Morristown UFO
Encyclopedia
Five lights attached to helium balloons were released by Joe Rudy and Chris Russo and seen in the skies above Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the United States 2010 Census, the population was 492,276. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Morristown....
. Sightings were concentrated in the towns of Hanover Township
Hanover Township, New Jersey
Hanover Township is a Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. At the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 12,898...
, Morristown
Morristown, New Jersey
Morristown is a town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 18,411. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown became characterized as "the military capital of the American Revolution" because of its strategic role in the...
, Morris Plains
Morris Plains, New Jersey
Morris Plains, billing itself "the Community of Caring," is a Borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 5,236....
, Madison
Madison, New Jersey
Madison is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the population was 16,530. It also is known as "The Rose City".-Geography:Madison is located at ....
, and Florham Park
Florham Park, New Jersey
Florham Park is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 8,857, which had grown to 12,389 as of the Bureau's 2008 estimate....
.
At 8:28 pm, the Hanover Township police department received the first of seven 9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
calls. Neighboring police departments also received numerous phone calls with regard to the strange lights. Morristown Police Lt. Jim Cullen alerted Morristown Airport about a possible hazard to airplanes. Airport control tower workers reported seeing the lights in the sky, but could not determine what they were. Hanover Township police also contacted the Morristown Airport to try and pick up the objects on radar, but they were unable to pick up anything.
Major and local news networks covered the story, and Internet websites, including the Mutual UFO Network
Mutual UFO Network
The Mutual UFO Network is an American non-profit organization that investigates cases of reported UFO sightings. It is one of the oldest and largest UFO-investigative organizations in the United States....
(MUFON), have posted information about the incident. On April 1, 2009, Joe Rudy and Chris Russo came forward with video evidence proving they were the perpetrators of this hoax, demonstrating how easy it is to fool the so-called UFO "experts."
On April 7, 2009, Russo and Rudy pleaded guilty to municipal charges of disorderly conduct and were sentenced to fines of $250 and 50 hours of community service.
On July 18, 2009, Chris Russo and Joe Rudy were the guest speakers for the New York City Skeptics at a public lecture in New York City, describing how they pulled off their hoax and the reasoning behind why they performed the hoax. On August 5, 2009, Chris Russo was asked to debate a MUFON investigator on the existence of UFOs. After both parties presented their arguments, Russo was awarded the victory in the debate.
Perpetrating the hoax
On April 1, 2009, Russo and Rudy went public in an edition of the eSkeptic Newsletter published by Skeptic Magazine announcing that they had perpetrated this hoax to "show everyone how unreliable eyewitness accounts are, along with investigators of UFOs." As at least one police report suspected, Russo and Rudy had launched flares tied to helium balloons. In the eSkeptic article, Russo and Rudy describe in detail how and why they perpetrated this hoax, and provide links to videos showing their preparations, the launch, and subsequent media coverage and involvement.Joe Rudy and Chris Russo
Two men from the Morristown area claimed to see the lights while driving on Hanover Avenue in Morris Plains. They recorded several videos and still photos of the event, which have been posted on news stations, websites, blogs, and YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. Rudy and Russo were interviewed on News 12 New Jersey
News 12 New Jersey
News 12 New Jersey is a 24-hour cable news television channel reaching more than 1.8 million television homes within the New York City metropolitan area. The channel operates as an independent unit of News 12 Networks, the first, largest and most watched regional news network in United States...
, where they offered what would later be revealed to be a fictitious account of their sighting. They have since come forward as the perpetrators of the hoax resulting in the Morristown sightings.
The Hurley Family
A family in Hanover Township reported seeing the lights from their home. 11 year old Kristin Hurley was the first to notice the lights. Paul Hurley, a pilot, saw the lights and said they were not planes. The Hurley Family took video of the lights, which appeared on Fox News.Tom Bender
A Morristown resident said that he saw an L-shaped formation oscillating in the sky. Bender was interviewed by the Morris County newspaper Daily RecordDaily Record (Morristown)
The Daily Record is a seven-day morning daily newspaper located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey. Sometimes called the Morristown Daily Record because of its historical ties to nearby Morristown, New Jersey, the paper serves the greater Morris County area of northern New Jersey. It is owned by...
. Bender stated that, what he saw, "didn't seem manmade."
George Van Orden
Hanover Township's health officer said that he saw the lights while walking his dog in Madison at 8:38 pm. In contrast to local police reports, Van Orden claimed the lights did not appear to be flares because they didn't leave trails. He also claimed that they sometimes appeared to move against the wind:Initial explanations and hoax theories
Before Chris Russo and Joe Rudy came forward, there had been many different explanations for the lights. These included extraterrestrial craft, supernatural and/or spiritual phenomena, helicopters carrying cargo, a surveillance blimp, a secret military project, or an elaborate hoax.The Morristown police department had stated the lights were most likely helium balloons attached to road flares, although witnesses and many other Morris County residents did not agree with this claim. "We are reasonably certain, from what we were able to observe," Morristown Police Lt. James Cullen told the Bergen Record, "that they were red flares attached to a balloon."
