Eyewitness 5 Testimony

Interview with Eyewitness 5 conducted by NIDS July 2001
Re: Carteret, New Jersey Sighting of Orange Lights July 15, 2001

NIDS: I work for the National Institute for Discovery Science.

EW 5: Right.

NIDS: And we've been in business for 5 years, we're a full-time professional scientific research institute that's devoted to the study of UFOs. We were formed by a local real estate developer who's had a lifelong interest in this area, and we had just come across a lot of news press about the UFO sightings over Carteret a night or 2 ago. And your name was listed as one of the witnesses.

EW 5: Yes.

NIDS: Can you tell me about what happened?

EW 5: What I saw was just a string of lights right across the sky, reddish-yellow. From where I was sitting, 'cause I was at my girlfriend's birthday party, and I parted myself from the party and I went outside to make a phone call and I'm sitting on a wall so I'm at a height and, it was pretty far back, it was a string of lights straight across the sky and I was kinda just like sitting there, saying 'what is this?' and I was like 'they can't be air- ... first I said airplanes, I'm like, 'no, they can't be airplanes because they are flying too close together' and it just didn't look like the lights on a plane. So, they traveled very slowly and with grace and at ease, you know, and as they continued to travel, I said, 'well this looks like it might be a unidentified object.' So I ran inside and I got the camcorder and I started recording. And what I recorded was just what I saw in the sky, but by the time I got the recorder -

NIDS: Now what do you mean by "recorder"?

EW 5: A camcorder.

NIDS: Oh, you had a camcorder, and you took video footage of this?

EW 5: Yes, we have footage.

NIDS: How did it turn out?

EW 5: Beautiful.

NIDS: How many minutes did you get?

EW 5: I'm not really sure, I'm not really sure.

NIDS: Would you be able to make a copy of it available to us?

EW 5: We are, we are dubbing it because it just so happens the camcorder belongs to a friend of mine and I borrowed her camcorder at the time. What they've been doing is dubbing it - am I saying it right?

NIDS: Um-hmm.

EW 5: They've been dubbing the footage of what was taped. But the thing about this is, we would need to speak with our lawyer first before we release, you know, a copy of the tape.

NIDS: OK. The location of the sighting was at Carteret?

EW 5: I'm sorry, somebody was calling. [witness takes another call] OK, go ahead.

NIDS: My question was, the location of the sighting was in Carteret?

EW 5: In Carteret.

NIDS: OK, and what was the exact date? Was it on the 15th or the 16th?

EW 5: The exact date was the 15th of July, approximately 12:25.

NIDS: 12:25, so it was on the morning of the 15th?

EW 5: The morning of the 15th.

NIDS: 15th, OK.

EW 5: I would say approximately 12:25 because when I looked on the tape, the timing of the tape is kinda off, it doesn't coincide with another time, so the time on the tape said 12:38 but I stood outside at least 10 minutes, or 5, about 10 minutes I stood outside before I actually went inside and got the tape.

NIDS: I see. How long do you think it lasted, total, from the time you first saw to the last time you saw it?

EW 5: I wish, I can't even give an approximate time because I don't know. Like I said, when I first saw it, I just stood out there with disbelief and like I said, it was many, many, many of them. But, by the time I got the camera, there was still more out there but not as many as when I first saw them.

NIDS: You must have been talking to ****** a few minutes ago.

EW 5: No, I didn't talk with him. I called and I was told that he was doing an interview.

NIDS: That's right, OK. He just said you left a message with him. OK. [irrelevant conversation with another NIDS staff person] He's our full-time field investigator and I didn't know he'd had time to call you. I was out to lunch when I came back and found out he was already on the phone to people and I did not know who he had called yet. OK, so you think this lasted 10 minutes, or more? Or was it less than 10 minutes?

EW 5: I would say, about, from the time that I recorded it to the time that it ended, I would say that may have been 10 minutes, but it was way before that when I first saw it. I'm giving the approximate time that I think that it lasted, I would say from the time that I saw it to the time that it ended, I'm saying 15 minutes.

NIDS: 15?

EW 5: I'm saying 15 minutes but I think we only recorded it for about maybe 10 minutes or less.

NIDS: Fifteen minutes. That's what I was after.

