What Happened
At 4:10 a.m. on August 16, 2016, an amateur astronomer had set up chairs in the garden of his home on Oak Tree Road in Edison, New Jersey, when he noticed a triangular object with a blue-white light at its front and two rectangular lights on its sides. The light was brighter than the stars. Whenever the object passed in front of a star, it remained bright and obscured the star.
The object crossed the observer's field of view in 15–20 seconds, suggesting a considerable altitude of several kilometers. A few minutes later, about 17 minutes after the first sighting, a second triangle appeared, traveling from southeast to northwest at an angle of about 70 degrees from the observer. About six seconds later, a third triangle appeared. It followed the same route but moved erratically, slowing down and speeding up suddenly.
The observer described the three objects as “the size of three pencil erasers held at arm’s length.” He also noted the weather: 80°F, high humidity, and broken clouds that changed frequently. He compared the light’s appearance to Mars but stressed that the objects did not resemble the International Space Station or any known aircraft.
Context
The event took place as night-sky watchers were preparing to observe the Perseid meteor shower, putting them on alert for activity in the sky. Sightings of illuminated triangular objects are occasionally recorded in the NUFORC database, but most are described as brief, high-altitude events with steady lights and no fluctuations in their beams.
Why It’s Interesting
The report describes three similar objects appearing minutes apart and moving steadily, without wavering. That raises questions about the possibility of coordinated activity or a group of aircraft from beyond Earth. The steady light and the objects’ ability to block the light of stars also add a technical detail that makes a simple explanation involving natural phenomena harder to offer.
Note: This is an eyewitness report that has not been verified by scientific authorities, so it should be treated with caution.
