North Hudson Park UFO sightings

The North Hudson Park UFO sightings allegedly occurred in the early morning hours of January 12, 1975, when a Hudson County park was the scene of a purported unidentified flying object encounter.

It can be classified as a close encounter of the second kind (due to purported physical evidence at the scene) and of the third kind (due to a witness claiming to have seen beings associated with the flying saucer). It is also notable as the case that introduced Budd Hopkins to the UFO research scene; he would later become a key figure in alien abduction.

Researcher Jerome Clark [Clark, Jerome, "The UFO Encyclopedia: The Phenomenon from the Beginning, Volume 2, L-Z" Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1998 (2nd edition, 2005), ISBN 0-7808-0097-4] cites the case as one of the best-documented of its kind, because the core story was corroborated by numerous independent witnesses.

Background

The case first came to public attention in November, 1975, when 44-year-old painter and sculptor Budd Hopkins visited a liquor store in his neighborhood; he was on friendly terms with 72-year-old George O'Barski, the shop's co-owner and proprieter, described by Clark as a "teetotaler".

That November day, O'Barski was in an uncharacteristically gruff and distracted mood, muttering about a strange object having come from the sky. Hopkins had seen a "daylight disc" several years beforehand, and asked O'Barski if he had seen anything unusual.

O'Barski related an experience he said happened in the early morning hours of January 12, 1975. He had closed the liquor store at about 1.00 am, and during his drive home to New Jersey, O'Barski said his car radio failed. He then saw a large disc-shaped object, making a humming or whining sound, descend from the skies and land in North Hudson Park.

Amazed by the sight, O'Barski said he stopped his car to watch. The disc, which had a rim of bright lights along its edge, sprouted metallic "legs" and landed, then a doorway opened on the object, and a ladder extended from the disc to the ground. Within seconds, claimed O'Barksi, eight to twelve humanoids had descended the ladder and were scurrying about the park. He judged them to be three to five feet tall, and said they wore identical white coverall-type clothing he described as resembling "snowsuits."

Several of the humanoids produced shovel or large-spoon type objects, and took samples of the park's soil, placing them in bag or sack-like containers. The humanoids then returned to the flying saucer, which quickly rose into the air and flew away.

O'Barski claimed the entire incident, from his sighting of the disc to its departure, lasted three or four minutes.

Describing himself as in shock, O'Barski left his car to examine the park. Hoping he had somehow imagined the strange encounter, O'Barski said he grew frightened when he discovered several holes scooped out of the ground where the humanoids had dug into the soil.

O'Barski said he told no one of the encounter, but it troubled his thoughts for months afterwards.

Investigation and other witnesses

Hopkins contacted Ted Bloecher, a computer data analyst and UFO investigator. Together they began looking into O'Barski's story and questioning neighborhood residents.

Their first break came when the doorman for the Stonehenge Apartments, about 300 meters from the park, claimed to have seen an unusually bright light on Jan 12, 1975, emanating from near the same park where O'Barksi had his close encounter. Additionally, the doorman claimed that a pane of thick glass at the Stonehenge had cracked that early morning; though no one could determine a cause, the doorman speculated that bright light might have somehow been the cause, though he did not relate this suspicion for fear of being labeled a kook.

Hopkins, Bloecher and others eventually located three other groups of independent witnesses, totalling more than ten people, who claimed to have seen bright lights or a classic "flying saucer" near the park on Jan 12. Each of the witness groups had no contact with one another, none had widely related their story, and none knew that anyone else had claimed a similar sighting. Only O'Barski claimed to have seen the little humanoids.

Bloecher took samples of the soil from where O'Barski claimed the UFO had landed in the park. Analysis at an independent laboratory demonstrated that, unusually for soil from a city park, the samples were entirely free of plant roots.

Hopkins' article on the case was published in the "Village Voice" in 1976.

References

External links

* [http://www.rense.com/general67/berg.htm North Bergen, NJ: UFO Hot Spot?] by Hague, Jim