Reporters from News 12 NJ contacted Peter Davenport who has been director of the National UFO Reporting Center since 1994. By telephone he told News12 NJ that the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) requires aircraft to have a single red light on the left tip of the wing. He did not believe it was an aircraft. In addition to serving as the director of the National UFO Reporting Center
National UFO Reporting Center
The National UFO Reporting Center is an organization in the United States that investigates UFO sightings and/or alien contacts. NUFORC has been in continuous operation since 1974...
, Davenport has served as the director of investigations for the Washington Chapter of the Mutual UFO Network.
One source had speculated that the red lights may have been sky lantern
Sky lantern
Sky lanterns, also known as Kongming Lantern are airborne paper lanterns traditionally found in some Asian cultures. They are constructed from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material. When lit, the flame heats the air inside...
s released during a celebration. No evidence was found to support this theory.
Reappearances
Chris Russo and Joe Rudy built up the media attention by repeating the hoax over various parts of Morris County on four more occasions after the January 5 incident. The subsequent hoaxes and sightings took place on January 26, January 29, February 7, and February 17.The largest cluster of lights occurred on February 17. Nine red lights were reported to be traveling in formation. Shortly after that sighting, Capt. Jeff Paul, a spokesman for Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi, said that federal authorities have expressed concern that the objects might be a threat to flights on their final approach to Newark Liberty International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration advised Paul that they would issue an advisory to aircraft in the area. Paul said “numerous” 911 calls were received on the evening of February 17 in Morris Plains, Morristown, Morris Township, Hanover, Denville, Parsippany, Montville
Montville
Montville may refer to:*Montville, Queensland, Australia*Montville, Seine-Maritime, France*Montville, Connecticut, United States*Montville, Maine, United States*Montville, New Jersey, United States*Montville Township, Geauga County, Ohio, United States...
and the Morris County Communications Dispatch center. The lights appeared to be traveling north, he said, and air traffic controllers at Morristown Airport reported that they appeared to be at an altitude of about 2,500 feet.
Dorian Vicente, 46, of Parsippany, said the lights caused traffic to slow on Route 80 East in Denville at 8:40 p.m. as people watched them floating overhead. There were nine lights, she said, and they were scattered at first. Then she said they aligned in a straight line. That’s when she and several other cars pulled to the side of the highway to try and capture the lights on video. “It was the weirdest thing,” she said.
Ray Vargas, a witness to the lights on February 17, believed he witnessed something extraordinary. When interviewed by the media he stated, “If it's a hoax, it's a real good hoax. There were no flares, no streaks … they were almost as if they were communicating with each other."
Officials with the Morris County prosecutor’s office called the military and determined that no military flights were in the area, Paul said. The prosecutor’s office also contacted the FAA, the Office of Homeland Security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
and Preparedness, and the New Jersey State Police
New Jersey State Police
The New Jersey State Police is the state police force for the state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with state wide jurisdiction when requested by the Governor, designated by Troop Sectors.-History:...
Regional Operations Intelligence Center. “The investigation into this incident will continue,” Paul said.
1947 Morristown UFO sighting
On the morning of July 10, 1947, Mr. John H. Janssen, editor of the Daily Record was flying his own plane from Morristown Airport in New Jersey. He spotted six, luminous spherical craft with hazy rings around them flying in a trail high in the sky above him.Carteret Lights
There were 15-20 lights above Carteret NJ, on July 16, 2001, at 12:29 am. They lasted for about 2 minutes. Over 75 People witnessed the event including police, reporters, and drivers. Many people pulled to the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike, and saw the lights.In the media
David LettermanDavid Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
referenced the incident in the opening monologue of his television show, Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
, on January 8, 2009.
"A couple of days ago, there were UFO sightings in New Jersey. But don’t worry, it’s not an invasion — they were just looking for a place to dump a body. The aliens were just here looking for some of that bailout money."
The Morristown UFO has been featured on the homepage of the American documentary television series UFO Hunters
UFO Hunters
UFO Hunters is an American television series that premiered on January 30, 2008 on The History Channel, produced by Motion Picture Production Inc., and ran for three seasons....
. Host Bill Birnes investigates the January 5th, 2009, sighting and interviews several eyewitnesses. Throughout the two part mini-documentary, Bill Birnes and his team do not accept previous skeptic claims that the lights could have been Chinese lanterns
Sky lantern
Sky lanterns, also known as Kongming Lantern are airborne paper lanterns traditionally found in some Asian cultures. They are constructed from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material. When lit, the flame heats the air inside...
or flare
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
s.
"We know this couldn't be flares attached to a rigid structure." -Bill Birnes, Host of UFO Hunters