The Fort Monmouth UFO Incident (1951)
The Fort Monmouth UFO Incident occurred in 1951 and involved several eyewitness accounts of strange objects in the sky over the US Army Signal Corps laboratory at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. The incident has become well-known in UFO lore due to the credibility of the witnesses and the detailed reports filed at the time.
The incident began on the evening of September 10, 1951, when radar operators at Fort Monmouth detected several unknown objects in the sky. The objects were tracked for several hours and were reported to be moving at speeds of up to 7000 miles per hour, which was unheard of at the time. The radar signals were also reported to be strong and steady, indicating that the objects were solid.
Several eyewitnesses also reported seeing strange objects in the sky that evening, including red and green lights that appeared to be rotating around a center point. One of the eyewitnesses was Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who at the time was the head of Project Blue Book, the US Air Force’s official UFO investigation program.
Ruppelt arrived at Fort Monmouth the next day to investigate the incident and interview the witnesses. He later wrote in his book “The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects” that the witnesses were highly credible and consistent in their reports. He also noted that the objects had characteristics that were not consistent with any known aircraft or natural phenomena.
The incident at Fort Monmouth sparked a flurry of media attention and government interest. A detailed report was filed by the US Army Signal Corps, which included witness statements, radar data, and other evidence. The incident was also investigated by the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book, which ultimately classified the incident as “unknown,” meaning that no explanation could be determined.
In addition to Ruppelt’s book, the Fort Monmouth incident has been the subject of several other books, including “UFOs and the National Security State” by Richard Dolan and “The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry” by J. Allen Hynek. These books provide further analysis and commentary on the incident and its implications for the study of UFOs.
