-26 20:06 Pacific
Duration: 90 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Toms River, NJ, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object

Bright red spherical object with a rectangular center appearing like fire

My property is located in the middle of a cul-de-sac which backs up to a large wooded area. My wife and I were sitting outside when a light drew my attention to the northeast, facing two trees on my property and the beginning of our neighbor's backyard. First instinctual thought was that a plane was about to pass, but we had not, as of yet, heard any indactive sounds. As the light began to clear the obstruction of the trees, details became visible and our full attention was drawn to the object, which continued on in a southwestern direction without making any sound.

The object was a red spherical object filled with a central rectangular section of what appeared to be orange fire. The object was either relatively large or relatively low in altitude, and was bright enough to have drawn our attention before actually becomming visible. The object roughly appeared to be the size of a full moon in the sky. We continued observing it with an unobstructed view as it passed almost directly over our property before beginning to take a turn more distinctly toward the west-northwest which began to put it over the large wooded area our property borders. The object was not fast moving but eventually disappeared beyond the treeline.

I've been watching the sky my entire life; I've always been intrigued by the night sky and all the various wonders that appear once the sun sets. I've been using telescopes since I was a child, and I've never seen anything in the sky that I couldn't identify.

The possibility of this object being a chinese lantern briefly entered my mind and was dismissed in as short a timespan as the next blink of my eyes. The object commanded your attention in a way that would have been unlikely for a Chinese lantern.

Posted 2014-08-01