NUFORC Sighting 170889

Occurred: 2016-01-01 22:30 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2022-08-04 08:12 Pacific
Duration: 5-8 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Ridgewood, NJ, USA
Location details: near my home (664 Alanon Road)

Shape: Other


Small craft traveling low and slow with clear dome emitting orange and red light

I went outside to walk my dog and noticed an unusual light heading in my direction from the west. I live under a flight path to LaGuardia Airport and I accustomed to see airliners flying over head frequently. As this object approached I knew immediately it was not a normal airliner. I went back in to my house and asked my wife to come outside to observe the object with me. After a minute or so she returned to our home because she was frightened. Unfortunately, I didn't have my cell phone with me to record any images. Anyway, the object steadily approached at about 30-40 miles per hour at treetop level. When it became closer I was able to clearly see it. It was about 50 feet in diameter and a torus shape. In other words "donut" shaped but without the hole in the center. A clear dome was centrally located on the top that was about 15 feet wide and 15 feet high. The light from the object emanated from the dome and was red and orange and is easily described as fire or lightening in a bottle. It reminded me of a Chinese lantern but of course many magnitudes brighter and larger. There were windows clearly visible all around the periphery of the object equally distant from the top to the bottom. The windows were rectangular in shape and I would estimate that the size of the windows were about 2 feet high by 3 feet wide. My guess is that there were probably about 16-20 windows total since I was able to see about 7-8 from my perspective. The color of the body of the object was gray to black. The object made no sound at all (if I had not gone out to walk my dog it would have passed by and I would have had no idea it was ever there) and exhibited no normal means of propulsion. There were no propellers, no helicopter blades, no jet engines, no wings, and no lights at all on the bottom. At a point almost directly in front of my home the object turned and flew off to the north at the same rate of speed as it approached. It disappeared in to the distance and I never saw it again. I reported my sighting to the local police department and asked if anyone else had reported anything, however, the dispatcher said there were no other reports. I regret this account is old, however, I did not know who to report to at the time. I hope this report is useful and I just wonder if anyone else ever had a similar report.

Posted 2022-09-09

© 2023 National UFO Reporting Center. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction within any application without written consent is prohibited.