The Morristown Lights
Early in 2009, red lights hung in a line over a New Jersey town, then drifted apart. TV stations reported a UFO sighting. Two men were behind it.
What was reported
On several evenings in January and February 2009, people in and around Morristown saw a string of red lights in the sky, moving slowly and changing formation. Photographs and videos spread, local news ran the story, and the lights were discussed on national television.
UFO researchers suggested they were something unexplained.
Explanations offered
In April 2009, two men admitted they had tied road flares to helium balloons and released them, as an experiment to show how easily people and media could be fooled. They were charged and fined. Their test showed that a good-looking sighting can come from almost nothing.
- When
- January–February 2009
- Where
- Morristown, New Jersey, USA
- Witnesses
- Residents, local television and the national press
- Status
- Hoax
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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