Where Have UFOs Been Spotted In New Jersey? [2016 MAP]

New Jersey residents are no strangers to weird stuff. From the Jersey Devil to the Amityville Horror House (of Toms River), there is no shortage of believers in the extraordinary in the Garden State.

According to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), there are plenty of New Jerseyans looking to the stars, as well. So far in 2016, the NUFORC has received dozens of “UFO” sighting reports across New Jersey, including locations such as Piscataway, Manalapan, Camden, Burlington, Atlantic City, Newark, Jersey City, Bloomfield, Passaic, Toms River, West Orange, Florham Park and Clifton.

The group’s database of recent sightings in New Jersey can be seen here.

Some of the incidents included:

• Haworth – “Three flying objects resembling shooting stars, low flying at constant speed”
• Runnemede – “Bright white light went back n forth in sky with two fighter jets flying next to each other following after it”
• Camden – “Lights in the sky at Jimmy Buffett Concert”
• Swedesboro – “Driving on Kings Highway, my husband, daughter and I, saw something in the sky. It wasn't a plane, and there were 3 of them”
• Bayonne – “Enlarged image of a gray streak in photo shows a clear image of a flying saucer looking craft”
• Howell – “Fireball couple hundred feet up. Flew out in the distance and went out.”

See a map of all sightings from Jan. 1 to Sept. 15 below, culled from data in the NUFORC database. Click on each pin to learn more about the reported incident.

NEW JERSEY UFO SIGHTINGS

In March, the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers claimed that he saw a UFO while visiting fellow quarterback Steve Levy's family in Jersey as part of a trip to New York City.

• See related article: Star NFL Quarterback Says He Saw UFO Over New Jersey

In February, a Belleville resident sent Patch a video that allegedly captured what he termed “UFOs” flying over the township and heading towards New York City around 7 p.m.

• See related article: WATCH: 'UFOs' Spotted In Belleville

In May of 2013, a Westfield resident was walking her dog around 12:30 a.m. near the park behind Kehler Stadium when she saw what she described as "big, flying yellow ship."

• See related article: Possible UFO Spotted in Westfield Sky

Despite the sheer numbers of reported sightings, for every “real” event, a fake may be lurking just around the corner.

In March of 2015, TruTV named a Morristown duo’s infamous 2010 UFO hoax – during which they attached road flares to weather balloons and sent them up into the Morris County sky – as one of “the best hoaxes ever.”

• See related article: WATCH: Morristown Duo's UFO Prank Named One of TruTV's Best Hoaxes Ever

HOW TO REPORT A UFO

The Seattle-based NUFORC has been operating since 1974 and gets many of its reports via a 24-hour hotline at (206) 722-3000, according to its website.

The group described what a good UFO report should include:

“Reports are most useful if they include an exact date, time, and location of the sighting. Other valuable information includes a description of the object(s) seen, what they were witnessed to do, how many of them were observed, what shape and color they were, how long they were observed, and any other facts the witness(es) believe were significant. The number of observers and a brief, one-sentence long description of their backgrounds are useful as well.”

As far as photographs and video, here’s what the NUFORC recommends:

“A photograph or video of the object is the most useful form of evidence in any sighting. Absent a photograph, an illustration of the object observed, even a simple outline drawing of its shape is very helpful. Also, a photocopy of an official map, indicating where the observers were located and what direction(s) they were looking is extremely helpful, and will permit a calculation of latitude and longitude.”

Photo: Flickr Commons, Jonas Bengtsson

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