NUFORC Sighting 18826

Occurred: 1953-11-15 03:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2001-08-04 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 9 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Keansburg, NJ, USA

Shape: Circle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

In November, 1953, at 0300, a silvery sphere moves slowly overhead, changes direction, and disappears over the horizon.

Briefly, a friend of mine and I were walking backwards along route 36 near Keansburg, NJ, at 3 AM in mid-November of 1953. It was unusually cold. The wind was strong and from the NW, which is why we were walking backwards against it. The location was roughly 100 yard west of a used-car lot (which is still there) and perhaps half a mile east of what was then Martini's diner. The sky was bright with stars. I don't rremember if the moon was visible. A mile or two away, to our east, a line of treetops was outlined. A brilliant silvery sphere rose slowly and deliberately up from behind the trees. It was impossible to judge its size. Relatively speaking it was about the size of a full moon. Because the tree line was about one or two miles away, the sphere must have been of considerable real size. It wobbled slowly upward and in our direction until it was almost directly overhead, then made an abrupt turn to its left. By this time my friend and I had stopped walking and had begun waving and shouting at it. It wobbled in the same falling-leaf motion until it disappeared over the horizon to the north. All together it was in sight for about 9 minutes. On its approach it covered an arc of about 80 degrees of sky, and about the same distance during its departure. It was moving against a strong wind, was completely silent, and didn't change in shape, color, brightness or in any other respect except direction of flight, as far as we could tell. Neither of us reported the incident. It was not an ordinary object, not an airplane, balloon, blimp, space debris, satellite, or hoax --at least I can't imagine how such a hoax could have been perpetrated, or why, in the middle of the night in a deserted area. It turned my conception of the physical world upside down.



((FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE #1 FROM WITNESS))

Thanks for the prompt and flattering reply. I'm grateful to finally have this sighting somewhere in the archives. It's been bothering me for 48 years or so! I was in high school at the time and didn't give
it that much thought, but went on to become a skeptic, psychologist and trained observer. It's made the burden of carrying this information that much heavier, since the experience matches up with nothing I've learned about the physical world or the mind. As for my friend, ((name deleted) by name, I'm doubtful that I can find him. It's been a long time. I've heard that he spent a few years in prison and had become bald. I'll see what I can do about contacting him. If he's still alive I doubt that he's forgotten the incident. I also know some others who have had sighting and will try to reach them as well. Thanks again.

((FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE #2 FROM WITNESS))

Mr. Davenport: You can print whatever you like. I don't know how much it adds to my credibility as a
witness in this instance but I have two doctorates, one in cultural anthropology and one in clinical
psychology, which together would seem to cover a lot of bases where the exotic and the bizarre are
concerned. Most of my career has been spent in research. Of course ((name deleted)) name shouldn't be included. (Just after this thing disappeared -- I don't want to call it an "object" -- he turned to me and said, "Max, if you'd been alone and told me about this later I would have said right away that you were bullshitting me." That's verbatim; this stuff is pretty clearly etched in my brain.) I just did try to find him, actually, and located someone with his name living in New Jersey. I sent him an email last night but have had no reply yet. I'll let you know if anything else emerges.

NUFORC Note:

Date is approximate. Also, witness indicates location of the sighting was in Deming, NM, but states it occurred in Keansburg, NJ. We suspect the text of his report is accurate, so we have changed the location to New Jersey in the box filled out by the witness. We have invited the witness to have the other witness submit a report, as well, if that is possible. PD


Posted 2001-08-12

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