EW 5: Yes, 15 minutes. When I recorded it, it must have been about maybe 10 minutes or less.

NIDS: Gotcha. What was the weather like that night?

EW 5: It was beautiful out, nice warm weather, clear skies.

NIDS: Any moon?

EW 5: I didn't see, I didn't recognize the moon, I didn't notice the moon, I didn't notice any stars in the sky, I'm not saying that there was but I don't recall seeing any stars, no.

NIDS: What about wind, was it windy?

EW 5: No, it wasn't windy. It was just beautiful outside.

NIDS: OK. Clear, warm, and no wind?

EW 5: Right.

NIDS: Did you report this sighting to another agency?

EW 5: Did I report it to another agency?

NIDS: Did you call the police, or the news folks?

EW 5: Well, you know what happened was, after everything was over, you know, we went back inside, partied, and I went home. I went home, my girlfriend who had the tape, she went home, but that morning when I got in I called my mom, my mom's like 'did you call the police station?' 'cause I work down at the police station, and I was like 'no I didn't.' She said, 'well just call down there and find out whether or not there were any calls.' At the time, there were no calls but I told them that I saw it myself and I also videotaped it, I recorded it. And, next thing you know I get those people were calling in and somehow the word got out, the station was swamped with a whole lot of news reporters.

NIDS: Have you ever seen UFOs before?

EW 5: No I haven't.

NIDS: How many witnesses were with you at the time? Besides yourself.

EW 5: Besides myself? When I first, I was the first one, 'cause in the parking - this is a pretty big parking lot - so I was the first one who noticed it, there were people in the background, I'd say maybe there may have been about 10 people outside the parking lot, but still it was so far back they couldn't see it. But the lady had came out and I said to, I was like, 'Miss, look up in the sky.' She's like 'oh my goodness, what is it?' I would say, 'I don't know but I don't they're airplanes.' So by the time it glided through the air, the sky, and hovered over the buildings, the people that were outside was able to see it, and then more people came out from the party. So it was a lot of people that saw it.

NIDS: Do you know of any names of people I can call?

EW 5: Oh yeah. I know the names, but as far as their numbers, I don't know, I would have to speak with the young lady who gave the birthday party.

NIDS: How many UFOs did you see that night? Was it 1 UFO, or was it 5, or 6 of them?

EW 5: No. It was, hold on, 'cause I'm counting the minutes in my head, from the very first time I saw it.

NIDS: OK, take your time. That's all right, take your time.

EW 5: 'Cause I'm trying to figure out how they was set [inaudible]. I'd like to say about 20, 25 when I first saw it. There were so many, 'cause they was just across the sky.

NIDS: OK. What shape were they?

EW 5: They was like, there was 1 in the front, there were 2 behind it, but it was spreaded (sic) apart, like a V, it was just a V, it was 1 in the front, and 2 in the back, that was the V. Then there were more on the side of it but behind it, like they were following. It was like they weren't in a straight line but it was a diagonal shape. They were followed behind, there was this 1 that was in the front but it wasn't, it wasn't a straight line but it was diagonally. Like, they were like on a side each other or behind each other, so when I saw it, like I say, it was, it wasn't a cluster, they were clustered, they were spreaded apart.

NIDS: OK, I understand. What, so what were these individual lights like, what did they look like?

EW 5: They was, it was like a yellowish-red, a reddish-yellow color-

NIDS: Reddish-yellow?

EW 5: I can't say that it was a shape, because it really wasn't a shape. There was no shape. There was just this big bright light.

NIDS: OK. How fast do you think these things were going across the sky?

EW 5: They were gliding. Very slowly.

NIDS: Very slow.

EW 5: Very slowly.

NIDS: Like a hovering? Like they were, like a slow helicopter?

EW 5: Slower.

NIDS: Slower than a helicopter?

EW 5: Yes, they just glided, glided very slowly.

NIDS: Glided. OK.

EW 5: Peacefully, calmly.

NIDS: Did you hear any sounds coming from them?

EW 5: There was no noise.

NIDS: How big would you say this assembly was? How big would you compare this to, if you had an airplane to compare it to, like a 747?

EW 5: How big what? The lights were? Or how far apart were they spreaded?

