UFO History: January 5, 2009 - Morristown UFO Hoax

While this project I am working on focuses on UFO/UAP sightings from history, it wouldn't be complete or objective unless some of the hoaxes are documented as well. The reality is that many sightings are easily explained by natural occurrences or are indeed hoaxes. 

So, today, I am going to go over a famous hoax that took place in Morristown, NJ, on January 5, 2009. Incredibly, I remember this one clearly. I was stationed in Lakehurst at the time on the air station and was in charge of the ground electronics unit at the time. 

The first sighting took place on that evening when strange red lights were observed in the sky over Morristown. These red orbs were sighted by many residents in and around the town with the event lasting multiple days. As is the case with the recent “drone’ sightings, because New Jersey has a rather large population and borders New York, there was also an uptick in media coverage. 

Unfortunately, these sightings weren’t of alien origin or government tech, it was a hoax. Joe Rudy and Chris Russo eventually would confess in an article of the Skeptics Society newsletter stating that the lights were actually flares attached to helium balloons. They claimed that they perpetrated the hoax as a social experiment targeting those interested in the UFO phenomenon. Rudy and Russo were eventually charged with disorderly conduct, fined $250 each, and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service for their social experiment.

While a hoax is never a good thing, this case does show a few things that everyone should take into account. Eyewitness testimony cannot be the sole basis for belief. In Morristown, multiple witnesses reported the sightings and created a buzz. And of course safety. One of the reasons there was a criminal charge was because of an impact on public safety.