THINK ABOUTIT UFO|UAP SIGHTINGS REPORT

1950: Fort Monmouth, New Jersey UFO, (Blue Book 711)

At 2:30 on the afternoon of April 14, 1950, an Army master sergeant driving northeast on Wilson Avenue near Port Monmouth, New Jersey, stopped his car and got out to watch four objects approaching from the direction of Keyport and flying south toward Sea Bright. Each looked like a flat, amber, rectangular slab about three feet wide and three to four feet long and one foot thick, with no wings, tails or wheels. They flew in a loose, disorganized formation at about 2,000 feet and 75 to 100 mph while each constantly swapped places within the group, rapidly and without any pattern. The whole group rose and fell about 1,000 feet in a smooth coordinated motion without changing speed, for three to four minutes.

Fort Monmouth’s security and intelligence office interviewed him that evening, and First Army sent the memo to Air Materiel Command in May. There was no towing cable and no conventional aircraft in sight. Project Blue Book’s card for the Fort Monmouth, New Jersey flat amber objects has one word in the corner: UNIDENTIFIED.

Date: April 14, 1950

Sighting Time: About 2:30 p.m. EST (1430)

Day/Night: Day

Location: Wilson Avenue about a quarter mile south of State Highway 36, approaching Port Monmouth (Middletown Township), near Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, USA; the objects came from the Keyport area and flew south toward Sea Bright

Urban or Rural: Suburban

No. of Entity’s: Not Applicable

Entity Type: Not Applicable

Entity Description: Not Applicable

Hynek Classification: DD (Daylight Disc)

Duration: 3 to 4 minutes

No. of Object(s): 4

Description of the Object(s): Four flat, entirely smooth rectangular objects with no bulges, wings, tails or wheels, in a close, disorganized formation, constantly and rapidly changing position within the group in a non-systematic way, accelerating, decelerating and moving left and right, while the entire formation rose and fell about 1,000 feet in a smooth, coordinated motion

Shape/Size/Color of Object(s): Rectangular, about 3 feet wide by 3 to 4 feet long and 1 foot thick; amber

Distance to Object(s): Not estimated; at about 2,000 feet altitude

Height & Speed: About 2,000 feet; 75 to 100 mph, constant even while diving or climbing; about 1,000 feet of altitude gained and lost each cycle; flying south

Number of Witnesses: 1 (an Army master sergeant, whom NICAP names James; the memo blacks out the name)

Special Features/Characteristics: Four objects acting as a group while each changed place; no visible cable or towing apparatus; no conventional aircraft in sight; fair visibility with cloud banks at about 3,000 feet; interviewed by the Fort Monmouth security and intelligence office the same evening

Case Status: Unexplained. Project Blue Book’s record card carries the handwritten conclusion UNIDENTIFIED (NICAP: BBU 711).

Source: Fort Monmouth Security and Intelligence Division memorandum of 17 April 1950 (civilian investigating officer, Andrew J. Reid, spelling uncertain), forwarded by Headquarters First Army to Air Materiel Command on 3 May 1950; Project Blue Book (Project 10073) record card; NICAP 1950 UFO Chronology (Berliner; BBU 711)

Summary/Description: An Army master sergeant near Fort Monmouth, New Jersey saw four flat, amber rectangular objects, about 3 by 3 to 4 feet, fly south in a loose formation at about 2,000 feet and 75 to 100 mph at 2:30 p.m. on April 14, 1950. Each object constantly changed places while the group rose and fell about 1,000 feet together. Blue Book’s card concludes UNIDENTIFIED.

Detailed Report

The Interview

According to the Fort Monmouth memorandum of April 17, a civilian investigating officer of the post’s Security and Intelligence Division interviewed an Army master sergeant at his residence on Main Street, Fort Monmouth, at about 1830 on April 14. The sergeant said that at about 1430 he was driving northeast on Wilson Avenue, about a quarter mile south of State Highway 36 and approaching Port Monmouth, when he saw four objects in the sky. He stopped and got out for a better view. They were approaching from the vicinity of Keyport and flying south toward Sea Bright.

The Objects

Each object appeared rectangular, about three feet wide and three to four feet long, one foot thick, amber colored and entirely flat surfaced, with no concave or convex bulges and no wings, tails or wheels. They were grouped together in a fairly close, disorganized formation, flying at about 2,000 feet at 75 to 100 miles an hour. The position of each object in the formation was constantly changing, rapidly but without a definite pattern: each would accelerate, decelerate, or move right or left very rapidly. The entire formation constantly rose and fell in a smooth, coordinated movement, about 1,000 feet each way, while each object kept changing places. The group’s airspeed stayed constant and did not seem to rise when they dove or fall when they climbed. No cable, string or towing apparatus was visible, and there were no conventional aircraft in the vicinity. Visibility was fair, with cloud banks at about 3,000 feet. Three or four minutes passed from first sight until they were lost to view.

Routing and the Card

First Army headquarters on Governors Island forwarded the memo to Air Materiel Command on May 3, 1950, for information and file. The Project 10073 card lists an M/Sgt source, a report date of April 17, 1430 hours, amber, rectangular, 75 to 100 mph, 2,000 feet, four objects, observed from the ground for 3 to 4 minutes, with objects in formation that would accelerate, decelerate and move laterally, and the handwritten conclusion UNIDENTIFIED.

RESEARCHER’S NOTES

Four Amber Slabs That Kept Changing Places

The Time Is 2:30 p.m.: Some listings give 02:30. The memo says 1430 and the card’s time group is 14/1930Z, which is 2:30 p.m. EST.
A Formation Within a Formation: The odd feature is the double motion: the group moved smoothly up and down as one while each member shuffled position. The memo calls the shuffle rapid but non-systematic.
Checked for Strings: The sergeant looked for a cable or towing apparatus and saw none. The point of the remark is that kites and tow targets were the obvious explanations.
Fort Monmouth: The Signal Corps center was a radar and electronics research post, and its intelligence office handled the interview itself. A March sighting of vapor trails reported by Fort Monmouth employees also produced several statements.
Size Estimates: The card and the memo give the size loosely: about 3 feet by 3 to 4 feet by 1 foot. NICAP’s summary gives 3 by 4 feet.
One Witness: Only one man saw them according to the file, an Army noncommissioned officer, and no weather or aircraft check appears in the pages.

The Fort Monmouth sighting is a short, tidy report of four flat amber slabs that behaved like a school of fish, rising and falling together while swapping places. It is filed here as Unexplained, in line with Blue Book’s UNIDENTIFIED card, with the correction that it happened in the afternoon, not at 2:30 a.m.