NIDS: Well, why don't you just say the whole thing. How big was the whole number of them together, as 1 whole thing?

EW 5: Well, what I, when I saw them across the sky, I would say, now I've been up on a airplane very close up, to me they were spreaded across the sky, with the wings, I would say about 2 airplanes together, maybe 3. That's how far they were stretched across the sky. It was many.

NIDS: Two to 3 airplanes, something like that?

EW 5: Yeah. And, like I said, I might be wrong on the number of lights I seen, I saw, 'cause they were, there were a lot, and I started to count them but I was afraid by the time I got to the end to count them, I was gonna miss out something on the left-hand side. So I stopped counting.

NIDS: I see. Now, on the individual lights, just a single one of those, how big was one of those alone, would you think? Were they bigger than a star? Or as big as the moon?

EW 5: No, they were bigger than a star. They were bigger than a star. Let me just think, from looking at, looking up in the sky, I wanted to view, hmmm. They were bigger, they were bigger than a star.

NIDS: OK.

EW 5: Smaller than the moon. Um -

NIDS: That's fair enough. Can you tell me what you think the distance these things were from you? How far away?

EW 5: That's what I was trying to figure out, but that, I took a flight and I don't know what the altitude was that I was flying but, that the pilot was flying at, where you could look down and still be able to see below you. I had told someone like, I saw in the paper they said 3,000, and I don't know how far 3,000 is but I -

NIDS: OK. If the-

EW 5: I'm sorry?

NIDS: In feet, yeah, it'd be feet.

EW 5: OK, in feet. But I had said, and I might be exaggerating, I said 52 to 64. I don't know, I'm giving a guess 'cause I really don't know.

NIDS: Can I just say, it was hard for you to tell?

EW 5: It was hard for me to tell. But I tell you one thing they weren't, they weren't high up in the sky.

NIDS: They were not?

EW 5: They were not high, I mean high high, they weren't high up in the sky.

NIDS: OK. I understand.

EW 5: And, I'm not good when it comes to directions but I'm going to explain it the best that I can.

NIDS: I gotcha, that's all that I want.

EW 5: OK, they were coming south, they were coming south and then they made a turn towards the east.

NIDS: So they went from south to east?

EW 5: I believe so. And as they then, all of a sudden, one by one, I want to say simultaneously but there was some time in between, but each one, the light started to fade and as it faded, as the light started to fade out, it dropped - like if it's dropped?

NIDS: OK. So the lights faded out as the dropped. Now, when did that occur? Before it turned, or after, or during the turn?

EW 5: It was doing that as they were traveling.

NIDS: As they were moving?

EW 5: As they, yes, as they were gliding through the sky. But once they made that turn, that's when most of them started leaving.

NIDS: OK, I gotcha.

EW 5: But then there was another, there was, and that, this is on tape, where 2 of the lights joined one another and then they went out.

NIDS: OK. So the UFOs basically disappeared from view by fading away, and dropping.

EW 5: By fading away.

NIDS: So, the movement of the craft were fairly slow and steady, is that correct?

EW 5: Yes.

NIDS: And then they made a turn from south to east, and then they started fading and dropping away.

EW 5: Yes.

NIDS: OK. And you have video available, but it belongs to a friend of yours.

EW 5: Yes. Yes, because it was her camcorder.

NIDS: And there's going to be, they're going to have to get an attorney's release to let you -?

EW 5: Well, see, she would like to speak with her attorney before, you know, we release it, because we are looking for, we would like to release it at a cost, basically.

NIDS: OK. Did this thing leave any atmospheric traces, like glowing air, or sparks, or lightning behind it? Any mist, or fog, as it went across the sky?

EW 5: No.

NIDS: OK. Did anything happen to you or any of the other people at the party, physically or mentally? Any adverse reactions to seeing this thing?

EW 5: No.

NIDS: OK. And, do you think you had any time or memory loss?

EW 5: No.

NIDS: OK. But you're pretty sure it passed overhead though?

EW 5: When you say "passed overhead" meaning what? Passed, like-

NIDS: Over your head, yeah.

EW 5: No, it didn't. Not from where I was standing.

NIDS: OK, not from where-

EW 5: No, not from where I was standing.

NIDS: And there were no clouds?

EW 5: There were no clouds, the sky was clear as day.

