1947-Morristown, New Jersey UFO

During the UFO glory year of 1947, there were numerous sightings of high credibility. One of these occurred in the town of Morristown, New Jersey, on July 10. John H. Janssen was flying his private plane out of Morristown Airport, when he saw six spherical-shaped lights flying through the skies with hazy outlines on the edges. Janssen was the editor of the "Daily Record," which was an aviation journal. He was able to get four of them in one picture frame.

Only two weeks later, Janssen saw another UFO. The object looked to be the same or another object exactly like the first one. This time, he was flying at 6,000 feet out of the Morristown Airport. He gave a detailed account of his sighting, which is given below. His sighting was soon after the Kenneth Arnold sighting and only days after the Roswell Crash.

"While my eyes played over the horizon, I became aware of a shaft of light that seemed like that of a photographer's flash bulb. It came from aloft, very high up. It was above that position over my plane's nose that fliers call 11 o'clock. At first I thought it was merely the reflected sun bouncing off the sides of an exceedingly high flying aircraft. I gave it no more thought. But then the engine of my own plane began to perform peculiarly."

"It coughed and sputtered spasmodically, so I pulled on the carburetor heat and gave it full throttle hoping to thaw any ice that might be accumulating in the carburetor. The engine emitted one final wheezing cough and then quit. Now, the nose of my plane, instead of dropping to a normal glide, remained... rigid... fixed on the horizon, in its normal level flight attitude. Abruptly, I became aware that my plane was now defying the basic laws of gravity."

"I became frightened and close to panic at so weird a predicament. I saw that the airspeed indicator was at zero! There was now an odd prickling, electric-like sensation coursing through my body. I had an eerie feeling that I was being watched and examined by something that minutely studied my features, my clothing, and my airplane... "

"I flicked a cold bead of perspiration from my eye. Then I saw it! Above and slightly beyond my left wing tip was a strange wraith-like craft. One of the flying objects! Its flanged and protecting rim was dotted on either side with steamer-like port holes. It seemed to radiate a dull metallic hue that conveyed an impression of natural strength, and a super-intelligence not of this planet. It was motionless."

"Perhaps a quarter of a mile away... beyond, and slightly higher, I could see another (similar) object, seemingly fixed in the sky. I assumed that the second strange ship was but waiting for the one nearest me to complete its examination. Then I had the most unaccountable urge to reach up and snap on the magneto switch."

"I had turned it off when the engine quit. I switched both magnetos to the on position. Slowly the propeller began to turn... then the engine burst into a steady rhythmic roar. The plane nosed up into a stall, dropped off, picked up airspeed and steadied under control," recalled Mr. Janssen.

Janssen's account is an important UFO record by an experienced airplane pilot, and a respected man of his community. With his background as a pilot and being familiar with weather and air phenomena, his account is one of high credibility. His photograph has been accepted as authentic, and stands as a permanent record of one of the great cases of 1947.