Dennis Anderson, Director of the Wagner College Planetarium
and a member of the Center for UFO Studies, dug up more
information about the mysterious light formation that was
seen in Carteret, New Jersey in July. He began his own
investigation of the lights after hearing about them on a new
cast July 16.
His initial thoughts were that the witnesses were probably
not familiar with the night sky. The planet Mars and the
bright star Antares are currently in close proximity, and are
the same orange-red color, which matched the color
description that was reported. He decided to call his local
paper, the Staten Island Advance, to see if they had
received any UFO reports, but they hadn?t heard about the
sightings.
On July 17th, a Staten Island Advance reporter contacted
him to see what he had found out about the weird lights. The
next day, an article appeared in the paper with his office
phone number and instructions to witnesses to contact him.
As a result, he discovered that the phenomenon was seen by
many witnesses on Staten Island. Most of the observations
were of nocturnal lights, much like the configurations sighted
from Carteret New Jersey.
He talked to a mother and daughter who were returning to
Staten Island from New jersey about 1 am on the night the
lights were seen. They were approaching the toll booths on
the Goethals Bridge, when the daughter spotted the lights
from the passenger seat, and brought them to her mother's
attention. They were looking west. The phenomenon
appeared as an oblong formation of bright white pulsating
lights much like a necklace. Driving south along the West
Shore Expressway, they observed it for approximately 2 ?
miles until the lights shut off suddenly. It appeared to be
hovering silently above the recently closed Fresh Kills Landfill.
The height was about 45 degrees off the horizon. The
duration of the sighting was estimated to be 5-6 minutes.
He also talked to a fifteen year-old boy who was attending a
birthday party for his sister?s boyfriend when he saw a
formation of 6 to 8 yellowish-red lights in a circular pattern.
They moved slowly from north to south. Again, the lights
were 45 degrees above the horizon. He said the lights
appeared solid and pulsated. The time of this sighting was
estimated to be 11:45pm. This sighting was from near the
Goethals Bridge overlooking the Arthur Kill.
A man driving north on the West Shore Expressway noticed a
single large yellow triangular-shaped light. The object was
directly in front of him, high in the sky. The size was 1/3 that
of the full moon. It remained this size for approximately 2
minutes, then it rapidly diminished in size until it was no
longer in sight. In his words ?it gave the appearance of
moving away from the Earth.? The time was 12:30 am, and
the duration of the sighting was 3 minutes.
The most significant sighting Anderson heard about was from
a restaurant across the Arthur Kill from Carteret New Jersey.
The owner was outside when he saw a V-shaped grouping of
reddish-orange lights approach from the northwest. According
to the witness, they came close and hovered for about 5
minutes. The ground was bathed in reddish-orange light and
there was absolute silence. Half the lights suddenly
disappeared, leaving three lights that remained for a few
more minutes, then they also disappeared. The owner was
the only witness to mention lights that illuminated the
ground.
An off-duty police officer nearby also described a V-shaped
formation approaching from the northwest, at a speed
comparable to a jet plane. He felt each light was separated
by 100 to 200 feet. The officer noted the lights went out as
if someone turned off a light switch. The last to blink out was
the brightest. He telephoned channel 7 news, who took the
report and hung up.
The restaurant?s disc jockey was summoned outside to see
the phenomenon. He saw 4 lights in an ?angle? formation, the
closest being the lowest and brightest. He described the
color as amber, ?like a car?s turn signal.? At first he thought
they were military aircraft flying in formation, but when they
started to disappear, he changed his mind.
The bartender saw 3 reddish-yellow lights in a triangular or V-
shape. To her, they appeared to glide or float. She had to go
back inside after about a minute of observation.
The security guard at the restaurant was checking ID?s at
the rear entrance. He was told about the lights, but at first
he thought it was a joke. As he saw patrons gathering in
front of the club, he decided to check things out. He saw 2
bright solid-looking intense orange lights. One could be seen
above the trees across the street, the other farther back.
After a minute, the first light disappeared. About 20 seconds
later, the second light winked out. There was no sound. The
time of the sighting varied from witness to witness. However,
the phone call to channel 7 news was made from a cell
phone, and the bill will verify the time.
Anderson estimates that between 30 and 50 people watched
the event from this location.
For more information, click here.