NIDS: OK. Well, can you, can you tell me what time the party started?

EW 5: The party started at 9 o'clock.

NIDS: 9 p.m.? OK. And you were going home and went out in the parking lot at 12:25-?

EW 5: No I wasn't going home. I wasn't going home, the party was still going on. Yeah, the party ended at 2. I left out to make a phone call and a cigarette.

NIDS: Oh, OK. Can I ask what you do for a living?

EW 5: I work for the police department, I'm a clerk-typist.

NIDS: May I ask your current age?

EW 5: I'm ******

NIDS: What's your address?

EW 5: My address is ******

NIDS: Oh I should have that, actually, because it's in the white pages. Hang on. Let me verify ******

EW 5: Ha! All my information is here?

NIDS: Yeah, it's for the reports, but it's kept confidential, and it's for the purpose of our database. We don't give that out.

EW 5: Oh. OK.

NIDS: It's personal. I have [reads address].

EW 5: Yes.

NIDS: OK, well then I got all your information, I'm pretty much done.

EW 5: OK.

NIDS: Can I as you one last thing? Can you, can you state in your own words, just repeat one last time, what you were doing, how you, what you were doing, you said you were going out to the parking lot to make a phone call and light up a cigarette, and then how you saw the UFOs, and what happened after that, and so forth, just one more time for me.

EW 5: OK. Well at the time I had left the party, I wanted to go make a phone call, and I walked through, into the parking lot and I sat on a wall, lit a cigarette, and I'm on the phone talking to my honey, and I wasn't looking at the sky, I was looking at people that were standing outside by the buildings, and you could just see lights up in the sky at a distance, and it just caught my attention.

NIDS: OK. How bright did you think they were compared to baseball stadium lights? Were they really really bright? Or, not as bright?

EW 5: No. It was more like a glow.

NIDS: A glow, OK.

EW 5: More like a glow, because they were like reddish-yellow.

NIDS: OK, and there was no- am I hearing you right? Did you say reddish-yellow?

EW 5: Yeah.

NIDS: OK. And so they weren't as bright as a stadium light or even a police spotlight?

EW 5: No.

NIDS: OK. So it was a glow. OK.

EW 5: It was more of a glow.

NIDS: And it was in the structure of a V shape, with 1 in front, 2 in the back, and then some trailing behind in a diagonal?

EW 5: That is correct.

NIDS: OK. And, you just don't know exactly how many, you thought there were 10 to 25? There were a lot, huh?

EW 5: Uh, when I first saw it, like I said, there were many, and my guess, when I say many, when I first saw it, 20 to 25, maybe even 30. But by the time I got the video, my hands got to the videocamera and started taping, I'm gonna say, maybe 15.

NIDS: OK. And this was on the 15th, which was - when was the 15th?

EW 5: Sunday morning. The wee hours of Sunday morning.

NIDS: Sunday morning. Gotcha. Well, listen I really thank you for taking your time.

EW 5: Oh you're welcome.

NIDS: And, you've been very nice, and may I have your permission to call you back, or have somebody call you back, maybe a week or so and see if the videotape is available?

EW 5: Well, it is available but, as I had mentioned, we would like to, well, the person who has the tape prefers to speak with her lawyer before she distributes it.

NIDS: OK, well how do we get, contact that person?

EW 5: OK, and then it's not a problem. Her name is ******, and her number is [gives out phone number].

EW 5: Well, she's gonna tell you the same thing, like to speak with a lawyer first, before we - you know, but we don't have a problem.

NIDS: OK. Well we're not doing this for commercial purposes, we're a private research institute. We don't sell or advertise anything. This is so our scientists here can analyze the video and try to get something out of it. And that's strictly the purpose of what it's for, we need to see the video of the UFO, we would really love to see it. You guys have the benefit of seeing it with your own eyes but we didn't, so it would be lovely if we could get ahold of the tape and see this UFO for ourselves.

EW 5: We don't have a problem doing that - [tape cuts out] Hello?

NIDS: I'm here.

EW 5: OK, we don't have a problem doing that but it is at a cost.

NIDS: OK.

EW 5: OK?

NIDS: OK.

EW 5: Thank you, thanks for calling.

[End of Interview]