2009-02-17 - Boonton Town, NJ - Light

Wierd RED lights over Booton New Jersy

Hello, I’m a 50 year old male, who works in Manhattan for the New York City Transit System as a supervisor. My tour is the night shift 10p to 6a. I wrote down on a note pad as it was happening so the details of what I wrote here are accurate. On 2/17/2009 at 20:47 I was driving to work on Route 80 east in New Jersey when I noticed a group of RED lights up in front and to the left of me. My first thought was radio tower lights, but these didn’t blink.. I then noticed as many as 6 or more cars pulled over on the right shoulder. As I slowed down I seen the drivers of the cars looking in the direction of the lights. Were I pulled over was highway marker 40.5 east bound about ten feet in front of me. Searching a internet map service, I determined I was facing EAST, slightly SOUTH. Sitting still on the highways shoulder I could tell that these nine (9) lights were not moving. They were bright solid red. In a pattern of what I could best describe as a bent letter H. Four (4) slightly curved to the right to make the left side of an H. Two (2) across, but a little higher than the middle as the line of an H, and Three (3) lights slightly curved to the right as the left side of the H. My estimate of their hight was later determined by the cloud formations that night.

Altocumulus clouds stay between 6'500 and 20,000 feet. Theses lights were just under the clouds, to a point that the right side of the H patterns 2 lights seemed as if they were slowly pulsing. They were simply going in and out of the cloud formation as the clouds moved. I took a photo 20:48 with my cell phone but it just looks black on the phones screen. I am keeping the photo to open latter on my PC. I called my son at 20:48 to tell him what I was looking at, and yes I did get the (can you see little green men in the windows) attitude. Mind you there was no body structure, just the lights. As I was talking to him a Jet plane passed from South to North (right to left). Clearly saw the planes flashing lights on both wings, which told me he was banked an turning. He was about an inch in length and clearly visible. (Not sure how far away a jet is that looks an inch in length to the naked eye). Newark Airport is close by. As the plane passed under the lights, just to the hight of the lowest light. I would say that the RED lights were closer to me. I then yelled to the two men standing out side of their car if they knew what we were looking at. They were just as puzzled as I was.

In searching the internet, my best guess as to the location of these lights is over Boonton Town Reservoir, New Jersey. Being late for work I left the area and lost sight of the lights at first. I caught them again just after the 43 mil marker. They were to my right side of the windshield top, only now in a wavy line of eight (8) across and one (1) was half the distance to the ground below and centered on the line. Just sitting there. I lost them as I drove and looked at my clock and it was 21:12.

Please E-mail me and I will send further info/drawings if needed.