r/UFOs • u/DearHumanatee • 20d ago
Observations from NJ Sighting
Providing my two cents:
Location: Somerset/Morris County NJ Dates: 12/5-8 Time: 6PM - 9PM
Equipment: 8” SCT w/ Canon 5D + DJI Mini 3 + FlightRadar24
Capabilities: Amateur Astrophotographer. Well versed in identifying celestial objects (planets, stars, star clusters, meteors, etc.) and man-made objects (satellites, rockets, space station, planes, helicopters)
Limited Capabilities: Identifying specific types of atmosphere based man-made objects. Particularly plans, helicopters, and commercial/consumer drones based on lighting and light patterns.
Observations:
12/5:
Preliminary observation, sight only. No equipment with the exception of FlightRadar24. Attempted to identify anomalous activities such as non-listed air traffic or anomalous aerial activity (movement, speed, acceleration).
Result: Numerous unlisted craft flying at unidentifiable heights. Tracked up to 5 craft in addition to listed air traffic. All non-listed craft appeared to not deviate from heading at any point. Craft were often independent but did occur in pairs following same heading and speed. No sound was detected, although air traffic in area can be quite persistent and could have washed out any discernible sounds.
12/6:
Prepared scope for visual observation and capture.
Result: Cloudy skies impaired visibility. Distance viewing was limited due to low cloud ceiling. Cloud ceiling estimate at about 1000ft. No craft were observed. Concluded that craft were likely above cloud ceiling and flying greater than 1000ft.
12/7:
Prepared scope and drone for visual observation and capture.
Result: Same as 12/6. Low clouds impaired most visual.
12/8:
Prepared scope and drone for visual observation and capture.
Result: Similar visual observation as 12/5. 2 to 5 untracked craft appearing in the sky at random intervals. Was not able to identify any discernible patterns including but not limited to: speed, heading, direction, height, light sequences. Certain craft appeared to be closer than others. I deduced this based on their brightness. The brighter the closer, the dimmer the further. Brighter craft also moved faster, which furthered my opinion that they were closer due to speed they traveled relative to their dimmer counterparts.
Unfortunately I was unable to track or capture these objects with the scope. There are two reasons for this.
- The craft that appeared to be closer moved too fast to track. Approximately 30 degrees in about 5 to 7 seconds. I’ve personally tried to hand track the Space Station before and I’ve only been able to capture a glimmer. I’ve also hand tracked planes at cruising altitude with relative success.
- The slower moving craft were too distance to capture anything but their lights. No shape was discernible. Image capture was fruitless due to length of exposure required even at high ISO (128000).
The drone proved just as problematic. As a recreationally pilot I am only allowed to fly to 120m. I left drone airborne for approximately 20 minutes. Each time I identified an object, the camera on the DJI failed to pick it up. It easily captured the light from Venus, Saturn, and the lower flying (5000ft altitude) planes but struggled to capture the light from planes at cruising altitude and the craft. I assume this is because of the quality of the camera on the wide angle of the lens.
Drone footage:
https://streamable.com/cnix7a
https://streamable.com/agknai
Conclusion: I hope this information helps the community seek other techniques or provide recommendations on how to best visually capture these objects. It’s unfortunate that with my equipment I couldn’t yield better results. All in all, visual observation coupled with FlightRadar24 and a solid sense of the heavens allows me to confidently say there is something up there. The objects weren’t as anomalous as I hoped, but they are up there doing something.
I’ll continue my efforts for a few more days in hopes of capturing something closer and brighter.
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u/DearHumanatee 20d ago
Providing my two cents:
Location: Somerset/Morris County NJ Dates: 12/5-8 Time: 6PM - 9PM
Equipment: 8” SCT w/ Canon 5D + DJI Mini 3 + FlightRadar24
Capabilities: Amateur Astrophotographer. Well versed in identifying celestial objects (planets, stars, star clusters, meteors, etc.) and man-made objects (satellites, rockets, space station, planes, helicopters)
Limited Capabilities: Identifying specific types of atmosphere based man-made objects. Particularly plans, helicopters, and commercial/consumer drones based on lighting and light patterns.
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u/DearHumanatee 20d ago
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u/MarcusAurelius6969 20d ago
Great job buddy. Hopefully you can catch something closer next time. Keep up the good work.
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u/Cypher214 20d ago
This is what I like to see because it gives a solid example to the “why can’t anyone get a good picture?” naysayers (who’ve never tried it) showing just how difficult it is.
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u/y000rx 20d ago
You can upload the videos to a platform like Streamable or File.io
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u/DearHumanatee 20d ago
Thanks! Had to cut videos due to length (10 mins max upload). Two videos will be added in comments and to details shortly.
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u/get_me_ted_striker 20d ago
What were the characteristics of the unusual/unlisted aircraft you saw? Did they ever change course or apparent altitude? What lights did they emit?
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u/DearHumanatee 20d ago
Nothing extraordinary. Linear flight pattern, no one individual craft changed course but they did have different headings. I cannot be certain on the lights, for two reasons. One, I am horribly colorblind and at a distance and with limited brightness, it’s impossible for me to say. Two, no craft at any point was closer than a few thousand feet in my estimation. This made discerning light segmentation or patterning impossible. I’d say most had a combination of blinking and solid lights. However, as I noted, I could not discern any formation of pattern across all craft.
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20d ago
[deleted]
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u/DearHumanatee 20d ago
NP. It was a good break from the usual.
Reddit’s SNR is definitely higher than other platforms, but still noisy as hell.
I’ve found that the most meaningful truths are often buried in noisy places. Keep on filtering my man!
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u/HeadHeartCoreQuad 20d ago
I appreciate your diligence and perseverance as well as your precious time! Thank you
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u/Killit_Witfya 20d ago
what do you think theyre doing? They dont have spotlights so maybe just infrared and nightvision cameras
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u/Big_Impact3637 20d ago
Well documented and thoughtful post with great equipment layout and results. Please keep going. It's great to see a very scientific and unbiased document. Excellent work.
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